Business Insider reports that Netflix has stopped talking about its video podcast offerings and may be even reducing their exposure in the feed.
I don’t know that this necessarily means its podcast strategy is failing; it could be that Netflix is mainly using these podcasts as rithmically serving them to the people most likely to watch them. Basically, in that case the podcasts are there for churn reduction, ensuring that some swath of Netflix’s subscriber base has something to watch when they open up the app.
If I were running Netflix, I’d hire a team to comb through long podcast episodes, pull out the most compelling segments, and package them with catchy titles — essentially replicating what many podcasters already do on YouTube. At the end of each clip, viewers would be prompted to watch the full episode.
SOURCE: businessinsider.com/netflix-podcas…
I don’t know that this necessarily means its podcast strategy is failing; it could be that Netflix is mainly using these podcasts as rithmically serving them to the people most likely to watch them. Basically, in that case the podcasts are there for churn reduction, ensuring that some swath of Netflix’s subscriber base has something to watch when they open up the app.
If I were running Netflix, I’d hire a team to comb through long podcast episodes, pull out the most compelling segments, and package them with catchy titles — essentially replicating what many podcasters already do on YouTube. At the end of each clip, viewers would be prompted to watch the full episode.
SOURCE: businessinsider.com/netflix-podcas…
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The Hollywood Reporter profiled TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, and it’s an interesting look at the difficulties of crossing the divide between child stardom and adult stardom. Obviously, child stars have existed for the past 100 years, but never in history has it been this easy for in their bedroom to suddenly reach millions of people. We’re only really now seeing the first generation of adults start to emerge from this phenomenon, and so it’ll be interesting to hear their perspectives about how sudden fame warped their childhoods — for better and worse.
SOURCE: hollywoodreporter.com/business/digit…
SOURCE: hollywoodreporter.com/business/digit…
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A few months ago, YouTube famously updated its partnership program to require Shorts creators to generate 10 million views every nine days to be included in ad revenue sharing. There was certainly a good amount of creator backlash, with some arguing that this is an impossibly creators.
Now it’s apparently testing out an invite-only “bonus” program to incentivize Shorts creators.
I’ve always been skeptical of bonus programs because of their arbitrary approach to creator monetization. The payout calculations are opaque, the platform gets to arbitrarily choose which creators are eligible, and the bonuses can be discontinued at any moment.
What I’ve always praised YouTube for is having clear guidelines for monetization where a creator knows exactly what’s required to be included in the partnership program and understands roughly how their payouts are being calculated. I really hope this isn’t a case where YouTube is testing the waters for a Meta-like system that makes it easier for it to reduce the overall amount it pays creators.
SOURCE: netinfluencer.com/youtube-pilots…
Now it’s apparently testing out an invite-only “bonus” program to incentivize Shorts creators.
I’ve always been skeptical of bonus programs because of their arbitrary approach to creator monetization. The payout calculations are opaque, the platform gets to arbitrarily choose which creators are eligible, and the bonuses can be discontinued at any moment.
What I’ve always praised YouTube for is having clear guidelines for monetization where a creator knows exactly what’s required to be included in the partnership program and understands roughly how their payouts are being calculated. I really hope this isn’t a case where YouTube is testing the waters for a Meta-like system that makes it easier for it to reduce the overall amount it pays creators.
SOURCE: netinfluencer.com/youtube-pilots…
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According to polling, a whopping 84% of American adults don't pay for a single news source. THAT's why we have such a massive gap in information awareness --- tens of millions of Americans don't recognize that it costs money to produce high quality journalism. And it's not just ho complain about the state of our information ecosystem should probably look in the mirror and ask why they can afford three streaming services but not a single news source.
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Disney+ got the memo that it was making too many Marvel shows, but for some reason it didn’t replace those shows with other kinds of new content. As The Ringer put it, “That diminished Disney+ output reflects a wider downsizing across the streaming landscape—but also, perhaps, an ercorrection by a service that’s searching for a happy medium in the speed of its streaming assembly line.”
In fact, I can’t really even remember the last time a show on the platform had any real buzz. Maybe Andor? Oh wait — now that I think of it, I did watch and mostly enjoy Wonder Man, which didn’t get renewed. A weird move for Disney considering so many of its other Marvel shows were critical duds.
Yes, I know that Disney+ is in the midst of an awkward merging with Hulu — which continues to produce some hit programming like Furious, which was also technically viewable in the Disney+ app — but there are still not a lot of reasons to go to Disney+ specifically, and there haven’t been in a long time.
SOURCE: theringer.com/2026/10/15/tv/…
In fact, I can’t really even remember the last time a show on the platform had any real buzz. Maybe Andor? Oh wait — now that I think of it, I did watch and mostly enjoy Wonder Man, which didn’t get renewed. A weird move for Disney considering so many of its other Marvel shows were critical duds.
Yes, I know that Disney+ is in the midst of an awkward merging with Hulu — which continues to produce some hit programming like Furious, which was also technically viewable in the Disney+ app — but there are still not a lot of reasons to go to Disney+ specifically, and there haven’t been in a long time.
