The Dan Rayburn Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Michelle Noon, founder and managing partner of private equity firm Clearhaven Partners, joined me for a detailed conversation on the current state of the financing market tied to valuations, interest rates, and balance sheets. Michelle discusses how operators and investors balance growth versus profitability, the importance of recurring revenue with high predictability, the true cost of debt and how the market is now rewarding companies for generating cash flow.
 
Michelle discusses how management teams are now being forced to focus on managing their capital structures at the potential expense of business operations and how this can impact focus and business results. Finally, Michelle lays out a perspective on valuation multiples based on various business factors, touches on how she sees the investments in AI playing out and explains why Clearhaven invested in SundaySky, Wowza and recently acquired Zixi.

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This week we discuss the latest temporary injunction against Venu Sports and what it may mean for Disney, FOX, WBD and Fubo. We also cover the latest pricing increase from YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket and new Sling TV and Verizon bundling options. We detail the layoffs at Paramount and the closing of Paramount Television Studios and how many in the media continue defining the "success" of streaming services while neglecting their financials. Finally, we highlight some Olympic viewing numbers across NBCU digital platforms and Disney’s new hire for their chief product and technology officer for entertainment and ESPN.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we recap details from the ongoing Sunday Ticket trial, including the news that the NFL rejected ESPN's proposed reduced price of $70 for the entire 2023 season for Sunday Ticket, along with single-team packages. Trial evidence also showed that Fox considered Sunday Ticket an "existential threat" to its business, asking the NFL in 2021 that Sunday Ticket not be allowed to grow more than 20% of subscriptions beyond its current level. We also discuss the contents of a second letter from House Representatives to Disney, Fox, and WBD about Venu Sports' business, deeming Venu Sports' response to their first inquiry "insufficient" on collusion, privacy, and pricing concerns. 

In addition, we highlight Private Equity firm Clearhaven Partners' acquisition of IP video transport vendor Zixi and CTV-focused DSP Madhive's acquisition of omnichannel marketing platform Frequence. Finally, we break down all the latest content licensing deals from Netflix, WBD, Showmax, INDYCAR, Rogers, Warner Bros. Discovery and the new advertising network from Google TV.

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This week we discuss the holy grail of of the streaming media industry, a single platform to aggregate streaming media services. With new Discover and Universal Watchlist  functionality from Plex and news from Verizon about their +Play platform to centralize subscription services, we debate what might really take place in the market. We also cover some streaming viewership numbers from March Madness, the news of Disney+ getting live content with Dancing With the Stars and breakdown some of the technical limitations of the MLB stream on Apple TV+.

Correction: The MLB games on Apple TV+ will be free for the "first 12 weeks", not just the first game like I suggested.

Companies and services mentioned: Apple TV+, MLB, Disney+, Plex, Verizon, Netflix, Peacock TV, NFL.

Questions or feedback? Contact: dan@danrayburn.com

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we discuss the complex streaming sports licensing business and the challenge sports fans now have in finding and consuming games from MLB and the NFL. With both league's doing exclusive streaming only deals for distribution, many consumers will now need cable or cable like bundles to get access to all games. With MLB on Apple TV+, Peacock, ESPN, TBS and some RSN services, it's getting to be a complex mess. The NFL is also getting more complex with Thursday night games now exclusive to Amazon Prime Video and won't be broadcast anywhere else, even in local markets. We debate what the impact could to the NFL and MLB when it comes to the future of fan viewership and engagement. 

Companies and services mentioned: Apple TV+, MLB, NFL, Amazon Prime Video, MLB.TV, Sinclair, Peacock, ESPN, TBS, MoviePass.

Questions or feedback? Contact: dan@danrayburn.com

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we debate the real impact that password sharing could have on revenue and ARPU of streaming services. We also try and decipher confusing data from Antenna on the conversion rate from free trials to paid subscribers. We question who’s watching AVOD services when so much of the content is old and not exclusive to any single platform and discuss what the financial impact could be to OTT services when adding a lower priced ad-supported tier. And we touch on the launch of CNN+ and wonder who the target demographic is for the service when so much news content is now just commentary.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, Antenna, YouTube TV, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Disney+, CNN+, Roku, Xumo, Tubi, IMDb TV, Vizio, Discovery.

