Tailored Programming Contents
The US telecom giant AT&T® recently merged with entertainment giant Time Warner® at $85 billion. After this happened, AT&T® is promising fewer ads, personalized programming, and smaller channel bundles. After overcoming the objection by the US Justice Department, AT&T® has stated that it will be using its technology for reinventing how the customers receive entertainment.
AT&T’s main aim now is to reduce the number of ads that consumers are used to ad-free services like Netflix, said the Chief Executive of AT&T® WarnerMedia, John Stankey. He told in an interview, “One of the big benefits we can bring to the market is lighter ad loads.”
AT&T® plans for using video data and mobile phone, supplied by consumers who have already given permission for selling targeted advertisements. The main thought behind this idea is that the brands may pay more, provided they come to know that their messages are reaching some people who are likely interested in them. Stankey said as an example, “If I’m a beer drinker, I’m more interested in seeing things about beer than soft drinks.”
Some of the Turner networks of Time Warner® have already reduced the number of ads. Comedy network TruTV has cut its number of ads to 50%. Stankey stated that AT&T® would be able to reduce ad inventory in Turner networks. He also said that AT&T® will now start to sell targeted ads in Tuner networks like CNN and TNT “in short order.”
High Speed Internet
The US Justice Department earlier argued that the merger would harm the customers by limiting the competition and hike the prices. However, the deal was fixed after a US District Court Judge disagreed with the argument. Now, AT&T® owns popular properties like “Game of Thrones”, “Harry Potter”, and “Wonder Woman” franchises. Reports say that in addition to fewer ads, AT&T® is also planning for tailored programming according to consumers’ interest, like sending news clips of CNN to the mobile phone users who are interested in it or alerts about the programs they may like.
Stankey also said that HBO’s online service customers should not expect a sudden change in the company’s password sharing stance. Though HBO has a limit in the number of concurrent streams it accepted that password sharing may occur. “If somebody becomes really passionate about doing something through password sharing, and at some point, they get hooked on it, they move into being a paying subscriber,” Stankey said
