Product Strategy | MIDiA Research

It is time for video to seize the emerging monetisation opportunities of streaming TV

Tim Mulligan

23 Feb 2023

Last Friday, AMC Networks announced its fourth quarter 2022 results alongside its annual results. While fourth quarter revenues were up an impressive 20% to $965 million, net annual revenues only grew by 0.

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Blue Wire and fuboTV’s new deal is a slam dunk for sports podcasts

Annie Langston

22 Feb 2023

Blue Wire

FuboTV

Podcasts

Sports podcasts, hosted by sports writers, athletes, and other creators, are among the top podcast genres, as 30% of podcast listeners say they regularly listen to sports podcasts. Many platforms and networks have explored the genre, such as iHeart , which has deals with the NHL and NBA, and Spotify, which acquired sports and pop-culture-focused network The Ringer in 2020.

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Are subscriptions the future of social apps?

Hanna Kahlert

22 Feb 2023

Social

Subscriptions

Twitter

When Elon Musk took over Twitter, he was publicly faced with a seemingly impossible ask: make the iconic, culture-defining, long-standing social app (consistently) profitable. At the time of acquisition, Twitter did not have the same thriving ad business as Meta, and so Musk was forced to look at alternatives.

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Filling music streaming’s Disney+-shaped hole

Mark Mulligan

21 Feb 2023

Music

Business Strategy

Back when Disney+ started its meteoric rise, there was a lot of thinking around what lessons the music streaming market could learn. Three years on from the launch of the subscription video on demand platform, the shine has come off it a little, registering its first ever subscriber loss , but not before becoming a major market player and changing the way in which the industry thinks about developing streaming shows.

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Warner’s acquisition of DIVO showcases its focus on growing authentic local music cultures

Srishti Das

17 Feb 2023

RRR

Naatu naatu

goldern globes

A year ago, Warner Music Group (WMG) acquired a South African independent distribution company, Africori , which focused on distributing local scenes from Africa. Now, it has acquired a majority stake in DIVO, an Indian distribution and digital music company focused on South Indian music.

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Why the ‘Game Pass cannibalising games sales’ story does not change anything

Karol Severin

16 Feb 2023

games subscriptions

Xbox Game Pass

regulation

This week it has been reported that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report includes Microsoft sharing that its “ internal analysis shows a decline in base game sales following 12 months of their addition on Game Pass.

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Year of change
Themes that will shape entertainment in 2023

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Ben Woods and Srishti Das

February 2023

Spotify

YouTube

Amazon

This report deep dives into the themes identified in MIDiA’s 2023 predictions report. These themes will drive innovation in the digital entertainment landscape in 2023 across music, video, games, audio, cultural trends, and the creator economy. Expect 2023 to be a of period significant disruption and innovation forced upon the digital entertainment industry, as nearly two decades of uninterrupted growth makes way for consumer-led disruption that is driven by a reduction in discretionary spending, attention, and willingness to make do with tired old formats.

Is it goodbye to Google Podcasts? How YouTube’s podcast takeover has begun

Annie Langston

15 Feb 2023

YouTube

Google

Google Podcasts

One of our 2023 predictions is that YouTube will become a key player in the podcast market. YouTube is now the top podcast platform at 49% monthly penetration — compared to Spotify at 41% — despite not having a clear podcast strategy (MIDiA Research Consumer Survey Q4 2022).

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Amazon’s bid for MX Player is the beginning of a new wave of video streaming M&A

Tim Mulligan

15 Feb 2023

Online video

MX Player

Amazon Prime Video

On February 10thit was revealed that Amazon is in talks with the rapidly growing India streaming service, MX Player . The service is majority owned by The Times Group and is now one of India’s largest internet video platforms MX player is a regional offering with a key focus on India.

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Independent labels and distributors: take our survey!

