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Rocky Start Didn’t Keep Amazon Prime Day from Hitting the Target

One of the biggest retail days,Amazon Prime Day…had a rocky start. After that,Amazon struggled to handle the influx of visitors on its special day.

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Rocky Start Didn’t Keep Amazon Prime Day from Hitting the Target
One of the biggest retail days, Amazon Prime Day…had a rocky start. While Amazon isn’t a slouch when it comes to handling customers, the moment Prime Day launched, they started having problems. Glitches started to pop up from the first minute. Soon Amazon had problems handling that many visitors on its biggest retail day of the year.

What Did Amazon Do?

Naturally, Amazon reacted and scrambled to fix the problem. To help deal with the sudden increase of visitors, they switched to a fallback page, the one displaying dogs. This tactic was the help lessen the burden on the exchanges of Amazon’s hubs. They ended up becoming a story of their own. A company-wide emergency conference call was set up to figure out how to deal with the problem. By that time the problems grew faster than the dog pictures story; Sable, the internal computation, and storage service of Amazon was slowed down. When that happened, Prime, video playback, and authentication services were slowed down as well. To combat the problem, all international traffic was cut off to allow the network engineers time to hastily install more servers to deal with the overload. Once that was done, Amazon was back up and running to its normal speed. Though scary, the company plowed through, working to find the heart of the issue and get them fixed as soon as possible. They did, after all, set up the whole day. There was no turning back. The good news is that this was the most profitable Prime Day for Amazon. In the end, they rebounded well.

Amazon Wasn’t the Only Winner

Other companies launched sales of their own to counter Amazon’s momentum. While there were competitive deals, one retailer had the biggest bump in sales. Pitching their deals as a “no membership required sale” Target scored its best single day of sales and traffic. Part of the reason was Target’s recent acquisition of Shipt. Another part was the Minneapolis-based retailers push to improve their online infrastructure. When an online order comes in for delivery, most of the time it’s pulled from the shelf of a brick and mortar Target. Then it’s handed over to Shipt for delivery. Other retailers reported higher than average earnings too. Walmart, though it had Anti-Prime Day Deals, also used the occasion to announce they’d partnered with Microsoft as their exclusive cloud provider. This comes as part of the news that Walmart will be launching their own streaming service soon. The real question here is what kind of content will they be producing? In the meantime, this trend of Anti-Prime Day Deals will likely continue next year. It will continue so long as this artificial holiday is profitable for Amazon.

How to Compete

To truly take advantage of Prime Day, Amazon’s competitors will need to find a way to emulate the online retailer’s momentum without blatantly copying. This may seem silly to suggest, but it’s usually the simplest ideas that prove to be the most effective. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not so much. Keep in mind, however, these companies have multi-million-dollar budgets for marketing and hire marketing firms that charge just as much to hire them. With this type of money being thrown around, surely they’ll be able to find the right talent to help them crack the code for the perfect “Anti-Amazon Prime Day” Campaign. Target has already done so. Finding the right talent will lead to the right ideas. It’s ideas that drive the marketing. The marketing is what makes the difference between a successful sale or not. Sadly, it’s not how good the product is, it’s how well it’s sold. For example; the Pet Rock. It’s a dumb idea to put a rock in a box and call it a pet. The marketing is what set that apart and made it a success.

Next Year’s Amazon Prime Day

With this year such a success, you can bet money that Amazon will work harder to make next year’s even bigger. Of course, they’ll need to do a better job of preparing for such an extreme turn out of visitors. To avoid such a series of glitches, they’ll need more than one fall back plan. Dogs may have been cute, but it’ll only work for so long. Another tactic Amazon can use is to coordinate the launch of a new season of one of their hit shows. Or a new show with a lot of hype. Sure there’ll be traffic for the site, but isn’t that the point? Better to prepare now for it and start building up hype while the buzz of this year’s Prime Day is still fresh in the mind.

Make the Most of Amazon

While there may have been problems with Amazon on Prime Day, make sure your home network and connection are secure. This way it’ll be Amazon’s fault entirely. Search for the best Spectrum cable and internet in your area. Condense all those charges into one, smaller, bill. You’ll save money, the headache, and be able to show quickly online. And you’ll be ready for next year’s Amazon Prime Day and Anti-Prime Day deals and discounts.

