Explaining the Business of Entertainment
Last year, four days after I published my not-seminal-but-it-should-be article, “The Algorithm is a Lie”, HBO’s Barry had this scene: The fake executive in the episode literally says, “The algorithm felt it wasn’t hitting the right taste clusters.” as if the “algorithm” is a thing that actually exists. (Or that
Today, I’m revisiting one of my least favorite Hollywood talking points, that the vaunted Netflix “algorithm” makes decisions about what TV shows and movies Netflix (and other streamers) should make. Since last year, I’ve been collecting examples of people complaining about the “algorithm” and I’ve collected a far-from-complete list of
(Welcome! This is the Entertainment Strategy Guy’s weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what works on streaming television and what doesn’t. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Most normal people get excited when TV shows come out. But me,
Welcome! This is the Entertainment Strategy Guy’s regular strategy column, where I pick the “most important” story of the last few weeks and explain what it means for entertainment. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights in your inbox every other week (mostly). The entertainment
(Welcome! This is the Entertainment Strategy Guy’s weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what works on streaming television and what doesn’t. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Last week, Disney+ announced the pending removal of over seventy shows and
Negotiations have a sort of Kabuki theater aspect to them nowadays. (By the way, I’m not an expert in high-level negotiations like, say, an agent or M&A banker, but I have done a few high-level negotiations, so I’m not a know-nothing novice either.) See, at this point, everyone has been
As a writer, nothing is harder to write than an introduction to an anniversary announcement. I mean, half the story is in the headline, right? For those who don’t know—and I wouldn’t expect you to—today is the one year anniversary of when I announced a paywall last year. Actually, I’m
As I mentioned in my “five years of writing” anniversary and “one year of having a paywall” post, I want to do a better job of “improving the fighting position” (a military term for always getting better) in the upcoming year. And one of those tasks is updating collections of
(Welcome! This is the Entertainment Strategy Guy’s weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what works on streaming television and what doesn’t. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) As the WGA strike finishes its second week, we really haven’t seen
The coverage of the WGA versus AMPTP” negotiations has left me a bit wanting. My initial takeaway from 95% of the news coverage is that… Nothing happened? Not that nothing happened, per se, after the initial call to go on strike, there wasn’t really anything noteworthy. I mean, strike signs are