The Bulletin Edition 10
From The Desk of
It will be quite sometime before I rise from this new double digit issue achievement and up into the echelons of three digits, however, these past ten issues have provided me with a new and creative writing routine. I have enjoyed the past nine issues worth of comments, feedback and suggestions from you all and greatly appreciate your continued and unfailing support. The Bulletin was never going to be a list of links or recommended articles, as there are already so many websites and email lists doing exactly that. Secondly, I didn’t want The Bulletin to be a chore to read, which is why it has morphed itself into the style of a “Sunday Newspaper,” being more personal and light to read, yet informative and thought provoking. For some of you, from your kind correspondence, you now have a new Monday morning routine with your coffee and The Bulletin. For others, each weekly issue is something to look forward to at the end of your Sunday, to get your mind fresh and to start thinking about the week ahead.
For me, this week has been one of winding projects down, ensuring that deals are either closed or in good shape for January. My January calendar is already filling up, which I take note as a sign that I will at least survive the holiday season and come out the other side in one piece. However, the holidays will be very quiet and will give me much time to pause and think about achievements and lessons learnt in 2020 and my plans and goals for 2021. However, this week, at the same time, the industry news has been full of new announcements, surprises and visualizations of what lies ahead in 2021. Will live sports return? (already advertisers are wary of committing any spends to the Super Bowl) Will streaming decline when everyone is vaccinated and we all rush to escape away from the confinements of our TV screens? Will industry events roar back to life? (although it was announced that MIPTV in April will be online and MIPCOM in October is planned to be in person) Many questions remain. However I strongly believe that this year has prepared us all for any unforeseen challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in 2021.
I will see if I can resist putting my fingers on the keys during the holiday season, although I am tempted to round off the year with thoughts on the next twelve months, so if your inbox dings unexpectedly during the holidays, you will know that my willpower collapsed under all the turkey and chocolates.
As ever, thank you all for your support and words of encouragement, I wish you all the success for your coming week and wish you a Merry Christmas and a fully festive holiday break. [C]
The Weekly Dispatch
You must be everywhere
Even the big streaming players need to be available on every platform, every device, every console, every screen in order to be successful. This was no more apparent than this week when a slew of “launch” announcements came out in time for the holiday period, which no doubt will see an enormous amount of screen time being accumulated around the world. Gone are the days of the consumer having multiple devices, set top boxes or screen mirroring for different services. The consumer expects their connected TV or their OTT device (such as Roku or Apple TV) and even their traditional cable TV provider to have every streaming app in one place.
HBO Max finally comes to Roku - Seven months after HBO Max launched, the service finally rolled out on Roku devices this week ending what seemed to be a some jostling between the two companies over terms and the presence of HBO already on Roku (which will now be removed) This new deal will give HBO Max much reach during the holiday season (with Roku counting more than 46 million accounts) especially as it will be just in time for the December 25th premier release of “Wonder Woman 1984,” that will simultaneously and convertroversially be released on the app and in theatres at the same time. Yet again Roku’s stock rose to an all time high on the announcement.
HBO Max arrives on Playstation 5 - Following on from a previous edition of The Bulletin and my recent podcast interview (see the And Finally section of this edition for the podcast link) Playstation 5 owners will now have access to the HBO Max streaming service. While PS4 owners in the U.S. have had HBO Max for a while now, this new integration into the 5 model does clear the way for the Playstation to be more than just a gaming console and as a contender for being a household entertainment hub.
Xfinity now available on Amazon Fire TV - Comcast has brought their Xfinity Stream app to Amazon Fire TV devices. Aimed at being a way for Xfinity users to bring the service to another room or device without needing a second set top box, the integration will let users access live TV, on-demand and recorded content that is already included in their cable subscription. Up until now, Xfinity Stream has only been available on Roku, and certain models of Samsung and LG Smart TVs.
Amazon Prime launches on Sky - UK based Sky clearly sees itself as a content aggregator and not just a traditional TV provider, as this week it was announced that Amazon Prime will be available through STB service Sky Q and SVOD service Now TV across Europe. Aside from Sky’s UK home market, the company also has expanded out to Ireland, Austria, Germany and Italy. The addition of Amazon Prime on Sky comes on top of the company already integrating Netflix and Disney Plus through its service.
