The true cost of the streaming wars, the next venture-capital gold rush, and Amazon's big bet
You might have heard about the streaming wars between Netflix, Disney, WarnerMedia, and others.
And while this narrative might have you imagining one company against another in head-to-head competition, the reality is a lot more complex.
For example, as my colleague Ashley Rodriguez reported, Warner Bros. is considering pulling popular TV shows like "Seinfeld" and "Friends" from other streaming services like Netflix as it readies its own rival streaming platform set to debut later this year. That might seem like a straightforward decision.
But Netflix is introducing shows like "Friends" to new, younger viewers, according to data from Nielsen, leaving Warner Bros. to weigh up the value of building the "Friends" brand via Netflix with the show's potential to attract viewers to its service.
Similarly, Disney will spend $500 million on original content to take on Netflix next year, but its strategy could actually risk billions, as it will have to consider giving up billions of dollars in licensing fees from platforms like Netflix.
Here are some of our recent stories on how the streaming wars are playing out so far, and the future of TV:
- How Netflix is using companies like Comcast and T-Mobile to drive its next phase of growth
- WarnerMedia's first big pitch to advertisers showed who the new power players are at the company
- A new report shows HBO's big weakness as it battles Netflix and Disney in the streaming wars
- ABC is making a lot fewer new shows, and it could be a sign of broadcast TV's future
What did we miss? Let me know. You can reach me at mturner@businessinsider.com if you have any questions, ideas, or requests.
-Matt
Quote of the week
"This is an industry that's bringing people together from all walks of life in interesting and new ways, and introduces them to technology in new and exciting ways." - Stanley Pierre-Louis, the new president and CEO of The Entertainment Software Association, on a "golden age" for the video game industry.
In conversation
- Alyson Shontell talked to WeWork CEO Adam Neumann and CFO Artie Minson, who provided the math behind their belief that the $47 billion company won't collapse when a recession hits.
- Tanya Dua talked to Elizabeth Rutledge, CMO at American Express, about how AmEx works with agencies, competes with other financial services companies, and delivers personalization.
- Ben Pimentel talked to Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Antonio Neri about why its $1.3 billion deal to buy legendary supercomputer manufacturer Cray will boost HPE's strategy in the corporate tech market.
- Charlie Wood talked to George Hu, the COO of multinational cloud communications provider Twilio, about the difference between good employees and great ones.
- Lucia Moses talked to Refinery29's co-CEOs, Philippe von Borries and Justin Stefano, about its plans to double revenue to $200 million despite a tough climate for digital media.
- Lydia Ramsey talked to Tom Lee, the founder of primary care startup One Medical, about his new primary care venture, Galileo. It's focusing on a much different set of patients than One Medical.
- Matt DeBord spoke to Lincoln president Joy Falotico about the brand's resurgence. She said the automaker wasn't surprised by the success of its new Navigator SUV, and promised a fully electric Lincoln is in the works.
- Jeremy Berke talked to Cam Battley, Aurora Cannabis' chief corporate officer, about what it's like working with famed investor Nelson Peltz, and why he told the company not to rush into any CPG partnerships.
Finance and Investing
Goldman Sachs' consumer-finance business may be only three years old, but the bank's execs already have ambitions of having as big of an influence as two other giants in their respective industries: Amazon and Apple.
Venture capitalist Dan Borok didn't set out to create a fund that would benefit from Internal Revenue Services' Opportunity Zone tax break. He was trying to invest in new businesses in Newark.
If you see a major corporate acquisition in the headlines today, there's a good chance it was financed by debt.
Tech, Media, Telecoms
Amazon, one of the biggest companies in the world by valuation, has taken a big stake in Deliveroo as part of a $575 million funding round.
Microsoft has been working "aggressively" to push serverless computing, a new way of running applications on the cloud.
Facebook has begun preparing advertisers for its plan in the coming months to roll out a tool that lets people clear their Facebook history.
Healthcare, Retail, Transportation
Wendy Fullem, a 54-year-old administrator at a New Jersey college, hadn't been feeling well for some time when, in fall 2016, she was diagnosed with leukemia.
Buzzy health insurance startup Devoted Health just posted its financial results for the first time since it started signing up customers.
It's hard to compete with Uber and Lyft. The two ride-hailing companies combined are worth a whopping $88 billion and provided 5.8 billion rides around the world in 2018.