2 Million Reasons Netflix May Be Losing Their Edge

Netflix has spent over $8,000,000,000 (that’s billion with a B),racked up 112 Emmy Nominations…but they may be losing their edge.

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2 Million Reasons Netflix May Be Losing Their Edge
Netflix has spent over $8,000,000,000 (that’s billion with a B), racked up 112 Emmy Nominations…but they may be losing their edge. Despite their big push in creating original content and knocking HBO off their throne, they’ve missed their forecast of new subscribers for the second quarter of 2018, by 2 million. This has happened three times in the past ten years, so it’s not as shocking as one would think. Of course, Netflix’s stock dropped more than 14% in response to this. And now executives for Netflix, as well as outside business analysts, are asking why this happened.

Whose Fault Is It?

The blame, according to executives, lies on poor internal forecasting…and not the recent hike in prices for new and veteran subscribers. Forecasting is, at best, a guess. Meteorologists for the local news are guessing every day that the weather will turn out a certain way. There’s sophisticated technology, models, and years of training that go into it. Underneath it all, however, they are still guessing. Analysts in the world of business and finance are making a prediction when they forecast the future. And if we know anything about the future, we know it’s going to be wildly different than what we assume it will be. To blame a miss of 2 million subscribers on poor internal forecasting is a little short-sighted. Because when the weather turns, do you go after your local meteorologist?

What Can They Do About It?

While Netflix didn’t gain those 2 million new subscribers, there hasn’t been any news that they’ve lost any either. Netflix retains its current subscriber base of 130 million globally. They’re still a powerhouse to deal with and after besting HBO in Emmy Nominations, they’ve done well in positioning themselves to finish strong for 2018. Now, HBO is working on reclaiming that dominance and has already laid out their first weapon; Joss Whedon. On July 16th, it was announced that Whedon’s new show, The Nevers, will be on HBO. The network beat out Netflix in a bidding war to get the show and ordered the series directly…without ever seeing a pilot. HBO is taking the smart path by focusing on new content. Netflix can do the same by doubling-down on their content. By keeping their subscribers satisfied with their shows, the streaming giant can still grow their subscribers organically. Because a satisfied viewer is likely to recommend the show to their friends. For Netflix to artificially raise their number of subscribers, they should set their sites a little more realistically.

Think Strategically

Without those 2 million subscribers, the streaming giant will lose a little bit of momentum. Not a lot, just a little. There’s no harm in being cautious though, as the executives at Netflix have a right to be. What they can do is get ready for awards season. Netflix can continue to campaign for their shows that helped them get those 112 Emmy nominations. They’re in a good spot to walk home with the most wins this year and deal an even bigger blow to their biggest competitor, HBO. There’s also the Golden Globes coming up. These awards shows seem to mirror each other when it comes to nominations, so don’t be surprised if Netflix beats out HBO for Golden Globes as well. Netflix should keep on campaigning like they normally do.

The Forecast for Netflix

So long as Netflix doesn’t panic or commit a knee-jerk reaction, they’ll be fine. History is rife with companies, and people, who reacted to something small and created a big problem. Just think of The Pig War. In 1859, a single hog was caught rooting in a farmer’s potatoes. To save his potatoes, the farmer, an American, shot the hog, owned by a British man. Tensions rose when one accused the other of foul play. Soon the hog’s death became an act of aggression by Americans’ towards the British. US soldiers were sent to the island, British Navy ships were sent to bolster the British merchants there. All because a hog got out and ate a few potatoes. The executives of Netflix just need to keep their cool. Things like this can happen and it’s important to remember that this was based on forecasted data. One shouldn’t invest too much in the predictions of the future from a single source. What Netflix should be interested in is HBO’s plan to reclaim their throne. As the networks continue to battle it out, their main weapons will be content- shows. The harder they work to beat the other, the better the shows will be. If this turns out to not be the case, then someone else will swoop in and claim dominance. Be it Netflix, HBO, Amazon, or someone else, make sure you don’t miss your favorite shows by checking out the best Spectrum internet deals. You can also save yourself some money in the process!