The BBC launches a new streaming service
News came out this week that the BBC will be launching a new streaming service named “BBC Select,” that will first be available in the U.S. and Canada early next year. The new service will roll out across Amazon Prime Video and the Apple TV app and is targeted towards “independent thinkers,” who would be attracted to the planned slate of culture, politics and factual programming.
I am somewhat surprised about the launch of this service however, targeting the U.S. and Canada first does make sense as both countries have historically adopted the BBC well through decades of BBC Worldwide programming and then the existing SVOD service Britbox that is seeing much success in both countries.
However, splitting BBC Select and Britbox up into two separate services doesn’t make sense to me. British television is ubiquitous outside of the UK, regardless of what channel or production company it comes from. There is already Acorn TV and Britbox, both of which aim to serve the British television fan, yet seem to divide in order to conquer. I remember a BBC executive telling me how Downton Abbey was great for the BBC as everyone outside of the UK assumed it was a BBC production when in fact it was an ITV production. I also see the same topic come up on British TV fan pages in the USA and Canada asking “which is better, Britbox or Acorn TV?”
Come on England, there is a better way to export the brilliance of UK programming overseas, and that way is to have one British TV app, a joint venture, with Britbox, Acorn TV, BBC Select, BBC News all rolled into one platform with on-demand and linear with an EPG.
TikTok comes to TV
Don’t discard the trusty remote just yet. Samsung announced this week that TikTok will soon be available on Samsung connected TV’s, with the UK market being the first country to exclusively watch the short form predominantly mobile service on a big screen. Offering more of a curated experience, the TV app will highlight most viewed, trending and recommendations in a familiar scrolling functionality. Prepare for usually bedroom-bound teenagers to take over your living room.
The Focus
We all saw it coming. It was only a matter of time before celebrities and well known figures of all sorts would start appearing on our screens or on our podcasts. For many it was hoped that 2020 would have been the end of the influencer but it seems as though the growth in streaming and innovative new ways to package content has given rise to a new wave of “celebrity content.” Over the last couple of weeks a number of new developments came out either on the television or podcasting formats. Celebrity themed shows used to all be about primetime viewing on cable TV and it was the advertisers who pulled in the money. Now it’s about needing a paid subscription in order to watch the content. How things are shifting. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll tune in every morning to my podcast show to hear me reading you the news and weather!
Harry, Meghan and Spotify - This week it was announced that the couple have signed an exclusive deal with Spotify to develop a podcast show (a sneak preview can be heard here) Despite fleeing the UK for the quietness of the Hollywood Hills to escape the limelight, it seems though for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the lure of having a public voice was just too much to avoid and I believe will probably be the most talked about and critiqued podcast of all time.
The Kardashians and Hulu - For many, the announcement that The Kardashians TV show was coming to an end was either a heartfelt cry or a sigh of relief. However from this week’s announcement it shows that there is life after cable TV. The Kardashian-Jenner empire (estimated to be worth up to $2 billion) has signed a multiyear deal with Disney to produce new content that will stream on Hulu and the Disney Star platform (which is aimed to be the international version of Hulu) The content will air late 2021.
Charli D’Amelio and Hulu - If having 100 million followers (all in 9 months) on TikTok isn’t enough, the dancing star Charli D’Amelio and her family (who are also TikTok stars) have signed a deal to develop a “Kardashians” type reality show with Hulu, following the family through their everyday lives. It will be interesting to see if a TikTok short-form stars success will translate into TV series length or whether their level of stardom can only muster a short 60 seconds on a small screen.
The Beckhams and Netflix - Announced earlier this year, David and Victoria Beckham are working on a $20.6 million fly-on-the-wall documentary about their lives. The documentary will contain live filmed and archival footage of both the footballer’s life and Victoria’s career as a member of the Spice Girls.
