Did “The Last Dance” show Netflix the merit of weekly release?
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Netflix is the undisputed leader in streaming, having practically invented the format. As it ventured into original releases, it pioneered what became known as “binge watching” by dropping an entire season of “House of Cards” or “Orange is the New Black”. Viewers were encouraged to “Binge Race” their favorite shows by devouring these seasons in the first 24 hours of their release.
But the streaming wars have arrived, with Disney+ and Apple TV Plus joining perennial Netflix competitors like Hulu and Amazon Prime. Even more platforms are on the horizon: HBO Max will launch May 27th. NBC’s Peacock is slated to drop on July 15th. And a revamped CBS All Access will launch later this summer.
Last year, whispers emerged that Netflix would test a weekly release schedule. They already used weekly installments for a handful of competition shows. But Netflix vigorously denied it. The idea of “binge-watching” was too closely associated with the Netflix brand. Then, in late 2019, “The Mandalorian” happened, strengthening the idea that streaming could produce event television. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the question of how to release a TV show is taking on new urgency.”
But Netflix didn’t change course. Its highly anticipated “The Witcher” failed to become a cultural event like “The Mandalorian” or “Game of Thrones.” Criticism around the Netflix release strategy continued. As the COVID-19 lockdowns sequestered millions of Netflix customers at home, they pushed up the release of the highly anticipated sports documentary, “The Last Dance,” produced in part with ESPN Films.
“The Last Dance,” a ten-part documentary about the Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls, was released over five weeks, allowing viewers to watch two episodes back-to-back each week. It’s not clear how the release strategy was selected, but parsing out episodes to give producers time to finish the documentary may have played a role. Or, it may have been the idea of Libby Geist, ESPN’s vice president and executive producer for ESPN Films and original content:
“Our film a few years ago – OJ: Made in America – we scheduled over five parts on five nights. We scheduled that on the off-nights of the NBA Finals in 2016, and that was a great formula for us.”
Make no mistake, “The Last Dance” was fated to be a big hit based on the subject matter and close access. But the cultural impact was also powerful: folks discussing the same point in the narrative on Twitter and Facebook, press coverage following suit. The conversations built around common viewing provided an enhanced experience for the audience. Will Netflix make a tactical shift to a weekly release strategy? Early signs point to yes: Their new show “Snowpiercer” will debut with two episodes on May 25th, with weekly releases thereafter.
Word on the Street
TikTok hired Disney executive Kevin Mayer this week, a surprise move given that his big project, the launch of Disney+, is still relatively fresh. But TikTok is aggressively seeking to build its footprint in the US. They’ve already hired talent from Facebook, and have been flooding Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat with ads in an attempt to attract their users. Mayer’s tenure at Disney was spent in strategic planning and M&A during a period when a few key deals transformed the firm. Close observers of Disney’s recent growth would attest that Mayer knows a thing or two about building media companies.
From shipping giants like FedEx and UPS to local restaurants and salons, businesses of all sizes are adding surcharges to their goods and services to offset the costs associated with doing business during a pandemic.
Pandemic-induced irregularities in consumer behavior are wreaking havoc on AI and machine learning models.
Last week, news broke that Uber was trying to buy Grubhub, leading to perhaps the best thing we read on the internet last week, Ranjan Roy’s “Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage.” It investigates how VC investment in food delivery has led to completely skewed economics where everybody is miserable.
Hearing that companies want to “delight” their customers makes us cringe. But news that Microsoft is testing a tool to prevent Reply All monster threads is, well, delightful.
There are really only a handful of strategies available at any given time, and Lenny Rachitsky thoroughly investigates those used by consumer apps trying to attract their first 1,000 users.
$SNE - Sony
Sony is making a bid to take over its financial services arm. The listed subsidiary, Sony Financial Holdings, contains a variety of life insurance and banking business. Sony currently owns a 65% stake, and will spend $3.7 billion to take control of the remaining 35%. The company said it views financial services as “a core business that is integral to [its] long-term growth.” Together with electronics and entertainment, the combined company will also change its name to Sony Group starting on April 1, 2021.
The move has the first blush appearance of GE Capital, the poster child for corporate financial engineering that juices profits in the short-term while hiding long-term time bombs just below the surface. (Long-term care insurance, anyone?) But then again, a conservatively run insurance business can be very lucrative, and it’s precisely what Warren Buffet used to build Berkshire Hathaway.
Will Sony succeed in adding a projected $460 million to its annual profit with the takeover? Only time will tell.
(For further reading on Sony, we’d recommend Nancy Griffin and Kim Master’s excellent book, “Hit and Run,” about how Sony set out to buy a Hollywood movie studio, and got swindled in the process.)
Bookshelf
As the class of 2020 graduates into a socially distanced world, celebrities, world leaders, and other luminaries are broadcasting their well wishes on Twitter and YouTube. It’s a change from typical years, when universities compete for the most newsworthy commencement speakers. But how much of an impact do commencement speakers really make on throngs of students baking in the sun? A better alternative is Meg Jay’s The Defining Decade, which deftly lays out the argument that one’s twenties are a critical period for setting them up for success later in life.
The book is especially ideal for those earnest twenty-somethings who worry that the carefree fun of early adulthood might lead to missed opportunities. Jay blends social research with case studies from her years spent working with twenty-something clients. And while career is a critical topic, the book’s focus includes relationships, friendships, and identity — showing how each area can change for the better over this time period. Jay’s style is compassionate, and though it wasn’t written with the class of 2020 in mind, it’s the perfect recommendation for graduates or interns who are looking for some sort of compass as they step into the great unknown.
Click here if you’d like to see past Bookshelf recommendations.
She Said It Best
“The office has further-reaching patriarchal ploys up its sleeve. Chief among these is its response to children. Or rather lack of it. For most of history, workplaces ignored children entirely. The Angel in the House, as Victorians fondly referred to their wives, was assumed to handle all that. In the 20th century the angel lost her wings as women entered the workplace. Offices responded to this momentous social change by making no concessions at all. As a result, working women had to straddle the gap between angel and executive, a cause of immense and continuing stress. Even more tryingly, they had to endure endless stock photos of women in suits holding babies and tearing out their hair. A minor branch of the publishing industry sprang up offering books with querulous titles such as “I Don’t Know How She Does It”.”
— Catherine Nixey, in her piece “Death of the office”
That’s all for now.
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