Read on Twitter
It's been a bizarre year in entertainment (and everything else). In just the last 12 mos:
-“Bad Boys for Life,” a threequel, somehow became the No. 1 movie of 2020
-“WAP” was wapped in a bow for TikTokers
-We all watched something called “Tiger King” together but separate
-Quibi
-“Bad Boys for Life,” a threequel, somehow became the No. 1 movie of 2020
-“WAP” was wapped in a bow for TikTokers
-We all watched something called “Tiger King” together but separate
-Quibi
Here's a look back at the massive transformation of the entertainment industry that happened faster in the last 12 months than probably in the last 12 years
I started the year by talking about what a decade of Netflix had done to Hollywood (using chart below). But then 2020 was like another decade all its own: Hollywood shut down. Movie theaters shut down. Sports shut down. Netflix kept going https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-27/netflix-shakes-up-hollywood-as-disney-at-t-fight-back?sref=jO7iaJLA
Cable-TV and satellite-TV providers like Comcast and AT&T’s DirecTV were already losing tons of subscribers before Covid sapped their programming and took away the biggest reason to have a big, expensive cable package 
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-23/comcast-cord-cutting-is-bad-omen-for-at-t-s-earnings?sref=jO7iaJLA
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-23/comcast-cord-cutting-is-bad-omen-for-at-t-s-earnings?sref=jO7iaJLA
Commercial break!: There was the Super Bowl. Remember that?? I looked at why we enjoy ads during the big game but not any other time. More in a moment, but ah, let’s just reminisce about eating chicken wings before most of us ever knew the word “Covid” https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-31/super-bowl-ads-are-lesson-for-netflix-s-streaming-tv-rivals
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming…
Disney had BIG news at the end of February, the timing of which inadvertently became whatever the opposite of serendipitous is: Bob Iger stepped down! After years of pushing off retirement & extending his contract, it happened. What a career: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-02-25/disney-s-abrupt-ceo-switch-startles-investors-as-iger-steps-down?sref=jO7iaJLA
With Disney+ now leaning extra heavily on Star Wars and Marvel for its streaming strategy, it's clear that all of those deals Iger did set the company up with everything his successor needs to adapt Disney for the new, post-pandemic world https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-11/disney-unveils-new-streaming-star-to-outshine-netflix?sref=jO7iaJLA
In his memoir last year, Iger wrote that he could see his retirement date out of the corner of his eye. “It surfaces at unexpected times. It’s not enough to distract me, but it is enough to remind me that this ride is coming to an end” https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-02-26/disney-won-t-have-iger-touch-amid-streaming-wars-coronavirus
But the ride didn't quite end. There were rumors that amid the crisis Iger was taking back the reins behind the scenes as, all of a sudden, earnings estimates for Disney looked like, eek, this: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-13/coronavirus-means-bob-iger-s-disney-goodbye-just-got-l?sref=jO7iaJLA
Technically, there was a new Bob at the helm of the conglomerate, but according to a NYT article at the time, he’s known as “Bob C,” secondary to the true “Bob” — Iger https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-13/coronavirus-means-bob-iger-s-disney-goodbye-just-got-l?sref=jO7iaJLA
Whatever the case, Disney World -- the literal shining castle of the Disney empire -- moved to the top of both Bobs' list of headaches https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-05/coronavirus-disney-world-tops-iger-chapek-s-list-of-headaches?sref=jO7iaJLA
Meanwhile, AT&T introduced something called AT&T TV, which isn't terrible at all, but is maybe like five years too late https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-02/at-t-tv-brings-best-and-worst-of-cable-to-the-streaming-wars
And Quibi launched, which maybe was just 5 years too early for all us unsophisticated phone users? https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-04/quibi-s-paul-singer-battle-is-least-of-katzenberg-s-problems
As live sports were forced to call timeout, ESPN got extra creative and morphed into its silly alter ego, ESPN8: The Ocho. It was all stone-skipping competitions, sign-spinning battles, cherry-pit-spitting contests, and—I kid you not—pro arm-wrestling https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-19/espn-coronavirus-sports-programming-may-pinch-disney?sref=jO7iaJLA
I joke, but ESPN8 showed just how bad things were getting. They were looking especially dire for movie theaters, which possess all the attributes of virus-spreading hotspots -- and they didn't have the balance sheets to withstand a pandemic lockdown: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-05/james-bond-movie-delay-on-virus-fears-hurts-amc-regal-cinemas?sref=jO7iaJLA
By the end of March, we were all stuck home and feeling scared and lonely. And as much as Netflix helped pass the time, social media apps like Instagram and TikTok are what helped unite our quarantined world https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-28/instagram-tiktok-would-help-netflix-unite-quarantined-world
It's why I wrote then and still strongly believe that the lines between streaming-video apps and social media are going to blur. Social viewing is what's missing from Netflix: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-02/netflix-s-cash-bonfire-won-t-work-for-disney-hulu-comcast?sref=jO7iaJLA
