Happy Friday and hope everyone has been enjoying the holiday week. I wanted to write one last post to recap the year but couldn’t decide on a theme: Major trends of 2021? Winners/Losers of 2021? Predictions for 2022? (I hate predictions). Instead, I wanted to share three stories I found most surprising in 2021; stories I could not have predicted one year ago.
What were the most surprising stories for you?
Some of my thoughts on media & entertainment business … if you were forwarded this email and want to receive regular updates, click here:
2021 Surprises
Kids content became an acquisition spotlight
Streamers and investors realized the importance of kid and family friendly content and then doubled down with their checkbooks
Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs acquired Moonbug Entertainment for ~$3B in November
Netflix acquired Roald Dahl Story Company in September ~$700M
Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise looking to sell for ~$300M
PocketWatch, a digital media studio building franchises around kid friendly YouTube stars, tapped Lazard to explore potential sale
These stories made me respect YouTube more and more as a distribution and discovery platform. YouTube hosts a world of potential franchises, merchandising revenue and IP plays
HBO Max not far from year-end guidance of ~73 million subscribers
I love HBO, truly. I think they have the best content for adults. However, HBO Max did not have explosive growth out the gate when it launched in May 2020. I knew HBO Max would fare better than Peacock or Paramount+, but not by today’s margin
Tailwinds that helped:
International expansion and ad-supported product tier
Day-and-date release strategy (The Entertainment Strategy Guy pulled the data below to showcase reach of Warner’s film releases)
Succession…probably
Scarlett Johansson sued The Mouse
I wrote about this issue earlier this year and a surprise story for a few reasons:
First, we had an A-list star publicly raise a legal issue with The Walt Disney Company. Sure, large companies like Disney get sued all the time, but not by major talent (Doc McStuffins voice actor sued Disney in 2016 but who the hell is Doc McStuffins)
Second, this story disappeared into Hollywood shadows as quickly as it emerged. It was not a drawn out, public issue and no other actors joined the fray
Third, and most importantly, it brought to light the shifting economic incentives with the streaming era of movies
2022 Predictions
I don’t like doing predictions…maybe someone acquires Lionsgate, maybe not. Maybe Walt comes back from vacation?
And Finally, Happy New Year
I started Media Bytes eight months ago as a writing/editorial hobby to share media and entertainment business stories with friends. I love movies and my interests will forever be handcuffed to the industry.
Thank you everyone for the feedback, questions and offline debates; it has made the process so much more rewarding.
I am looking forward to more writing in 2022 and of course, more movies. Here are some that are top of mind: The Devil in the White City, Babylon, The Batman, Across the Spider-Verse, Canterbury Glass, and Knives Out 2.
Happy new year all and happy early birthday to my buddy, Oliver. Thanks for reading!