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Wanda Sports Group’s financials highlight long-term impact of live hiatus

Cover image for Wanda Sports Group’s financials highlight long-term impact of live hiatus
Alistair Taylor
sports fans
covid
live sports
Wanda Sports Group’s (WSG) Q2 financials highlight a significant decline in revenues on account of “the broad effects of COVID-19 mitigation efforts”. WSG reported a second successive quarter of decreasing revenues , following its disappointing Q1 results which saw a 26% year-on-year (YoY) decline attributed to losses within the Chinese company’s spectator sports and mass participation divisions.
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Does Apple and augmented reality equal Apple TV+ 2.0?

Cover image for Does Apple and augmented reality equal Apple TV+ 2.0?
Tim Mulligan
Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that Apple is planning to integrate augmented reality (AR) into its video subscription service Apple TV+.The new feature will debut next year and allow viewers to access optional AR content – such as characters and objects from Apple TV+ shows – through their iPhones or iPads.
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Who will own the virtual concert space?

Cover image for Who will own the virtual concert space?
Mark Mulligan
2020 will go down as a rough year for many artists, largely because of the income they lost when live ground to a halt. Unfortunately, the live music sector is still going to be disrupted in 2021 and it may take even longer for the sector to return to ‘normal’.
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The post-peak Twilight Zone: A defining cultural trend of uncertainty

Cover image for The post-peak Twilight Zone: A defining cultural trend of uncertainty
Hanna Kahlert
It has been eight months since the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic which has created an unprecedented global socio-economic crisis. As Wuhan residents are beginning to attend music festivals once more and UK consumers are incentivised to uplift their local restaurants with the “eat out to help out” scheme, it is beginning to look like the worst may be over and our ‘new normal’ has begun.
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Streaming’s remuneration model cannot be ‘fixed’

Cover image for Streaming’s remuneration model cannot be ‘fixed’
Mark Mulligan
Music
Streaming
remuneration
The #brokenrecord debate continues to build momentum and new models such as user-centric are getting increased attention, including at governmental level in the UK. But as Mat Dryhurst correctly observes , there is a risk of the market falling into streaming fatalism; that the obsession with trying to fix a model that might not be fixable distracts us from focusing on trying to build alternative futures.
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Return of the fan: COVID-19 thwarts fan pilot sporting events amid regional spikes in cases

Cover image for Return of the fan: COVID-19 thwarts fan pilot sporting events amid regional spikes in cases
Alistair Taylor
Video
Sports
Games
Just when sports fans thought it was safe to go back into the water, COVID reared its ugly head once more. UK fan pilot sporting events were all set to start allowing fans back into arenas and attend live events, but government restrictions have now been re-imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus, crippling any chances of normality resuming in the near-term.
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