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entertainment media/telecom

Monday AM Briefing: Don't count Nielsen out of the future for Connected TV

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 20, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

In Netflix, Disney+ & HBO Max face the question, "What constitutes an impression?", I wrote “there may be real value in the impressions data from [Connected TV (CTV)] streaming; but, that data will have limited upside without the ability to tie it to individuals within households.”I learned at the Cynopsis Measurement & Data Conference... In Netflix, Disney+ & HBO Max face the question, "What constitutes an impression?", I wrote “...

entertainment media/telecom

Friday Mailing: Netflix's Disney-esque Ambitions May Be Losing to YouTube & TikTok, Too

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 17, 2022 1:10 PM PDT

[Author’s Note: Apologies for this being late. A few last-minute meetings and matters popped up.]Insider reported ($ - paywalled) yesterday that “a series of recent moves in Hollywood signals that streaming's investment in kids content might not be paying off”, and that “Hollywood may be realizing that children's programming is "not a silver... [Author’s Note: Apologies for this being late. A few last-minute meetings and matters popped up.]...

entertainment media/telecom

Member Mailing: Is Apple A Better Partner for Major League Soccer (MLS) Than Legacy Media?

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 15, 2022 10:30 AM PDT

Apple struck an interesting deal with Major League Soccer (MLS), purchasing exclusivity to all global media rights but permitting MLS to negotiate co-broadcasts with major networks for select matches. I think it is worth looking at the deal a little closer after what I wrote in The Tiger Woods Comeback Story vs. Streaming Bundles: “Disney... Apple struck an interesting deal with Major League Soccer (MLS), purchasing exclusivity to all...

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 13, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

entertainment media/telecom

Monday AM Briefing: Bob Chapek, Fiduciary Executive

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 13, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

I was fascinated by the reaction to last week’s announcement that Disney CEO Bob Chapek had fired Peter Rice, its chairman of entertainment and programming. If there was a common theme to the collective reaction, it’s that Chapek had done something wrong at a time when he can seem to do no right.I don’t know if anyone outside the walls of Disney... I was fascinated by the reaction to last week’s announcement that Disney CEO Bob Chapek had fired...

Friday Mailing: Netflix, Disney+ & HBO Max face the question, "What constitutes an impression?"

entertainment media/telecom

Friday Mailing: Netflix, Disney+ & HBO Max face the question, "What constitutes an impression?"

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 10, 2022 11:00 AM PDT

I recently moderated a panel discussion at the 7th Annual Cynopsis Measurement & Data Conference. It included senior executives from Nexstar Digital (below), Innovid’s TVSquared and Vizio, and we discussed who they are seeing winning the ad dollars in OTT/CTV. [1] The organizers recommended I show up earlier to watch previous panels to... I recently moderated a panel discussion at the 7th Annual Cynopsis Measurement & Data...

entertainment media/telecom

Member Mailing: Netflix's Failing Disney Ambitions Invite The Keeper Test for Co-CEOs Hastings & Sarandos

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 8, 2022 10:30 AM PDT

Stratechery’s Ben Thompson had a good interview last week with Michael Nathanson, media analyst and co-founder of MoffettNathanson. I think this interview is particularly valuable for their discussion around how growth will become more expensive for both Disney+ and Netflix. Specifically, the premise is that content investment is a fixed... Stratechery’s Ben Thompson had a good interview last week with Michael Nathanson, media analyst...

Monday AM Briefing: Consumers & CTV Advertisers vs. Publisher "Walled Gardens"

entertainment media/telecom

Monday AM Briefing: Consumers & CTV Advertisers vs. Publisher "Walled Gardens"

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 6, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

Correction: I wrote earlier "That story started with 10MM e-commerce advertisers moving their spend into CTV back in 2017, and with the objective of disrupting these 200 “retail-cartel” advertisers in the U.S. But the growth of CTV spend is now being driven by both sets of advertisers, and that is a story that is also not about advertising." But... Correction: I wrote earlier "That story started with 10MM e-commerce advertisers moving their...

