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Stan better option than CBS All Access?

With their cosy deal with CBS-owned Showtime, could Stan be a better entry to streaming than CBS All Access?

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CBS partnering with Stan is a better entry into the local streaming market than launching CBS All Access, according to Credit Suisse analyst Fraser McLeish.

The US network has flagged launching its own streaming service after taking over TEN -but McLeish told the Australian Financial Review most of the CBS content is already tied up with Australian partners including TEN, Nine, Seven and Netflix.

“We believe that once CBS takes full ownership of TEN and starts to consider its streaming options, there is a reasonable chance that it may look to acquire a stake in Stan. Stan owns the rights to CBS’ key Showtime content and the two companies already have close ties,” he said.

“We believe that having CBS as an ownership partner would be a major positive for Stan as: 1) Stan would effectively secure the longer term rights for the Showtime brand and content; 2) CBS would be able to bring other content to the platform; 3) CBS would bring marketing power as it could promote Stan using the TEN Network.”

Stan CEO Mike Sneesby said the business remained on track to be cashflow break-even in the second half of 2017-18.

“Zero to $100 million run rate in two years is a great milestone,” he said. “The strategy we’ve had is a consistent road map of strong exclusive programming from Hollywood studios, Showtime and our own original productions. This year we’re sitting at around 35 exclusives and originals.”

9 Responses

  1. What bugs me is the huge amount of content that has no outlet. There’s almost nothing freon the 80s and 90s

    WB, Sony and Fox are criminally under-represented in streaming content

    Where is The X Files, NYPD Blue, Picket Fences, NewsRadio, Ned & Stacey, Married with Children, LA Law, ER (remember how big ER was in this country?!)

    There’s a lot no name cookie cutter new stuff that I couldn’t give two ——‘s about but not a lot of classic television. If anyone wants to former that market I’ll drop Stan in a heartbeat and join them because at this point I’ve seen all of Seinfeld, seen all of Friends, theres a huge under-served segment

  2. Ultimately, if CBS wants to compete against Netflix in OTT in Australia (and the world), it has to bulk up. Getting it’s corporate sibling Viacom on board would be a good start. It may well see some benefit getting Nine and other local partners on board as well. OTT needs long tail material, and CBS could benefit from distributing non-Ten Australian programs in the US and UK.

  3. Stan is already user friendly so CBS could see a partnership with Stan as a potential future contingency for a larger streaming outlet for the Asia- Pacific region. CBS All Access still needs to establish itself in Australia and offer a reasonable amount of attractive content in HD and 4K if it is serious about streaming.

  4. CBS is building a global streaming service to compete with Netflix as hedge against Showtime collapsing in peak TV due to cord cutting. They plan to increase to 6 original series quickly, that’s separate from Showtime and Network content (of course one of them is US Big Brother). This idea is from one merchant banker trying to get media attention. Wait till 2020 and see if Stan does make it’s first dollar since buying exclusive rights to others content is expensive and benefits competitors, and if Fairfax even exists after Domain is hived off. CBS may be able to get its other shows back very cheaply.

  5. Worth looking how CBS have handled the situation overseas: in places where those [don’t / didn’t] operate, much of their content is on Netflix, Amazon, or minor/local services. But CBS AA is fairly (2014) new, recently re-launched as an ‘exclusive’ service, & so far their plan seems to be “launch All Access everywhere; we’ll let existing local deals run out, & from that point on new content will be exclusive”.

    So I don’t expect they’re too interested in buying into Stan, or any other OTT/streaming provider – it’s not their stated or currently-practiced strategy. They want to be a player in their own right & take on Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/etc directly, not a partner. As strategies go, it may not be the most economically-logical – but it’s certainly a bold one for an ‘old media’ player, and definitely interesting…

    1. This. Plus I don’t think Nine would be happy to have them as a partner. I expect that they have a big say regarding any potential buyers, if not an actual veto, if Fairfax wanted to reduce their investment or bail completely. Can’t see CBS being interested in being in bed with Nine, either.

  6. I’d like to see this be a co-venture with Stan, something I never considered until reading this. We have enough entry level subscription services here, and people will not be willing to sign up to them all. What we need is someone like CBS to join Stan, and build a decent service to actually rival Netflix, which will hopefully encourage Netflix Australia to boost the size of their measly and mediocre content.

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