Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Why the Xbox announcement is an important and strategically smart nod to developers

Cover image for Why the Xbox announcement is an important and strategically smart nod to developers
Karol Severin
Xbox announcement
cross-platform
Games console
Xbox announced on its podcast with Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty, that it is bringing four of its titles to other consoles. While no specific titles were named, it ruled out Starfield and Indiana Jones, and mentioned that two of the games are community driven and the remainder are smaller games that may have reached a plateau on Xbox.
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The context behind Disney’s investment into Epic Games

Cover image for The context behind Disney’s investment into Epic Games
Karol Severin
investment
Epic Games
Disney
Disney announced it is investing $1.5 billion into Epic Games. The same announcement talks about a creation of an “ expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite ”. This move makes sense for Disney on several levels and is perhaps one of the most impactful games-related moves for Disney’s overall cultural relevance, engagement, monetisation capabilities, and profitability.
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Was this the year of peak ad revenues for Paramount and the Super Bowl?

Cover image for Was this the year of peak ad revenues for Paramount and the Super Bowl?
Tim Mulligan
Sports
Super Bowl
NFL
Sunday saw the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast on CBS, Paramount+, and Nickelodeon, providing a bumper advertising windfall estimated at between $650-$700 million for parent company Paramount. The media majors’ entire business model is under intense scrutiny from investors made nervous by its losses (-$855 million for 2023 as of Q3 2023), and the overall share price being down 40% year-to-date.
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Format versus context: Can a YouTuber make it on TV?

Cover image for Format versus context: Can a YouTuber make it on TV?
Hanna Kahlert
Media and Marketing
Cultural trends
Fandom
YouTube star MrBeast is making recent headlines for his video upload experiment with X , and now a potential partnership with Amazon Prime Video for a new reality series. The competition to turn the popular YouTuber into an audience draw for other platforms is on –but can a star in one place, still be a star anywhere else? This would not be the first time an entertainment company has tried to convert a popular social media figure.
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PLAY – music’s next chapter

Cover image for PLAY – music’s next chapter
Mark Mulligan
Music
Business Strategy
The old maxim that change is the only constant feels tailor made for the 21stcentury music business. No sooner does the industry get its head around one paradigm shift then another one comes along. First piracy, then downloads, then streaming, then the rise of the independent artist and now…well, just what is ‘now’? AI may be the word on everyone’s lips, but as transformational as it will be, it is going to be an enabler of a wider shift, one that will see a forking from today’s LISTEN-focused ecosystem, resulting in the emergence of a new, parallel PLAY-focused one.
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