Media
Watching Video Games—one of the most profitable, popular and effective forms of entertainment
In less than ten years, video gaming has become without doubt one of the most effective forms of entertainment in the world. Not only by the sales of the games but by the incredible number of hours of user-generated content showing individuals playing a whole universe of different games. It is not a surprise, then,…
Media
Disney could very soon become the king of online streaming content
In November, the online streaming industry will suffer another shock. The entertainment company Disney will release its own streaming service in the United States, entering the competition for viewers time. With its strong fan base and brand awareness, Disney+, as the platform is called, will disrupt an already crowded market. By paying only $6.99 a…
Media
Will incumbent TV companies in Spain get consumers to pay for content?
Since Netflix entered Spain in 2015, Mediaset and Atresmedia, the two largest private TV companies, have struggled to compete with the streaming platform. Now, the majority of their revenues comes from advertising. But as their audience decreases, both Mediaset and Atresmedia need new sources of revenue and strategies to retain viewers. The obvious solution is…
Media
Slow journalism to cut through the clutter
Slow journalism, which consists in offering only a few stories to the reader so he can understand the news and move on with his day, is coming back again to the front stage. Startups like the British Tortoise Media or new features by The New York Times are proving that readers want fewer notifications and…
Media
Magazines can benefit from Apple’s brand
On Monday, celebrities and businessmen arrived at Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, ready to find out about the latest Apple innovations. After an embellished introduction about magazine aesthetics and the power of journalism, Tim Cook unveiled his new subscription service, Apple News Plus. “Like many of you, I love the feeling…
Media
In music, content ownership can overthrow distribution
Universal Music Group is up for grabs, and the tech platforms are interested. The French media empire Vivendi wants to sell half of it to the highest bidder. When the world's largest music company is for sale, that bidder might just be Google. The music industry has vastly changed in the last twenty years. In…
Media
Say goodbye to Facebook’s public agora
Last Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg revealed he would change his social networks’ focus. Instead of prioritizing public posts, Facebook would focus on private communications. No more sharing for a 700+ community and no more joining random Facebook groups. Privacy will become the number one priority for the company, which will undoubtedly impact news outlets. The shift…
Media
Streaming on steroids: the fight for top content
Almost six years have passed since Netflix started streaming House of Cards, its first original show. Before that, shows were produced by studios, sold to networks and aired on linear TV. The consumer sat down on his couch for the 9 PM show he loved and that was it. Now we have hundreds of new…
Media
Clouds ahead for the video gaming industry
The video game industry is about to suffer a hurricane. Both Google and Amazon have announced they will enter the business and they won’t be satisfied with releasing just one more game in an already crowded space. They want to change the rules of the market. On the one hand, Amazon Game Studios is working…
Media
Netflix struggles to compete against content moguls
60% of Americans stream content online and more than half of them do it through Netflix. But that might just change unless the company makes some moves. In early 2019, the company announced price increases. Now, the one-stream subscription plan costs $9 instead of $8; the two-stream plan $13 instead of $11, and the most…
Media
Apple intends to save journalism… at a price
The next tech ‘solution’ for the news industry seems to be coming from Cupertino, California. Apple wants to launch a subscription service for news, what the media is calling “Netflix for news”. The tech company would require a flat monthly subscription fee—estimated to be around $10—in exchange for access to an unlimited number of articles…
Media
The NYT proves that media can live off digital revenues
Living off digital revenues is every news outlet’s dream. Last week The New York Times revealed the dream had become a reality for them. The prominent newspaper announced its 2018 financials, disclosing that 40% of its total revenue comes from digital sources. This is good news, a story of success after the January layoffs that…
Media
Spotify wants to control the podcast industry
In 2019, consumers are constantly listening to podcasts. They play them on the commute, when they clean the house, while they are enjoying breakfast. Their phone reproduces their favorite news or comedy podcasts whenever they want and with the minimum effort. Spotify, the Swedish music streaming platform, wants to be the service where all those…
Media
Digital advertising is not enough to keep digital news outlets afloat
For the media industry, 2019 is not starting off on the right foot. In a little over a week, 1,000 jobs were cut nationwide. This avalanche started last Wednesday when Verizon Media Group—Yahoo, AOL and The Huffington Post’s parent company—disclosed a 7% cut in their media unit staff (800 jobs.) Shortly after, Buzzfeed revealed they…
Media
Bandersnatch: Netflix does it again
It’s 1984, and Stefan Butler wakes up at 8.30am ready for a big meeting with Tuckersoft, a video-game company, to show them his video game demo called Bandersnatch. He takes his morning pills, washes his face and goes to the kitchen to have breakfast with his dad. They chat about his video game for a…