On the day Fox announced its agreement with Disney, Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch appeared on the BBC and was asked if this was a “retreat” by Murdoch, to which he responded “No, pivoting at a pivotal moment” (full interview embedded in our December 2017 blog, link). New Fox is deemphasizing general entertainment programming (the Fox TV studio is being…
Media Industry Backdrop: Cord-cutting and cord-shaving (downsizing to vMVPDs from MVPDs) are now in vogue, with time spent watching linear TV collapsing as consumers shift toward on-demand, ad-free/ad-light IP-delivered. Mobile devices and the key apps we use on them have become far more important in our daily lives than the television. Video game playing (and…
We hit the streets of NYC this morning in our annual pilgrimage to check out the lines for Apple’s latest iPhone launch. As a reminder, line size does not correlate to demand, but it’s fascinating that consumers continue to line up for the iPhone despite the availability of online pre-orders. Overall, the lines were shorter…
Last week, one of the most powerful and thoughtful lawyers in Hollywood, Ken Ziffren, co-Founding Partner of Ziffren Brittenham, wrote a guest column in The Hollywood Reporter entitled: “How Disney’s Netflix Rival Will Actually Work” (if you have not yet read it, do so here: link). Ziffren’s analysis illustrates how Disney is not going all-in on streaming…
Broader product lines for the iPhone and Apple Watch should help Apple continue its ability to grow revenue in 2019. We reviewed some highlights and also delved into the specification sheets to determine which wireless (and now cable) operators got the spectrum bands they wanted.
We have been Neutral rated on Snapchat ever since we initiated on SNAP following its March 2017 IPO (link to April 2017 initiation). We incorrectly stuck to our Neutral rating in October 2017 (link) due to our view that communications apps were sticky and would protect Snapchat engagement, with management simply needing more time to figure out monetization. …
Following Apple’s official iPhone announcements later today, we will turn our attention to the promotional activities of wireless operators. In the United States, the wireless operator is still the primary distribution channel for the iPhone and their upgrade policies and promotions can have a notable impact on the length of the replacement cycle of a…
Apple’s annual iPhone event is scheduled for 1PM ET tomorrow at the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple’s Cupertino campus. This is obviously an important day as the iPhone still represents ~60% of Apple’s total revenue. Apple is also expected to update other product categories, most notably the Watch, which has been a steady and under-rated…
There are numerous news stories out this evening tied to Les Moonves, former Chairman and CEO of CBS leaving the company (link to press release), with varying degrees of accuracy. Thus we thought it helpful to outline some of what we see as incorrect or misperceptions in many of the articles. Management: We believe acting CBS…
In our August 15th blog (link), we detailed why CBS Chairman and CEO, Les Moonves, and the CBS Board of Directors were in a no-win situation in their battle with controlling shareholder National Amusements, no different than the situation faced by Viacom Chairman and CEO, Philippe Dauman, and the Viacom Board of Directors back in…
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