Friday Mailing: $68B in Linear Ad Spend & Netflix, It's Early Days for CDPs in Media

Friday Mailing: $68B in Linear Ad Spend & Netflix, It's Early Days for CDPs in Media

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 3, 2022 11:00 AM PDT

Friday Mailing: $68B in Linear Ad Spend & Netflix, It's Early Days for CDPs in Media

entertainment media/telecom

Friday Mailing: $68B in Linear Ad Spend & Netflix, It's Early Days for CDPs in Media

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 3, 2022 11:00 AM PDT

Once one sees the world as a split between the demand-side between the 200 “retail-cartel” advertisers and the 10MM e-commerce brands who advertise on Google and Facebook, it becomes hard to see things the same way again. This week, it was helpful for better understanding the dynamics around “retail-cartel” demand Netflix’s ad inventory,... Once one sees the world as a split between the demand-side between the 200 “retail-cartel”...

Member Mailing: The Core Tension/Weird Dance At Upfronts for Connected TV (CTV) Dollars

entertainment media/telecom

Member Mailing: The Core Tension/Weird Dance At Upfronts for Connected TV (CTV) Dollars

By Andrew A. Rosen · June 1, 2022 10:30 AM PDT

There is a slide in The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Brand Disruption 2022 presentation that nicely summarizes the demand side of the upfronts. The upfronts have historically offered a fixed supply of linear inventory to a fixed demand of buyers: 200 “retail-cartel” advertisers supplying 88% of U.S. network television revenue (the term... There is a slide in The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Brand Disruption 2022 presentation that...

entertainment media/telecom

Monday AM Briefing: Must-Read Memorial Day Week Articles

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 31, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

Due to the holiday weekend, you are receiving the Monday AM Briefing this morning.There will be no essay today as I am currently writing tomorrow's Member Mailing. It's a longer essay on an angle I did not tease out in my recent opinion essay for The Information, The Upfronts Model Isn’t Dead Yet: we spend a lot of time discussing the... Due to the holiday weekend, you are receiving the Monday AM Briefing this morning.There will be...

Friday Mailing: Starz, Walled Gardens & The Road To A Spin-Out

entertainment media/telecom

Friday Mailing: Starz, Walled Gardens & The Road To A Spin-Out

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 27, 2022 10:32 AM PDT

Lionsgate reported its FYQ4 2022 earnings yesterday. Notably, global streaming subscribers were up from 19.7MM in Q3 to 24.5MM. Of those 4.8MM subscribers, 4.3MM were international STARZPLAY subscribers and the rest were implicitly in the U.S. So Starz saw more growth than Netflix in the U.S., which is seeing an increase in churn in the U.S.I... Lionsgate reported its FYQ4 2022 earnings yesterday. Notably, global streaming subscribers were...

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 25, 2022 10:30 AM PDT

entertainment media/telecom

Member Mailing: Applying the Disney Interactive Precedent to Comcast & EA

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 25, 2022 10:30 AM PDT

I have a new opinion piece up on The Information, The Upfronts Model Isn’t Dead Yet.I wrote about how even the networks concede that the upfronts model is essentially obsolete in an increasingly digitized ad marketplace. But presentations and handshake deals still answer questions for advertisers that algorithms cannot.Applying the Disney... I have a new opinion piece up on The Information, The Upfronts Model Isn’t Dead Yet.I wrote about...

entertainment media/telecom

Monday AM Briefing: PARQOR's Quick Take on Berkshire Hathaway's $2.6B investment in Paramount Global

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 23, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

A quick essay on Berkshire Hathaway’s disclosure of a $2.6B investment in Paramount Global for 11% of the company. There is speculation is that the investment is a bet on Paramount getting acquired. But, we have no idea whether that’s true. If we look at Paramount through a superficial financial lens, it is undervalued for a company with a... A quick essay on Berkshire Hathaway’s disclosure of a $2.6B investment in Paramount Global for...

entertainment media/telecom

Friday Mailing: Why Warner Bros. Discovery May See Hollywood's Future Better Than Hollywood

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 20, 2022 10:30 AM PDT

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is the “new media mogul who is tearing up Hollywood”, according to an article this week from The Wall Street Journal's Joe Flint.It’s the latest take on what former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar told The Wrap is “a smaller fish consuming a much larger fish.” And that was effectively the gist of Flint’s... Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is the “new media mogul who is tearing up Hollywood”,...

