The Life and Death of Hollywood

But what is the strongest, most profitable, most defensible part of Disney’s business in the digital era? Its capex-heavy, physical theme parks....By turning hit films into theme park attractions, not only does Disney generate more “upside” from a hit than its competitors do, Disney’s breakeven point for these films is also much lower.

Will Tavlin in N+1 on how Netflix has moved towards forgettable, low-end-of-middlebrow content. This is a function of the invisible base rates problem: when Netflix launched its streaming service, it was great for people who loved movies; these people raved to their friends who merely liked movies, and there are simply more people with taste close ... See more

With prices like $5 / month or $8 / month for a commodity mobile platform, the concern is that pricing will soon shift to a “first year free” model or be entirely free, shifting the economic model to one that emphasizes broadcast advertising sales patterns. While this could bolster early acquisition, it degrades Hollywood’s trust in the platform. W... See more

Netflix’s overall challenge is that it can no longer count on contracting for existing good TV and studio films at reasonable prices. When it comes to streaming, both access to material and subscriber scale are important. With more subscribers, one can pay more for material, and the ratio of needed shows to subscribers falls—you don’t need twice as

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