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.

The FCC Repeals Net Neutrality: This Changes Everything

Zach Fuller
adit pai
bcc
cable companies
Anticipated for months, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted yesterday to repeal the Obama-era ‘Open Internet Order’ enacted in 2015. Despite public outcry across social media over the anti-competitive nature of the decision, the regulatory agency led by Ajit Pai has enacted a decision so far reaching – effectively weaponising content distribution, it will affect how millions access the internet and have significant consequences for the digital economy.
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Spotify, Tencent And The Laws Of Unintended Consequences

Mark Mulligan
Media and Marketing
Critical Developments
News has emerged that Spotify and TencentMusic could be swapping 10%equity in each other’s companies ahead of Spotify’s public listing. There are some obvious implications for both enterprises, as well as some less immediately obvious, but even more interesting permutations: Spotify gets a foothold in China: Tencent is the leading music subscription company in China with QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo accounting for 14.
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Snapchat’s Re-Design Is Likely Too Little Too Late

Zach Fuller
Branded content
buzzfeed
digital advertising
Having promised a ‘whole new Snapchat’, it appears the app’s mooted re-design is not the revolution Evan Spiegel proposed during his company’s Q3 earnings call. The company’s founder stated that: “While blurring the lines between professional content creators and your friends has been an interesting Internet experiment, it has also produced some strange side-effects (like fake news) and made us feel like we have to perform for our friends rather than just express ourselves.
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With Amazon's Black Friday in Full Swing, What Would Marshall McLuhan Think of Voice Control?

Zach Fuller
Media and Marketing
AsBlack Friday kicks into gear throughout the US, Amazon has been quick to adopt the occasion as an opportune event for getting more Echo devices into Prime customer households. MIDiA has been writing a lot the past year on implications of voice technology, and it got me thinking about what one of the most noted voices in media criticism in the 20th century would have thought of the device and its consequences.
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Has The SVOD Killer Arrived?

Tim Mulligan
hulu
Online video
Philo
In 2014 ESPN had 95 million subscribers and its $10.8 billion in revenues accounted for 25.7% of Walt Disney Co’s $40.2 billion revenue. In 2015, ESPN lost three million subscribers and this 3% decline in subscriptions and the historic operating margins of 40-45% for cable and satellite, underpinned by ESPN’s trophy-like exclusivity on premium live sports events, were suddenly at risk.
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