Lucas Shaw

New from me: The House Judiciary Committee has been intensifying an antitrust probe into the Global Alliance of Responsible Media and its members, which includes major advertisers, agencies, and platforms. The Committee alleges GARM's members have been colluding to defund conservative media. While the ad industry insiders I spoke to felt the allegations were without merit, they are concerned about the chilling effect the probe -- and its numerous document and interview requests -- could have on GARM's work around brand safety and online misinformation. Read more over at Business Insider #garm #brandsafety #advertising #gop https://lnkd.in/ePpYBcRa

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For today's Wide Shot newsletter, we return to the question of whether streaming is a good business and, more precisely, for whom? We address cable giant John Malone's recent assessment (categorically "no") and take a look at the state of Netflix, Disney, Paramount and others who participated in the streaming war. Who's winning? Who's still losing money? What's the next stage of the streaming business? (Oh, we also get into JOKER 2's box office travesty). #entertainmentbusiness #hollywood #streaming

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For those new to CTV (Specifically data providers trying to "figure it out") ... This episode of the Marketecture Media - Ari Paparo and Lara Koenig break out the logistics and economics in a way that is easy to digest and build action plans off of. Biggest take away for Data Providers - what are the business problems the buyers and sellers are solving for, various complexities, suggestions on how to present your offering to key decision makers... Episode 67: Lara Koenig of MiQ on CTV SPO Why are there 214 supply paths to a single CTV impression? Sign up for the newsletter - the copy of the preso is worth it.

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Programmatic was supposed to connect the best advertiser to the best publisher, but we know that hasn't exactly happened as planned (MFA, quality publishers still struggling etc.) The recent rise of curation tech is pitching that a bit of extra intervention can solve this problem. In the field of curation tech, Chalice offers a pretty novel solution: real-time curation, whereas advertiser previously had to rely on static allow-lists, which is wired to advertiser outcomes (whereas previous tech was sell-side focused) and uses metadata (a hot new category of signals that beefs up contextual). Thanks to Adam Heimlich, Ali Manning and Anjlee Majmudar https://lnkd.in/eFSQ8ZMM

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Meta seems ready for redemption in the 2024 election cycle. If so, it's thanks to its Oversight Board. My latest CEO Daily for Fortune. With the U.S. presidential election less than six months away, and elections also happening in the EU, U.K., India, and many more countries, now is a good time for CEOs to reflect on their company’s relationship to democracy at large. One company that has done so, and seems ready for redemption, is Meta.  Meta has come a long way. Eight years ago, the Trump campaign used improperly obtained Facebook data to build voter profiles for 50 million users, and Russia weaponized Facebook to undermine the integrity of the U.S. elections. The scandals led to Facebook’s darkest hour, and forced its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, to testify before Congress.     But 2024 isn’t 2016. A crucial part of Meta’s response since then has been the creation of an “independent” oversight board. And last week, that group released its key lessons in a historic election year. These are my takeaways: – A company should think about its principles vis-à-vis democracy and not react only to specific instances. Meta learned this lesson when it blocked former President Donald Trump’s Facebook account after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which was seen as arbitrary. When it reinstated Trump’s account in 2023, Meta did so based on more broadly applicable protocols.   – Almost no company can be entirely apolitical. Some of the most divisive societal issues concern foundational democratic principles—freedom of speech, equality, limits on government interference—written up in constitutions and human rights charters. A company must know where it stands on such values.  – Efforts to interfere with elections often start small or in inexpensive markets. They then move to more expensive markets. Some interference campaigns are subtle, using deep fakes or somewhat credible fake claims. A company must study its weakest points of entry to ensure it’s not a vehicle for such schemes. – Finally, oversight boards are a good idea for almost any organization. Meta’s self-governing board can be critical of the company, and its supervision ensures Meta is caught off-guard less often by user protest or complaints.  Meta didn’t get it 100% right. One shortcoming of its oversight board is that it still depends on Meta for funding. Over time, that’s bound to lead to problems. But Meta’s approach nevertheless benefits the company—and society—in myriad ways. For Meta, it lowers the likelihood of future PR crises. More broadly, it makes Meta act as a more responsible corporate citizen. That’s in everyone’s interest, and a model to follow. Thanks to my old classmate Simona Sikimic-French for providing very useful background, and Claire Zillman for another excellent edit. #elections #socialmedia #corporateresponsibility https://lnkd.in/e3Dq6F9D

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From Variety: The parade of second quarter earnings reports for major showbiz conglomerates made it crystal-clear that there is no more avoiding the 800-pound gorilla on the balance sheets of Big Media. It’s been a long time coming that the valuations long applied to old-fashioned cable channels have to be slashed by double digits. And that’s what happened this week with Warner Bros. Discovery taking its eye-popping $9.1 billion write-down on the valuation of its core cluster of advertising-supported channels (think TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Discovery Inc , Animal Planet, Food Network). Paramount Global did the same thing a day later, slicing $6 billion from the valuation of its MTV group outlets (think MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Paramount Network). AMC Networks buttoned up the week Friday by taking a $97 million charge to reflect the diminished returns coming from BBC America and its international cable channels. In other words, Hollywood’s legacy #media conglomerates have to get real. You can’t run episodes of “Ridiculousness” all day on MTV and expect Comcast, Charter Communications , DIRECTV , YouTube TV and the like to pay Paramount Global the same fee that MTV commanded when it was riding high with signature original series a la “The Osbournes” and “The Real World.” The impact of these lowered valuations is significant in numerous ways to the ongoing functions of company. It influences the company’s stock price and market capitalization. It affects a company’s ability to take on debt, its credit rating and interest rates, and the scope of its ambition for mergers and acquisitions. The reckoning that started this week will undoubtedly be addressed by other media giants. Disney, which also reported earnings this week, did not take a formal write-down on cable #TV assets. The Mouse House delivered to investors a much brighter picture of the financials around its direct-to-consumer unit. #Streaming is growing, but it’s not growing fast enough to offset the decline in traditional linear cable channels that once seemingly had a license to print money, namely ESPN and Disney Channel. The financial adjustments on linear assets at WBD and Paramount are the long-awaited second shoe to drop following #Hollywood’s get-real moment for streaming growth potential that rocked the industry two years ago. The jolt came in April 2022 when Netflix ’s dizzying rate of subscriber growth came to its inevitable end. As Netflix appeared to plateau at around 230 million-250 million worldwide subscribers, The Walt Disney Company , WBD, Paramount and Comcast were forced by business gravity to moderate lofty ambitions of amassing as many as 500 million-plus paying customers around the world. Now with the cable write-downs, Hollywood has to confront the fact that the good old days of double-digit annual #advertising and affiliate fee growth are not coming back.

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