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Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Behind the Hype Cycle: Venture Capital as the Modern Fountain of Youth

Zach Fuller

23 May 2019

When the Ichthyophagi showed wonder at the number of the years, he led them to a fountain, wherein when they had washed, they found their flesh all glossy and sleek, as if they had bathed in oil - and a scent came from the spring like that of violets.

9 min read

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Why Game of Thrones Season Eight Represents the Swan Song for Linear Scheduling

Tim Mulligan

20 May 2019

Unless you’ve been living under a piece of dragonstone for the last two months, you’ll be aware that the last episode of Game of Thrones aired last night. For fans of the hit TV show, the final season has been one of unexpected twists and character developments making for compelling viewing.

3 min read

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Television Performance Measurement Is Falling Short

Hanna Kahlert

20 May 2019

Chart Of The Week Data Point Of The Day index

When the television first entered homes around the world, it was a safe assumption that if it was on it was the centre of attention in a room. Whatever was broadcast to the screen for that evening would be closely regarded with well-deserved awe.

3 min read

Niche is the New Mainstream

Mark Mulligan

17 May 2019

artist campaigns artist marketing digital marketing

Fandom is fragmenting. Streaming personalization and falling radio audiences are combining to rewrite the music marketing rulebook, ushering in a whole new marketing paradigm. Hits used to be cultural moments; artist brands built by traditional mass media.

5 min read

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Games Console Incumbents Sony and Microsoft Join Forces Against Tech Majors’ Entrance to Games Streaming

Karol Severin

17 May 2019

cloud-gaming Games Games industry

The enemy of my enemy is my friend – a phrase that nicely sums up the latest major development in games streaming and the console gaming industry. “ Sony and (Microsoft) announced on Thursday that …the two companies will partner on exploring joint development of future cloud solutions in Micro...

3 min read

Quick Take: Spotify, Stories and Music – the Social Media Divide

Zach Fuller

16 May 2019

Instagram Social media Spotify

The story of a song’s creation is one of the great mysteries of music. Regularly are we regaled with anecdotes of a song emerging fully formed in a 15-minute flurry of creative genius. However, while less seductive, the reality is that more often than not a composition goes through many iterations...

2 min read

The US Sports Betting Market Is Heating Up After Fox Plays its Strategic Hand

Tim Mulligan

14 May 2019

Fox Fox Corp Sports

Fox Corporation – the successor company to 21st Century Fox – has made its first decisive move since completing the $71 billion sale of 21stCentury Fox’s non-news and sports network assets in March.

4 min read

DAZN Financials Highlight Difficulty in Changing Sports Viewing for Fans

Alistair Taylor

14 May 2019

acquisition target consumer acquisition DAZN

DAZN, the sports-centric streaming service which made headlines in 2018 with several high-profile rights acquisitions , and according to documents seen by SportsPro Media , has managed to dramatically reduce its debt burden by 93% in the year up to 2018.

4 min read

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Skin in the Game: Prediction Markets and the Future of Media Discourse

Zach Fuller

13 May 2019

Blockchain predictions markets Twitter

If talk was cheap before, then the laws of supply and demand mean the advent of big data drove that value to zero. So overwhelmed with opinions are we that it is hard to know who means what anymore. This is not entirely a bad thing.

3 min read

PledgeMusic and Not-So-Glorious Failure

Mark Mulligan

10 May 2019

Artists direct Bandcamp blackberry

Pioneering fan funding platform PledgeMusic is now officially over, having entered administration (i.e. Chapter 11) in the UK reportedly owing its artists around $1 million and with little expectation of any asset sale generating enough cash to clear those debts.

4 min read

Disney’s Latest Earnings Are Buoyed by Growth in Their Theme Park and Direct-to-Consumer Revenues

Alistair Taylor

10 May 2019

21st Century Fox additive service assets

On Wednesday night the Walt Disney Company reported quarterly earnings for its second fiscal quarter ending March 31st 2019, beating analyst estimates with a 3% increase in year-on-year (YoY) quarterly revenue.

3 min read

Is Sinclair About to Cause a Stir in US Streaming Sports Coverage?

Tim Mulligan

9 May 2019

Disney RSN Sinclair Broadcasting

This has been a busy week for Disney. As part of the regulatory approval terms for acquiring 21stCentury Fox’s non-US TV network businesses, it had to divest itself of the 22 regional sports networks (RSNs) which it finally acquired in March.

4 min read

Playlist Malfeasance Will Create a Streaming Crisis

Mark Mulligan

9 May 2019

Artists Labels per stream rates

Streaming economics are facing a potential crisis. The problem does not lie in the market itself; after all, in Q1 2019 streaming revenue became more than half of the recorded music business and Spotify hit 100 million subscribers.

5 min read

Music Sync: A Market Ripe for Change

Mark Mulligan

3 May 2019

Florence and the machine Game of Thrones music publishers

Florence and the Machine’s performance of Jenny of Oldstones, which appeared over the closing credits of the April 21st HBO’s Game Of Thrones episode, has registered the most Shazams in 24 hours ever.

4 min read

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What Epic Games’ Acquisition Strategy Tells Us About the Company’s Long-Term Plans

Karol Severin

3 May 2019

Epic Games Fortnite Games

Epic Games has announced it is acquiring Psyonix, the creator of Rocket League. As we’ve reported in the past, the coming games streaming revolution, which is already shifting market dynamics to a much more device/platform-agnostic paradigm, will see a small set of large publishers make their own ...

4 min read

An Alternative Future for Televised Sports

Hanna Kahlert

2 May 2019

e sport e-sports egaming

This article is derived from MIDiA’s report, 'eSports: An alternative future for televised sports?' The days of overpriced suspect hotdogs and rioting stadiums are far from over. Sports, despite their inability to retain cord cutting TV viewers , remain an immovable part of the attention economy.

3 min read

Can PlayStation 5 Compete Successfully Amid the Coming Games-Streaming Disruption?

Karol Severin

2 May 2019

Games Gaming PlayStation

As Mark Cerny, the lead system architect of PlayStation, implied in an exclusive interview with Wired , PS5 is coming likely in fall 2020 – and it is not just meant to be a mere upgrade of the PS4. The key question remains, however, whether even a big upgrade to the hardware and gaming experience ...

4 min read

Walmart the Video Innovator?

Tim Mulligan

1 May 2019

Online video VUDU wallmart

This week in New York Walmart is holding a presentation for leading ad agencies. The world’s largest retailer will pitch the advertising opportunities around a combination of original shows and new tech on its streaming service Vudu, which potentially could provide it with a domestic edge in the r...

3 min read

Why Airbnb Making Content for Apple Is Radical

Georgia Meyer

30 Apr 2019

Marketing Media and Marketing

On 24th April Reuters broke the news that Airbnb is creating a docuseries (“Home”) for Apple’s upcoming streaming service. Over on Amazon Prime Video’s Direct service, Jaguar, Lexus and Shell have all uploaded branded entertainment documentaries available for Amazon Prime Video subscribers t...

4 min read

US Cord Cutting Full-Year 2018: Transition Uptake

Hanna Kahlert

30 Apr 2019

cord cutting cord shaving Media

This article is derived from MIDiA’s US Cord Cutting Full Year 2018 report. Cord cutting is now an established part of the US pay-TV landscape, illustrating the impact of streaming video on demand (SVOD) and changing consumer habits globally.

3 min read

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