Business of Media Dr. O Final Exam
Amazon and film releases
- "Not only will we bring Prime instant video customers exciting unique and exclusive films soon after a movies theatrical run, but we hope this program will also benefit filmmakers, who too often struggle to mount fresh and daring stories that deserve an audience" -plan to release 10-12 films annually -budgets of $5-50 million -"The problem with other Hollywood studios is that they are cowardly. They are afraid of anything where they cant evaluate the demographic... these are film guys and they are daring" - "I don't focus on the individual movie making money... It's the system that relates value as a whole" * partners with distributors * 30-90 day release * then available on prime
Apple TV+
- 100 countries - fall launch -unknown price
Apple+
- Apple's new streaming service - 2 billion on original content in the last 2 years
Apple Arcade
- downloadable games - apple devices -unknown price point * subscription service -indie developers and well known titles * exclusivity * Sonic the Hedgehog - fall 2019 in 150 countries
Beginnings of YouTube
- founded Feb 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawad Karim -former employees at PayPal - first video posted: Me at the Zoo -remains in Beta form until December 2005 -August 2005: looked a lot like Google * Article in St. Paul Pioneer Press- one of the first papers to talk about YouTube -"Make it brain dead simple for average computer users to upload store and share the video clips shot with their digital cameras or recent model cell phones" - "so by all means upload you videos and go crazy sharing them with all your loved ones. But be sure to keep copies on your computer and backup discs. And keep an eye out for alternate services since YouTube's survival is far from assured
Beginnings of Amazon
- founded in 1994 - online store began in July 1995 * primarily books - 1997: Becomes a public company - 1998: Starts selling movies and music * Jeff Bezos named time magazine person of the year - 2001: First quarterly profit - 2005: Launches Amazon Prime - 2007: The kindle is launched - 2010: Amazon Studios launched - 2011: The Kindle Fire launched - 2014: The fire phone is launched * Also fire TV -Mission statement: "we seek to be earths most customer centric company for four primary customer sets: consumers sellers enterprises and content creators"
CBS All Access business model
- subscription broadcaster -announced October 2014 -service basics -on demand programming * current programming * older programming *live stream local content *exceptions * NFL (until 2018) * shows produced by other studios - 5.99 per month -platform mobility *CBS website
Amazon Studios and Amazon TV
-"It's a way to drive people to spend more on the rest of their shopping cart... its all about keeping you in their ecosystem:" -"Amazon is the first company to use a golden globe to sell toilet paper" - originals directly picked up * US streaming rights
Netflix and the long tail
-"Were fortunate because we have unlimited inventory space. It allows us to value content in more ways than just mass numbers. For a lot of other buyers the threshold is very high for what makes it on the air because they only have so much space they can allocate to programming—there are a finite number of hours in their schedules. In that world, new series usually succeed or fail because of marketing- did they get enough viewers in the right window to make it a success? Again, those windows are way too small. It has little to do with the actual quality of the content" -"Netflix was able to drive traffic to films that didn't have the resources to compete in a media saturated blockbuster driven entertainment market"
Lazy Sunday
-2nd Lonely Island Original -within 10 days of NBC airing, "Lazy Sunday" had been viewed 1.2 million on Youtube - in 45 days, 5 million views -posted in Dec 2005 -Feb 2006: NBC universal demands clip comes off site, not making any money from it, can't control it
JK Wedding Entrance Dance
-98 million views since its been posted -recreated on the Today show and the Office -Feb 09- Chris Brown's Assault on Rihanna -7/19/09- video goes up on youtube -7/26/09 - "Forever" is #4 on iTunes, was first released in November 2007 -7/28/09- video hits 12 million views -Oct 2009- The Office version airs, there is a new spike - Sony, right holder, works with Youtube - Click to buy links are added to description -2 times the normal click through rate -Chris Brown's music video experiences 2.5% increase in traffic -person whose page it was puts link/ad in video to donate to domestic violence
Netflix and Big Data
-Algorithmic culture" -"[A]n era of scarcity of audience data to an era of over-abundance." Tim Havens
Google and Youtube Merger
-Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion -"The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google's mission to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful.. our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertiser." -"Google's goal is to organize the world information and make it universally accessible and useful. To do this, the company relies on ADVERTISING to generate revenues."
