Why You Should Subscribe
If you clicked on the link that led you here, your biggest questions are probably...
What is the Streaming Ratings Report?
Who is the Entertainment Strategy Guy?
What else does the EntStrategyGuy write about?
How much does it cost?
And why should I subscribe?
I’ll answer all of those questions, both short and long.
The BLUF/TL,DR version:
I’m a former strategy/data exec who worked at a major streamer.
Since 2018, I’ve been writing about the entertainment industry, with a focus on business strategy, a topic I felt was under-covered by the Hollywood press.
I also write a bi-weekly column for the Ankler, but note: if you’re just an Ankler subscriber, you can NOT read everything that I write.
In 2021, after I noticed a major gap in streaming viewership coverage, I started the Streaming Ratings Report.
The Streaming Ratings Report is a weekly report on all of the publicly available streaming data on every TV show and film that comes out in the US, the most comprehensive report in the industry.
My newsletter costs $15 a month or $150 a year, including the Streaming Ratings Report, strategy columns, and deep dives into other topics.
What is The Streaming Ratings Report?
The Streaming Ratings Report summarizes streaming viewership data for the U.S. each week across film and TV. This report is…
Regular (Weekly, with occasional double issues, covering every week of the year)
Comprehensive, yet concise (around 3,000 words, covering both TV and film)
Rigorous (Featuring regularly reported data sources, not haphazard anecdotes)
Insightful (Beyond just numbers, I explain the historical performance and context.)
Each week, the streaming ratings report covers:
Where: The USA
Who: Streamers
What: Streaming Viewership for TV shows and films
What: Using multiple data sources.
When: From 2020 onwards
The newsletter has four major sections: at least two “mini-dives” into streaming films, TV shows, sports, or other streaming viewership topics, then a "Film" and “TV" section, with smaller subsections at the end that cover anecdata, linear viewership, sports ratings, and so on.
I compile data from Nielsen, Luminate, Samba TV, Showlabs, JustWatch, TV Time, Reelgood, IMDb, Google Trends, and more. Since I’ve been collecting this data since 2021, along with a rigorously maintained database of streaming titles, I can put this in context in a way no other trade outlet or analyst can. And I keep adding data sources as they come out.
It takes me the better part of three days to collect, analyze, visualize and explain that data. That gives me time to dive deep, finding all the stories and angles, generating my own insights, and putting everything in context. I don’t come in with a narrative—or I try not to—but I see what the data says.
As a former strategy exec at a major streamer, I used to live and breath streaming ratings data for our streamer. Not to toot my own horn, but I was the guy who figured out what all our data meant and then taught that to the rest of the company. I was the data guy. As such, I also saw first hand the information asymmetry gap between the streamers and the rest of Hollywood (including the press). I know the tricks.
I’d add, even with all the data our streamer had, I knew how little I knew about our competitors. In other words, I’m writing the report I wish I had at the time.
Frankly, to write this report well someone needs to have the data chops to analyze the data, the experience in streaming ratings to know what means what, and the writing ability to explain it as simply as needed.
(As to the name, yeah, I know that “ratings” properly refers to the old school Nielsen term of “ratings” share, and I hate when people say “ratings” but they mean “viewership”, but alas, I didn’t initially title it the “Streaming Viewership Report” and it’s too late to change it now.)
What Else Do You Get?
In addition to the Streaming Ratings Report, you get my bi-weekly “Most Important Story of the Week” column, which focuses on strategic analysis, along with other “visuals of the week”, more articles on streaming ratings or box office data, deep dives into a ton of other topics, and more.
I send out at least two articles a week, but sometimes three. (I don’t want to over fill my subscribers inboxes.)
The Price: $15 a month or $150 a year.
The price is $15 a month or $150 a year.
For a comprehensive, in-depth, regular streaming article, this is the lowest price on the market period. If you can’t afford thousands of dollars for a Nielsen subscription, you can spend the price of a lunch each month on this replacement.
Who Should Subscribe?
Everyone.
You may think, “But I read The Hollywood Reporter, Variety or Deadline for free already. They cover the streaming ratings occasionally. Why do I need this?”
Because they don’t cover ratings as well!
Frankly, I don’t think anyone tracks the content battlefield as well as I do. Or putting the data into the context that is urgently needed. Instead of reading dozens of articles that tell contradictory stories, I put the streaming ratings into one simple context.
For example, say you’re a studio executive, and you just read in the trades that a new show opened to 20 million hours. What does that mean? I’ll tell you how that ranks among all season ones since 2021, how it stacks up to other shows of that genre, or on that streamer, and more.
Or say you’re an independent producer. Do you have a full-time research team analyzing ratings data? Nope. My report will provide that.
What about folks who work in research for a living? Why do you need this report? Because I may provide insights or find data points you or your team missed.
I could see the folks at streamers saying they don’t need this either. “I know what is doing well on my platform” they could say. But what about your competitors? My report provides that information.
Producers, creators, development executives, talent, reporters and more need to know what’s successful and what isn’t on streaming platforms. Basically, everyone in Hollywood, New York, London, Mumbai, Seoul, and beyond needs this report!
So sign up. Seriously, what’s holding you back?
I Need Your Support
So that’s the quick take on how this report will benefit you. This report is already great, but I need you.
The more people that I can hire to work on this website/newsletter with me, the better that everything gets, from the writing to the website design to the amount of data we can crunch to how good the visuals look and more. Building out my team will allow us to collect more data, from more sources, to make a more accurate report. And guarantee its timeliness.
Right now, my team is two people. I’d love to keep hiring and keep expanding my team. If you love and want to support independent media, then please subscribe.
Who is the “Entertainment Strategy Guy?”
Well, I’m glad you asked. (Kind of, since I’m still writing anonymously...)
I’m a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of a top-tier business school. At B-School, I took any class with “numbers” or “entertainment” in the description. And I graduated at the top of my class—not near the top, the very top—and won several awards.
While at business school, I started working at a number of entertainment companies—some of the biggest and most well-known in Hollywood—starting as an intern then working my way up. These companies have run the gamut, from giant studio conglomerates to a major streamer to independent production companies in both television and film.
I’ve held roles ranging from “strategic planning” to “business development”. What does that actually mean? It means I analyzed data, finessed PowerPoints, built Excel models, and wrote strategy documents, along with sending plenty of emails and attending tons of meetings. And, hopefully, I helped senior executives make the right decisions. (Sometimes yes; sometimes no.)
Along the way, I developed a love of writing.
My writing has been featured in publications such as Decider, What’s on Netflix, Athletic Director’s U, and The Ankler. I’ve been quoted in outlets like The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Observer, and The Ringer to countless more. I’ve appeared on podcasts like The Town, The Kids Media Club, and Bulwark Goes to Hollywood. Since the fall of 2021, I’ve written a weekly strategy/data column for The Ankler, Hollywood’s most feared and fearless newsletter.
I mentioned above that I have an ability to communicate this data. Before any of this began, I was a writer. Under my real name, I’ve been published in professional journals, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, and numerous other outlets.