HBO's One New Weapon: Joss Whedon

In recent posts,HBO has been dealing with bad news. It may have found their one weapon in the coming retaliation against Netflix. His name is Joss Whedon.

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HBO's One New Weapon: Joss Whedon
Previous posts, like this one and this one, have been detailing HBO’s current woes and challenges as they navigate their new world that’s post-merger, and post Netflix. And yet, HBO keeps on surprising. As of Friday, Joss Whedon’s newest show, The Nevers, will be on HBO. This may be their edge in the upcoming retaliation for Netflix edging them out in the count for Emmy Nominations.

Where’s Whedon Been?

Joss Whedon, for those who haven’t been paying attention, has been behind some of the biggest entertainment hits in recent history. He had humble beginnings writing for a few sitcoms in the late eighties and early nineties. His first big-screen writing credit is Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. This cult hist spawned a TV show of the same name and a spinoff series, Angel. From there, Whedon had a string of shows that lasted one, maybe two, seasons before the brilliant minds in Hollywood decided to pull the plug. The most famous of these was Firefly. Executive meddling got int he way of its greatness and the sci-fi western floundered. When it ended a fan writing campaign was enough to get a movie made—Serenity. If you want to see a younger Nathan Fillion in an iconic role, as well as lead an amazing cast of characters and actors at their best then watch Firefly. Other, lesser-known but equally entertaining shows that Whedon created were Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog. Well worth your time. Luckily, Whedon’s writing and directing skills didn’t end there as he was tapped to helm the first two Avengers movies. These cornerstones of the Marvel Cinematic Universe grossed big in the box office and put Whedon up there, where he belongs, next to other great names in screenwriting and directing. He also created and produced the ABC Studios Agents of Shields, a weekly drama that tied together the various parts, introduced minor characters, kept the hype of the MCU going. Unfortunately, the stress of working within a complicated universe, and probably some executive meddling again, cause Whedon to go on hiatus. He didn’t disappear entirely, he just took some time off and wasn’t seen for a little bit. DC, finally making a smart move, hired him to help write the screenplay for the first Justice League movie. Now if DC could just get a coherent continuity going, they may just be able to contend with Marvel!

Back to Whedon

He is most well-known for his campy sci-fi and fantasy shows, as well as his involvement in The Avengers powerhouse. That’s not all he’s done though. There’s plenty of movies to his name, but his best writing work is by far is The Cabin in The Woods. Bradley Whitford, Richard Jenkins, and a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth show us their acting chops thanks to the superb script penned by Whedon and Drew Goddard. If you’re looking for both clever humor and truly thrilling horror, this movie delivers. It’s also one of those rare gems that you wish they could make a sequel out of but know that it would be impossible to do. Just watch the movie, trust me, you’ll understand.

What’s Whedon Doing Now?

Thanks to his name carrying clout, when Whedon expressed interest in shopping around a new show, a bidding war erupted. HBO won that war, bringing Whedon to their network and quite possibly putting the odds in their favor again as they combat Netflix and Amazon. The Nevers, described as “an epic science-fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world,” was greenlit before a pilot was very written. That’s just the kind of clout that Whedon carries these days. While we only have this short description to go on, we know a lot about Whedon’s style based on his previous shows and movies. First, we know he’s a master story-teller and will take his time to build the story. For those who keep with him, the ending is a sweet reward. Everyone else has to play catchup. Second, Whedon was able to create a vast and rich universe on very little money. Imagine what he could do with HBO backing him? Third, there are great actors, and then there are great writers who push great actors to another level. Nathan Fillion is a great actor. It's a true treat to watch him play the role of Captain Malcolm Reynolds. It's what has set him apart from the rest. One last thing- Whedon’s storytelling isn’t the same as the rest. While HBO is known for their gritty violence and blatant sexuality, Whedon will likely chart his own course. There’s no stopping him now that he’s on HBO. Whedon's a different creator though. He could decide that his story doesn’t need that to win our hearts and capture our imaginations. Aa Captain Reynolds says, “I aim to misbehave.”

