☀️ What's Hidden in the NETFLIX Data Long Tail
AMAZON looks at new big sports investment / MARVEL expels Jonathan Majors / VICE gets new leader
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY December 19, 2023.
Where ok yes, an unusual note of giving 🎁 to start with today… but, just a reminder on what registering as an organ donor can do for others.
Stand-up comic Kenny DeForest was killed in a Brooklyn biking accident last week… but as an organ donor, he’s now given five different people a new lease on life through being an organ donor. No doubt a tragic incident, but one that has now also given the gift of living for others.
SWITCHING GEARS: OPEN AI has suspended BYTE DANCE from using the product, as TIKTOK’s parent company was apparently using it to build its own AI - which turns out, is a no-no… I mean, come on who reads the fine print on usage agreements 🤷♂️?
AND: As I’m sure you saw, Jonathan Majors was convicted by a jury on two misdemeanor charges he was facing, of the four assault & harassment charges he was on trial for overall. He will be sentenced Feb. 6 and faces up to a year in prison.
THR has a good recap of the arguments made from each side in the trial, as to how things went down in the incident and the video evidence that was presented.
DISNEY has also fired him from the MARVEL universe. No word how it will affect creative in the Avengers future.
PLUS: 40% of people whose student loan payments restarted in October… still had not made any payments as of mid-November 😬.
AND: A since-deleted item from materials at a marketing team within COX MEDIA GROUP (CMG) said that it could target advertising to people based on voice conversations… i.e. what you’re potentially saying on your phone calls or with smart speakers or TVs with mics in the vicinity, for anyone that often suspected this was the case.
“What would it mean for your business if you could target potential clients who are actively discussing their need for your services in their day-to-day conversations? No, it's not a Black Mirror episode—it's Voice Data, and CMG has the capabilities to use it to your business advantage.”
- From a CMG sales pitch. I’m sure NETFLIX is thankful for the shout-out.
COX is a large family-owned media conglomerate based in the Southeast, with a large cable TV/broadband/mobile business, as well as the owner of Axios. PE firm APOLLO is also an owner of CMG.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Look - based on the news cycle yesterday… it seems most of you TV & Film folks have already checked out for the holidays, so I went and got a massage. Ok fine 🙄 - I spent a couple more hours in the NETFLIX Data Dump document.
So, get a sense of:
The insane amount of viewership that old Studio Animated films get on NETFLIX
How much ‘the long tail’ of NETFLIX Films viewership contributes to a film’s total after it leaves the weekly Netflix Top 10 chart.
How Comedy Specials and Docu viewership stacked up in H1 2023.
Plus a look at how the SONY PICTURES Pay1 output movies fare over a much larger time horizon.
PLUS: AMAZON’s potentially doing more Sports, VICE gets a new member of leadership, cuts at Wired and The Skimm and more.
CORRECTION FROM SUNDAY NIGHT: In addition to putting TV distro rights with LGF, the producers ofThe Chosen property have also parted ways with ANGEL STUDIOS for theatrical distribution, and Christmas with The Chosen was done in a direct deal with FATHOM. ANGEL was not involved, and my apologies for the error.