Think about how Netflix’s “Tiger King” docuseries took social media by storm, as memes about the show went next-level viral, and yet there was no way to experience that collective fascination on Netflix itself https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-14/coronavirus-will-leave-entertainment-world-changed-forever
Another one of Netflix's competitive advantages became more evident by spring: It had a backlog of finished productions ready to stream, while other services were left barren when studio work shut down https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-06/coronavirus-netflix-hbo-get-no-new-movies-with-hollywood-shut?sref=jO7iaJLA
Subscribing to Netflix was no longer a choice -- keyword: "was" https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-21/coronavirus-makes-netflix-a-necessity-as-streaming-wars-heat-up
Then BOOM, the first Covid-wrecked earnings season arrived and all the movie postponement announcements began. These charts speak for themselves https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-08/coronavirus-5-charts-show-how-netflix-disney-are-changing?sref=jO7iaJLA
I think of any company, AT&T's earnings call that season really gave a window into our economy and life during lockdown https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-22/coronavirus-at-t-is-a-window-into-life-under-lockdown
And then in the midst of all this, AT&T's CEO left, too. Making sense of the $109B purchase of HBO & Co. in the midst of a public-health crisis that shut down Hollywood & a recession that made HBO Max's $15 fee look $$$ was John Stankey's problem now https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-24/at-t-ceo-joins-disney-s-in-stepping-aside-mid-makeover
Then there were the nationwide protests calling for racial equality and justice in the wake of the killings of George Floyd & Breonna Taylor. I wrote that pulling “Cops” off air was only step one for Hollywood & looked at lessons learned from #MeToo 
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-10/hollywood-s-role-in-racial-justice-should-channel-metoo-response
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-10/hollywood-s-role-in-racial-justice-should-channel-metoo-response
Then 
became controversial. The CEO of AMC theaters did something troubling & suggested that requiring moviegoers to wear Covid masks could be seen as a political statement. One more time: Masks 
aren't political (He later backpedaled) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-19/amc-theatres-requiring-covid-19-masks-isn-t-political
became controversial. The CEO of AMC theaters did something troubling & suggested that requiring moviegoers to wear Covid masks could be seen as a political statement. One more time: Masks aren't political (He later backpedaled) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-19/amc-theatres-requiring-covid-19-masks-isn-t-political
A worthy controversy?: YouTube TV raising its monthly fee to $65 
(And Hulu + Live TV did the same thing a few months later) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-07-02/youtube-tv-price-hike-shows-streaming-shares-cable-s-flaws
(And Hulu + Live TV did the same thing a few months later) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-07-02/youtube-tv-price-hike-shows-streaming-shares-cable-s-flaws
The cost of all these new streaming apps -- because you can't have just one -- started to make Comcast's *free* Peacock app look pretty attractive ... at least for anyone who had heard of it https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-07-15/comcast-s-peacock-stands-out-from-streaming-tv-flock?sref=jO7iaJLA
Still, the streaming wars battleground was set, and so @BChappatta & I wrote how Netflix needed to press its advantage more than it needs investment grade ratings. Even more true today https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-07-23/netflix-doesn-t-need-investment-grade-ratings?sref=jO7iaJLA
The window to do so was closing as it became clear Disney+ and HBO Max were about to become serious competitors even if they weren't yet. I predicted Netflix would use the moment to raise prices -- and it did https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-10-20/will-netflix-raise-prices-this-covid-19-winter?sref=jO7iaJLA
Then a big moment happened that, looking back, was just the first domino to fall: Comcast’s Universal Pictures chopped the theatrical window for its films to 17 days as part of a game-changing agreement with AMC, the biggest theater operator in the world https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-07-29/universal-amc-movie-theater-deal-could-upend-industry?sref=jO7iaJLA
Things started to speed up from there: Disney put "Mulan" directly on Disney+ (for a $30 viewing fee) in the industry's next wow moment https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-05/walt-disney-co-and-mulan-s-post-covid-path-is-streaming?sref=jO7iaJLA
That's as surveys began to show that people just did not want to go to the movies ... whether because of Covid, or because they like streaming from home https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-27/covid-19-people-won-t-go-to-movies-just-because-amc-theaters-reopen?sref=jO7iaJLA
Except there wasn't much to watch from home these last few months: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-17/covid-19-creates-suspense-for-the-fall-tv-lineup
AT&T realized it didn't make sense to hold onto the DirecTV business any longer, so it started shopping around for buyers. As predicted, the offers are a game of how low can you go - still, it should sell the thing https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-31/at-t-needs-to-cut-its-directv-losses-and-move-on?sref=jO7iaJLA
(Random fact: I took that photo 
of a discarded DirecTV dish while on a walk break as this story was being edited. If that's not a sign I don't know what is)
of a discarded DirecTV dish while on a walk break as this story was being edited. If that's not a sign I don't know what is)
