Ben Bergman

New data from Hub Research provides insight into the tier of streaming video subscriptions consumers have. The chart below shows most of the subscriptions to premium streaming platforms are ad-supported. Across Prime Video, Peacock, Hulu, Paramount+, Discovery+ and AMC, more than 50% of consumers who know what tier they have, have an ad-supported version. Only 22% of Netflix subscribers report subscribing to an ad-supported version, and 41% for Disney+. #svod #avod #streaming #streamingvideo #streamingplatforms #adsupported #tvads #primevideo #peacock #netflix #premiumstreaming #premiumplatforms #disneyplus #paramountplus #hulu

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This Gallup piece is interesting. On the one hand, it's disheartening, though not surprising, to see such a partisan gap in trust in media. Has anyone studied why this is? Can (should?) anything be done about this? On a perhaps separate note, it's encouraging is to see how Rs and Ds both seem to have a lot of trust in local government: https://lnkd.in/gKdePu-M. Maybe if you see government in action, you trust it. Would something similar be true for journalism? Genuine questions.

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The election betting markets are now taking a victory lap after 'predicting' Trump's win. (And yes, you can bet on who will be the next secretary of Health and Human Services, if that's your thing.) Read my latest here (out of gift links! please subscribe!):

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The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) released new data on consumer home entertainment spending for the first half of 2024. An estimated $25.4B was spent on home entertainment, up 22% from 2023. Roughly 90% of that total is attributed to subscription video on demand or streaming video services (SVOD). Physical home entertainment products continued to struggle, bringing in just over $450M, down 22% from last year. #homeentertainment #entertainment #streamingvideo #svod #consumerspending #avod #fastchannels #adsupportedTV

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Swing State Snapshot: Analysis powered by #Penta The Swing State Snapshot uses Penta’s real-time global media database to track candidate visibility and sentiment of mentions in the largest newspapers and local broadcast television stations in the top three markets in the top seven “swing states”, based on their narrow margins of victory during the 2020 Presidential Election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

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Ditch the pitch! 'We keep trying to jam our funds into allocators portfolios with 20 charts, 30 slides, and in 60 minutes or less,' writes Stacy Havener for Citywire Selector's fund distribution newsletter this week. 'There is a way out...' Presenting is killing your sale, she argues, instead think about: 🧙‍♂️ Storytelling 🙉 Listening 🦄 USPs Read the latest in our ongoing series on improving your sales craft to discover three ways to transform client meetings. #funddistribution #pitching #assetmanagement https://lnkd.in/d_SKAB9P

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Tech companies keep missing the mark on what human beings want tech to enable them to do -- and what we want to keep human. That raises troubling questions not just for their AI, but for their overall view of both their technology and humanity as a whole.

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After a few really rough years for independent film, executives are starting to see positive momentum. Longlegs delivered the biggest opening in Neon's history. Civil War is one of A24's highest-grossing movies ever. Late Night with the Devil is IFC Films' top film in a decade. Thelma is one of Magnolia's highest-grossing films ever. I spoke to executives across the film business about why these movies are working and how they've adapted their strategies to a time when fewer people are going to theaters. https://t.co/cHUSkJ7lkn

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"With the enormous amount of content available on the (SiriusXM) app, all of which is served up via a slick interface, we think the only problem will be deciding what to listen to and watch." Thanks to Howard Kneller for the comprehensive, 4.5/5 star review of the SiriusXM app in TechRadar. I encourage you to read the full story!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SWIFT IMPACT: POP SUPERSTAR'S ENDORSEMENT MAY BACKFIRE, SAYS LEADING U.S. MEDIA EXPERT Michael Levine Cites Poll Showing Taylor Swift's Support for Harris-Walz Ticket Turning More Voters Away Than It Attracts According to leading U.S. media expert and best-selling author Michael Levine, Taylor Swift's recent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz might not be the vote-swaying move some expected. It could be driving more voters away than pulling them in. A new YouGov post-debate poll released on Saturday reveals that while 8% of voters said Swift's endorsement makes them "somewhat" or "much more likely" to vote for Harris and Walz, a staggering 20% said they are "somewhat" or "much less likely" to vote for the Democratic ticket now that Swift has thrown her weight behind it. A majority of 66% reported that Swift's endorsement will not influence their vote in November. Swift, a Grammy-winning artist with a massive social media following of 283 million, clarified her position shortly after the recent debate, stating, "I've done my research, and I've made my choice," in an Instagram post. Levine, renowned for his media and public influence expertise, suggests this polling data reflects a growing backlash against celebrity involvement in politics. "It's a fascinating example of how public figures may be miscalculating the influence they wield," Levine said. "While Swift's voice carries weight in popular culture, political endorsements may be an entirely different beast—one that could alienate more voters than it engages." As the 2024 election intensifies, this celebrity endorsement raises fresh questions about the power of star influence on American politics. https://lnkd.in/gM38yqZD #taylorswift #2024election #careeradvice #selfgrowth #motivationalcoach #businesscoach #personalcoach #michaellevineconsulting #michaellevine #whatisyourwhy #losangeles #wisdom

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In today’s information age, the role of media is paramount in shaping public opinion and guiding the collective consciousness. However, beneath the surface lies a network of covert operations and hidden agendas that manipulate the news we consume. This article delves deep into the mechanisms through which media outlets covertly influence narratives and control the flow of information. The Hidden Hand: Media Manipulation Tactics https://lnkd.in/eQjQywmE

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A brilliant new column in Observer by Roy Swan that will unpack how we can strive for a better form of capitalism that can work for all of us, rooted in innovation, prosperity, and fairness. Check it out!!

