Weekly Roundup – January 14th, 2025
Roundup Links
How Spotify is turning podcasting into social media
"When Spotify introduced video podcasts, its interface started to look more like TikTok. Now the music streaming giant has added a glorified creator fund.
...
Spotify’s Partner Program opens up “audience-driven payouts from Spotify Premium video engagement.” Translation: The more Premium users who watch a video podcast, the more its creators will get paid. Podcasters can also get a cut of ads listened to by Spotify Free users. Suddenly, podcasters can bet on payouts from Spotify based on engagement alone, no longer relying exclusively on coordinating their own advertisements."
Our Take: The term "podcast' is becoming increasingly fluid as to incorporate any media where 'people talking' is the central component. Also, Spotify sees YouTube's user-creator model and want a piece of that lucrative pie.
Scoop: TikTok pushes users to Lemon8 as ban looms
"TikTok's sister app Lemon8 has been sponsoring posts on TikTok encouraging users to migrate to Lemon8 amid a looming ban threat, according to sponsored posts viewed by Axios.
Why it matters: The TikTok ban law also applies to other apps owned by TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance, like Lemon8.
ByteDance could be betting that regulators and app store companies are so focused on TikTok that they won't pay attention to its other apps."
Our Take: The secret sauce of ByteDance is self-evidently its algorithm. Of equal importance to American legislators are its data collection practices. If a ban were to occur, expect a protracted legal battle. In the meantime, TikTok's Lemon8 would serve as a surrogate if services were ultimately disrupted.
Venu Sports - the proposed sports streaming venture between ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. - is no more.
"Venu Sports, a streaming service that was supposed to be launched by Disney's ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox, will no longer make its debut.
“After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service," the three companies said in a joint statement on Friday.
The news comes as FuboTV, which filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the platform's launch last year, settled all litigation related to Venu earlier this week. The settlement coincided with an announcement that Fubo, an internet TV bundler, would join forces with Disney's Hulu + Live TV business."
Our Take: Disney backtracked and probably thought to itself, "I could make a lot more money and not have to share it with those other guys."
How the Democrats Lost the Working Class
"...The Democratic Party’s estrangement from working-class voters first became clear with Mr. Trump’s upset of Hillary Clinton in 2016, powered by broad shifts in the preferences of white voters without college degrees, and it became even more unmistakable with his emphatic defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in November. That result was a reckoning for a party that thought it had fixed its problems with blue-collar voters by heavily reinvesting in domestic manufacturing but instead discovered even more erosion, this time among Black and Latino workers."
Streaming platforms spent US$10bn on sports rights in 2024
"Streaming platforms globally spent US$10 billion on sports rights in 2024 as the likes of Netflix and Amazon secured major new broadcast deals, according to a new study from Ampere Analysis.
Confirmed:
Annual global sports rights spend by streaming platforms is up to US$10 billion compared to US$2.8 billion five years ago"
Our Take: At a certain point the consumer is going to want a little more bang for their buck with all these streaming options. These expensive sports rights acquisitions by the major streamers mean future price-hikes for paying audiences. Presumably, the standard consumer is going to make a decision on which streaming services to keep vs. cut. The logic behind Venu was that you had a one-stop-shop for sports, but that is now kaputt. It's hard to see a path towards consistent profitability for major streaming services in the short-term, especially when they shell out huge sums for sports rights. I've said this in previous roundups, and I'll say it again here: The major streamers are angling for the profits seen in cable's heyday (late 90's/early 2000's). Whether that is possible in a diversified media ecosystem, remains to be seen.
