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Attempts by CBS to get consumers to pay the network $5.99 a month to stream ad-filled network shows, classics, and local affiliates has proven less compelling than the network originally thought.
CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves admitted to investors “All-Access” has not met the company’s expectations, even after CBS added options to watch several of its network affiliates around the country.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Technology, Media & Telecom conference in Palm Beach, Fla., Moonves said CBS was considering discounting the service, especially if customers bundle it with Showtime’s standalone online video service, now priced at $10.99 a month.
Moonves
Instead of relying entirely on other companies to create so-called “skinny bundles” of pared down video packages offered as an alternative of one-size-fits-all cable TV, CBS has kept some of its online video offerings in-house under the All-Access brand, which launched in October 2014.
But convincing the public to pay $6 a month for ad-laced shows is proving as much of a challenge for CBS as it had been for Hulu’s Plus option. Moonves suggested CBS is considering adding a premium ad-free option like the one Hulu offers now, for an additional $4 a month, and is also trying to get the National Football League to allow NFL game streams on All-Access in the future.
CBS’ best chance of success for its subscription service may come from offering original shows exclusively to subscribers, particularly a new Star Trek series premiering in January. Moonves predicted that would help make All-Access an “extraordinary success.”
“Next year it’s going to add substantially to our bottom line,” he added.
Moonves called cord-cutting “inevitable,” as consumers gravitate away from traditional cable television packages.
“Someone is going to figure out how to do this and how to give people what they want […] and not for $100 a month,” Moonves said. “It will [sell] for $35-39 dollars a month [and] you’ll get the 12 to 15 or 18 channels that you care about, and not the Karate Channel for 25¢ a month. That doesn’t make sense anymore.”
I had the CBS all access for a while. I cancelled it because no matter what they say they limit what you can see and for me most of what I would want to watch was already provided by my Hulu account. frankly it was not even worth the extra six bucks.
They are crazy if they think bundling will save the service. Everyone wants to get away from bundling, that is what got them into this mess in the first place.
It is tricky as hell because of the relationships they have with the affiliates. For instance I get a CBS station clear as a bell with a dipole cut for the edge of channels 7 and 8 but I am not officially in the coverage area of either that CBS station or the one from a city that is further away that is carried on Time Warner Cable (which stops a mile down the road.) I don’t get many benefits from all access that I could get because of my geography, and also I have a DSL internet connection so… Read more »
Star Trek has hard core fans, but that didn’t help CBS with their UPN Series Enterprise. Arguably, UPN had more eyeballs than CBS All-Access and still that couldn’t save the series or the Network. What about people like me that subscribe to DirecTV to the tune of 100+ per month, as well as Netflix, and Amazon. All told I’m all in at roughly $3000 per year, and CBS wants another $6 per month so I can watch ONE SHOW, and I still have to watch commercials. If Moonves, thinks one show with hard core fans is going to make CBS… Read more »
So, when Comcast, Charter, Cox and all the other monopolists start Metered Billing for internet service, and your internet bill alone is $100 to $200 per month, and more, just for internet service, as it certainly will be in the next several years, where will we be then? The cable and telecom monopolies have actually publicly predicted this exact thing. Who is going to be willing to pay for the internet bits -plus- $30 or $50 or $100 per month for CBS, HBO, Netflix, MLB.tv and more. Metered Billing for internet service has been shown, in multiple credible studies, done… Read more »