MSG Chair and Cablevision CEO James Dolan yesterday said that with more OTT services available, the traditional video-programming bundle "might start to crumble," according to CABLEFAX DAILY. Dolan said, "The one thing that we see as being inevitable, is a reduction in the number of customers that take the big bundle. ... That is going to have an impact on the programmers. How much of an impact? My own personal guess is somewhere around 20% to 25% over the next five years." CABFLEFAX notes that is "likely to hurt small programmers that have survived largely because they are part of a larger programming package." Dolan: "If you're a channel that is not highly viewed, that is extremely niche, you are going to have a hard time because you've been living off that ecosystem, where everybody takes the bundle. ... If you don't have a corresponding audience that goes along with that, then you're not essential anymore" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 6/17). Dolan said that customers over the next five years will "augment their lineups with a la carte options like HBO Now and CBS All Access" (N.Y. POST, 6/17).