It also became clear that Quibi was going to throw in the towel. I actually think Quibi had some right ideas that Netflix and others could learn from: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-09-22/quibi-wreckage-may-be-treasure-for-netflix-tiktok?sref=jO7iaJLA
And another idea for Netflix: more "Love Is Blind" and "Too Hot to Handle" please. Discovery (soon launching Discovery+) has been kind of forgotten in the streaming wars, but its flavor of programming shouldn't be: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-09-24/netflix-hbo-need-discovery-s-guilty-tv-pleasures-like-90-day-finance?sref=jO7iaJLA
The same could be said for ViacomCBS, whose architect Sumner Redstone passed away at 97yo. I wrote about how the media mogul didn't want a legacy bc he planned to live forever. He got one anyway & it's seen in billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg & Elon Musk https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-12/sumner-redstone-left-a-legacy-even-if-he-didn-t-want-one?sref=jO7iaJLA
Then another wow moment: Disney said it was laying off 28,000 U.S. theme park workers. It showed how "normal" was losing meaning, and also that Disney isn't going to emerge from this crisis as the same company https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-09-29/disney-theme-park-layoffs-show-depth-of-covid-recession?sref=jO7iaJLA via @bopinion
They say Cinderella Castle was made to look much taller and grander than it actually is. I feel like that could be a metaphor for the new Disney: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-10-06/disney-investors-display-incredible-faith-in-post-covid-future?sref=jO7iaJLA
Because the truth is, we've learned to live without movie theaters. Disney and its peers started to recognize that https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-10-29/movie-theaters-amc-won-t-recover-from-year-of-covid?sref=jO7iaJLA
What were formerly Walt Disney Co.'s most important businesses — theme parks, cruises, films, cable nets — have moved to the other side of that plus sign. Now, the company can be thought of as Disney, a streaming giant, plus some other stuff https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-11-13/walt-disney-co-earnings-prove-disney-is-future?sref=jO7iaJLA
And some of that other stuff, I argued, should be more adulty-friendly content https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-11-24/to-take-on-netflix-disney-s-next-act-should-be-rated-r
Which a few weeks later Disney announced it's basically doing https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-11/disney-unveils-new-streaming-star-to-outshine-netflix?sref=jO7iaJLA
Disney also signaled that Star, a little-known Indian media brand it inherited in the Fox deal, would play a starring role in its international streaming strategy, which is very smart but leaves future of Hulu a
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-11/disney-unveils-new-streaming-star-to-outshine-netflix?sref=jO7iaJLA
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-11/disney-unveils-new-streaming-star-to-outshine-netflix?sref=jO7iaJLA
The $318 billion company recently reorganized into just two reportable units — Disney Media & Entertainment, and Disney Parks, Experiences & Products. The first seems to emphasize streaming above all. This was the slide Disney showed investors in explaining the new structure:
Notice where the two people on the left are sitting — not in a theater auditorium, but at home. That may be the most enduring change to come out of 2020. And so Netflix should enjoy its lonely winter on top, bc in 2021 the streaming wars finally heat up https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-14/netflix-faces-biggest-test-in-2021-with-disney-hbo-max-steaming-challenge?sref=jO7iaJLA
The latest sign of that was the bombshell announcement by AT&T's Warner Bros. that it would put all of its coming films on HBO Max the same day they arrive in theaters, beginning with "Wonder Woman 1984" on Christmas day https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-03/warner-bros-and-hbo-max-deal-crushing-blow-to-movie-theaters?sref=jO7iaJLA
Will you be watching “Wonder Woman 1984” on your big flat screen at home? So will most of the rest of us
My latest is on how a Covid-fueled boom in home sales, declining costs for TVs & a revolution in entertainment are cementing at-home viewing habits https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-23/home-movie-theaters-big-tvs-gain-appeal-amid-covid-housing-boom?sref=jO7iaJLA
My latest is on how a Covid-fueled boom in home sales, declining costs for TVs & a revolution in entertainment are cementing at-home viewing habits https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-23/home-movie-theaters-big-tvs-gain-appeal-amid-covid-housing-boom?sref=jO7iaJLA
I'll leave you with this: On the weekend of Jan. 17, 2020, North American theaters sold $62.5 million of tickets to the opening of Sony Pictures’ “Bad Boys for Life,” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Attendees didn't wear masks -- we didn't even own them.
Now, what could have been the biggest movie of the year, "Wonder Woman 1984," would be lucky to see a fraction of that in theaters. Instead, it's going to be available on an app that charges $15 a month - not a visit - and per household, not per person. That says it all
It's going to take a strong stomach, a large degree of financial skill and a bit of wizardry to make streaming work as a business.
But as many readers wrote to me in the last few weeks: It's time to get that 65-inch TV. Throw in a popcorn machine while you're at it
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-23/home-movie-theaters-big-tvs-gain-appeal-amid-covid-housing-boom?sref=jO7iaJLA
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-23/home-movie-theaters-big-tvs-gain-appeal-amid-covid-housing-boom?sref=jO7iaJLA
