Streaming and tech models erode entertainment value
The shift from pure-play entertainment companies to tech-driven platforms has fundamentally altered the business model and quality of content creation.
The argument
Barry Diller argued that tech giants like Amazon, Apple, and Netflix treat content as a customer-acquisition tool (e.g., Prime subscriptions) rather than a direct-relationship product. This structural shift from instinct-based decisions to data-driven ones has fractionated the industry and removed the traditional joy and focus of filmmaking.
The thesis, stress-tested
✓ What validates it
- ✓Traditional media companies consolidating or clawing back market share from tech platforms
- ✓A shift in tech platform reporting away from subscriber acquisition toward content-specific profitability metrics
▸ Risks discussed
- ▸Tech platforms have massive capital pools to outspend traditional studios indefinitely
- ▸High-quality content can still occasionally be produced under the new model
Hear it yourself
"And so where these pure entertainment companies, by the way, to some degree, it's the furthest you could ever go to say the difference between instinct and ones and zeros are technology, which is, as we know, quite fact based and numerical as to making any content is instinctive."
00:00 / 00:26
AFFILIATE LINK · ZORTIX MAY EARN A COMMISSION · NEVER A RECOMMENDATION TO TRADE