Hulu's Current Business Models
-Hulu eliminated its free ad supported streaming service- 2016 -have limited commercials and no commercial plan -Hulu (June 2010) *formally known as hulu plus *$9.99 to $7.99 to compete with Netflix *commercials *current season episodes *show depth varies *movies *originals • Hulu ad free (September 2015) *$11.99 per month *some shows still have ads *library is the same
Battle Royale and the long tail
-Japanese film released in 2000 - extremely violent - DVD release in December 2011 -about kids going to school to learn how to kill their classmates - DVD sales went up after the Hunger Games was released in March 2012 -"There's a core fan base that has been looking for this movie and that's who were targeting. But with the hunger games coming out, there's also a while new market of people who probably didn't know battle royale existed."
Manchester by the Sea
-Kenneth Lonergan, 2016 - purchases at Sundance in 2016 for 10 million -2nd highest pickup of the festival -also purchases 5 other films -outbid FOX Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics among others -partnered with Roadside Attractions for distribution -wins oscar -Casey Affleck
Youtube and copyright issues
-NBC Universal demands that "Lazy Sunday" gets taken off site because they are not making money from it -Viacom sues Youtube for copyright infringement -asks for 1 billion in damages, went on for 7 years -other companies soon follow * Premier League *TFI * Mediaset
Qwikster
-Netflix's separate streaming service -was cancelled a week later
History of the Annoying Orange
-created in 2009 by Dane Boedighemier -started as web series -became so popular that it became TV series, video game, toys, and other merchandise
Netflix's focus on originals
-exclusivity to the service -branding -international licensing
Apple as a facilitator for creation, gaming and new services
-facilitation of creation -facilitation of faming * non gamers * Pokemon Go * Indie Developers -facilitation of new services * Uber * Bumble/ Tinder * Instagram * Tik Tok
Beginnings of Netflix
-founded in 1997 -DVD rental service -1999: stated subscription service * Unlimited rentals for monthly fee -2000: started recommendation service -2007: streaming service started -2011: Netflix tried to separate streaming from DVD and were going to call DVD Qwikster * within 3 months they put them back together because people hated it -125 million subscribers globally in march 2018 *190 countries * US subscribers: 57 million • global streaming revenue in 2017: $11.6 billion
The Twilight Zone
-hosted and narrated by Jordan Peele -exclusive to CBS All Access - episodes posted weekly
Advantages and Disadvantages to Netflix
-increasing content costs -competition -growing and maintaining subscribers -prestige brad limits programming
Beginnings to Hulu
-launched March 2007 -NBC Universal, News Corp. and Providence equity partners -Disney became 4th partner in April 2009 -Time warner 5th partner in 2017 -original model: free (with ads) -25 million subscribers (Jan. 2018) - 2018: lost 1.5 billion dollars - "No sustained profitability yet" -primarily repurposed content * limited access - "Hulu quite simply now has the best premium content on the web... With three major networks and over 150 leading content providers providing content, combined with the best video user interface anywhere online video experience available today
Hulu's OTT service
-launched May 2017 - originally 39.99 per month - 2 simultaneous - skinny bundle of 50+ channels *includes ESPN *FOX opened channels (FOX news) * Time Warner Channels (TBS) *CBS - cloud DVR option -multiple platforms -march 2019 - 2 million subscribers
Star Trek: Discovery
-on CBS All Access - can be successful because has established fanbase
Similarities between key digital distribution networks
-platform agnosticism * accessible on any device * don't favor one device -controlled consumption * only give you some of the content - Geoblocking *all are available in some places and not others -Film and TV properties -move to original content * reliance on repurposed content
Advertising Based Model
-similar to tv and radio model - embedded ads -pre-roll ads - over-lay ads - sponsored series ex: chipotle series on Hulu
Sneaky Pete
-started as broadcast show, did not get picked up - amazon picked it up and fixed some things then became a hit - season 3 was picked up in Jan 2019
Amazon Pilot Season
-the audience plays network executive - "help choose the next Amazon original series with a quick survey" -watch pilot then answer 5-10 questions - "watch, rate, review"
Methods of monetizing digital content
1. Advertising-Based - Similar to TV & Radio model - Embedded Ads - Pre-roll ads - Sponsored series 2. Transaction-Based - One payment/one service - Subscription model 3. Subscription Based - regular payment to access library of content
3 types of Digital Content
1. Repurposed- taking from original form and putting it on something like Hulu 2. Promotional (enhancement)- stuff you put online to promote your product 3. Original ex: Fortnite, Beyonce's Album, Big Mouth
Beginnings of Apple
1975-1980 - 1976- Apple computer is incorporated 1980 - Apple goes public 1984 - intro of the macintosh PC 1996 - intro of the Apple Pippin (video game system) 2001 - intro of the iPod 2003 - intro of the iTunes store 2007 -intro of the iPhone -intro of Apple TV 2008 - the App Store opens 2010 - intro of the iPad
"Popularity no longer as a monopoly on profitability"
Chris Anderson
Hulu's corporate media partners
Disney, Comcast, Time Warner
HBO and streaming models
HBO Go- Cable Offshoot -launched in 2010 -subscribed to the premium cable network -mobile app -multiple platforms -thousands of available titles -additional content -"Traditional HBO on Demand on steroids" HBO Now -HBO's stand alone streaming service -announced October 2014 -launched April 2015 *week before game of thrones came out that season -$14.99/ month -all you need is the internet -first on Apple (then rolled out to other venues) -Feb 2018: more than 5 million US subscribers *available in a handful of international markets HBO via other channels -deals with other streaming companies -additive experience for the streamers * Hulu * Amazon
" We don't want to replace the dollars we were making in the analog world with pennies on the digital side"
Jeffery Zucker
"Hollywood believes in pixie dust. Silicon Valley believes in data... Today's entertainment has to be a combination of both."
