As we near the close of 2020, we wonder what the new year might bring to the entertainment and media industry. During these complicated 12 months, we have seen an apparent acceleration of the trends that had been in the works since the early 2010s. In 2021, that transformation of the market will only speed […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Local journalism needs net neutrality
On February first, Washington DC was the scenario of probably the most important conversation on the Internet that is taking place these days. The case Mozilla v. FCC, which is being heard by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, relaunched the conversation over net neutrality in the United States, a discussion […]
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.) Short after, Buzzfeed […]
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 […]