Well, great news for all those media publishers investing in video in hopes of better catering to young adults: a new study released this week from the Pew Research Center found that younger people are actually more interested in reading the news than watching it. This to some extent contradicts the popular opinion that, to reach the youngest generation, media publishers have to invest in snappy, short-form videos. Extra extra, read all about it.
There are a number of names that routinely get floated as potential acquirers of Netflix. But one of the companies that gets mentioned the most is Apple. In part, that’s because an acquisition would theoretically fit in well with the moves Apple has been making to offer more services, particularly with its focus on TV and video. Despite this, however, there are some equally compelling reasons why such an acquisition would arguably be a mistake for Apple. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.
Now, as television is trending toward ’80s-era creations like Stranger Things, The Americans, Halt and Catch Fire, and The Goldbergs, decorators are finding it increasingly difficult to fill their sets with gadgets that won’t cause nitpicking fans to froth at the mouth. It’s a very first-world Hollywood problem, but a fascinating one. One man's trash is TV's gold.
Last year, it was estimated that YouTube was home to more than 135 million how-to videos. Google noted that “how to” searches on YouTube were increasing 70 percent annually. Why do these videos seem to be such an effective way to learn, and how could you do it better? Sit back and learn.
The biggest mistake most companies make when choosing a strategy is "listening to the Hippo — the Highest-Paid Person in the Organization," Neil Hunt, chief product officer of Netflix. At Netflix, data rules the company. Really committing to this idea means loads of A/B testing and a willingness to accept a high rate of failure. Data and vision equals transformation.
Even as the unemployment rate has fallen to low levels, an unusually large percentage of able-bodied men, particularly the young and less-educated, are either not working or not working full-time. Most of the blame has been attributed to lingering weakness in the economy. Yet in the new research, economists say that an additional reason many of these young men are rejecting work is that they have a better alternative: living at home and enjoying video games. Reality sucks.
One of the things you’ve seen across the marketplace for the last five years is a lot of companies are chasing the same kind of traffic from the same social distribution mechanisms…It’s not a recipe for producing a distinctive media brand. Being contrarian sometimes pays off. Online magazine Slate is now 20 years old, and while its strong takes are stronger than ever and its contrarianism as contrarian as ever, it’s also more self-aware — and far past its pimply, tumultuous teenage years. All grown up.
After three of the weirdest, most discombobulating months in recent American history, summer officially ended yesterday— though it may not feel like it. Yet autumn’s arrival does allow us to close at least one matter, and that’s this year’s song of the summer: that one tune that, for better or worse, dominated June through September and attains an inescapability in the spaces of barbecues, theme parks, pool parties. Call it, maybe.
The NFL and Twitter have agreed to stream every Thursday Night Football game this season, and the viewers reviews are in. The quality of the stream was good, with a crystal clear picture on phones, computers and set-top boxes. The ease of use was also impressive, as it would play immediately and didn’t even require having a Twitter account. Overall, Twitter seems like a good partner for the NFL to have. The biggest question facing the NFL may be whether it can find digital partners willing to pay anything close to the amount of money that the TV networks pay. Game on.
For most news publishers, their audiences increasingly prefer visiting them on mobile devices. Forbes, which usually sees half its traffic coming to it this way in any given month, felt the problem firsthand. So six months ago, Chief Product Officer Lewis D’Vorkin decided to come up with a new way to present news for the mobile web – and the results are very promising. Forward with mobile.
