In Q1 2023, PARQOR will be focusing on four trends. This essay focuses on the trend, "Media companies have millions of consumer credit cards on file. What happens next?”

I returned from Munich on Saturday. At DLD I had the privilege to present to trainees at Hubert Burda Media on PARQOR’s key trends for Q1 2023 (and the theme of this essay): “Media companies have millions of consumer credit cards on file. What happens next?”

A question emerged in preparation for that presentation: if the flywheel model is the obvious solution with millions of consumer credit cards on file, then why don’t we see more media CEOs announcing plans for flywheels built around their streaming services?

Ryan Faughnder of The Los Angeles Times asked two years ago why media companies *were* pursuing the flywheel model back in 2021. He interviewed business consultant and researcher Jim Collins, who coined the term in his 2001 book “Good to Great”. Collins argued “the idea, in essence, is to set up a virtuous cycle” that has the logic of momentum, and “fanbases grow as a result”. But, now they seem less likely to be.

Key Takeaway

In an ideal world, every media company with a streaming service is now building out flywheels. But that’s not happening, as Paramount Global and Taylor Sheridan’s "Yellowstone" universe reflect. 

Total words: 1,300

Total time reading: 5 minutes