Bundling and Unbundling
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Winners and losers from the Disney-Charter stand-off, as The Great Re-bundling begins
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Charting ESPN’s rise, including how it build leverage over the cable TV providers, and its ongoing decline, caused by the Internet.
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Cable companies survived the great unbundling thanks to selling Internet service; they may be best place to make the bundle of the future.
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The state of bundles in 2020: Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. Plus, Microsoft’s purchase of ZeniMax.
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TV is moving from a world where distribution dictates business models to one where business models need to fit the jobs consumers want done. That is the best way to understand Disney’s latest announcement.
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It’s trivial to say that the Internet changed media; what is more interesting is unpacking how different types of media were affected, and why — and what might happen to TV.
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Sports and TV Follow-up, Intel Licenses ARM IP
First, why I don’t think sports is a bubble, then, Intel finally gives in to reality and licenses ARM IP, a necessary step in becoming a foundry-for-hire.
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Dollar Shave Club and the Disruption of Everything
Dollar Shave Club is a textbook example of how the new Internet economy will destroy value in incumbent industries.
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Brexit and Tech; More on Musk, Tesla, and Solar City; The Allure of Live: Facebook and ESPN
Why Brexit would be bad for U.S. tech companies, Why Tesla May be Hurt Even if Solar City Isn’t Acquired, and the power of live for escapism and sports
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Apple Drops Planned Live TV Service, YouTube’s Top Ten Videos of 2015, Apple and the NFL?
Apple gives up on its rumored live TV service, which should come as no surprise to Stratechery readers. YouTube’s top video list is a hint as to why. Might apple bid on the NFL to get the train rolling?
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Ballmer’s Bad Bundle Economics, Netflix Loses Epix Movie Deal
The Daily Update is back with a renewed focus on streaming, bundling, and over-the-top offerings. First up is an analysis of Steve Ballmer’s rumored plans to launch an over-the-top network for Clippers games, and more broadly, a discussion about why bundling works. Then, Netflix loses movies, but it’s the content companies that are losing more from…
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Amazon Continued and the Role of Journalism, Three Streaming Developments: HBO, Amazon Prime, and ESPN
The Amazon story continues, and it is striking how there is zero common ground between people who work in tech and the journalists who cover it. Will this mark a shift in the relationship? Plus, what HBO’s Sesame Street deal, Amazon’s Top Gear deal, and NBC’s Premier League deal say about the future of streaming.
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ESPN Follow-up, BAM Tech and Bundle Logic, No Apple MVNO and the Apple TV
A follow-up to my piece on ESPN
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Why Disney and ESPN Will Be OK
An increasing number of questions are being raised about the future of the pay-TV bundle, and of ESPN. The former may indeed be doomed, but that doesn’t mean the latter is in as much trouble as people think: after all, Disney is the master of differentiated content.




