Jen Donahoe

The streaming industry is undergoing a significant transformation. - Executive predictions indicate an increase in ads, higher subscription prices, and a shift towards ad-supported models. - The focus on profitability could influence content production, favoring broad appeal over niche or prestige shows. - The industry may invest more in live sports and experience mergers or shutdowns among existing services. - Despite advancements like on-demand viewing, streaming might start to resemble the traditional cable TV model. What do you think about these changes in the streaming industry? #streamingindustry #adsupported

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Everyone loves a comeback story. A year ago, I boomeranged back to FaZe Clan to help operationalize the business on behalf of the founders who were returning to run the brand and to help support GameSquare CEO Justin Kenna with a revised GTM, cost reduction strategy, and expansion of content IP. This was always going to be a tough transition rebuilding the brand that had undergone a challenging two year period but seeing the numbers from the September Subathon where the new featured talent streamed for 24 hours a day for 30 days straight demonstrates we are on the right path. The scale of the numbers are staggering and highlights of the September 2024 subathon include: Unprecedented Social Reach: 1.1B+ impressions, 760M+ video views, and 47M+ engagements-setting new records as FaZe Clan's biggest event to date Dominating Streaming Numbers: Averaged 52.6K concurrent viewers, peaked at 132.2K, and garnered 2.2B minutes watched - with 257M total views Twitch Channel Surge: 300K+ new Twitch subscribers, 710K+ follower growth, 350K total subscribers across all participating channels, and FaZe was the #1 brand by minutes watched on Twitch during September Community Impact: 79% positive sentiment, strengthening audience connection and transforming the brand's perception Breaking Records: Everyone was ranked in the top 20 most-subscribed on Twitch in September, with Ron becoming the most-watched streamer in the world and Jason the most-subscribed Asian streamer ever with 100K+ subs Massive Market Share: FaZe Clan's Subathon accounted for 13% of Just Chatting hours watched and 2% of ALL hours watched on Twitch in September We can't wait to share what is coming next. FaZe is back.

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🔋⚡️Calling all gaming & entertainment website owners! Big news at Overwolf today as we announce the acquisition of industry-leading gaming ad tech company Nitro (formally Nitropay), bringing unprecedented net-7 payouts to all website publishers on our platform. As part of our aligned vision with the Nitro team to revolutionize the ad tech industry, we’re offering website publishers unparalleled opportunities for monetization including: 🏆Net-7 payouts ⚡️Lightning fast ad loading ☎️Same-day support 📈More demand for ad inventory Prior to the acquisition, Overwolf was already ranked by Comscore, Inc. as a Top 10 US Game Publisher, with our unique proprietary solution allowing advertisers to reach over 45 million monthly gamers across premium game titles like Minecraft, Fortnite and League of Legends. Our partners include global powerhouse brands and media agencies such as P&G, Pringles, KFC, Intel, Monster Energy, Dentsu, WPP, Havas and more. Today, we more than double our reach to 100M unique gamers monthly across a rich ecosystem of desktop apps, mods, private servers and now over 500 premium websites - becoming a simple marketing buy for anyone looking to advertise to gamers at scale. A big welcome to Cody Bye and the Nitro team joining our growing pack of wolves. Read more about the acquisition here: https://lnkd.in/dRs_MzKN If you’re a gaming/entertainment website owner interested in net-7 payouts and increased demand for your ad inventory reach out to our Nitro team via the website: https://lnkd.in/dAxtkU5V #Publishers | #GamingIndustry | #GamingAds | #Monetization | #AdTech

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A couple of months ago I posted about RIAA suing Verison. Last month Verizon shot back: https://lnkd.in/g23p4KSX What will be the end result of this “conversation’ playing out in court. In the long term. Is this a result of technology (streaming services) not addressing the problem that they were trying to solve? Perhaps this is a signal that further innovation is needed in how content is managed, distributed, and monetized online. There's a strong argument that, while tech helped create more accessible music platforms, it hasn't fully addressed the concerns of artists, songwriters, and other creators. Is this lawsuit an opportunity to revisit those revenue-sharing models and perhaps craft something fairer?  We want to move forward and not limit creativity as it seems the problem is still not solved. Where do we go from here?