SOURCE: theringer.com/2026/10/15/tv/…
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Spotify delivered another strong earnings report, but it continues to struggle to grow its advertising business despite having an enormous audience of free users.
Why is Spotify having such a hard time? My theory is that audio advertising is much harder to scale across platforms dvertising. A brand can create a display ad once and run it across millions of websites. The same goes for video ads, which can be repurposed for Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, thousands of websites, and a growing number of streaming TV services.
Audio ads, on the other hand, have far fewer places to run at scale. Spotify is one of the only digital platforms with a truly massive audio audience. Beyond that, advertisers can buy inventory through a handful of podcast ad networks, but many podcasts still require individual negotiations. And I suspect most brands advertising on Spotify aren't particularly interested in terrestrial radio.
As a result, producing an audio-only ad requires a much bigger commitment from an advertiser, especially when that ad can't be easily repurposed across dozens of other platforms.
Then there's the fact that Spotify's paying subscribers — arguably the users advertisers would most want to reach — are largely enjoying an ad-free experience. Put all these factors together, and it's not hard to see why Spotify faces such an uphill battle in building its advertising business.
SOURCE: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Why is Spotify having such a hard time? My theory is that audio advertising is much harder to scale across platforms dvertising. A brand can create a display ad once and run it across millions of websites. The same goes for video ads, which can be repurposed for Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, thousands of websites, and a growing number of streaming TV services.
Audio ads, on the other hand, have far fewer places to run at scale. Spotify is one of the only digital platforms with a truly massive audio audience. Beyond that, advertisers can buy inventory through a handful of podcast ad networks, but many podcasts still require individual negotiations. And I suspect most brands advertising on Spotify aren't particularly interested in terrestrial radio.
As a result, producing an audio-only ad requires a much bigger commitment from an advertiser, especially when that ad can't be easily repurposed across dozens of other platforms.
Then there's the fact that Spotify's paying subscribers — arguably the users advertisers would most want to reach — are largely enjoying an ad-free experience. Put all these factors together, and it's not hard to see why Spotify faces such an uphill battle in building its advertising business.
SOURCE: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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My use of AI hasn't led to me reading fewer articles or books. If anything, I've actually upped my book reading game in the last year.
What AI does is allow me to explore topics that I didn't have time for before because doing so would have required that I spending hours going down a rabbit hole, whereas now I can simply ask succinct questions and gain an understanding much quicker.
What AI does is allow me to explore topics that I didn't have time for before because doing so would have required that I spending hours going down a rabbit hole, whereas now I can simply ask succinct questions and gain an understanding much quicker.
AI IS AMAZING
I know it's hip to worry about the decline in book reading and how chatbots will impoverish our brains.
But TBH, this is not at all what I see. I wrote about how we're in this wild moment for intellectual flourishing and how all of us are the children of dancers.
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A writer for Defector wonders why The Ringer is publishing paywalled articles to Substack instead of simply hosting them behind a paywall on its own website.
My answer? For the same reason Defector hosts its video podcasts on YouTube instead of simply uploading them to its own e there’s a huge audience ecosystem on YouTube that would rather watch videos there than click back to its site. Creating standalone native content for Substack is not all that different from publishers creating videos for Instagram Reels or TikTok. It’s a recognition that fewer and fewer people are clicking on links and sometimes it’s better to bring your content to where the audiences are. Plus, if this experiment doesn’t work out, The Ringer can simply export their email lists and move their Stripe accounts back to its website.
SOURCE: defector.com/nobody-wants-t…
My answer? For the same reason Defector hosts its video podcasts on YouTube instead of simply uploading them to its own e there’s a huge audience ecosystem on YouTube that would rather watch videos there than click back to its site. Creating standalone native content for Substack is not all that different from publishers creating videos for Instagram Reels or TikTok. It’s a recognition that fewer and fewer people are clicking on links and sometimes it’s better to bring your content to where the audiences are. Plus, if this experiment doesn’t work out, The Ringer can simply export their email lists and move their Stripe accounts back to its website.
SOURCE: defector.com/nobody-wants-t…
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Marvel is anti-capitalist because it refused to reward the character who pulled himself up by his bootstraps and put in the work.
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It’s almost as if cutting Medicaid and Obamacare subsidies caused everyone’s healthcare costs to rise!
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The whole reason Tesla is valued higher than every other automotive company combined is because investors are betting it’s still only at the beginning of its growth curve, yet it’s posting flat revenue YOY? How is the stock only falling 3%?
(Answer: because it’s a meme stock)
(Answer: because it’s a meme stock)
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Meta is paying the price for alienating media companies
Check out the piece: simonowens.substack.com/p/meta-is-payi…
Check out the piece: simonowens.substack.com/p/meta-is-payi…
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This is the first election since at least 2016 when I haven’t donated to a single candidate. I used to donate every Friday like clockwork — I had an entire spreadsheet and everything.
