IS ONLINE VIDEO CANNIBALIZING CABLE TV?

Online video sites like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and iTunes that offer older TV episodes — including whole seasons of some series — are likely hurting cable TV channels that also offer some of the same shows, according to Anthony DiClemente, media analyst at Barclays Capital. MediaPost‘s MediaDailyNews.com quoted a note to clients from DiClemente in which he noted that a number of major cable networks had seen ratings declines. “We believe most of the ratings weakness is concentrated in syndicated and rerun programming, a genre that now has more direct competition from online platforms,” he wrote. His advice: that cable networks focus on live sports and original programming. Among the losers: “AMC networks, down 13 percent from a year ago; Viacom networks down 10 percent; NBCUniversal networks, down 10 percent; Time Warner networks, off 5 percent; Disney channels, flat. DiClemente did note one exception to the general declining or flat audience numbers at the cable nets: Discovery channels, which posted ratings growth of 16 percent in the second quarter.