Bloom in Tech

Hollywood's studios and TV networks used to exist in their own separate universes, with little crossover in on-screen talent, business models, or awards seasons. In the new era of Netflix and other subscription video services, such old-school differentiation no longer exists. For the same reason, those old-school awards seasons don't really exist anymore either. Here a few days before the big Oscar telecast, where Netflix has 24 nominations including two for Best Picture, I talk about why a streamer's work is never done. 

We're about to see a flood of "deepfake" videos, which superimpose one person's face on another's body. Most of them will be fun and innocuous, thanks to new tools from social-media sites such as Snapchat and TikTok as well as stand-alone apps such as Zao, Doublicat and Morphin. Facebook and Instagram, meanwhile, are trying to crack down on the most abusive "manipulated media" images and video as part of a newly announced policy. But with a looming election, and an incumbent who has repeatedly shown willingness to spotlight fake material that attacks his opponents, this could be a long election season filled with dubious video. More importantly, are we sophisticated enough as video consumers to know when we're seeing deepfakes, especially ones that reinforce our own negative feelings toward a candidate? Buckle your seatbelts, dream babies. It's going to be a bumpy ride. Listen to my latest Bloom in Tech episode for more. 

After high-profile launches in November, and early success with shows such as The Morning Show and The Mandalorian, new subscription streaming services Disney+ and Apple TV+ are now moving into new and uncertain territory. Subscribers may have seen the shows they wanted to see, and may be considering moving on. In this episode of Bloom in Tech, we talk about the Churn Zone, and what it means for Disney, Apple and other subscription video services launching this spring. 

The NCAA's recent decision to allow college athletes to profit from their "name, image and likeness" is likely to unleash a deluge of athlete/influencers, with a long list of unanswered questions about what it's all going to mean for influencers, influencer marketing, advertisers and college sports. I get into some of the issues in the first part of this episode. 

In part two, listen to the panel I moderated at  the sprawling Digital Hollywood conference earlier this month on influencers and the influencer lifestyle. The discussion featured  Shaine Griffin, Associate Commercials Strategist for SAG-AFTRA, organizing influencers; Bruna Nessif, Influencer and Author, “Let That Shit Go: A Journey to Forgiveness, Healing & Understanding Love” & founder, “The Problem With Dating;" Gregg Martin, Actor and content creator; Brendan Kane, Author of “One Million Followers;” and YiZhou, Influencer, actor, director & founder of Global Intuition.  It's a great conversation for anyone interested in the future of influencers and influencer marketing, and some of the tools influencers are using to become a success. Give it a lesson. 

Claire Wineland became a popular YouTube influencer talking about the thing that ultimately killed her, cystic fibrosis. But she also became popular because she talked about so much more than just CF, living a remarkable life and teaching us repeatedly that we need to pursue something bigger than ourselves, no matter the challenges life dumps in our lap. I talked with Nicholas Reed about Claire Wineland and "Claire," the YouTube Original documentary he co-directed (You can read my Tubefilter column about "Claire" here, and watch the doc for free on YouTube here). "Claire" has already received nearly 1.4 million views since its Sept. 2 release, and it's worth the watch. In the meantime, Nick and I talk about the lessons we all need to learn from Claire's example. Give a listen. 

My East Coast trip last week included a stop at the Future of TV conference, where I sat down with Viacom SVP Christian Kurz to talk about their new report, Power in Progress, and to moderate a panel of marketing and biz-dev executives on how to get and keep subscribers. 

The Power in Progress report looks at the ways traditional power structures are changing and having to adapt to newly powerful movements such as the March for Our Live, #MeToo, the Hong Kong protests, France's Gillets Jaune, and more. Just as importantly, it talks about ways that brands, and Viacom itself, can find new roles in working with and speaking to the young generations who are driving so many of these new power centers. The report details a series of  are lots of ways brands can find a way to connect with and 

The panel, meanwhile, talks about strategies for smaller VOD services to make themselves invaluable to their fans, and to find ways to succeed despite competition from more than 300 other services, including big new competitors from Apple, Disney, Comcast, AT&T, and  others. Even if you're in marketing for other kinds of entertainment, or just about any other product (think niche consumer packaged goods), there are tips and approaches of value for you. Give a listen. 

With one simple word, Apple may have unleashed a path to a huge user base for TV+, the streaming service it plans to launch Nov. 1. That word: free. The impact, possibly 100 million or more subscribers. During the first part of this episode of Bloom in Tech, I'll give you my reasoning for this possibly game-changing deal here near the start of the Streaming Wars. 

For the show's second half, I sat down recently with Mike Keyserling, chief operating officer for Philo, which offers 58 channels of TV networks you probably like a lot, at a price you'll almost certainly like even more. Philo is one of several so-called skinny bundles jostling for the subscription dollars of cord cutters looking to get off traditional cable, while still getting most of the channels they like watching there. Mike and I talked about what makes Philo different, building your own pay-TV bundle in the streaming age, and why college campuses have been an ideal testing ground for the service's development the past several years. Give a listen. 

Apple's big week of announcements included some bargain prices  on its new TV+ and Arcade video- and  game-streaming services. In turn, I suggest that may be a source of headaches for competitors such as HBO Max and Quibi.. As well,  last week I moderated a panel of executives from several smaller online video services (Condé Nast Entertainment, Whistle, Ellation, and College Humor's Dropout). We talked about what companies such as theirs need to do to thrive amid all the new big-name competitors. One big hint: be everywhere. And I talk about how. The next few months will see the business of online video move to a very different new level.

The Worldz conference starts this week, or at least the biggest expression of what's a year-round experience called Worldz, and a related professional network called PTTOW! (it's their exclamation point, not mine). The mothership  launches Tuesday, Sept. 10 and Sept. 11 at the Long Beach Performing  Arts Center, an unusual mix of marketing conference, self improvement, conscious  capitalism, world-changing tech prognostication and more. It packs a ton of  highly intimate  conversations between about 2,500 attendees and maybe 250 "masters"  and "titans," top-dog talkers from companies such as  Mastercard, Hyundai, Estee Lauder, IHeartMedia, Vans, Marvel, T-Mobile, and Facebook. To learn more about Worldz, I connected with founder Roman Tsunder and Samantha "Sammie" Rabstein, the conference's senior director of programming. It's a conference,  and really a year-round experience, I strongly endorse that you take advantage of, if you can. In the meantime, listen to my conversation with Sammie and Roman here. Some good  stuff. 

After winning four Oscars last year, Netflix is betting even bigger this year with special theatrical runs and awards handling for a whopping 10 films. Martin Scorsese's pricey mob picture, The Irishman, might be the most expensive bet, but there are plenty of other contenders in the Netflix portfolio, including films from Steven Soderbergh, David Michod, Fernando Meirelles, and Noah Baumbach, featuring a large truckload of Oscar-winning actors.  Netflix is giving all these prominent films a longer exclusive run in theaters (usually, films just appear on Netflix, like everything else). But this year, with more competition coming and stalled-out subscriber numbers, the stakes are bigger than ever for Netflix  this Oscar  season.  We'll have plenty to watch for beyond just a batch of extremely promising movies.