Week In Review: Disney Plus Rolls Out In Europe, Showtime and Sling Offering Up Free Trials
1. Disney Plus Rolls Out In Europe Disney began its international expansion at what may be an opportune time for them, judging by the 5 million downloads the app got Read More
TV Streaming on the Rise Along with Connected TV Ad Requests During Quarantine
With more U.S. audiences stuck in front of televisions, streaming has increased — as have ad requests, according to Beachfront. Read More
Apple’s TV+ Giveaway Will Be Huge, Skew What Counts As SVOD Success
Apple is giving away a year of free TV+ service for anyone who buys its hardware. That could bring 100 million or more users onto the service, even with conservative math. How do we value those customers versus all the competition? Read More
Apple’s TV+, Arcade Bargains Build Price Pressures For Everyone Else
Apple is offering its SVOD and game-streaming services at bargain prices that will pinch the business models of competitors. And any losses Apple absorbs won’t affect its bottom line like some of those others. Read More
The 360 Deal Comes To Video, And It’s About Time
Want to make money in the increasingly complicated and contested online-video business? Join the club. But increasingly, the way for a video service to survive and thrive involves doing more Read More
These Guys Had A Better Weekend Than Rory McElroy
As investors and brands jump into esports, prize winnings are jumping up. OG, which won Dota 2’s world championship, took home $15.6 million, more than even golfer Rory McElroy’s very big weekend. Read More
Carriers Are Choking Video Speeds, But We Don’t Even Use The Pipe We Pay For
New studies suggest that wireless carriers routinely throttle our video services, but we’re not using all our bandwidth anyway. All the new video services, and the companies talking us into buying faster connections, need to figure out a better pitch if they want our money. Read More
Amazon Ramps Up Originals Ad Spend Ahead Of New Competitors’ Arrivals
Amazon substantially increased advertising spending on its new original shows the first half of 2019, as it tried to pull in consumers before the arrival of several new competitors, a new report found. Read More
Can Socially Minded TV And Films Build Brands Too?
The concept of corporate social responsibility has been around for a couple of decades now, morphing into an increasing willingness by CEOs to take public stands on controversial issues that Read More
Ninja’s Leap To Mixer Scrambles Livestreaming But Don’t Cry For Twitch Just Yet
One of Twitch’s biggest stars, Ninja, surprised the livestreaming industry by jumping to rival Mixer. It could be a big deal for the burgeoning business, but Twitch isn’t going anywhere. Read More
How Tubi Hopes To Thrive After Netflix Stumble, Looming SVOD Wars
The battle for consumer hearts and wallets in the subscription-video industry got off to a premature start this month, led by HBO’s flood of Emmy nominations and a Netflix face Read More
Dragging TV Into A RuPaul Future With World Of Wonder’s Co-Founders
World of Wonder founders Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey have ridden hit show RuPaul’s Drag Race into a diversified TV production company with live events, retail operations, an SVOD channel, major social-media presence and more. Read More
Twitch Still Live-Streaming Champ Despite Growing Competition: Study
Despite YouTube’s 2 billion users and 500 hours of (recorded) video uploaded per minute, Twitch remains the heavyweight champ of livestreaming in the gaming and esports world, according to a Read More
Unique Content Key To Looming Video-Streaming Wars
As users switch from pay TV to online services, they’ll look for unique programming to decide where they subscribe, a new study suggests. And they don’t plan to subscribe to many services either. The streaming wars could get very rough very soon. Read More
“Netflix For Games” Services Creating A Gold Rush Too
The rush to create video game subscription services is as heated as the one for video subscription services. And it’s a bigger market. Read More
Esports Arenas Coming To A Campus, Or Cafe, Near You
Colleges are opening esports arenas to attract students and build new experiences. But don’t get into esports without some help from knowledgeable consultants. Read More
Quibi By The Numbers: Does It Add Up To A New TV Paradigm?
Quibi’s top executives disclosed a lot of key numbers at a weekend conference, including the need for $500 million in more capital. But will they add up to a hit or a gigantic miss when the mobile-video platform launches next April? Read More
Fortnite Becomes The Social-Media Experience Of Teens’ Choice
The video game Fortnite has become much more than that for teens and tweens, says an NRG study. Now it’s more a social-media site and messaging service too. Brands need to adapt to reach that audience. Read More
Apple Appears Set To Move Beyond TVOD, The World Wide Web
At Apple’s WWDC, expect to see iTunes broken up, the end of TVOD, and the rise of an app-focused and integrated future for both mobile and desktop. Read More
How Many Influencers Does A Modern Marketing Campaign Need? A Lot.
Online influencers are being recruited by the hundreds to help market brands. But be careful to avoid “pay and spray” as you sign them up. Read More
Podcast: Brian Solis On Embracing Influence 2.0, Better Branding And Rescaling Your Digital Life
Digital Anthropologist Brian Solis visits the Bloom in Tech podcast to talk about “Influence 2.0,” what it means for brands and advertising, and his new book, “Life Scale,” and how we need to rewire our approach to all our digital distractions. Read More