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It’s a rough day in media. Axios is cutting 50 employees, about 10% of staff. Tampa Bay Times is offering buyouts to reduce payroll by 20%. Future is closing the print magazines and daily newsletters for Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and NextTV. If you’re hiring, please consider my colleagues who have been impacted. You’ll not only gain a hard worker but also someone who is a compassionate coworker. My favorite part about working at Axios remains the kindness and passion across the organization. These cuts were Axios’ first big round ever. But brutal layoffs have been commonplace this year. As my colleague Sara Fischer writes, the media industry is struggling to regain the advertising and subscription momentum lost in recent years. https://lnkd.in/eKZEFeXA Sweeping changes to the media industry aren’t new. But they seem to be coming faster and be more unpredictable. It’s not just online platforms like Google and Meta that are competing for ad dollars and consumer attention. There’s Amazon and TikTok. Every company seems to be launching an ad network. Just today, Uber announced its advertising business surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $1 billion in Q2 We need quality journalism — to stay informed about our communities, about our industries, about our culture. I love the fact that in today’s world breaking news is shared and discovered through celebrity news accounts like PopCrave and emoji chain texts. But I am confident in the value of news media. As Axios CEO Jim VandeHei shared today, succeeding is about being distinctive and indispensable to an audience.

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It's easy to think about AI within the context of a CMS. Of using AI to optimize writing, editing, and SEO workflows. The more exciting choice is putting AI in the hands of reporters early on in the process. Over the weekend we published a deep look at how immigration is being portrayed in political ads this election cycle. It's an absorbing read--with editing and reporting from multiple desks across the newsroom. It's also the debut of one of our AI-powered reporting tools: Haystacker. We carved out a lane in our roadmap for "Ambitious Journalism"--this is what it looks like. https://lnkd.in/eTteMFxY

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After many years in the biz, I can attest everything here is true. Journalism is much more than a career. It's a noble profession and a contact sport that isn't for the faint of heart. And remember that news doesn't happen in newsrooms so get out of the office as much as possible! #journalism #reporters Southern California News Group https://lnkd.in/gzcY4tu5

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While SB 1047 faced a veto, the debate on AI regulation continues to divide the industry. Hollywood celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt express their disagreement with Gov. Newsom's decision in TIME Magazine. Conversely, many tech leaders argue that we dodged a bullet. Personally, I believe AI regulation is necessary, albeit not in the manner proposed by the blocked California AI Bill. What do you think? Btw, if you're interested in delving deeper into this topic, check out Kjell Carlsson, Ph.D.'s article in InfoWorld (he is much more knowledgeable than I am when it comes to #AIRegulation).

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A Bloomberg reporter was fired for breaking an embargo. It’s a nightmare that fuels paranoia whenever someone is working with sensitive information. What if a reporter, despite promising, file a story earlier than planned? I think what’s happened here – a dangerous, very unfortunate action that could have jeopardised an international prisoner exchange – shows us why we don’t have to worry too much. By far the most common reason to give reporters access to information early is so that they have additional time to plan and report a story. We want to make sure they have the ability to put the news in context, hopefully by speaking to someone and adding more context. Time is also a consideration – the ability to release the story at the soonest possible moment. Even though the news hopefully will be covered by others, you desperately, in this world of thousands of sites and accounts, want people to hear it there first. All of this is understandable and, at some level, benefits everyone. What doesn’t is breaking that agreement. I’ve never had a journalist knowingly break an embargo. And a couple of times, something has gone up quicker than expected, it’s usually been because there’s been confusion over a changing embargo time. (Note: don’t do this.) Moreover the vast majority of pieces of news are interesting to a specialist audience. They are noteworthy, yes, but there’s no massive fame and fortune to be made by leaking. On the contrary, the consequences of being iced out of future deals – and potentially even facing legal action are far more dire. Even in the Bloomberg case, there’s been an impassioned response from the reporter in question about how she never, ever would maliciously break a pre-agreed break time. It seems that what happened – while not acceptable – was somewhere in the process of writing and editing. So breathe easy, and let people with trusted relationships have time to review and report on forthcoming stories.

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The topic of corrections comes up a lot in comms. There’s some new research on this that is kind of interesting. Here is an excerpt from an article summarizing the findings: “…people generally trust journalists when they confirm claims to be true but are more distrusting when journalists correct false claims. Some linguistics and social science theories suggest that people intuitively understand social expectations not to be negative. Being disagreeable, like when pointing out someone else’s lie or error, carries with it a risk of backlash. We reasoned that it follows that corrections are held to a different, more critical standard than confirmations. Attempts to debunk can trigger doubts about journalists’ honesty and motives. In other words, if you’re providing a correction, you’re being a bit of a spoilsport, and that could negatively affect how you are viewed.” #mediarelations #psychology #sociology #PR

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