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The Titans Are Tired
So many entertainment hubs – Netflix, Amazon Prime and Freevee, Paramount+ and sister app Pluto TV, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Discovery+ and the Disney triumvirate of Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ – so little time. Which means there just isn’t enough growth to go around.
It doesn’t help that the competition overloads marketing costs. Oh, and stocks are being crushed across the board.
And when things get bad, the M&A rumor mill turns.
But there aren’t midsize content libraries or streaming apps left since Amazon’s $8.5 billion MGM deal closed. Paramount is the next-most digestible target but would probably come bundled with an antitrust review for any buyer that could afford it. So, what’s gonna happen?
If Netflix has real advertising ambitions, it should acquire Roku, writes Vikrant Mathur, CEO of Future Today, at The Drum.
Don’t roll your eyes! Richard Greenfield of LightShed Partners has an even more ambitious parlay, which is for Disney to sell off Hulu and buy either Netflix or Roblox.
Greenfield’s reasoning centers on the content. Hulu was Disney’s crown jewel, but its main value was derived from content shared by other broadcasters – which disappeared when Disney consolidated ownership. The NBC shows left on Hulu will move to Peacock this fall.
Which is why Disney divesting Hulu and grabbing Netflix or Roblox is “no longer far-fetched,” Greenfield writes. “The idea of Reed Hastings selling seemed preposterous just months ago.”
But nowadays, who knows?
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