Mark Mulligan

13 Feb 2023

Independent labels

independent record labels

Independent label survey

Measuring the actual contribution of the independent sector to the global recorded music market is an important but difficult task. The traditional way of thinking about independent market share is to take the total market and remove the majors’ revenues from that.

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With its Australia experiment, TikTok gives the music industry the ultimate test

Tatiana Cirisano

9 Feb 2023

TikTok

Social media

independent music

Licensing negotiations between platforms and the music industry come down to one question: which side needs the other more? The more that TikTok needs hit music to attract users, the more leverage the music industry (meaning labels and publishers) gains.

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How radio broadcasters can become key players in the podcast market chessboard

Annie Langston

8 Feb 2023

Radio

Spotify

BBC

Last week, Spotify announced an exclusive podcast deal with journalist Louis Theroux , one of BBC’s most notable personalities. Theroux is the latest radio talent to make the move to podcasting, which has become radio’s younger, cooler sibling.

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Disney versus Netflix – a tale of two contrasting commissioning strategies

Tim Mulligan

7 Feb 2023

video commissioning

streaming TV commissioning

Disney commissioning

Tomorrow Disney announces its Q1 FY23 earnings results (calendar Q4 2022). Investors will be looking to see continued momentum from the world’s largest direct-to-consumer service (as of Q2 2022) in response to Netflix’s strong Q4 22 results last month.

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Creators are focusing on the wrong metrics. Here is why:

Samuel Griffin

6 Feb 2023

Games

Streaming

Video

For most creators, there is a demand for greater remuneration for their efforts. However, one key consideration is missing from this equation – platforms are also for-profit revenue generators. The growing demand by creators for greater remuneration is something of an uphill battle and as creators have been searching for multiple revenue streams, there has been a migration of content across platforms as a form of security and discoverability.

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Everyone hurts – the problem with ‘fixing’ streaming

Mark Mulligan

6 Feb 2023

Streaming Royalties

Streaming economics

Streaming Music

Everyone hurts – the problem with ‘fixing’ streaming Apple’s Q4 2022 revenue fall was further illustration that the global economic environment is affecting everyone. During such times, companies look for ways to avoid the worst of the impacts, partially through ‘efficiencies’ but also through growth, by exploring new income streams and improving deal terms.

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Peak talent is here for streaming TV

Tim Mulligan

2 Feb 2023

Online video

acting talent

streaming TV talent

Last week, MIDiA covered the HBO phenomenon The Last of Us . Following in the footsteps of other successful games crossovers such as the Netflix Original The Witcher , The Last of Us is HBOs’ pitch at creating a high-profile scripted drama to bring gamers to its direct-to-consumer service (D2C) HBO Max.

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Podcast videos
Format blurring expands podcasts’ future

Annie Langston

February 2023

Creators

Apple

Spotify

Podcasts are breaking out of traditional audio and entering the video space, as nearly a quarter of consumers now watch podcast videos monthly. Visual elements for podcasts are becoming a crucial tool to reach new audiences and engage current listeners.

What Spotify’s podcast layoffs indicate about the changing audio market

Annie Langston

1 Feb 2023

Spotify

advertising

YouTube

For the last few years, audio companies have funnelled millions of dollars into the podcast market. Yet, the economic recession indicates that the boom of investment into podcasts may be reaching its peak.

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Why the paid sharing push by Netflix is a sign of weakness

Tim Mulligan

27 Jan 2023

Streaming

Netflix

paid sharing

InNetflix’s Q4 2022 earnings, the world’s pre-eminent subscription video on demand (SVOD) service painted a bullish picture of a company having navigated a difficult 2022. In its own words : “2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish.

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With a rumoured podcast feature, will TikTok become the Swiss Army knife of entertainment?

Annie Langston

25 Jan 2023

TikTok

Podcasts

Spotify

Despite recent layoffs and program cuts, the audio market continues to expand. While major music streaming platforms have led the way, social media platforms continue to diversify their audio offerings and compete in the wider market.

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