Disney’s tactics around ESPN+ are coming into line with streaming’s strategic opportunities; plus, Black Widow streaming numbers show how release windows are changing.
Instagram Exclusive Content, Value Chain Conflicts, Facebook Bulletin
Exclusive Content on Instagram, like Super Tweets, is a compelling product for both the company and creators. It’s also why Bulletin is more compelling than it seems.
An Interview with Google CEO Sundar Pichai
A discussion with Google CEO Sundar Pichai about Google as answering machine, its deals with publishers, privacy, and productivity.
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.
Market-Making on the Internet
More and more opportunities on the web come from market marking, not for advertisers, but for real goods and services paid for with real money.
Clubhouse Enables Creator Payments, Artists and Cultists, An Interview with Nathan Hubbard
More on the power of creators, and then an interview with Nathan Hubbard about Taylor Swift and the future of music.
Stripe’s Role, Competition and Differentiation, The Local News Opportunity
Differentiation can flow from the writer, but also from the subject. That is why the Substack model could help deliver the local news business model.
Sovereign Writers and Substack
Substack is at the center of media controversy, most of which misses the point that sovereign writers — not Substack — are in control.
A Pandemic Year, Coronavirus and Information, Zeynep Tufekci Cuts Through
Looking back on the pandemic through the lens of Stratechery’s Articles about information. Plus, why Zeynep Tufekci is the writer of the year.