Tag: streaming economics

Myths in Streaming argues that the industry’s rush to scale during the growth-at-all-costs era created a structural weakness called metadata debt. As margins tighten, fragmented and vendor-defined metadata now creates operational inefficiencies, limits ad revenue potential, increases compliance risk, and…

Skip explains that Netflix’s growing presence in Washington, D.C. reflects the company’s shift from disruptive outsider to core infrastructure within the global media ecosystem. As streaming intersects with areas like advertising, telecommunications, labor, and media consolidation, policymakers are paying closer…

TikTok and Apple Music are connecting music discovery directly to monetized streaming with a new “Play Full Song” feature that lets Apple Music subscribers launch full tracks from within the TikTok feed. The integration reduces friction between viral discovery and…

YouTube generated an estimated $62B in 2025 revenue, surpassing Disney’s $60.9B media segment, according to MoffettNathanson. The milestone highlights a structural shift in media where distribution scale and the ability to aggregate global audience attention are becoming more powerful than…

Mexico’s streaming market is shifting toward a subscription rotation model as households increasingly cancel and re-add services based on price, content availability, and release timing. New data from The Competitive Intelligence Unit shows 14% of Mexican subscribers canceled at least…

From the Archives revisits how Amazon introduced Amazon Channels in 2015 to address the growing fragmentation of streaming by allowing Prime Video users to subscribe to third-party services directly within Amazon’s interface. The model positioned Amazon as a subscription aggregator,…

Skip examines a Netflix exec's recent claim that Paramount’s $6B in projected merger synergies are “code for job cuts,” arguing the framing is designed for regulatory and competitive impact rather than financial precision.

Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery puts David Ellison’s $6 billion synergy target into a media labor market that’s already structurally smaller after years of elevated layoffs. Ellison said most savings will come from non-labor sources, but history shows…

YouTube is pulling away in video podcasts as the format hits mainstream scale. Ampere Analysis reports that 20% of global internet users watched a video podcast in the past month, including 11% on YouTube alone, positioning long-form, low-cost talk content…

David Ellison outlined a plan to merge Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery around a 30-film annual theatrical slate, a 45-day exclusive window, and a unified streaming platform combining HBO Max and Paramount+. The strategy is a scale play designed to…