TDG: NBCU, Fox & Disney Are Favorite Network Groups for Skinny Bundles

NCBU, Fox and Disney/ABC rank as the most desired channel groups in a new survey from The Diffusion Group (TDG).

TDG recently surveyed 2,030 consumers as to the five network families they’d prefer to have included in a skinny TV plan. The “big four” broadcast network groups occupy four of the top five spots, led by NCBU (48 percent), followed by Fox (41 percent), Disney/ABC (41 percent) and CBS (38 percent). Turner networks also had 38 percent.

“Live Big-4 broadcast viewing is diminishing, as with virtually every major network,” said Michael Greeson, Director of Research at TDG. “This should not imply, however, that their death as brands or as major forces in consumer video is inevitable. The value of their content is immense; top of mind for many viewers.”

The ESPN family failed to rank in the top 10, suggesting that Disney’s decision to make ESPN Plus a premium add-on to its linear ESPN channel may have been a wise move. “Many expected ESPN Plus to be the online equivalent of ESPN, but Disney decided that the risk of cannibalizing high-value linear pay-TV subscriptions would create substantial channel conflict and hasten the declines in pay-TV subscriptions. This risk is inherent in the DTC model and must be addressed group by group, even channel by channel.”

A&E was selected as top five by 37 percent of connected consumers, AMC by 28 percent, Viacom by 24 percent and Scripps by 21 percent.