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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.

Taylor Swift, Label Services and What Comes Next

Mark Mulligan

22 Nov 2018

#MERKY ADA Billy Bragg

Taylor Swift has done it again, striking a deal with UMG that includes a commitment from the world’s largest label group to share proceeds from Spotify stock sales with artists, even if they are not recouped (ie haven’t generated enough revenue to have paid off the balance on their advance so no...

5 min read

The Implications Of Amazon’s Bid For Fox’s Regional Sports Networks

Tim Mulligan

21 Nov 2018

21CF 21st Century Fox AT & T

Hot on the heels of 21CF (21 st Century Fox) securing a renewal of its multi-year distribution deal with the leading US pay TV operator AT&T; 21CF’s regional US Sports networks are now in play. According to CNBC , tech major Amazon is bidding for all 21CF’s 22 regional sports TV networks.

3 min read

Why AT&T is Renewing Its Fox Distribution Relationship

Tim Mulligan

19 Nov 2018

21CF AT & T DirectTV Now

Yesterday , leading US telco AT&T publicly announced the multi-year renewal of its programme distribution deal with Fox Networks Group. AT&T negotiated the deal with 21stCentury Fox assets, which will go to Disney once their takeover of Fox is finalised early in 2019.

2 min read

The English Premier League And The Risks Ahead

Tim Mulligan

19 Nov 2018

English Premier League EPL Sports

Last week’s appointment of Susanna Dinnage to the post of chief executive of the English Premier League marked a watershed moment in the history of Europe’s most valuable sports league. For a start, history has been made with the blunt recognition that Dinnage is the first female chief executive...

3 min read

Cover image for The English Premier League And The Risks Ahead

MIDiA Research Welcomes Veteran Telco Analyst Paolo Pescatore To Team

Mark Mulligan

16 Nov 2018

MIDiA Analyst Team MIDiA Research Paolo Pescatore

I am very pleased to announce that seasoned and respected analyst Paolo Pescatore is joining MIDiA’s analyst team, to head up our new Telco Consumer Services research stream. Paolo has spent the last 20 years covering telecoms, media and technology (TMT) research and advising leading telcos and te...

2 min read

Cover image for MIDiA Research Welcomes Veteran Telco Analyst Paolo Pescatore To Team

The Meta Trends that Will Shape 2019

Mark Mulligan

16 Nov 2018

2019 forecast 2019 tech and media predictions AI

MIDiA has just published its annual predictions report . Here are a few highlights. 2018 was another year of change, disruption and transformation across media and technology. Although hyped technologies – VR, blockchain, AI music – failed to meet inflated expectations, concepts such as privacy,...

5 min read

Cover image for The Meta Trends that Will Shape 2019

5G Represents a Marriage Made in Heaven For the Cable Industry

Tim Mulligan

14 Nov 2018

4g 5G cable

Last week MIDiA Research was invited to participate on a panel at the Cable Next Gen Europe event in London, to discuss convergence and the impact of 5G for cable providers. The gathering largely focused on sharing best practices, innovation and technology road map for the next few years.

3 min read

Cover image for 5G Represents a Marriage Made in Heaven For the Cable Industry

Quick Take: Activision Blizzard Results And Why Engagement Matters Now More Than Ever

Karol Severin

12 Nov 2018

Activision Activision Blizzard Activision q3

Activision Blizzard reported its Q3 results late last week. Despite beating guidance on net income, which reached $260 million, the company’s stock plummeted following the announcement. The key worries include engagement, success of future games within franchises like Call of Duty and Destiny, as ...

2 min read

Sky Shows Hand With Bid For Scottish Football TV Rights

Alistair Taylor

12 Nov 2018

assets broadcast rights BT

Sky sports has doubled down on UK football and is the firm favourite to acquire the exclusive rights to broadcast Scottish football (SPFL), having bid £100 million for the next block of rights, starting in 2021 .