Questions or feedback? Contact: dan@danrayburn.com

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we preview some of the speakers and content that will be at the NAB Show Streaming Summit, taking place April 25-26 in Las Vegas. Hear what companies like Netflix, HBO Max, Paramount+, Disney, Fire TV, FOX, MotorTrend, La Liga, DAZN and others will be discussing and some of the main topics that will be covered in the program. We also discuss how industry conferences have changed since the pandemic, the role of hybrid events, what show organizers are doing well and what others need to improve on.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, HBO Max, Paramount+, Disney, DAZN, fuboTV, Oracle, Red Bull Racing, AWS, Salesforce, Korea Content Platform, Adobe, Dolby, Samsung, LG, Demuxed, Roku, Fire TV, Vizio.

Questions or feedback? Contact: dan@danrayburn.com

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This week we discuss the Apple and MLB deal and debate the importance of sports streaming to the content strategy of Apple TV+ going forward. We also highlight what the deal might mean for other sports streaming companies like Sinclair’s DTC service, which will have go-fenced games from some MLB teams and we talk about the difficulty consumers are having in finding sports content from one league on a single platform. The discussion also breaks down the news by Verizon of a new platform called +play, which will allow consumers to purchase and manage some of their favorite subscriptions across entertainment, audio, gaming, fitness, music, all with a single point of billing.

Companies and services mentioned: Apple, MLB, Sinclair, Apple TV+, MLB.TV, Netflix, Hulu, Verizon, Roku, Vizio, LG, Samsung, CNN+, Verizon Fios, Disney, NBCU, Peacock TV, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video, Antenna, FOX Nation, Sony.

Questions or feedback? Contact: dan@danrayburn.com

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

For this special edition of my podcast, I sit down with Limelight’s CEO Bob Lyons to discuss the details around their news to acquire Edgecast from Apollo Funds in an all stock deal valued at approximately $300 million (1x Edgecast revenue) and to rebrand the combined companies as Edgio. We also discuss the current state of the CDN market including the competitive landscape, pricing trends, the expected mix of Limelight's revenue between CDN and security as well as what Limelight’s product strategy looks like going forward.

Note: The podcast was recorded the night before the news was announced, so any impact to Limelight's stock price on Monday March 6th is not covered. The new website for the combined companies will be www.edg.io

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we highlight HBO Max entering the live sports market with the news that they will broadcast more than twenty Women’s and Men’s National U.S. Soccer matches each year. We also discuss what Disney’s new ad-supported subscription for Disney+ might look like, when the option launches in late 2022. We also break down AppLovin’s acquisition of CTV platform Wurl for $430 million, based on projected 2023 revenue of $75 million and the challenges and opportunities for the entire CTV market going forward. 

Companies and services mentioned: HBO Max, WarnerMedia, Netflix, Turner Sports, Disney+, Paramount+, Netflix, Vizio, Pluto TV, AppLovin, Wurl, Human, fuboTV, Roku, Samsung, LG, NBC Sports.

Articles Mentioned
- AppLovin, which announced their plans to acquire Wurl for $430 million has now disclosed Wurl revenue. Wurl is projected to do $75 million in revenue by 2023.

- Vizio Q4 Earnings: Platform+ revenue of $105.1M, up 74%; SmartCast Active Accounts grew 24% to 15.1M; ARPU of $21.68, up 67%; Total revenue of $628.8M, down from $734.3M y/o/y.

- Turner Sports and the U.S. Soccer Federation have reached an eight-year multimedia rights agreement that will make TNT/TBS and HBO Max the exclusive English-language home to more than 20 Women’s and Men’s National Team matches each year.

Questions or feedback? Contact us at dan@danrayburn.com

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media