Issue 12.9.25

Morning!

This whole Netflix x WBD x Paramount merger-takeover debacle is so nuanced, so I’ll leave it to the experts to dissect. But from a marketing perspective, I think the industry created so much content that it diluted it’s own marketing power. And if you think about it, the marketing flywheel is the engine of the entire industry - generating the cultural lift that every project depends on. More and more content, meant press coverage got competitive, marketing budgets wore thin, and it became harder and harder to drive people to theaters or tune-in. And while we were occupied with a “streaming war,” attention was splintering further online. I don’t know the best antidote, but maybe coming back together will be a positive. Maybe this type of marketing consolidation will help create those “shared cultural experiences” those pop-culture rocket ships around entertainment again. Which would be a huge driver of jobs.

Here’s to hoping,
Tracey Raftery
[email protected]