The Struggle for Brand Identity Across Multiplatform Streaming Apps

A new study from Hub Entertainment Research reveals that viewers are still chasing shows rather than specific streaming brands, which poses challenges for programming providers looking to create a consistent brand identity across various platforms. James Lauzun of MagellanTV and Tom Hurlbutt of Crunchyroll also weighed in on this issue during a recent Streaming Media Connect 2024 session.

Evan Shapiro Unveils the Q4 Truths for Sony, Nintendo, Disney, Meta, and More

Read Part Three of our recap of Evan Shapiro's Q4 keynote earnings analysis from Streaming Media Connect 2024, where he unveils the Q4 truths for big M&E industry players like Sony, Nintendo, Disney, Meta, and More.

Evan Shapiro Reveals the Q4 Realities for Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and More

With 4Q earnings calls putting a bow on 2023, M&E industry cartographer Evan Shapiro pulls no punches in this real-time response, digging deep into the data to hold the spin doctors accountable, giving Streaming Media Connect attendees an unvarnished view of the industry that they won't get anywhere else. Read Part Two of our recap of Shapiro's Q4 keynote earnings analysis from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

MWC24: While 5G Lags, 6G and Quantum Wait in the Wings

Even while telco operators are scarred by their experience rolling out and paying for 5G, attention is turning to its successor 6G, which will begin to be adopted from 2030.

Locality Announces Strategic Local Video Advertising Partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery

Locality, the industry's preeminent local video solutions provider, today announced a strategic local video advertising partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery. Locality will have access to Warner Bros. Discovery's comprehensive portfolio of brands and platforms through 2024, including TNT Sports, CNN and a rich selection of award-winning series and movies on Max and discovery+.

Evan Shapiro Pulls Back the Curtain on the M&E Q4 Earnings Reports

Major media and entertainment companies' quarterly earnings calls ought to pull back the curtain on what's really happening in the industry, but they routinely bury unflattering numbers in expert spin, and the press on hand rarely asks questions tough enough to draw out the real story. With 4Q earnings calls putting a bow on 2023, M&E industry cartographer Evan Shapiro pulls no punches in this real-time response, digging deep into the data to hold the spin doctors accountable, giving Streaming Media Connect attendees an unvarnished view of the industry that they won't get anywhere else.

MWC24: Consumer XR Faces Reality Check

XR technology is forecast to rocket from a market value of $55 billion in 2023 to $490 billion by 2030, which holds both a promise and a puzzle. While business to business use of XR has taken hold, consumer applications have failed to move beyond the hype.

MWC24: Operators Struggle to Make 5G Pay Off

While AI was the future buzz at Mobile World Congress, operators debated how to recoup money from the millions of dollars poured into 5G networks, with repeated better regulation, wider cooperation, and promises not to repeat the mistakes of 5G.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect 2024

Streaming Media presented its 13th Connect virtual conference February 19 - 22, 2024, with media industry cartographer Evan Shapiro as host and MC. Shapiro kicked off the event with a dynamic keynote, digging deep into the Q4 earnings call data to hold the spin doctors accountable and giving an unvarnished view of the industry. Other highlights included a keynote by Dana McGraw of Disney, titled Disney Advertising, Understanding Audiences: How Disney Advertising Leverages Data Science and Insights to Empower Advertisers, plus several panels covering topics such as app streaming UX design, scaling CTV advertising, measuring FAST success, and AI.

Fubo Sues The Walt Disney Company, Fox Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery, and Affiliates for Antitrust Practices

Fubo filed an antitrust lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company, FOX Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. and their affiliates today, alleging that the vertically-integrated media companies have engaged in a years-long campaign to block Fubo's innovative sports-first streaming business resulting in significant harm to both Fubo and consumers. The complaint alleges that the forthcoming launch of a sports-streaming joint venture steals Fubo's playbook and is the latest example of this campaign.

Ad Tiering Pays Off as 36% of Subscribers Level Up to Avoid Ads

Landmark study of 5,000 American subscribers shows the impact of ads, bundling, and password-sharing crackdowns on the US subscription economy

For Loss-Making Paramount+ and Peacock, a Merger Makes Sense—but not Necessarily with Each Other

After courting WarnerBros. Discovery and AppleTV, Paramount is now eyeing up Comcast for a potential union of its streamer Paramount+, in this case with Peacock. Or it could be the other way around: Paramount Global has some hot properties making it attractive to rival streamers in a bid to compete better with Disney and Netflix.

The End of NDI As We Know It?

NDI runs the risk of fumbling the ball on the 20-yard line—squandering the nearly decade lead they have in IP video by not enforcing that licensees integrate all of the standard. I write this in the hope that they re-establish what the NDI standard means: that to license NDI, and display the NDI badge, a product must be 100% compatible.

The ESPN/Fox/WBD Mega-Bundle and the Vegas-ization of Live Sports Streaming

In Super Bowl week, when interest in sports in the U.S couldn't be higher--and when the clash between the Chiefs and the 49ers is likely the biggest single-game betting event in US history--old media titans Disney, Fox, and WarnerBros. Discovery are having one last throw of the dice.

New Report Shows Only 13% of Consumers are Opposed to Ad Tiers in Streaming

A new report from CX platform DISQO examines in detail how consumers are currently feeling about ad-supported streaming tiers. Their findings offer an insightful backdrop for the unexpected growth of Netflix subscriptions in tandem with Amazon Prime's limited advertising launch. David Grabert, DISQO's VP of Brand and Communications, answers questions by Streaming Media's Tyler Nesler about the specifics of the report and what it says about today's competitive CTV advertising market.

How to Optimize Family Co-Viewing, Create Dynamic Partnerships, & Know When to go IO or Programmatic

What are some of the best approaches for advertising strategies that incorporate both direct and programmatic partnerships, and how can advertisers looking to expand their reach best optimize the rising trend of co-viewing experiences? Jennifer D'Alessandro, Head of Ad Sales and Marketing at Future Today, a leading CTV monetization solutions provider, provided some key insights into these current trends in the streaming marketplace.

Best of CES 2024

Streaming Media's Nadine Krefetz recounts media tech highlights from CES 2024

Entertainment Industry Enters Age of Austerity

More than 260,000 global technology-sector employees were laid off in 2023 from 1186 companies, some 100,000 more than in 2022. The most recent is Amazon, which has announced job cuts in Prime Video and MGM Studios divisions together with 500 staff, a third of the total, from gaming platform Twitch. 

Progress Towards Giving the Gift of Streaming: Help Me Stream’s 2023 Research Highlights

Year full of research preps significant 2024 acceleration to give "the gift of streaming" globally

Live-Streaming Technology Trends 2023 Survey Brief Launches

New survey results show shift in codec, latency, and bandwidth trends