Tech Giants Lobby EU Lawmakers; The NFL Readies Makegoods As Ratings Drop

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Reining In Big Tech

Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google continue to be in the antitrust crosshairs of regulators at home and abroad. According to Business Insider, European legislators were set to unveil a raft of new policy proposals Tuesday designed to curb the influence of the tech giants this week. The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act could have serious consequences for the world’s biggest tech companies. Even though there’s a way to go before either the DSA or DMA are actually implemented, legislators are expected to throw down the gauntlet with a bold mission statement for the future of the internet. Meanwhile, The New York Times – citing a leaked document — reports that Google is planning to undermine new legislation that could severely damage its digital advertising business by attempting to erode support within Europe to complicate the policymaking process. For many officials in Brussels, the document confirmed what they had long suspected: Google and other American tech giants are engaged in a broad lobbying campaign to stop stronger regulation against them. Read on.

Swing And A Miss

The sports economy has been ravaged by the pandemic and has forced the thousands of people who once put on games at sports venues out of work. According to The New York Times, never before has modern sports faced such disruption, and even with the rollout of a vaccine, it’s tough to say when the industry will bounce back. The Wall Street Journal reports that TV networks are feeling the strain of disappointing NFL ratings in particular, as they are forced to restructure deals with advertisers to make up for the smaller audience, and their opportunity to make money off remaining games during the lucrative holiday season narrows. PwC expected the North American sports industry to generate $75.7 billion in 2020. Instead, it lost more than a third of its value as leagues suspended play before returning with stripped-down seasons. Television ratings have tumbled for many top sporting events, and advertising, printing and revenue streams connected to the sports business, like concessions, have practically vanished. The cancellation or postponement of every sports event from mid-March to May alone meant that 1.3 million jobs, and $12.3 billion in earnings, were at risk of being eliminated. That figure grew to $28.6 billion through the end of November.

Smashing The Competition

Reddit has acquired short video platform and TikTok rival Dubsmash as it accelerates its push into video. Dubsmash, which reportedly had been in talks with Facebook and Snap, will retain its own platform and brand while Reddit will integrate its video creation tools, TechCrunch reports. Co-founders Suchit Dash, Jonas Drüppel and Tim Specht will join Reddit. Dubsmash has reportedly raised $20.2 million from investors and by the beginning of this year, its share of the United States’ short-form video market was second only to TikTok when counted by app installs.

Sky’s The Limit

Sky is adding Amazon Prime to its European catalogue, alongside Netflix and Disney Plus, as part of a partnership deal that reinforces Sky as a one-stop-shop for premium television while exposing Amazon Prime to a ready-made audience of pay-TV subscribers to court with its offerings. According to The Drum, Sky customers across Europe will no longer have to exit the pay-TV giant’s ecosystem to obtain their Amazon Prime fix from today with the launch of a dedicated app for Sky Q, Sky Ticket and Now TV devices. As part of the deal, the Now TV app will also be made available on Amazon’s Fire TV devices for the first time, further deepening the combined audience pool. The pairing means TV addicts will no longer face the inconvenience of switching devices to access content.

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