The Dan Rayburn Podcast

This week, we separate facts from opinions on the news that Fox Corporation has agreed to acquire Roku. We break down all the numbers, the impact on Tubi and The Roku Channel, Roku's hardware business, and all the other details you need to know. We also cover World Cup TV and streaming viewership stats released by Fox Sports, ITV, NBC Sports, STV, and others. We detail the revenue and profit numbers from Bending Spoons' SEC filing,...

Sports streaming is kind of a big deal. So, Eric Black and I have teamed up to record a new monthly podcast breaking down the Business and Technology of Sports Streaming. Giving listeners insight into the latest content deals, viewership numbers, user experiences and technical workflows, without any hype.

In episode one, Eric and I talk about the World Cup's streaming quality, latency, piracy, free trials across OTT services...

This week, special guest Eric Black and I discuss the upcoming World Cup, detailing streaming and pay TV viewership numbers from the 2022 event and what to expect this year. We also discuss the MLS game that used Apple iPhones for video capture, noting that they were used only as camera sensors and image processors. We review the NFL's 2026-2027 schedule, calling out the newly announced exclusive games on Netflix and Peacock and de...

This week, we discuss a wild week in infrastructure news, with Akamai, Fastly and Cloudflare reporting earnings, sending all three companies' stock up or down by at least 30%. We detail Cloudflare's announcement that it will lay off over 1,100 employees, Akamai's new $1.8 billion seven-year contract for Cloud Infrastructure Services for AI modeling, and Wall Street's lack of understanding of the CDN business. We highlight reports s...

This week, we detail the numbers you need to know from Q1 earnings from Roku, which, for the first time, separated out revenue for its advertising and subscription business. We also cover earnings from Comcast, the latest Peacock numbers, cord-cutting at Charter, and the massive capex spend in the quarter from Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, with AWS revenue growth at its fastest in 15 quarters.

We detail YouTube's Q1 revenu...

This week, we recap what we saw and heard at the 2026 NAB Show, covering themes, content, the West Hall exhibit floor, and the speakers at the Streaming Summit. We highlight some of the topics discussed most, including sports, workflow orchestration, MOQ, scaling live events, multiview, UI/UX, and how AI tech is being implemented into the video stack. I also cover what I want to improve at the Streaming Summit next year, what exhib...

This week, we detail YouTube's upcoming price increase across all U.S. YouTube Premium plans, Sling TV's new $20 monthly plan that includes ESPN, and FOX's announcement that it will shut down the Fox Sports app for smart TVs and connected devices. We also discuss Fubo's newly released set of long-term financial targets, which projects positive free cash flow by fiscal 2027, and why the news that the DOJ is exploring whether the NFL...

This week, we detail viewership numbers from Netflix, NBC Sports and Peacock for MLB's opening week, highlighting the multiple issues with how the data is collected and presented, leading to impossible comparisons. We also discuss OpenAI's hiring of Indian streaming giant JioStar to lead its Asia-Pacific operations and news that Main Street Sports Group lenders have formally signed paperwork to close the business after the first ro...

This week, special guest Eric Black and I discuss Netflix's opening-night MLB stream, which received many negative reviews for its production, relentless, intrusive promotions and poor video quality. We also discuss Netflix's price increases across all its packages and the 18.4 million global viewers who watched the BTS concert live stream. We also highlight the launch of HBO Max in the UK and Ireland, the launch in 12 new markets ...

This week, we discuss JioHotstar's recent live stream of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which set a global streaming record with a peak of 72.5 million concurrent viewers. We detail some of the tech specs from the event, including the split between mobile and TV viewing and the rebuffer rate. We cover EverPass Media's news that it will be the exclusive commercial option for the NFL Sunday Ticket package this season, with DIRECTV...

This week, we discuss reports that the NFL has begun renegotiating its $110 billion in domestic broadcast agreements ahead of the 2026 season, seeking a 50% increase with some broadcasters, if accurate. We also explain why it's gotten so hard to compare big live streaming events to one another when viewership numbers alone don't provide a clear picture. We use NBCU as an example: it released a rebuffer rate for the Super Bowl strea...

This week, we discuss why a "unified streaming stack" is not the same as combining two streaming services, despite media reports that HBO Max and Paramount+ will merge into a single DTC service shortly. As we break down the latest details of the proposed Paramount and WBD deal, we speculate on the layoff impact across both companies, as Paramount tells bankers it expects to see billions in cost savings while telling employees the s...

This week, we discuss the latest Olympics viewership numbers on Peacock and debate whether Peacock's offer to give me a 72% discount on the service for six months to keep me as a subscriber is beneficial to the company's long-term viability. We cover the latest Apple TV news, including MLS, which kicked off the season this week; Apple's launch of its new dedicated Formula 1 channel in the Apple TV app; and the news that IMAX will s...

This week, I discuss my review of Peacock's Super Bowl stream, which was executed flawlessly, along with some of the limited viewership numbers released to date. I also detail the new live TV bundles from YouTube TV, the launch of HBO Max in the UK and Ireland and a new bundle from Sky that includes Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and Hayu. I cover earnings results from Roku (full-year revenue up 15%), AMC Networks (AMC+ price increase)...

Filippo Maria De Salazar, General Manager of the Brightcove business, sat down with me for a detailed conversation on the state of the business, one year after the Bending Spoons acquisition. Filippo discusses Brightcove's size, its structure under the Bending Spoons umbrella, and the benefits Brightcove derives from being part of a larger software and engineering company. 

We also discuss Brightcove's business, includi...

This week, I detail the numbers you should know from Q4 2025 earnings results from Netflix, Amazon, Fubo, FOX, YouTube, Comcast, and Disney. I cover subscriber additions, profit and loss, Fubo's plans for a reverse stock split, the latest on its carriage dispute with NBCUniversal, and the latest cord-cutting numbers. With the NFL and ESPN deal now closed, giving Disney control of the NFL Network and other NFL Media assets, I break ...

This week, I detail viewership numbers from Prime Video’s exclusive stream of the NFL Wild Card playoff game, making it the most-streamed NFL game in the U.S., as well as those from Peacock’s exclusive NFL game on December 27th. I also review the latest subscription numbers for RTL+ and TF1+, as well as the recent price increases from Paramount+ and Spotify. Additionally, I discuss the new Amazon content deals with M6 i...

This week, we discuss news that FIFA has partnered with TikTok to allow select media partners to live-stream parts of matches from the FIFA World Cup, with limited details about exactly what that means. We also review the latest viewership numbers for NFL and NBA games across Netflix, Peacock, and Prime Video, while noting that ESPN (Disney), CBS (Paramount), and FOX don't disclose the percentage of NFL regular-season viewership th...

This week, I wrap up the year with a review of NFL streaming during the holiday week across Netflix, Prime Video, ESPN and Peacock, with no major QoE issues reported. I also highlight ESPN's data-enhanced MNF telecast, featuring a well-designed stats overlay that was informative and not obtrusive. Finally, I wrap up with a few news items from Amazon, Sling TV, and Netflix, a recap of traffic to my posts, and a thank you to readers ...