How Long Do We Have to Wait?

As of this writing, the premiere date of The Nevers is unknown. Until then we’ll have to make do with reruns of Firefly, Agents of Shield, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Depending on your service provider, you can get access to all these titles and more. If not, make sure to check out the best Spectrum cable internet. You’ll be able to bundle both cable and internet. You'll also lower your bills while getting your mind blown by the cinematic mastery of Joss Whedon.   “I Think I can get it to go down.” “Do we want to go down?”

3 Things to Know about the Peak TV Era

The Era of Peak TV is still going strong. Take full advantage of the deluge of prime entertainment with this knowledge and a hidden tip!

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3 Things to Know about the Peak TV Era
The Era of Peak TV is still going strong. First, it was broadcast channels, and it was not enough. Then came cable television, and it was better, but not still not enough. Now we have streaming networks, internet TV, and more ways to get new and scripted shows. In 2015, the head of FX, John Landgraf, dubbed this the Era of “Peak TV.” Not just TV, but the abundance of scripted shows. And Landgraf warned that if there were more than 500 that would be “the peak.” After that, there would be too many scripted TV shows to go around. Too many options of what to watch. As a result, the bubble would burst and we’d see a sharp decline in scripted television. By some counts, there are more than 500 scripted shows on television right now. We’ve passed Landgraf’s limit. So…what happens now? While some networks, like Freeform and MTV, have switched from scripted programs to reality, the trend hasn’t quite caught on. Networks and streaming services, the most obvious being Netflix, are still churning out new shows. And while viewers can take advantage of this with Spectrum internet bundle deals to make the most of cable and internet, the bubble still appears intact. With no end in sight, the Era of Peak TV marches on. But what does that really mean?

The Good

As stated previously, there is an abundance, a plethora, a deluge of scripted television to watch. Either broadcast, cable, or streaming, there is something that is bound to catch your attention and draw you in. Gone are the days when you had to wait for the show to air on it’s selected channel and night. And worse than that, if you couldn’t watch it, you had to set the timer on your VCR to record it and hope that a power outage wouldn’t screw that up. Now we are blessed with DVR, on-demand, and best of all, streaming. Thanks to these services, creators have produced more shows to fill the demand. Or was it the other way around? Whichever came first, the point is that the ability to watch a show when you want necessitates an excess of television. To meet that need, big names like Judd Apatow and Shonda Rhimes have been wooed to subscriber-based television to produce shows that a dedicated audience will pay for. If they watch everyone single one of them or not at all, it doesn’t matter. These services have provided a better outlet for producers and writers to create the shows they want to create.

The Bad

The downside of this abundance is the quality of the shows being produced. With any group, no matter how big or small, there will be top performers and bottom performers. When there were few shows, the bad ones were easily weeded out and replaced with ones that might do better. Now, with the 500+ shows available, that means there will be a lot of bad ones out there. Since those shows are already paid for, you might end up wasting your money on them. Another facet of this is that the scriptwriters are the ones who are apparently suffering. Since more shows are being created, they tend to come in smaller packages. The old 22-episode seasons of a sitcom or drama is not the typical format you’d find these days. Instead, we’re seeing eight, ten, thirteen-episode seasons. A writer will usually be paid by the show or for a set number of episodes. If there are fewer episodes, that means a smaller paycheck. The simple answer would be to just write for more shows, but that will lead to burn out and a decrease in quality. This ties back to the previous item of bad shows being produced. One last thing- option overload. With so many shows available it’s hard to decide on which show to watch. Some nights you might find yourself debating which show to watch and end up not watching anything.

When Will It End?

We may have passed Landgraf’s omen of 500 shows, but there’s no telling how long it will last. 500 shows this year could mean little. Next year there might be 550, and the year after that 600. Maybe then we’ll find out if the bubble will pop. Another possibility is that we may hover around 500 for a few years and then see the bubble pop. There’s no way of telling. Having access to nearly 500 shows isn’t a bad thing. We get to see a wealth of stories and expand our creativity more. Another downside is the price that all this entails: To get access to this wealth of engaging stories means having to pay for more than one subscription. This is on top of already paying for cable and internet. So then why not pay less for both? Save yourself some money while you download the latest episode by checking out internet bundle deals. Switch your provider or plan, and you’ll be in the best spot to enjoy all the Era of Peak TV has to offer.

