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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1471136
discovered constant investment in new content was required and you couldn’t call your own shots on when, where you were going to release new stuff. The biggest hand-off was when AT&T “volunteered” to merge its WarnerMedia with Discovery for $40B plus. Rather than dirty their hands, they let CEO David Zaslav make the necessary staff adjustments to streamline the new scripted and unscripted company to reallocate content spending and realize certain cost savings. The whole idea, according to the new management, is to focus on streaming synergies instead of overspending which will also mean getting the new managers acquainted with Warner’s former A-List creators who now have a broad list of proven content distributors to work with. However, before he was presented with the Warner “opportunity,” Zaslav said, “We don’t do red carpet. We don’t do Hollywood stars. We pretty much don’t have actors. We have authentic talent. We focus on strong brands, passionate audiences and real-life entertainment.” Am pretty sure he’ll change his mind in the years ahead. Of course, they are far from the first to adjust to the new market. Disney has a solid track record of acquisitions including Miramax (1993), ABC (1996), Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Fox (2019), Star India as well as investments in a number of international production and distribution organizations. Amazon undertook a major content-centric deal by acquiring MGM with some heavy-duty franchise names – Bond, Rocky, Pink Panther, Stargate and more. In addition, they also got their hands on some seasoned content industry executives. Netflix, the streaming industry leader, has chosen to develop deep relationships with video content creators in the 190 plus countries it streams content in to develop stronger relationships with governments and local subscribers. As Moffett Nathanson’s Michael Nathanson recently said, “To date, we have yet to see evidence of any media company being able to compete with Netflix and the other major streaming services without spending a lot more on content.” Okay that’s changed a little recently but… To stay ahead of the competition, Netflix has taken a deep dive into the second most popular streaming business – gaming – with the purchase of Night School, Next Games and Boss Fight. Worldwide consolidation of independent producers will stay strong this year as the demand for films and TV shows continues. Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine was sold to Blackstone for $900M, Creative Artists bought out it’s talent competitor ICM and South Korea’s CJ Entertainment bought an 80 percent stake in Endeavor Content. In addition, there are dozens of deals that slide under the radar around the globe. Streaming today is led by a handful of top-tier providers and smaller providers may need to decide whether they want to compete as content aggregators or become pure creators selling original content to the leading services.