In today’s Week In Review episode, Anand Gopal (COO) and Kavita Shenoy (CEO) talk about the ‘TikTok Boom’ (by Scott Galloway) and how it’s impacting the way we consume content and advertise. Kavita talks about how earlier the rags-to-riches story was commonly associated with a change in geographies.

Anand brings to light a recent conversation with Anil Karat (CTO Voiro) and how he pointed out that TikTok has unlocked a new pool of attention, with people watching TikToks in between meetings, during a commute, and even during a conversation. Everyone, from cable to print to digital to different apps is now competing for this same pool.

Anand also talked about the creation of subcultures and how that impacts the way we advertise. He quoted the example of Shaquille O'Neal and how his favourite music channel is WorldstarHipHop.

Peter Kafka’s recent episode from Recode Media was a point of conversation, where Anand and Kavita talked about ‘swapping cable dollars for digital pennies’ and Elon Musk taking over Twitter. They also touched upon how Warner Brothers offer a balance in the portfolio and have multiple tiers, proving them to be a stable ship that can weather the storm.

They also talked about the WSJ article ‘Disney Vows to Show Very Few Commercials on Ad-Supported Disney+’ that is representative of the times and what startups can do to get more capital in an efficient manner and spend it efficiently.

References mentioned in the episode

• eMarketer - 'How much money is TikTok making?'
• Peter Kafka - interviews with Tony Fadell and Rich Greenfield
• WSJ’s profile of Discovery CEO David Zaslav captured by Streatechery
• Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) CEO David Zaslav On Q1 2022 Results
• US Senate Bill Would Break Up Google and Add Transparency to Digital Advertising
• Listen to the latest Recode Media episode on The State of Streaming on Apple Podcasts
• Accenture's 2022 report on Streaming's Complex Consumer