On Point
47% - the percentage of U.S. consumers who streamed OTT free ad-supported television in October (NDP)
January 1st - the date that all seasons of “The Office” will disappear from Netflix and will appear on Peacock, NBCU’s streaming service (Bloomberg)
69% - the percentage of consumers who are anticipating watching more film and TV this Holiday season compared to previous years (Sony Professional Solutions Europe)
$29.5m - the amount of money 9-year old Ryan Kaji earnt this year on YouTube, making him the platforms highest-paid earner (The Guardian)
75% - the percentage of the 13-34yr old U.S. population that uses Snapchat (Piper Sandler)
217.6 million - number of global video on demand (SVOD) subscriptions as of Q3 2020 (Strategy Analytics)
25% - percentage of U.S. broadband homes that prefer streaming to theatrical new release movies (Parks)
$0.34 - weekly subscription price for the new Spotify “Premium Mini” service in India (MBW)
7 - number of paid and free streaming services U.S. consumers now use (up from five in April 2020) (NDP Group)
69% - percentage of OTT trailer that end up subscribing to at least one service (Parks)
Read Elsewhere
“SVOD services … are experimenting with scheduling and acquiring sports rights — two key pillars of the pay-TV industry,” Veale said. “The burning question is whether younger age groups will adopt the habits of their parents and grandparents as they grow older, or will their current video behaviors remain with them as they age?”
Diversion
I had a lot of fun choosing the diversion video this week. Many of you have written to me saying how much you enjoy this off-topic section of The Bulletin and after this year, I think it’s fitting to round off possibly the last edition of 2020 with some simplicity and escapism. Enjoy.
One To Read
Essentialism is a timely read for the final few weeks of this year and I highly recommend adding it to your holiday reading list. Unlike many other similar natured books that tout minimizing everything in your personal and vocational life, right down to the bare minimum, or doing nothing but still managing to be productive, Greg McKeown explores the fundamentals of “doing less by doing more’ by focusing on what really matters in order to achieve your objectives. Being a multi-tasker for many is a great trait but it also means you end up working 10% on 10 different things as opposed to working 100% on just one thing. The results are of course completely incomparable.
To this effect I have already found benefits in dividing up my day into highly focused blocks of time and activity as opposed to having all channels of communication (email, phone, messaging) open all at once. For instance I read the news in the morning, then close up the apps until later in the day. Then it’s email and messages, then project management tools and the real work begins with most other forms of communication switched off. This really allows me to focus, rather than get distracted with the ding of a message that can always wait to be replied to. It certainly is not an easy exercise as many messages demand immediate response but Essentialism will be one of my main productivity plans to work on for 2021 (just don’t get too upset if I don’t immediately respond to your messages)
Visual Insight
Source: The Visual Capitalist
And Finally
Spotify gets creative (and upsets the Brits)
Following on from this week's “The Focus,” Spotify has also been busy in a number of other areas, including apparently upsetting my own folk back in the UK. News broke this week that Spotify are launching a daily audio soap opera to compete with “The Archers,” a radio show that has been a British staple (and a daily obsession for millions) since 1950. A few issues back in The Bulletin I mentioned that I could see Spotify launching their own morning shows (probably backed by celebrities) and they certainly seem to be exploring this path as their next foray into the audioscape. I can already hear the angry rattling of teacups up and down the English villages.
Spotify also uncovered their “Songwriters Hub” this week, a new feature to highlight and showcase what for many, is a hidden part of music. Revolving around songwriters, the feature includes playlists, new releases by the songwriter, biographies and podcasts.
“With the launch of the Songwriters Hub, we’re continuing to evolve how music is discovered, appreciated, and enjoyed by the world. People know who an artist is. They don’t know who the writers are, necessarily. If we can help make those connections, we help people discover new music and open up potential career opportunities for the songwriter.”
A podcast first
Earlier this week I had the pleasure to be invited by friend and industry colleague, Eric Lapointe, as a guest on his podcast show Global Podcast, that covers the world of the international content & the entertainment distribution business. We both had a great session and an informal catchup to talk more about “2020: Year in Review.”
This was actually my first podcast, audio or video, so it was certainly very interesting to walk through the entire creation process, from planning the script through to recording and post editing. Thank you Eric and hopefully there might be further joint episodes planned for 2021.
This concludes this week’s edition of The Bulletin. If you would like further details on anything mentioned or have questions or suggestions that you would like to discuss on email or to schedule a call, please drop me a note.
Cheers and thank you for your support and I wish you all the success for your coming week.