3 Things HBO is Aware of And What They Can Do

In this follow-up to last week's post on HBO,new news has shifted how HBO should approach the ever-changing landscape of television entertainment.

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3 Things HBO is Aware of And What They Can Do
Last week this post on our blog, HBO Should Look Forward to Childbirth, detailed a big change for HBO: How the media giant should approach John Stankey’s charge to create more and broader content to compete with Netflix. Then more news came out that will provoke even more change for the Home Box Office network.

#1 The Justice Department Has Appealed

The Justice Department decided to appeal the merger, as it’s entirely within their right to do so, and go with a decision made by a lower court. An appeal like this doesn’t completely nullify the merger, but it does make it uncertain as to whether HBO will still answer to AT&T, and by extension, John Stankey. The point made in the last post may end up being moot if the Justice Department succeeds in canceling the merger. This doesn’t mean HBO will be free and clear to keep doing what it’s doing.

#2 Netflix Has More Nominations

The Television Academy, The National Academy of Arts & Sciences, and International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences all get together once a year and decide which content on TV is the best. This is commonly known as The Emmys. Last year, in 2017, HBO had a success rate of 26%, the highest of all the other networks and streaming services. This year, however, it looks as though their dominance has ended. Maybe not ended completely but shifted ever so slightly downwards. Netflix has garnered 112 nominations to Home Box Office’s 108. The winners will not be announced until September, so HBO still has a chance to snag more wins. The number's don't look promising fur HBO. Yet, surprises can always be counted on.

#3 HBO Has to Start Thinking Differently

With or without AT&T and Stankey, HBO must think differently. A wise man once said; “The worst place to be is the same place that you’ve always been.” If HBO continues to operate the same they’ve been for the last five years, then it will be the beginning of the end for them. On the other hand, this year may be just an off-year for HBO, it happens.

What Home Box Office Can Do About It

Richard Plepler, the CEO of Home Box Office, is likely thinking strategy right now. Netflix, though newer, has finally beaten them when it comes to awards. And being the leading provider of choice, Netflix appears to be chipping away at HBO’s throne. They’ve done this through investing a lot, to the tune of $8 Billion, and heavily campaigning for Emmy Nominations. HBO also campaigned. Given the number of nominations though, they didn’t seem to do as well this year as in previous years. Plepler could shrug it off as an off-year and double-down on better entertainment and campaign harder for next year—or—he could think of a new strategy. The new strategy need not be earth-shattering. He doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel after all. But he does need to take this new news seriously. Whether Stankey is going to remain his new boss or not seems largely irrelevant at this point.

The Real Question

How will HBO change their game? It may be as simple as launching a new show that appeals to a wider audience. It could also involve charting a new course for the content provider. Or somewhere in between. The first strategy requires them to put a lot of pressure on just one show. This has worked for other networks in the past. It's also failed and caused networks to go into a massive downturn. The second strategy, though necessary, is not without its risks. For HBO to try a new direction, they must first deal with entrenched ideas that have led to their success already. The old adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” will get mentioned along the way, but it won't apply here. The network is not broken, but they run the risk of becoming that way by shrugging off Netflix and refuse to change their approach to entertainment. The last strategy is a little bit more sound and spreads out the risk. As previously mentioned in the last post, they could tap into different bestsellers and create content that’s not chockfull of nudity and violence. They can still make those type of shows but round out their schedule with more offerings. There are other ideas for how HBO can compete. But they would fill up a book, so we won’t get into them here. But know that HBO has a chance to surprise us in the coming years as they seek to compete against streaming services. HBO could also disappoint, but given how long they've been around, that shouldn’t happen. HBO has earned recognition for its creativity and bold stories. Viewers will never stop wanting that. The trick is figuring out how their preferences are changing and to adapt. And if they can adapt to that, then Netflix, Amazon- or any other content provider- will get left behind. That’s the true goal Plepler needs to keep in mind.
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