At today’s Disney Investor Day, the focus is once again on streaming and how fast Disney is pivoting away from both the legacy multichannel universe and the longstanding movie industry sequential release windows. Here are the eight things we expect to see today: 1. End of Iger/Horn Era. We expect the Investor Day to serve…
“Denial is the most predictable of all human responses.” The Matrix Reloaded, Warner Bros, 2003 When we laid out our thoughts on Warner Bros’ decision to release Wonder Woman 1984 simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, Jason Kilar’s Wonder Woman Memo and the Future of the Film Industry, we had no idea it would…
No industry has been more affected by COVID-19 than live events. Which is to say, Live Nation has not had a business for the past eight months. They have simply been in the business of survival. To that end, the company has made it work by fortifying its balance sheet with $1.6bn of fresh debt…
It’s Black Friday, 2020. At the start of the year, many thought the United States would be in the middle of a fierce 5G market share battle by this point in the year. Some even thought that it might deliver a new super-cycle for Apple. The Covid pandemic and the thinly built initial 5G networks…
We have been advocating for studios with direct-to-consumer streaming platforms to use their best content (tentpole feature films) to drive SVOD — going “all-in” versus simply talking about embracing streaming. While PVOD is a step in the right direction, the evidence shows it only works for smaller films, with Trolls being a success and Mulan…
When Paul Kirby from TR Daily broke the news yesterday morning that the FCC had finally made a ruling on the Dish Designated Entities, we thought the implications would have been obvious. Perhaps we have been too in the weeds on this topic over the past five years. The subsequent press coverage has clearly missed…
We have always questioned the logic of vertical integration of content and distribution in media. History has supported our skepticism. AOL Time Warner created a lot of investment banking fees, but destroyed shareholder value. Time Warner was not helped by owning Time Warner Cable, nor did News Corp benefit from its ownership of DirecTV. There…
The “streaming wars” between an ever increasing array of direct-to-consumer streaming services (Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, CBS All Access, Peacock, Starz, Showtime, Pluto, Tubi, Roku Channel, Xumo, etc.), remain top of mind for investors. However, we remain far more focused on another set of streaming wars between TV OS platforms/devices…
Heading into Disney’s fiscal September Q4 2020 earnings tonight, we have 10 key investor questions. The overwhelming investor focus remains on Disney’s transition to streaming, the company’s level of commitment and the actions it is taking to get there heading into a December 10th Investor Day. 1. Did the Reorg Empower Creatives or Strip Power…
Very few companies are able to re-capture growth once technology changes their future. The ones that have been able to reverse their fortunes have had to make hard decisions to pivot from their core. Apple has done it multiple times. When Steve Jobs returned and the iPod changed the direction of the company, they went…
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