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Media and Advertising

  • A New Publishing Model…Maybe; Facebook Earnings, Facebook Sharing

    Follow-up on yesterday’s article on potential new publishing models, and then a discussion of Facebook earnings. Plus, a new reason skeptics have found to doubt the company.

  • Grantland and the (Surprising) Future of Publishing

    ESPN’s decision to close Grantland seems to be more evidence that there is no future outside of massive scale or one-man operations. Bill Simmons’ recent successes, though, suggest that the answer could be the exact opposite.

  • What is Medium Doing?, Facebook Updates Notes

    Medium just raised $57 million on a relatively modest valuation, but lots of folks aren’t still sure what the company is trying to accomplish: today I give it my best shot. Plus, Facebook has updated Notes, which look a lot like, well, Medium posts. The appearance, though, isn’t what will make them succeed or fail.

  • Popping the Publishing Bubble

    For years publishers haven’t had to worry about business models: they just captured attention and watched the money come in. Those days, though, are over: the publications that survive will start with business models and build journalism around it.

  • Why Web Pages Suck

    Everyone complains about web pages that suck, but the reality is that it is advertisers who call the shots. This should, at a minimum, put Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple’s News app in a new light.

  • Correcting the Netflix Story, ESPN’s Challenge — and Opportunity, Yahoo to Stream NFL Game

    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.

  • Apple Loses E-books Appeal; Apple Music and Antitrust; Producers, Consumers, and Apple

    Apple’s E-book case finally came to it’s likely end a few week’s ago; it’s worth reviewing what was at stake in light of recent news that Apple Music could face a similar investigation. Then, if Apple Music will do for musicians what the App Store did for developers, is that a good thing? Plus, why sites…

  • Battle of the Box, Updated; Apple Enables Ad-Blockers

    A year ago I compared and contrasted Box and Dropbox; both have taken very different paths over the last year, and in light of Box’s earnings and recent Dropbox news I check back in on their progress. Also, Apple and ad-blockers.

  • The News App, Open Source Swift, Additional Notes from the WWDC Keynote

    This update touches on why Apple Music may be a much bigger deal than I suggested, and the moves on to all the other important announcements from Apple WWDC keynote. This includes the News app, open-source Swift, and more.

  • Vox Acquires Recode; Stars, Money, and Reach; The Apple Car and Jony Ive

    Recode has sold to Vox, and while everyone involved is putting a happy face on the matter, it seems highly likely that Recode failed as a business. Understanding how content businesses work show where they went wrong, but what does that mean for someone like Bill Simmons? Also, Jeff Williams spoke at Recode, and he just…