Warner Bros. Discovery is enlisting partners to grow outside the US: The company’s debt is making it turn to Amazon’s Prime Video in France.
Podcast production tones down: Difficulty in finding new shows makes creation a poor use of resources in the slower-growing industry.
Slowing growth forces Beijing to capitulate to Big Tech: Facing the weakest growth in decades, China seeks cooperation with the EU and will loosen its iron grip on tech monoliths to spur the economy.
Cancel culture comes for EVs: The Wyoming state senate’s EV ban proposal targets other states’ gas vehicle bans. It’s a political antic that puts a spotlight on challenges for the EV industry.
Netflix thinks its next big hit will come out of South Korea: Many of its major shows in 2022 came from abroad, and Netflix is trying to expand in Asia-Pacific.
TikTok’s recommendation oversight could usher in a new era for social media: The embattled app promised regulators access to its algorithm, which could mean similar changes for competitors.
After years of growth, esports hits a bump in the road: Competitive gaming leagues are experiencing slower viewer growth and could lose share to metaverse campaigns.
HBO Max is upping prices right before its merger with Discovery+: While it’s peculiar timing, it should allow debt-riddled WBD to invest in user experience.
Netflix’s upfront debut could be bumpy for advertisers: In a significant media power shift, streaming’s upfront takeover could drive CPMs even higher.
TSMC’s strategic expansion: The world’s largest contract chip manufacturer is eyeing expansion into Japan and Europe, a move that could prove useful in any future conflict with China.
The best-laid plans of game publishers could go awry: The gaming industry has big title releases planned at high prices this year. Inflation makes the timing questionable and the quality mandatory.
Netflix may have something to learn from Disney’s video game troubles: Disney turned around a troubled history with carefully selected licensing deals.
DirecTV’s layoffs are a bad sign for pay TV: The long-dominant format is entering a very long goodbye as power shifts toward digital channels.
President Biden urges regulators to move fast on Big Tech reforms: He called for a ban on targeting ads to minors and reforms to the controversial Section 230.
Unprecedented airline outage: A computer outage canceled hundreds and delayed thousands of US flights, exposing the high cost of reliance on outdated technology and overburdened networks.
Inaccurate maps threaten rural states’ broadband funds: Senators reveal 20,000 examples where ISP coverage was overstated in the FCC’s broadband maps.
Streaming’s live sports efforts off to rough start: Despite Amazon’s significant football viewership miss, digital live sports is expected to grow steadily.
Netflix’s latest move means big things for its livestream ambitions: The company will stream the SAG Awards on YouTube this year and on its own platform next year.
Subscription OTT video is chasing linear TV in terms of time spent in the US. We estimate adults still spend significantly more time per day watching TV, but that figure is decreasing and will fall below 3 hours this year. Meanwhile, for subscription OTT video, time spent will surpass an hour and a half per day. But ad spend on these platforms is not proportional to time spent.
VR’s golden age is coming, but not in 2023: Apple’s headset could hit the market this year, but with fierce competition in a down economy, it won’t move the revenue needle.