From Bloomburg:
Discovery Communications Inc., owner of the Discovery television channel, plans to sell more content to broadcasters to lift revenue and bolster its brand, Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav said. Discovery is moving away from a strategy to keep shows exclusively for its own channels, Zaslav said at the Mipcom content-industry meeting in Cannes, France, where the Silver Spring, Maryland-based company is trying to sell programming from channels including Planet Green and Animal Planet. Discovery is “looking if we can do business in a more pliable way,” Zaslav said during a presentation of Discovery shows at Mipcom. “It’s incremental revenue for us.” He didn’t give details of the company’s revenue from syndicating shows.
And don’t tell me “Discovery is free cable and Sirius/XM is subscription,” because HBO has the same strategy Discovery has.
Factor in the realities:
– No exciting new equipment announcements in time for the holiday shopping season – Continuing brand confusion in the retail channel, where both Sirius and XM equipment continue to exist side by side – A retail channel that seems to get thinner by the day – A virtual depression in the new car showrooms, where satellite would otherwise move plenty of subscriptions – An obsession with cost-cutting rather than revenue creation – Ever-diminishing buzz in the marketplace. In fact, the lowest buzz entering a holiday season of any time in satellite radio history.
When oh when will Sirius/XM see the light?
Perhaps you can cost-cut to profitability, but not to relevance. And not to growth.