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Kudos to both parties (Republicans & Democrats) for protecting our national security & asking Bytedance to divest from Tik-Tok. As a reminder, China is treating all Western social apps with a pure & simple ban enforced by Apple when this is a forced divestment - like Huawei before - despite all the FUD from Tik-Tok spokespersons on this topic. If Tik-Tok truly cares about their users & businesses on the platform, just sell it = problem solved and they will get a lot of cash in the process. https://lnkd.in/egUB2Knu

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🎮 Hey CPG Brands! Let's talk about the REAL boss in the house… MOMS! ✨ Moms spend money. ✨ Moms play games. 💡 Here’s the kicker: Spending Power: Moms control $2.4 trillion in spending; And Moms make 85% of household purchasing decisions. 💸 Mobile Gamers: Women make up 54% of millennial mobile gamers Frequency Matters: In 2020, 43% of women played mobile games 5+ times per week, outpacing men. Solo Time: 86% prefer single-player games, with 63% saying gaming = “me time” High Earners, High Gamers: 41% of people earning $250k+ play multiple times a day. 🚀 So, what does this mean for YOU? Games aren’t just fun—they’re a powerful tool to drive user engagement, sales, and loyalty among millennial moms! 🌟 Enter Breshna.io (by GRID) No-code, lightning-speed game creation; Think Canva for Games! Revolutionize user engagement, sales, and marketing with bite-sized, branded video games! Share effortlessly with just a simple URL—no logins or downloads required! Ready to level up your strategy? Let's put your brand in the game! 🎯 #CPGbrands #millennialmoms #Casualgames #snackablegames #Breshna

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Is this our opportunity to work together? I am officially on the market and looking for a new full-time role in the direct-to-consumer space. * My primary focus is to leverage my 8+ years of SVOD, AVOD, and FAST streaming experience in a new senior level Marketing, Strategy, or Operations role in Entertainment. Given my past success in multiple other consumer and technology sectors, this transition may also be an opportunity to leverage my expertise in a broad range of consumer categories that I am passionate about beyond Entertainment – including Music, Podcasts, Gaming, Consumer Electronics, Software SaaS, Fitness, Food, Nutrition, Health and Mental Health. I am fortunate that every new role I have landed in the past 17 years has been a direct result of my amazing network of colleagues. I look forward to networking & reconnecting. Thanks in advance for your support! HOW CAN YOU HELP? 1.   Please Comment, Share, or Repost to amplify this announcement 2.   Keep me top of mind as you see or hear of new opportunities 3.   Message me here with links to roles, referrals, or introductions to hiring managers that you think are a fit ABOUT ME: 💼 Seeking VP, SVP, or C-level roles in Marketing, Strategy, Operations. 🌎 Located in Los Angeles. Open to roles in California, New York, Colorado, Texas, Mexico, and EMEA. ⭐ I’ve previously worked at Screambox, Crackle, TV4 Entertainment, Inc, NortonLifeLock, United Online, Inc. and HP. * For those who missed it, unfortunately CSSE filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 10. CSSE was the parent company of Crackle, Redbox, Screen Media, and Halcyon. This abrupt ending has put approximately 1000+ great people on the job market – including me. #OpenToWork #Streaming #D2C #DigitalMarketing #PerformanceMarketing #Retention #MyTrueLALife

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Dude Perfect raised $100M for global biz expansion. The deal is getting lots of buzz, but our team’s math signals challenges ahead. Let’s break it down… DEAL DETAILS • $100 - 300M growth capital investment • Led by Highmount Capital • Unclear if 100% invested upfront OR draw down of commitment over time • No previous capital raised USE OF FUNDS • Hire mgmt team to expand biz • More live experiences incl int’l tour, consumer products • Grow content formats, frequency, channels, global localization e.g. animation, TV, movies, streaming • Extend brand beyond 5 founders by building talent network • New HQ in Frisco, TX as prod facility and “family-friendly entertainment destination”: – Retail store, podcasts / gaming / fan UGC spaces, trick shot tower, DP museum, mini golf, restaurants – Original plans for 3-story, 30 acre facility est to cost $100M+, 2 yrs to build COMPANY OVERVIEW: Dude Perfect • Digital-native comedy and sports media brand • Faith-based mission: “We’re about giving back, spreading joy and glorifying Jesus Christ”  • Other YouTube franchises: “Stereotypes,” “Overtime”, “Bucket List”  • Media brand also incl books, mobile games, board games and toys, and merch / retail / food and beverage partnerships • 25 current team members PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS • 60M YouTube Followers, 17B views • Est 2024 revenue: $50M per DP • Est 2023 and 2022 revenue: $25M and $20M per WSJ  • Consumer product partnerships incl Nerf toy line, Columbia Sportswear • Partnered with A Parent Media co to launch a streaming service • ESPN “30 for 30” doc premiering at Dallas Int’l film festival • TV series on CMT in 2016, later aired on Nickelodeon • Alternate broadcasts for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football • 4 live nationwide tours as of 2023 ORIGIN STORY • Founded 2009 by 5 friends at Texas A&M • Cofounders = twins Coby Cotton and Cory Cotton, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert • Started as YT channel featuring trick shot videos INVESTOR OVERVIEW: Highmount Capital • Growth stage and middle mkt PE fund for tech, media, healthcare • Founded in 2023 by jason illian and David Hawkins • 4 team members on website + advisor • 3 team members have faith-based ties per bios • No other investments listed on website other than DP My takeaway... I really like and support the trend of increased investment into YouTubers and digital-native media brands. But as I wrote about in my 2024 State of Creator x Media capital markets reports (will link them below), investment must match market and opportunity size. To ensure good ROI, and to set good precedent for future investment into our space. The DP bet is exciting, but could be overly optimistic based on our prelim math. My colleague Michael Booth's post breaks the math down (link below). More analysis to come in my Friday newsletter. —- I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do m&a and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My dm’s are open. #media #agency #creatoreconomy