Not anymore. The campaign spam problem has gotten so bad that I’ve basically sworn of donations until Democratic leadership starts instructing its candidates to stop bombarding their voters with text messages they never opted into. I’m done with the party treating me like an ATM that it can just relentless harass no matter how many times I type “STOP.”
Not anymore. The campaign spam problem has gotten so bad that I’ve basically sworn of donations until Democratic leadership starts instructing its candidates to stop bombarding their voters with text messages they never opted into. I’m done with the party treating me like an ATM that it can just relentless harass no matter how many times I type “STOP.”
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When the NBA teamed up with video game publisher Take-Two Interactive to launch an esports league in 2017, the idea was to replicate the traditional sports model within the world of competitive gaming. NBA teams would field their own esports franchises, recruiting elite gamers to urnaments. But as the esports industry matured, it became clear that the biggest audiences weren't necessarily tuning in to watch professional gaming competitions. Instead, they were gravitating toward individual creators on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. Recognizing this shift, the NBA and Take-Two decided to rethink their joint venture, transforming it from a traditional esports league into a broader media company that produces creator-led competitions, original video series, and social content centered on basketball culture.
To lead this transformation, they hired Andrew Perlmutter, a media executive who previously worked at The Atlantic and The Daily Beast. Since becoming CEO of NBA Take-Two Media in 2023, Perlmutter has overseen the reinvention of the NBA 2K League while developing a slate of original programming designed to reach audiences well beyond hardcore basketball fans.
In a recent interview, we discussed why the traditional esports business model struggled to gain traction, how the company is building a network of creator-led shows and social media franchises, and how it plans to turn that programming into a sustainable business through sponsorships, licensing, and other revenue streams.
Check out the interview over here: youtu.be/X2wxVV4vIxE?si…
To lead this transformation, they hired Andrew Perlmutter, a media executive who previously worked at The Atlantic and The Daily Beast. Since becoming CEO of NBA Take-Two Media in 2023, Perlmutter has overseen the reinvention of the NBA 2K League while developing a slate of original programming designed to reach audiences well beyond hardcore basketball fans.
In a recent interview, we discussed why the traditional esports business model struggled to gain traction, how the company is building a network of creator-led shows and social media franchises, and how it plans to turn that programming into a sustainable business through sponsorships, licensing, and other revenue streams.
Check out the interview over here: youtu.be/X2wxVV4vIxE?si…
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YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING is a great film, but I think it really speaks to Elizabeth Holmes’s bad judgement that she had one chance to reframe the public’s perception of her and THIS is the filmmaker she chose.
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People post the most inane stuff on LinkedIn. Every day I encounter these weird anecdotes that barely make any sense or go anywhere.
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I’m sure he’s making impressive money on Substack, but those 340,000 “subs” are free subscribers, so he’s not making $23 million per month.
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My review for YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING? Well, I had to pee for the entire last hour but didn’t dare leave the theater.
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Short-form clips from stand-up sets have become one of the most effective ways for comedians to grow their fan bases. But lately, many comedians have discovered that their jokes are being stolen wholesale and delivered by AI avatars. Worse, they’re struggling to get the platforms because the scammers make just enough changes to evade basic copyright filters. And because the people behind these accounts are largely anonymous, they can’t be publicly shamed the way joke thieves were in the past.
SOURCE: deadline.com/2026/10/comedi…
SOURCE: deadline.com/2026/10/comedi…
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“The Independent’s social-commerce revenue edged past its SEO-based commerce revenue for the first time in September," Digiday reports.
This is a significant development, considering that commerce content — articles monetized through affiliate links — has traditionally been an publishers focused on getting their product reviews to the top of search results so they could reach consumers who were already looking to make a purchase. But as more of that research shifts to AI chatbots, publishers need to get better at generating affiliate clicks from audiences they have a direct relationship with. That means reaching consumers who might not even realize they’re in the market for a particular product until they encounter the publisher’s content.
On Monday I wrote about how the New York Times’s Wirecutter is “launching a number of new editorial verticals that aim to engage audiences on a regular basis — not just when they happen to be researching a new product to buy.”
These moves are clear signs that the smartest publishers are giving serious thought as to how to shield themselves from the effects of Google Zero.
SOURCE: digiday.com/media/social-c…
This is a significant development, considering that commerce content — articles monetized through affiliate links — has traditionally been an publishers focused on getting their product reviews to the top of search results so they could reach consumers who were already looking to make a purchase. But as more of that research shifts to AI chatbots, publishers need to get better at generating affiliate clicks from audiences they have a direct relationship with. That means reaching consumers who might not even realize they’re in the market for a particular product until they encounter the publisher’s content.
On Monday I wrote about how the New York Times’s Wirecutter is “launching a number of new editorial verticals that aim to engage audiences on a regular basis — not just when they happen to be researching a new product to buy.”
These moves are clear signs that the smartest publishers are giving serious thought as to how to shield themselves from the effects of Google Zero.
SOURCE: digiday.com/media/social-c…
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