Netflix turned in another quarter of disappointing earnings (as expected); the company’s planned foray into gaming, meanwhile, highlights how digital businesses are different.
Amazon Buys MGM, The Streaming Opportunity, Anti-Monopoly vs. Antitrust
Amazon’s purchase of MGM makes sense strategically, but also points to bigger ambitions; it also highlights how a lot of antitrust talk is actually anti-monopoly.
Distribution and Demand
Distribution on the Internet is free; what matters is controlling demand. AT&T and Verizon didn’t understand the distinction.
AT&T’s Original Bad Deal, Discovery + WarnerMedia, The Streaming Landscape
AT&T bails on its streaming ambitions; they can’t undo the mistake of buying Time Warner, but merging WarnerMedia with Discovery is a nice recovery.
Netflix Earnings, Competition and Buybacks, Sony Signs Netflix Deal
Netflix grew more slowly than it expected because it had fewer hits than it expected; then, Sony is winning in streaming by not playing.
Netflix’s Increased Subscribers, Netflix’s Decreased Costs, Elastic Changes License
More on Netflix’s earnings, and why it won’t give back pandemic gains. Then, Elastic follows MongoDB’s example.
Five Lessons From Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle has a new special about his old show that includes fundamental lessons about how the Internet has changed the content business.
2020 Bundles
The state of bundles in 2020: Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. Plus, Microsoft’s purchase of ZeniMax.
Netflix and Working-From-Home; Parents Versus Non-Parents; Apple’s COVID Manufacturing, Cont.
Reed Hastings doesn’t like working from home, and other companies, particularly Facebook, should pay attention to its unintended consequences. Plus, how Apple is making new iPhones.
Dithering and Open Versus Free
Announcing the new Dithering podcast, and why it is important to fight for the open ecosystem that Spotify is trying to aggregate.