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Recap of Consensus 2024: why does this event exist? TLDR Thx for the BBQ, Austin! And it was great to meet up with old and new friends including EJ Ayala, Michael Dershewitz, Max Kaufman ⚡️, Erica Hamilton, Ron Cao, Colleen Sullivan, Alex M., Paul Thind, Dante Reminick, Parker Heath, Kiernan Fitzsimons, Conrad Sain, George V., Rodrigo Etcheto, Kelly DiGregorio, and more! In all it was a great time meeting with incredible partners. It's clear that: - Cloud compute and distributed hosting x web3 gaming has a lot of potential - Gaming-focused chains are ready to rock and roll, esp. powered by Sequence - Investments are increasingly sophisticated and focused on sustainability - Traditional gaming is headed into the space in droves, with strong teams with incredible backgrounds who truly understand gamers, data, A/B testing and more But Consensus, as with many generalist crypto or web3 events, is obsolete. Events in new industries are important, but as the space matures and consolidates, I'm not sure that there's a need for several days devoted to basic underlying technology. It's like going to Servers 2024! We all get it, we know what servers are, what they do. How this gets applied, what benefits it brings to developers, players, users, that's what matters. I'd love to see Consensus get a bit more serious around specific tracks or reconsider its focus.

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While other gaming platforms historically lean into brands why are the top 100 mobile titles so dependent on original IP? A great fireside chat with the co-CEO's of Scopely at Gamesbeat. Much talk of Monopoly Go. At a time when mobile seems to face so many challenges I would hope that the industry would see the success of Monopoly Go! as a positive sign. It isn't just #1 it has arguably redefined what #1 can be. I would hope this would be an inspiration. Yes, it once again demonstrates the value of experience and development time. Yes, it had a considerable marketing spend by a team that knows deeply how to execute that spend. There are other publishers with some or all of these traits. I'm assuming they're reconsidering their definition of success especially if they've succeeded in reaching at least the top 50. The definition of a ceiling to success has been raised. "Things that are truly great in this industry are exponentially more valuable than things that are just quite good." - Walter Driver Of course, my POV would be that the world-class Monopoly brand [BTW, we have others :) ] contributed to that success by creating raised awareness, effective UA and as importantly stickiness because a casual player immediately got the core principals of the game.

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It has been a challenge for me to balance business school and Equinox BD's consulting work over the past several months. BUT THERE IS ALWAYS GOOD NEWS THAT FOLLOWS. One of the critical strategies we've found immensely beneficial is customizing plans to optimize Steam Pages for the Chinese audience and collect wishlists for games strategically. 📈 As wishlists play a pivotal role in attracting publishers and investors, mastering effective engagement and wishlist collection tactics is paramount in today's competitive landscape. At EquinoxBD, we always strive to exceed expectations. We have established strong relationships with local curators and communities in China, which allows us to provide our partners with personalized event-planning services. This translates into tangible benefits for our partners without the delay typically associated with conventional market consultancy and business development.💼 Send me a message here or to my email: [email protected] if you're interested in learning about collecting wishlists in China. #GamingIndustry #ChinaMarketConsulting #OptimizeYourPresence #EquinoxBD #GamingCommunity #BusinessExpansion

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Measure What Matters: Tracking Digital Promotion Success Your digital promotions are working hard, but are they paying off? Learn how to track & measure: * Conversion rates, click-through rates & engagement * Customer acquisition cost (CAC) & return on investment (ROI) * Advanced techniques like multi-touch attribution & cohort analysis Read here: https://lnkd.in/dSYQKhnk #DigitalPromotions #Marketing #ROI #Analytics #Promocious #Gamecloud

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