Larry Shapiro
YouTube partner program (creators and individual videos)
May 2007: • YouTube elevates most popular users to partners * they got money of that and YouTube got more viewers • launch of partnership program *sharing of ad revenue between YouTube and producer * could chose what kind of ads get played * get access to analytics • who's watching and what are they like o August 2009: individual video partnership launches
"Amazon is the first company to use a Golden Globe to sell toilet paper"
Natalie Jarvey
"The ability to sell devices depends on the availability of media content"
Scholars Alisa
"Netflix is about personalization"
Ted Sarandos
"An era of scarcity of audience data to an era of overabundance"
Timothy Havens
Evolution of Dance
Video featuring comedian Judson Laipply. Has copyrighted music, but because it scopes all different types of music and is part of an act, it is not taken down. Laipply benefits from the video even though it has a low production level. The video now has advertisements attached and has 300 million views to date.
Pre-roll Ads
ads that appear prior to watching a video on the internet
Advantages and Disadvantages to CBS All Access
advantages- making more money off their own shows have library of old shows disadvantages-
Advantages and disadvantages to Hulu
advantages: recent episodes, different plans, original content disadvantages: cant watch offline, ads unless you pay, only available in US and Japan
Pop-up Ads
appear in a new browser window when you first log on to a web site
Cord-Cutting
cancelling cable subscriptions
increasing focus on original content by streaming companies
dont have to pay for streaming rights. bring people to their site, cant find it anywhere else
User-generated content
easy to upload made by the consumer
Me at the Zoo
first video posted to Youtube on 4/23/05
Enhancement
little segments of shows to get people to watch them ex: Jimmy Fallon youtube page and the dominos video
Key elements of the long tail
make everything available. make it affordable. the further down the tail, the cheaper it needs to be. make it easy to move down the tail
Legacy Media
media operations, such as broadcast, newspapers, and radio, that existed before the advent of the internet
Tangerine
movie shot on an iPhone
Transaction Based Model
one payment/one service episode season rental merchandizing
Netflix's business model
only revenue is from subscriptions
Challenges and opportunities posed by Youtube
opportunities: viral videos can generate huge interest from fans / great promotional tool challenges: very easy for people to steal copyrighted material and not give credit to the IP owners
The Long Tail - Anderson
our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail makes everything available makes it affordable further down the tail= cheaper makes it easy to move down the tail
Youtubes move into professional content
professional content alienates amateurs and youtube is making less money
Crowdfunding
raising money for a project or venture by obtaining many small amounts of money from many people
Subscription Based Model
regular payment to access library of content
Freemium
subscriptions that provide some content for free but require a monthly subscription to take advantage of all the site has to offer demo is free ex: Super Mario run, 1st 4 levels are free, and you have to pay for the rest of the levels additional content costs in app purchases buying coins
Repurposed Content
taking from original form and putting in on something like Hulu ex: Jersey Shore going from MTV to Hulu
Controlled Consumption
the limitation of access to content on different distribution networks ex: Hulu only has the most recent episode available for non-subscribers
Youtube TV
the service is essentially a cable replacement, offering live TV to your phone, tablet and television without a costly cable subscription and contract
Geo-blocking
the system used to limit your access to the internet, based on your geographic location content is available in some places around the world but not in others ex: Hulu not being available in Mexico
Platform Agnosticism
when a specific app or service such as Netflix is available on laptops, smart TVs, mobile phones, tablets and the like
