The Entertainment Strategy Guide to 15 November 19
Disney+ Launch, Aggreggedon, a streaming score card and the future of work
Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy Newsletter! My favorite reads, listens, socials and more to keep you informed on the business of entertainment, with the links to my recent writing on my website and elsewhere.
Now that’s an opening salvo in the streaming wars. As masterful as Luke destroying the Death Star, the Allies at Midway or Robb Stark at the Whispering Woods. Sure, Disney+ wasn’t without its casualties, especially technical glitches, but 10 million sign-ups can’t be wrong. That’s the theme of the week.
Programming note: My second child is due this week, so programming will be light, mainly consisting of articles I’m writing ahead of time. With Thanksgiving next week, expect me back sometime in early December.
As a result, this week’s newsletter will be the light. I’m also putting newsletters, social media and weekly columns on hiatus until I’m a bit less sleep deprived.
(If this email was forwarded to you, sign up to receive all future emails or follow me on Twitter, Linked-In or at my website.
The Best of the Entertainment Strategy Guy
“Aggreggedon: The Key Terrain of the Streaming Wars is Bundling” at my website.
The streaming wars naturally focus on the streamers—the Netflixes, Disney+s and HBO Maxes of the world—and the content they produce. But what if the actual “key terrain” is behind the interfaces? My latest in my series on an “Intelligence Preparation of the Streaming Wars Battlefield” makes that case for the “bundlers”. I’ve been noodling on this idea for a year plus and consider it one of my most important articles.
“Most Important Story of the Week: Disney+ “Sparks Joy” in Customers. What Are the Business Ramifications?” at my website.
Disney+ shattered streaming launch records, even acknowledging that 10 million “sign-ups” aren’t the same thing as subscribers. I dig into the numbers to put some context on the technical glitches, but more importantly to figure out the strategies Disney used to create such demand. And ask if it can be sustained.
Twitter Threads
I didn’t have any long threads last week, but a few quick hits that got some reaction. First, my Disney+ thread on initial reactions to 10 million sign-ups.
Second, my reaction to news that Amazon’s Web Services may have contributed to Disney+ troubles.
Third, as Netflix looks to build its content library, it still manages to rent content from ViacomCBS, as Bob Bakish kept pointing out in his latest earnings call.
The Best of The Rest
(These are the best reads, listens, newsletters, or social conversations I came across last week.)
Long Read of the Week - “Disney+ Tech Problems: What We’ve Learned and What Needs Fixing” by Dan Rayburn at StreamingMediaBlog
This is the most thorough and fairest read of the tech issues faces Disney+. Rayburn is rightfully disappointed, and makes a good case that the issues were more severe than Disney let on initially. In particular, Rayburn makes the case that a lot of the problems were more communication issues rather than tech issues, which I agree with.
Other Long Read - “Streaming TV's Ratings "Black Box" Could Lead to Hollywood Guild War” by Jonathan Handel
This is a good long read on the difficulties in judging success in the streaming wars, and the natural implications for the next round of guild negotiations.
Other Long Read - “It’s Way Too Early For A Streaming Score Card” by Alan Wolk at TV Rev
Yep, Disney+ just launched. Is it too early too judge who is winning and losing the streaming wars? Absolutely. In particular, Alan Wolk points out the disconnect between subscriber counts and the promotions being used to drive them. Indeed, we won’t know who is winning and losing this war for a while.
Non-Entertainment Read - “Startups Like Uber and Airbnb See All. You Do Not” By Shira Ovide
Ovide provides an interesting take on the dynamic that new tech firms can apply lessons learned with different local government regulators in each city, whereas individual cities have to learn the lessons from scratch. This puts the cities at a disadvantage in regulating new, disruptive industries.
Listen of the Week - The Weeds “The Internet We Lost”
Anil Dash and Matt Yglesias discuss how the internet grew, evolved and where it can go from here. Interesting for both publishers and consumers of news.
Newsletter of the Week - PARQOR SVOD (paywall)
Not just the newsletter of the week because it linked to my big Aggreggedon article, but because it gives a fair look at the Disney+ landscape news, plus a few other great reads. I’ve liked the PARQOR newsletter for a while because each section looks at one part of the video value chain.
Twitter Threads
Matt Barnum uses a lot of data to debunk a common refrain in education. I love when data can help debunk conventional wisdom.
(Feel free to share this free newsletter to any and everyone you want. It helps spread the word.)
(If this email was forwarded to you, and you’re wondering who I am, The Entertainment Strategy Guy writes under this pseudonym at his eponymous website. A former exec at a streaming company, he prefers writing to sending emails/attending meetings, so he launched his own website. You can follow him on Twitter or Linked-In for regular thoughts and analysis on the business, strategy and economics of the media and entertainment industry.)