Hollywood insiders are furious about WarnerMedia's move to streaming

Hi! Welcome to the Insider Advertising daily for December 7. I'm Lauren Johnson, a senior advertising reporter at Business Insider. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. Send me feedback or tips at LJohnson@businessinsider.com.

Today's news: Hollywood insiders are steaming over WarnerMedia's move to streaming, the investors pouring money into PR, and why DTC brands are betting on physical stores.

WarnerMedia's Jason Kilar invokes wrath of Hollywood and cinema owners with move to shift movies to streaming

• Claire Atkinson reports that several Hollywood industry executives and exhibition industry executives are furious about Warner's decision to release next year's movie slate to streaming at the same time as they debut in theaters.
• An insider said after they've made billions for Warner, their partnership is done in "one dark hour," and described the Warner move as a "Hail Mary" pass to goose HBO Max subscription numbers.
• HBO Max is providing a new revenue stream to talent via its license fee, but it's unclear if that will replace box-office revenue.

Read the full story here.

Meet 8 investors who are pouring billions into public relations firms, from specialty agencies to software companies

• Sean Czarnecki reports that deals in marketing services have picked up like Platinum Equity's acquisition of PR software company Cision and CVC Capital Partners' acquisition of PR giant Teneo.
• He identified eight top investors in the industry including Stagwell Group, Vista Credit Partners, and Investcorp.
• Private equity in particular is increasingly looking for public relations agencies and software companies to invest in or acquire.

Read the full story here.

Why DTC brands, like Casper, Harry's, and Native, are selling their goods in the retail stores they sought to disrupt

• Catherine LeClair reports that many DTC brands like including Casper, Harry's, and Native, are reversing their initial strategy with wholesale partnerships with major retailers like Target, Walmart, and CVS.
• Retail partnerships offer DTC brands a way to expand their customer base without the expensive costs of acquiring them through digital ad spend.
• The rise in DTCs at big box stores has also added the element of discovery into shopping at traditional stores.

Read the full story here.

More stories we're reading:

• Tony Hsieh sold Zappos for $1.2 billion in his 30s. He was dead by 46. Inside his final Park City months, where he hoped to deliver more happiness as he spiraled.(Business Insider)
• A goofy TikTok dad and his sons have gained 2 million followers and turned their comedy home videos into a business making thousands of dollars per brand deal (Business Insider)
• The battle between Facebook and Apple over privacy is about more than just ads - it's about the future of how we interact with tech (Business Insider)
• Amazon asks its advertisers to consider being a bit more invasive (Gizmodo)
• How Wired leveraged Cyber Week readers to increase subscription revenue (Digiday)

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at LJohnson@businessinsider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.