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Disney should just consolidate into a single streaming app
From Bloomberg
Netflix and YouTube had spent 20 years building the industry’s leading streaming products. Disney’s various streaming services weren’t even on the same technology stack, using the same programming language, databases and software tools, for years.
This is something that’s perplexed me ever since Disney launched Disney+ in 2019: why didn’t it learn the lessons from Netflix’s success by launching a consolidated super app? Instead, it chose to spread out its streaming efforts across three separate apps — Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. It basically kneecapped its ability to drive synergies across all its media properties.
Yes, I know its strategy was complicated by the fact that it didn’t own 100% of Hulu, but it should have focused on finding a solution to that problem rather than wasting resources growing three separate apps. It could have piled all of its IP onto Hulu with the anticipation that it would eventually own the entire app. Or it could have done the bare minimum to meet its contractual obligations with Hulu and plowed all its IP — including ESPN+ — into the Disney+ app. Instead, it continued to spend billions of dollars on Hulu-exclusive TV shows and movies while feeding only Star Wars and Marvel shows into Disney+
Now it’s reportedly working to combine Hulu and Disney+ into a single app, but I don’t believe that’s enough; ESPN should be an add-on tile within a mega app, not its own separate service. Not only is Disney wasting enormous resources running separate apps, but it’s failing to capitalize on bundle economics.
ICYMI: How two graduate students launched the leading biotech publisher in Europe
Co-founder Joachim Eeckhout explains how Labiotech.eu filled an information gap for Europe’s fast-growing biotech scene.
The FAST opportunity for video podcasts
Forget waiting around for a massive Netflix deal. A growing number of top podcasters are self-publishing their video catalogs to free ad-supported streaming (FAST) channels on Amazon Prime Video, Sling TV, and Samsung TV Plus. Basically, the podcast episodes play on a very long loop and then the channels are monetized with programmatic ads. For some podcasters, this strategy has unleashed a significant amount of passive revenue. “The FAST platforms are very comparable, and in some months, more lucrative on a per-view basis or per-minute watch-time basis than YouTube,” said one podcast executive. [Bloomberg]
There’s even more media news curation in my Substack Chat
This is a reminder that I’m extremely active in my Substack chat, which anyone can access. Not only am I curating media industry news there, but I’m also very responsive to user comments. Come chat with me and other media operators!
The growing influence of leftwing independent media
Since the 2024 election, there’s been a significant jump in left-of-center independent media outlets across social media, podcasts, and newsletters. For example, one journalist who previously worked at The Intercept has over 60,000 paid subscribers on Substack. For context, the New Republic at its height in the 1990s only had about 100,000 magazine subscribers. [Associated Press]
While Democrats are still more likely to consume mainstream news than Republicans, there’s increasing recognition within the party that it needs its own media ecosystem to provide a counterbalance to an entire constellation of rightwing outlets.
Behind the paywall
Here’s what I have on deck for paid subscribers:
How traditional media outlets can succeed on Substack
MrBeast is printing money
Every future sports franchise will start as a media company
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