Bloom in Tech

The big streaming-video services were more important than ever in 2020 as the pandemic sent viewership and subscription levels soaring even as several big new services launched, and struggled to get their feet under them. So how did they do, and where are they headed in 2021? I go through my end-of-year grades for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Peacock, and look at some of the major trends likely to transform the streaming-video industry in 2021, well beyond just the Big Seven. Let me know what service and shows you watched most in 2020, and which you're looking forward to most in 2021. And don't forget to rate, review, share and subscribe. Happy new year! I hope it's a safe and sane one for you and all you care about. 

WarnerMedia stunned Hollywood this past week when it announced that its entire 17-film slate will debut on streaming service HBO Max the same day the films arrive in theaters, blowing up decades of lucrative "windowing" in the movie business. Those day-and-date releases include some hotly anticipated projects, like the latest version of sci-fi classic Dune, another Matrix sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 (technically announced earlier, and for Christmas Day this year), Godzilla vs. Kong, Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights,  Clint Eastwood and Denzel Washington projects, and much else. I explain why WarnerMedia and owner AT&T likely had little choice, and why other studios likely will follow suit. It should make for a very good time for streaming subscribers, but a much less good time for movie theaters, and for many who make those movies. 

We've finally come to the end, more or less of the 2020 election season, helped along in part by significant changes by the big social media platforms in some of their most problematic "engagement" tools. Let's keep those tools on ice, and consider some other changes in the role that YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms played in our civic (if sometimes uncivil) discourse on the way to Election Day. Let me know what you think about changes that might be needed and where we might go next, now that the voting's finally done. 

I'd been expecting the Quibi collapse for a year before the mobile video site even launched,, but that doesn't mean there aren't lessons to learn from its just-announced and still-unfortunate fall. I talk about those lessons in this episode, plus share my recent conversation with Govind Balakrishnan, the CEO and co-founder of subscription audio app Curio, which takes meaningful stories from such top journalism sites as The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Wired, and Bloomberg, and turns them into professionally produced, highly targeted audio for subscribers. Govind delves into the huge opportunity for "screen-less media;" why they are only part of a potentially huge sector subscription sound of all kinds that includes Audible, Spotify, Calm, Headspace, and podcasts; "the experience side of content;" and the international opportunity for more audio that can traverse the globe. 

Tubi is the biggest ad-supported video service in streaming, and was bought by Fox earlier this yea for a hefty $440 millionr. I sat down with Adam Lewinson, the company's chief content officer, this week as part of the virtual NATPE Streaming Plus conference. We covered a lot of ground, talking about all the company's news about big jumps in viewership, new territories and sections, whether they'll ever make original shows, and why ad-supported video is going to be the way most people watch TV in the streaming future. 

Labor Day Weekend is normally a dumping ground for the movie business, but not in 2020. Two blockbusters, "Mulan" and "Tenet," are using very different platforms to reach audiences this weekend. One is a pricey premium addition to streaming service Disney+, the other is available in whatever theaters across the country are open amid the pandemic. How each of these $200 million blockbusters does on its respective distribution platform will help shape Hollywood's next steps with its highest-profile products for months or even years to come. 

Walter Murch is a pioneer in using digital non-linear editing software to create films, and helped create the notion of "sound design" as well. He's won three Oscars in sound and film editing (for The English Patient and Apocalypse Now) and been nominated for six more. He talks with me about his latest project, the documentary Coup 53 (available through virtual cinema at coup53.com), the extremely secret British agent at the heart of the coup to oust a democratically elected prime minister in Iran in 1953, and the unfortunate lessons it taught the CIA about covert ops and regime change. MI6 agent Norman Darbyshire was a real-life James Bond, someone "who got things done," yet " almost completely disappeared from history," Murch says. "The coup was his masterpiece." We also talk about how editing a film is like churning butter; why he used Adobe Premiere Pro for the first time after decades with Avid and Apple Final Cut Pro; and the future of movie theaters, both the big chains and indie arthouses. 

Three of entertainment's biggest media companies - Disney, NBCU and ViacomCBS – helped make it a red letter week in the history of Hollywood's grudging embrace of streaming video, as all three took actions that will pivot them ever more sharply toward online distribution platforms for their shows. Add in significant actions by Cinemark, Regal, the U.S. Department of Justice, Microsoft and TikTok, and the week was one for the ages. I share my thoughts on where this is all heading (fast), but would love to hear from you too. You can follow me on Twitter (@DavidBloom) and LinkedIn (/davidlbloom), and leave a voice message on Anchor.fm. What's your prediction for where Hollywood is heading over the next 18 months? Let me know. 

Universal, the big movie studio, cut a landmark deal this week with AMC, the nation's biggest theater chain. The business of showing movies may never be the same, though not just for what it means for those two big companies. This episode of Bloom in Tech looks the direct impacts of the deal for Universal and AMC, how likely other studios and theater chains are to copy it, and what might come hereafter with the big subscription video services as big tech and media companies start to integrate  the possibilities here with so much else. Amazon Theaters/Shopping/Whole Foods/Esports Arenas? Apple Store/Movie Palaces? Think Very Big Deal.

My quarterly grades for the big subscription-video services is out. I talk about which "students" did well, and which need a lot of work among Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Peacock, Quibi, and CBS All Access. I suspect there's little surprise about who's at the head of the class, but it's also clear the pandemic has both been the biggest opportunity and biggest challenge for all the new competitors launching in the middle of widespread lockdowns. You can also read more about the grades I and my colleague Alan Wolk are handing out here on TVRev.

Also, as mentioned in this episode, I'm part of three recent online conversations you may also be interested in: