Richard Greenfield

Spotify Gains Ad Reach, While Netflix Expands Time… Spotify Gains Ad Reach, While Netflix Expands Time Spent Earlier today (link), Netflix and Spotify announced an agreement for 16 Spotify video podcasts to be made available on Netflix. While Spotif…

⚡️ Spotify Gains Ad Reach, While Netflix Expands Time Spent ⚡️ $SPOT $NFLX

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Netflix/Spotify agreement is that all 16 podcasts will only be found on Spotify and Netflix. This means these 16 podcasts are coming off of YouTube...

Disney’s ESPN Uses Soon-to-be-Owned Fubo to Execute New “Streaming” Channel Strategy Listen (5:05 mins) Last month (link), we highlighted that ESPN’s DTC launch was actually less about DTC and more about creating yet another network that it could force into MVPDs/vMVPDs bundl…

Disney’s ESPN Uses Soon-to-be-Owned Fubo to Execute New “Streaming” Channel Strategy
$DIS $FUBO

Why Netflix is Not Buying Warner Bros. and What Paramount Can Learn from Netflix Listen (4:46 mins) Last week, Variety wrote about the debut of Warner Bros.’ 2025 Superman on HBO Max with the following headline: “Superman Hits 13 Million Views in 10 Days of Streamin…

Why Netflix is Not Buying Warner Bros. and What Paramount Can Learn from Netflix

While we are sure there’s IP inside Warner Bros that Netflix would love to remake or exploit...the content driving Netflix’s subscriber growth has been...

Sorry Peacock: NBC and YouTube TV Reach Carriage… Sorry Peacock: NBC and YouTube TV Reach Carriage Agreement Without You Earlier this year, Mike Cavanagh, now Comcast’s Co-CEO, stated: “We’re not really running a Peacock-only strategy.…

⚡️ Sorry Peacock 🦚 NBC and YouTube TV Reach Carriage Agreement Without You ⚡️

Earlier this year, Mike Cavanagh, now Comcast’s Co-CEO, stated: “We’re not really running a Peacock-only strategy. We’re running a broadcast-plus-streaming strategy and looking to optimize that over the years ahead...

ChatGPT Has Never Sent Reddit Nor Any Site… ChatGPT Has Never Sent Reddit Nor Any Site Meaningful Traffic Investors are panicking over Similarweb and Promptwatch data that shows a drop in Reddit DAUs tied to a dramatic reduction in citations…

⚡️ ChatGPT Has Never Sent Reddit Nor Any Site Meaningful Traffic ⚡️ $RDDT

No investor was worried about ChatGPT sending less traffic to Reddit, because the traffic was insignificant to begin with…

Make Hollywood Great Again, or Destroy It Trying Listen (5:56 mins) May 2025: President Trump announced plans for a 100% tariff on movies produced overseas to drive production back into the US (see our Lightning post here). The plan was met with …

Make Hollywood Great Again, or Destroy It Trying

How can @realDonaldTrump push movie production back into the US and the scary implications if he succeeds...

The Streaming War Nobody Saw Coming: Ingestion Listen (6:30) Two years ago, we sounded the alarm that when YouTube TV inevitably rose to a Top 4 MVPD/vMVPD it would have newfound leverage over broadcast station and cable network owners (link), …

The Streaming War Nobody Saw Coming: Ingestion

The biggest streaming battleground of 2025 is going to play out in the next 5 weeks, as @YouTubeTV does battle with @WaltDisneyCo and @NBCUniversal

Long Live TikTok US: Clearing Up the Myths Listen (3:22) US Joint Venture. Over the next six months, ByteDance will convert its US subsidiary, TikTok US, into a joint-venture, between itself, its existing investors and a consortium of new i…

Long Live TikTok US: Clearing Up the Myths

To be crystal clear, TikTok US is NOT being sold...
@tiktok_us $META $SNAP $GOOGL

Disney’s Hulu Magic: Making More Cost Less Listen (2:30 mins) Disney’s new higher streaming pricing ties directly to a world where Hulu no longer exists. Disney has already stated that the standalone Hulu app will be sunset in 2026. Y…

Disney's Hulu Magic: Making More Cost Less

Disney’s new higher streaming pricing ties directly to a world where Hulu no longer exists... $DIS

Should Brian Roberts Move SNL from NBC &… Should Brian Roberts Move SNL from NBC & Peacock to Bravo & Peacock? The 51st season of Saturday Night Live kicks off on October 4, 2025. With CBS’ Colbert ending this season (suppose…

⚡️ Should Brian Roberts Move SNL from NBC & Peacock to Bravo & Peacock? ⚡️ $CMCSA

It is hard to imagine SNL without political commentary. While the FCC oversees broadcast television and must ensure TV station programming is in the public interest...

The Great Ellison Head-Scratcher: Why Start With One of Hollywood's Worst Before Buying One of the Best?
$PSKY $WBD

Who Wins, Who Loses From a Paramount Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery? Listen (7:53 mins) We have written about why Paramount is bidding now for Warner Bros. Discovery, rather than waiting for the company split next year (link), and how the Warner Bros. Discovery Boar…

Who Wins, Who Loses From a Paramount Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery?
$PSKY $WBD $NFLX $DIS $AMZN $AAPL $CMCSA

Zaslav vs Ellison: The Battle for Warner Bros
$WBD $PARA
lightshedtmt.com/2025/09/15/c...

Could Zaslav Actually Say No to Ellison? Listen (7:08 mins) Prior to announcing a split of Warner Bros. Discovery into Warner Bros. and Discovery Global on June 9, 2025, WBD shares were trading at $9.82, down nearly 60% from where they cl…

Could Zaslav Actually Say No to Ellison? $WBD $PARA

While we have yet to see the details of Paramount’s offer, assuming it materializes, we suspect the odds of getting a yes from the WBD Board are materially lower than most investors currently expect. Let the battle for Warner Bros begin…

Why is Paramount Bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery… Why is Paramount Bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery Now? While there is no official news from either Paramount or Warner Bros. Discovery following yesterday’s WSJ story (link), it appears Par…

⚡️ Why is Paramount Bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery Now? ⚡️ $PSKY $WBD

While WBD investors may hope for competitive bids from Netflix, Amazon or Apple, we do not believe any are likely to bid and even Comcast will be hard pressed to…

Streaming Frenemies: Amazon DSP Partners with Netflix as Trade Desk Headwinds Grow Listen (3:18 mins) Earlier today, Netflix and Amazon Ads announced a DSP partnership (link), three months after Amazon announced DSP partnerships with Roku (link) and Disney (link) at Cannes Lions.…

Streaming Frenemies: Amazon DSP Partners with Netflix as Trade Desk Headwinds Grow

Remember when Trade Desk said Amazon was NOT a competitor last month? $AMZN $NFLX $TTD

NFL Mystery: YouTube’s “Free” NFL Game Only Modestly Exceeds Peacock’s Viewership One year ago, the second game of the NFL season aired exclusively on Peacock. Despite Peacock’s relatively limited subscriber base of 36 million, viewership reached 14.2 million (AMA, average…

NFL Mystery: YouTube's "Free" NFL Game Only Modestly Exceeds Peacock's Viewership
@NFL $GOOGL @YouTube $CMCSA @peacock

Lachlan Murdoch Solidifies Long-Term Control of Fox and News Corp Earlier today, Rupert Murdoch decisively resolved the future of Fox and News Corp.’s voting control after his death or incapacitation. Murdoch’s bid to alter his family trust to give hi…

Lachlan Murdoch Solidifies Long-Term Control of Fox and News Corp
$FOXA $NWSA

DirecTV Illustrates ESPN’s Strategic Focus Is the Bundle, not DTC… DirecTV Illustrates ESPN’s Strategic Focus Is the Bundle, not DTC DirecTV’s recent marketing push around its MySports bundle for DirecTV Stream bolsters our view that ESPN is far more f…

⚡️ DirecTV Illustrates ESPN’s Strategic Focus Is the Bundle, not DTC ⚡️ $DIS

Remember, more than half of current MVPD/vMVPD subscribers do not currently have access to ESPN Unlimited today...