3 min read

What UMG and Boomplay's Deal Tells Us About the Future of African Streaming

Zach Fuller

6 Nov 2018

african streaming boomplay Streaming

Universal Music Group have announced today they will be signing a landmark licensing agreement with Boomplay, Africa’s leading music streaming and download service, in a deal that covers multiple markets within Africa.

4 min read

Demystifying the Chaos: Amazon's Quest for Commercial Omnipotence

Georgia Meyer

5 Nov 2018

aws brand partnerships financial results

There is hardly a moment that Amazon is not making the news. The business is now so vast, and spread across so many areas of technology, culture and commerce, that it is difficult to keep abreast of developments – or formulate a coherent picture of what its ambitions are.

4 min read

Sky and BT announce long term partnership for cross-supply of content

Alistair Taylor

2 Nov 2018

addressable audience Amazon Prime Attention economy

British broadcasters Sky and BT confirmed this week a long-term extension and expansion to an overall content cross-supply deal. Following the initial agreement signed in the UK last December , the partnership now includes Ireland, allowing Sky Ireland customers access to Sky Sports and BT Sport thr...

3 min read

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‘Hard Drive Share’ As A Strategic Weapon For Console Publishers (Until Streaming Kicks Off)

Karol Severin

2 Nov 2018

console games console games strategy game developers

As you could tell from the social media frenzy about having to delete other games to accommodate the new Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) release, hard drive space is a real issue for many console gamers, with their desire for a new game forcing some of their previously played games off their consoles.

5 min read

Can Spotify Ever Meet Investors’ Expectations?

Mark Mulligan

1 Nov 2018

Netflix Record labels Spotify

Spotify just posted another solid set of results, adding four million subscribers and beating profit and revenue estimates, yet its share price fell. What’s going on? Spotify is on track for where it should be, slightly below, but on track.

3 min read

Guess Which is The Leading Headphone Brand?

Mark Mulligan

1 Nov 2018

Headphones have been centre stage of the digital music market since the launch of the iPod in 2001. Portable music started more than two decades earlier with Sony’s Walkman, but it was digital’s ability to fill a device with catalogues of music, rather than just one album that empowered music li...

2 min read

How Are Modern Media Subscription Services Building Competitive Advantages Against Traditional Media?

Zach Fuller

29 Oct 2018

media business models media finance Streaming

Media, with its creative nature, often likes to define itself as distinct from other industries, and yet it is governed by many of the same principles that shape other areas of commerce. With the shift to streaming in full swing, how are media business models being affected by the market forces that...

4 min read

Spotify May Already Be Too Big for the Labels to Stop it Competing With Them

Mark Mulligan

26 Oct 2018

Artists direct independent record labels indie labels

Spotify’s Daniel Ek is betting big on developing a ‘two sided marketplace’ for music . With the company’s market cap on a downward trend despite strong growth metrics , Ek might find himself having to play up the disruption narrative more boldly and more quickly than he’d planned.

6 min read

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Twitter’s Q3 Earnings Usher in The New Normal For Public Tech Companies

Tim Mulligan

25 Oct 2018

Twitter Twitter Q3 earnings Uncategorised

Today’s Twitter Q3 earnings represents a signature change in big tech and the value criteria ascribed to publicly traded consumer facing tech companies. For the first time in Twitter’s five years as a public company, it has reported a decline in worldwide monthly active users (MAUs).

2 min read

Discovery Taking PGA Tour Golf Global

Alistair Taylor

24 Oct 2018

audience Boxing DAZN

Eurosport-parent Discovery and the PGA Tour have unveiled GolfTV , an upcoming international golf-centric subscription video on demand (SVOD) service. The announcement follows a 12-year, $2 billion June agreement granting Discovery the international rights to distribute PGA Tour content outside the ...

4 min read

Quick Take: Will Stream Djing be the Renaissance of Soundcloud?

Zach Fuller

19 Oct 2018

SoundCloud Music

After a difficult two yearsthat saw acquisitions fall through and a lack of meaningful uptake of its subscription service, SoundCloud have needed some positive news. Reveredwithin the creator community though still struggling to make a profit, SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainorannounced today at Amsterdam...

2 min read

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