This Week in #TVNews: the Emmys, Fire TV Recast and OTT Revenue

At Cadent, we love TV. We’re big believers in the “lean-back” experience of television – taking in high-quality storytelling for an hour with minimal distractions and a big bowl of popcorn. As such, we’re always looking for information on exciting projects and relevant industry news.

Here are the TV trends we’re focused on this week, from an awards show to Jordan Peele’s revival of a TV classic. 

1. The Emmys served some highs and lows. Viewership for the event went down 11% in the past two years, according to Nielsen data, with this year’s show garnering a little more than 10M viewers. (It hasn’t been a banner year for awards shows; the Oscars attracted 27M viewers this year, a fifth less than last year.) Still, the Emmys delivered some great live TV moments, including a marriage proposal. And, maybe more importantly, Leslie Jones’ reaction to the marriage proposal.
2. ESPN + hits the one million subscriber mark. The streaming service just reached a paid subscriber milestone, a big win in light of industry challenges like cord cutting and competition for game-airing rights from social giants.
3. Amazon launched Fire TV Recast, a DVR that wirelessly pairs with a TV antenna to show over-the-air television on an Echo Show or a Fire TV. Users can record 2-4 shows simultaneously and stream content on multiple devices. Amazon launched 13 devices at their event, including an Alexa-connected microwave. 
4. Jordan Peele’s next project is out of this world. Peele will produce, host and narrate a reboot of “The Twilight Zone.” The show will appear on CBS All Access, the network’s on-demand streaming platform.
5. OTT ad revenue is up 40% over last year. Over-the-top ad dollars will reach $2B this year, according to a Magna report. Addressable TV spending will reach $800M this year, as marketers start shifting more budget to finding the audiences relevant to them on TV.

Check back next week for more highlights.