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[Below is the Introduction and Summary to this latest FSF Perspectives. A PDF version of the complete Perspectives is here.]

 

Netflix is losing subscribers! CNN+ imploded mere weeks after its ballyhooed launch! Consumers have maxed out on streaming services! Do not be fooled by the latest sensational headlines. Continued overall growth in the streaming space is transforming how Americans access video programming. Make no mistake, the long-term shift away from traditional video providers marches on. And make no mistake about this too: regulators must respond to this rapidly changing marketplace reality by removing outdated, costly, one-sided restrictions that impede competition and handicap traditional multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). Absent implementation of further deregulatory actions with regard to traditional MVPDs, overall consumer welfare will continue to be suppressed.

 

For the first time in roughly a decade, Netflix's total subscribers slipped slightly during the first quarter (Q1) of this year – but HBO, to note one example, added fifteen times as many customers over the same time period. The Walt Disney Company, meanwhile, just announced that its Disney+ streaming service grew by nearly 8 million subscribers during Q2 of 2022, after expanding by almost 12 million customers in Q1. CNN+ announced that it was shutting down less than a month after its high-profile introduction – but still managed to attract nearly as many subscribers as Netflix lost during that brief window. Subscriptions to multiple streaming services have plateaued – but at an average of just under 5 per household, and only after experiencing tremendous growth during the pandemic. And all the while, Gen Z rejects "TV" and looks instead to videocentric social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat for content.

Placed in the proper context, these data points present an unmistakable picture of an efficiently operating marketplace – and serve to confirm, not question, the ongoing "cord cutting" phenomenon: nearly 5 million consumers transitioned away from traditional multichannel video programming packages during each of the past two years.

 

To coopt a term from another bygone era, video programming distribution is ready for its deregulatory close-up.

 

* Andrew Long is a Senior Fellow of the Free State Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan free market-oriented think tank located in Rockville, Maryland. The views expressed in this Perspectives do not necessarily reflect the views of others on the staff of the Free State Foundation or those affiliated with it.

 

Read the complete Perspectives here.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Welcome and Introduction by Randolph May, President, The Free State Foundation, and a Fireside Chat – The View from the FCC, with Moderator: Seth Cooper, Director of Policy Studies and Senior Fellow, The Free State Foundation, and Panelists: Brendan Carr – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission; Nathan Simington – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission; and Mignon Clyburn – Former Commissioner and Acting Chairwoman, Federal Communications Commission.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Fireside Chat – The “Hottest Topics” in Communications and Internet Policy, with Moderator: Randolph May, President, The Free State Foundation, and Panelists: Meredith Baker – President and CEO, CTIA – The Wireless Association; Chris Lewis – President and CEO, Public Knowledge; Michael Powell – President and CEO, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association; and Jonathan Spalter – President and CEO,USTelecom – The Broadband Association.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Keynote Address by Russell Hanser, Director, Communications Policy Initiatives, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, with an Introduction by Bryan Tramont, Managing Partner, Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer, LLP, and Reactions by Robert Branson, President and CEO, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Fireside Chat – The View from the FTC, with Moderator: Maureen Ohlhausen – Former Acting Chairman and Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, and Panelists: Christine Wilson – Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, and Noah Phillips – Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission.

For now, we've changed the cover image on the Free State Foundation's Twitter and Facebook pages to the one below to express our support for the people of Ukraine in their brave fight to preserve their freedom and sovereignty. First things first.

In case you missed it…please see:

Videos of the Free State Foundation's Events in 2021 on FSF's YouTube Channel

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's Farewell Address on January 8 – Click Here

Ilya Shapiro, Director of Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies on January 22 – Click Here

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington's Maiden Address on February 16 – Click Here

Fireside Chat with FTC Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson on March 19 – Click Here

Fireside Chat with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on March 23 – Click Here

"Hot Topics in Communications Policy" Panel on April 27 – Click Here

Congressman Bob Latta's Keynote Speech on May 27 – Click Here

The Free State Foundation's book, A Reader on Net Neutrality and Restoring Internet Freedom, by Randolph May and Seth Cooper, is available from Amazon here. Read more about the book here.

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