Spotify’s Product Keeps Getting Better: First Look at Messaging Listen (1:39 mins) While Spotify’s industry peers have largely abandoned iterating on their music platforms in favor of focusing on streaming video, Spotify continues to expand its content of…

Spotify's Product Keeps Getting Better: First Look at Messaging
@spotify @eldsjal.bsky.social

Disney Goes Old School: Using Original ESPN Additional Network Playbook to Drive ESPN Streaming Carriage Listen (8:09) ESPN launched ESPN2 in 1993, utilizing the power of ESPN and adding an increasing number of live games to drive distribution and carriage fees for the additional network. ESPN replica…

Disney Goes Old School: Using Original ESPN Additional Network Playbook to Drive ESPN Streaming Carriage
$DIS @ESPN

Shocking Difference Between ESPN and FOX One Authentication Listen (5:15 mins) The FOX One ($19.99/month) and ESPN ($29.99/month) streaming apps both launched today. The high price points for both apps reinforce that they are targeted at capturing a portion…

Shocking Difference Between ESPN and FOX One Authentication
$DIS $FOXA

So Much for Netflix’s Engagement Crisis The primary… So Much for Netflix’s Engagement Crisis The primary investor concern following Netflix’s Q2 2025 results was lackluster engagement, which is crucial for driving pricing power and reduci…

⚡️ So Much for Netflix’s Engagement Crisis ⚡️$NFLX

The primary investor concern following Netflix’s Q2 2025 results was lackluster engagement, which is crucial for driving pricing power and reducing churn...

Ellison’s Bold Move Surprises Everyone (But LightShed) Paramount signed a seven-year deal with UFC to take all of its major domestic output, including the numbered fights and fight nights.  The deal accomplishes all three of TKO’s goals: bigger do…

Ellison's Bold Move Surprises Everyone (But LightShed)
$PSKY $TKO @ufc @CBS @paramountplus

Jeff Green Says Amazon is Not a Competitor, but Amazon Views Trade Desk as a Competitor Listen (7:43 mins) During yesterday’s Trade Desk Q2 2025 earnings call, CEO Jeff Green was asked about rising competition from Amazon. Green stated, “Amazon is not a competitor.” …

Jeff Green Says Amazon is Not a Competitor, but Amazon Views Trade Desk as a Competitor
$TTD @thetradedesk.bsky.social $AMZN @amazonads.bsky.social

Dissecting David Ellison’s Vision for Paramount Skydance Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison marked the closing of the Paramount and Skydance merger with his vision for the combined company (link). We thought it would be useful to dissect what was said …

Dissecting David Ellison's Vision for Paramount Skydance $PSKY

Background on HBO Max Reset with AT&T In… Background on HBO Max Reset with AT&T In today’s WBD Shareholder letter they stated: “During the second quarter, we restructured our HBO Max U.S. distribution deal with a former rel…

⚡️ Background on HBO Max Reset with AT&T ⚡️

Prior to the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery, WarnerMedia was owned by AT&T. At certain tiers of wireless service, HBO Max was included with your AT&T wireless... $WBD $T

Zuck Ramps up Instagram’s Attack on TikTok and… Zuck Ramps up Instagram’s Attack on TikTok and Snap Instagram announced two major feature launches today (see screenshots embedded below). Instagram introduced reposts, mirroring TikTok&#8217…

⚡️ Zuck Ramps up Instagram’s Attack on TikTok and Snap ⚡️

Instagram announced two major feature launches today...

Initial Reactions to ESPN’s Acquisition of NFL Media… Initial Reactions to ESPN’s Acquisition of NFL Media Following tonight’s ESPN acquisition of NFL Media assets, we continue to believe Disney is setting the stage to spin-off its televis…

⚡️ Initial Reactions to ESPN’s Acquisition of NFL Media ⚡️

Following tonight’s ESPN acquisition of NFL Media assets, we continue to believe Disney is setting the stage to spin-off its television assets in the post-Iger era (2027). Plus two BIG surprises in the deal...

Horrifying Box Office Stat Hollywood Is Not Talking About, While Streaming Movie Pierces Zeitgeist Hollywood has faced a series of setbacks that lead us to believe box office prospects are permanently impaired compared to pre-COVID times. After emerging from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic in 20…

Horrifying Box Office Stat Hollywood Is Not Talking About, While Streaming Movie Pierces Zeitgeist
lightshedtmt.com/2025/08/05/h...