Member Mailing: Why The Quantity vs. Quality Criticism Misses Netflix's Deeper, More Structural Issues

entertainment media/telecom

Member Mailing: Why The Quantity vs. Quality Criticism Misses Netflix's Deeper, More Structural Issues

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 18, 2022 10:34 AM PDT

“It feels like we’re standing in a crystal clear stream like in A River Runs Through It, and we’re fly fishing, and our neighbor [HBO programing chief] Casey Bloys is up the river, and then somebody comes in with a bag full of hand grenades, pulls the pins, throws them into the river, scoops up all the fish, and then says, ‘We’re better fishers... “It feels like we’re standing in a crystal clear stream like in A River Runs Through It, and we’...

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 16, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

entertainment media/telecom

Monday AM Briefing: This Week's Upfronts vs. The Trade Desk's Vision for Connected TV

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 16, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

If you’re trying to figure out whether the streaming marketplace will figure out ad-supported models, The Trade Desk’s Q1 2022 earnings call is a great place to start. I wrote about it in writing Friday’s essay Marketplace Disconnects Between Disney+ With Ads & Advertiser Demand.Read the opening monologue from CEO Jeff Green on how Q1 2022... If you’re trying to figure out whether the streaming marketplace will figure out ad-supported...

Friday Mailing: Marketplace Disconnects Between Disney+ With Ads & Advertiser Demand

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 13, 2022 11:00 AM PDT

If the buzz around advertising in streaming has been sounding unusually bullish lately, blame Upfronts. They start next Monday and aim to meet or pass the “robust demand” witnessed in the 2021 Upfronts.CEO Bob Chapek told investors on the FY Q2 2022 earnings call that advertisers have asked for a Disney+ ad tier “for years”, and added, “Our... If the buzz around advertising in streaming has been sounding unusually bullish lately, blame...

entertainment media/telecom

Member Mailing: Streamers Hit a Dead-End (Macro) & Consumers Hit Dead-Ends In Streaming (Micro)

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 11, 2022 10:30 AM PDT

“Well, it’s a bitch,” Netflix Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Reed Hastings said of the results while addressing employees in a town hall on Wednesday afternoon, according to people familiar with his remarks.One could look at all this market chaos and its disproportionate impact on media companies - if not Netflix in particular (the quote,... “Well, it’s a bitch,” Netflix Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Reed Hastings said of the results...

entertainment media/telecom

Monday AM Briefing: Everything Old is New Again in Upfronts & Newfronts

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 9, 2022 3:30 AM PDT

When former AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan stepped down last August (and into an Executive Chairman role), I wrote A Short Essay on The Dolan Family & AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan's Resignation (NOTE: on Substack archive). I wondered whether the resignation “was the result of the Dolan family doing the math and realizing that there will be... When former AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan stepped down last August (and into an Executive Chairman...

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 6, 2022 11:12 AM PDT

entertainment media/telecom

Friday Mailing: Disney & Netflix Solve For Password Sharing With Distinctly Different Objectives

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 6, 2022 11:12 AM PDT

Protocol reported yesterday:Following Netflix’s announcement that it wants to monetize the long-tolerated practice of people sharing their passwords, it looks like Disney+ may be getting ready to do the same.Disney recently sent out a questionnaire to subscribers in Spain, asking them why they are sharing their Disney+ passwords with people... Protocol reported yesterday:Following Netflix’s announcement that it wants to monetize the...