I don’t mind UK BBC News and US CNN. You can watch a live and HD stream of US CNN online
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Tell me about it, it’s been changing daily.
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from CNN
I’m a little skeptical about the future of flash - seeing as they are giving all foxtel subs a free sub (presumably to boost numbers) i can’t see it lasting a long time - if CNN - a power in the news world can’t make it work, i’m not sure foxtel can
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The only way it will work long term is if it’s continued to be bundled with Foxtel and also into some sort of Binge and Kayo bundle too.
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I can’t see many parallels between CNN+ and Flash, one is a OTT streamer of a US news channel and a the other is an aggregator of worldwide news.
Whilst I don’t think Flash has had much cut through and question the long term viability of it, I’d say given Streamotion own all the IP around the software used and Foxtel probably mostly leveraged existing output deals for this it doesn’t cost much.
Also the news updates presented by Georgie are run on the cost of an oily rag given they can use the resources of Sky News for this.
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Both are asking subs to pay for a steaming News service.
Both have not been successful getting people to pay for streaming news
The similarities are viewers are not going to pay for News they can get for free from dozens ans dozens of places
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Streamotion’s numbers when they get reported either exclude or report free subs separately from their paying subs
My guess is they’ll persist with it - theyve been able to leverage existing IP and deals to run the service so it probably isn’t a considerable sink of money just yet
It would be good to see them unify the three apps so there is at least some consistency and could increase the ability to upsell to existing subs
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CNN+ is a service providing additional and superfluous news content from one existing news service. What can you get from CNN+ that you can’t get from CNN (website and TV channel)? Flash gives you access to watch, live and on demand, a large number of news channels and services across the world. Additionally, Flash didn’t hire new talent at a large cost specifically for that service.
CNN is just trying to downplay their failure by blaming it on the media environment.
Yet no one is sighing up or paying for it.
Neither have been successful getting people to pay for News they can get free from dozens of sources
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). 
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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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