My Netflix chart from Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits wasn’t quite right: after all, I was talking about time, and networks and studios are already modularized. Still, fixing my error provides an interesting view on ESPN and its challenges and opportunities.
Media Monday: Bill Simmons vs ESPN, Spotify and the Content Hierarchy, Periscope and Piracy
Today’s Daily Update is all about the media:
– ESPN will not renew Bill Simmons’ contract, which leads into a discussion of the value of individual brands, particular writers, and how that value can best be captured
– Not all content is created equally, which helps explain Spotify’s surprising decision to diversify
– Periscope presents a unique challenge to sports in particular
Daily Update: Understanding TV Unbundling, The Dying Appeal of Undifferentiated Content, The Special Case of HBO
Good morning, Over the weekend BuzzFeed reinstated the Dove article and editor-in-chief Ben Smith apologized internally. Smith reiterated that the post was not pulled because of pressure from advertisers, and from what I understand, Dove hasn’t advertised on BuzzFeed for over a year (and I wasn’t able to easily find other Unilever advertising). So perhapsSubscribe […]
Daily Update: The NBA and the State of TV, Sony WebTV, Privacy versus User Experience
Good morning, As I noted, this week’s Daily Updates might be irregular; indeed, today’s is arriving several hours late. I apologize for the delay. I also apologize that the first two items are U.S. centric (yep, TV again). On to the update: The NBA and the State of TV The NBA’s ratings have been decliningSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Why Next Year for Apple Watch, I Love the Blackberry Passport, Bill Simmons and Writer as Brand
Good morning, It seems that yesterday’s update got marked as spam, so please take a look and mark it as not-spam – this will help ensure this happens less often in the future. On to the update: Why Now Next Year for Apple Watch While I noted last week that I had changed my mindSubscribe […]
Daily Update: ESPN and Univision Crack Down on Vine, Canada’s Anti-spam Law, BlaBlaCar Raises $100 million
Good morning, Hello from Wisconsin! First off, I apologize that yesterday’s update was sent out so late; it was sent on a schedule, and I messed up my timezones. Thanks for your patience. On to the updates: a central theme of Stratechery is the importance of context and the vast expanse of gray when itSubscribe […]
The Stages of Newspapers’ Decline
The second-most common objection to FiveThirtyEight and the End of Average was along these lines: Love 100% of @stratechery posts but this one off: forgets to segment market. Many don't care about "quality" news http://t.co/KnSmNgZbS2 — Rich Yudhishthu (@yudhishthu) March 17, 2014 That’s very true; those same people – and there are a lot of […]
FiveThirtyEight and the End of Average
Just a few minutes ago, Nate Silver’s new FiveThirtyEight site launched. While it’s not known how much ESPN is paying Silver, it’s certainly a substantial amount, especially when you consider 20% of visitors to the New York Times stopped by Silver’s blog. Silver’s FiveThirtyEight is one of a growing number of personality-driven sites and blogs, […]
The Cord-Cutting Fantasy
Predictably, television was one of the first topics Tim Cook was asked about at yesterday’s interview at AllThingsD. This followed the rumors of Yahoo acquiring Hulu, and Microsoft’s entertainment-centric Xbox One launch last week. It’s all about TV and the imminent age of cord-cutting. On this the blogosphere is certain. Except for one little problem: […]