Flash

All of CNN+s content was produced exclusively for CNN+ - it didn’t carry any CNN content at all.

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My main issue with Flash remains the same, there is no Australian news after around 3/4pm. It’s all chat and Sky News commentary.

What good is Flash if you can’t even get Australian bulletins at night?

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exactly. sitting on the bus on the way home, i’m better off opening up the abc iview app and getting live news rather than flash

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I poked at it for a day or two. Though the concept is interesting, I’m sure News Corp AU just want to see it as “paying $8/month to have access to Sky News After Dark and probably Fox News” etc, and everything else on there is a bit of a wash.

I’m sure if there was enough a market to create a local version of Fox Nation they would, but when the supposed juiciest takes from Sky After Dark are thrown around on their social media within hours, why would you pay for it? And besides, they’d probably rather you pay for a sub to their city mastheads or the Oz instead which they get more revenue for (and wouldn’t have to share with Telstra right now). :grimacing:

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I highly doubt Flash costs anywhere near as much CNN+ which is why it’s shutting down after only a couple months. Flash doesn’t need many subscribers. This is a niche market and it’s not expected to.

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I disagree with this, but not necessarily because the content is a bit niche - Flash has a major issue that will stop a significant number of people from subscribing, its association with Foxtel, and subsequently the Murdochs. It also won’t help to have a service that is underpinned by the likes of Sky News Australia and Fox News is not going to be attractive to a lot of people.

It needs to broaden its offering, but it will have to approach it carefully - while something like MSNBC may not attract a lot of viewers, it shows people that the service isn’t just an echo chamber for media on the right side of the spectrum. They also need to diversify by adding services like Euronews and Deutsche Welle, pick up a few non-English ones too (Sky TG24 comes to mind instantly) - make the service a one-stop window into the world.

Its a limited market, not just in what content is available but also the potential audience - but they should be doing everything they can to increase the latter.

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Disagree with almost all you say.

Aware that Foxtel / Murdoch affiliation turns some people off. But news.com.au, News Limited tabloids, The Australian etc are all pretty huge. Sky News also has a lot of fans - and is more popular than ABC News Channel. Bread and butter Australian are happy to consume news Limited / Murdoch content.

I do agree that having other news sources to balance out news.com.au, Sky News and Fox News etc - and they have that in BBC, CNN etc - but I don’t think Chanels like MSNBC, DW, Euronews will drive any meaningful take up at all.

CNN rates close a a zero on Foxtel. The market for these channels is small.

Sky News and original Australian content will be the sources that drive take up.

I’d imagine Flash’s subs to be a small base to begin with. I don’t think any meaningful amount of that base or future growth will come from MSNBC, DW or Euronews.

BBC and CNN are in a different league.

Non English news channels for languages spoke in Australia I agree would drive take up. If marketed to those demos.

Im not sure just adding Channels with zero appeal is the way to go. Adding more of what people want is the way to go: that’s probably Sky, more original Sky content, news.com.au content and possibly more original content from 7 and 9.

As much as I know MS like to rag on Sky News - it is the most watched pay channel in Australia by a censorable margin. It’s fair to assume that that would drive take up of both Foxtel and Flash.

That puts it in a weird market position though - News are far better off trying to seal the deal with a subscriber to their local tabloids at $16 a month or to The Australian at $24 a month - than to make $8 giving them Sky News, with the added costs of bringing in a whole bunch of irrelevant international channels.

There’s not enough content for someone not already in that media consumption frame, and it’s not compelling enough on its own for someone who is, given it doesn’t offer any access to text news.

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Agree. It it a weird market position. Which is why I don’t think it will work or stick around.

And MSNBC and DW will do bugger all to attract / keep anyone onboard

It’d be much better marketed as part of a News Corp “bundle” with News.com.au/Local papers/SkyNews/Weather/FoxNews streaming subscriptions.

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Completely agree. This seemed so obvious to me years ago

Your state News Corp rag. Flash. Exclusive paywall content at news.com.au ans sky news ans aky weather access all in a bundle

It’s a very typical consumer that would pay for all that together - and once you get them in the news Corp ecosystem u can cross promote

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Foxtel’s total paid subscribers was sitting at 4.3 million, with Kayo and Binge partially offsetting lower residential broadcast subscribers which had dropped from 1.711 million last year to 1.522 million in the third quarter.

The remaining subscribers were split over Kayo, with 1.151 million paying, Binge, 1.212 million paying, Foxtel Now, with 206,000 paying. Flash, the newest streaming service appears to only have 7000 paying subscribers, after launching last October.

Oof - Flash’s days are numbered if the service can’t find a way to significantly grow its userbase. It probably should start being included as part of a News Corp newspaper subscription. Also surprised that bundles and/or discounted subscriptions aren’t available to people who want to subscribe to more than one of the Streamotion/Foxtel SVOD services (ie; Kayo, Binge & Flash).

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I’m sure someone will be happy to hear this.

I got this email recently:



(and then the code which I obviously won’t show)

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Also difficult to find it on most TVs and devises. Another reason uptake has been poor.

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Is Flash on Samsung TVs?

No… not at this stage.

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This is my biggest issue with it. I can easily get Kayo and Binge on the TV and I watch them a lot but I can’t easily get Flash so I don’t watch it much. I would like to be able to easily have a way to flick on CNN or the Weather Channel etc…

As someone mentioned earlier - a bundle option would be great too.

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Ticker News, now streaming on Flash.

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They carry GB News and not TalkTV? Odd.