Tiffany Matloob

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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In prep for tomorrow's OTT Question Time (where we'll be talking about the types of relationships we have with streaming services e.g. emotional, functional, transactional), I've been reading Whip Media's Streaming Satisfaction study. Based on a survey of 2,000 US viewers conducted in each of the last three years since 2021, HBO MAX TV leads the way in terms of overall satisfaction (88%) followed by Hulu and Disney+. Apple TV + has the best quality of original content (86%) but Hulu, Paramount and Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios perform strongly too (~70% scores for each). Apple TV+ is also on top in terms of variety of originals (78%). Netflix still has the best UX (84%) and content recommendations (71%), however, according to the survey respondents. It's a fascinating paper which Mike Sid from Whip will be telling us more about tomorrow. Join me, Mike, Julie Mitchelmore and Emma Keith from 4pm UK / 5pm CET! https://lnkd.in/enqsnhJ5

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🇺🇸 You don’t have to be an avid sports fan like me to understand the value of sports fans; I think these Olympics showed that! 💡 Sharing for those curious, and especially for marketers- Here is the latest data and insights on the value of sports fans and how to leverage them to drive brand and business. 🔍 Here are just a few of my favorite stats from the article… Fans are: 🏆4x more likely to trust brands that support their teams! 🏆4x more likely to purchase from the advertiser! 🏆4x more likely to catch an advertisers spot on radio than TV! 🏆 What’s even better is that Audacy Sports advertisers see a 40% lift in brand purchase and usage! 🤗 Marketers- if you need help determining how to best apply this data to move the needle for your business or clients, LMK. I’m happy to point you in the right direction! #sportsmarketing #sportsradio #brandlift #marketingtrends #marketingresearch #paris2024 #media #strategy #influencers https://lnkd.in/gtHwDEbX

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Below are 3 deal insights on Node App's $13M sale to DULCEDO Management. This is critical info for any creator x media biz owner. 📈 GROWING INFLUENCER M&A There's been many influencer marketing M&A deals in last couple years, ranging from Publicis Groupe buying Influential to Stagwell buying Movers+Shakers. Through these deals, we've observed a premium for platforms that can bring together thousands of brands and thousands of creators, and do campaigns at scale. 🤝 DULCEDO'S 5TH ACQUISITION This is Dulcedo's 5th acquisition over past 6 to 7 years. They've acquired different talent representation, PR, and digital agencies like Sundae Creative Agency and Influence + All Management. There's been no press about Dulcedo having PE-backing, so they're likely doing these deals off their balance sheet and getting creative in deal structuring. 📊 ESTIMATED 31X EBITDA MULTIPLE I estimate run-rate revenue around $1.2M, and EBITDA around $420k. At $13M purchase price, that's a 31X EBITDA multiple. Assuming my math is directionally right, this is significantly higher than other deals like Influential, which I estimated was sold to Publicis for around 11x forward EBITDA. You can read more about the deal on my blog: https://lnkd.in/gsCaH6eM — I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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Billion-dollar PE buyouts are ramping, just see today's Squarespace news. Investors in media x agency deals should pay attention... Global deal activity is up 24% for 2024 YTD, with a total deal volume of $726B. Could be the beginning of a cyclical M&A rally, since deal volume was super depressed over the past couple years... ...and investors need to put money to work! Below are some recent public-to-private highlights, including a large media co deal where I did a deep analysis 👇 May 13 • Permira buying website builder Squarespace • Went public in 2021, closed 1st trading day at $5.9B valuation • $6.6 billion May 6 • EQT Group buying US digital consultancy Perficient • EQT also backs UTA, which has grown through M&A • $3 billion April 2 • Silver Lake buying diversified media co Endeavor • WME / UFC parent co TKO Global will stay public • $13 billion April 1 • Advent International buying payments processor Nuvei • Nuvie backed by celeb Ryan Reynolds • $6.3 billion Similarities across these recent deals include... - founder / CEOs staying on post deal - belief that targets are undervalued in public mkts - desire for more flexibility to grow, do M&A, and drive ent value for new owners That last point is key, as I think there's a strong desire to grow through M&A in a market where there are many sellers who can get picked up at good/fair prices VS the crazyness of 2020/2021. This is timely because... Last month I wrote about public-to-private deal dynamics in my Silver Lake / Endeavor analysis, check it out here --> https://lnkd.in/gtprBx7U I'm also working on an active client deal with similar characteristics, and it's important to know where capital is flowing, and why. Are you all seeing a similar trend?? -- I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open. #media #agency #creatoreconomy

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Check out my latest article in TheWrap, highlighting the most anticipated TV shows of October! Leading the new releases is CBS’s reboot of Matlock, while the hit procedural Tracker tops the list of returning series. Dive into the full details here below...#StreamingAnalytics #EntertainmentIndustry #WhipMedia

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2024 was a tough year by anyone’s measure that included a challenging publishing landscape in the aftermath of iOS17, an industry reckoning with how to measure its audience, beloved podcast companies sunsetting, and massive layoffs from seemingly every company in podcasting. Even a bankruptcy for good measure. And yet… We’re still seeing a vibrant community that’s seeing more growth than most other mediums. There are still blockbuster deals seemingly every other month, we’re still seeing podcast adaptations to other mediums, and we’re still exploring all new kinds of business models – for better and worse (plus whatever your views on AI in podcasting are). And true or not – there are a LOT of people who think our industry was THE story in the 2024 US elections. Brought to you by The Podglomerate, Podcast Perspectives is the Signal Award-winning show about the latest news in the podcast industry, and the people behind it. So far, we’ve had 46 industry leaders on the show to discuss the trends they’re seeing in podcasting. In this special episode, we tapped 18 of them to reflect on this past year and share how they’re feeling about the industry right now — how they feel about 2024 in hindsight, what innovations they’re excited about, and what makes them optimistic about 2025. We’re also sharing plenty of advice for creators and new podcasters. You can read, watch, or listen to these thoughts here: https://lnkd.in/eu3Fd2f7 Thank you to all of the guests in this episode who took the time to contribute. What do you think of podcasting's past year and next? Share your thoughts in the comments. Guests include: – Chris Peterson of DWNLOAD Media – Fatima Zaidi of Quill Inc and CoHost – Bradley Davis of Podchaser – Amber Smith of iHeartMedia – Eric Barnett of Supporting Cast – Brady Sadler of Double Elvis Productions – Michele C. of The Podcast Academy – Jessica Cordova Kramer (she/her) of Lemonada Media – Matt Shapo of the IAB – Ross Adams of Acast – Will Pearson of iHeartMedia – Dusty Weis of Podcamp Media – Lisa Laporte of TWiT.tv – Odile Beniflah of Ausha 🚀 – Chris Colbert of DCP Entertainment – Harry Morton of Lower Street – Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable – Molly Barton of Realm – Sharon Taylor of Triton Digital

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During a conference this week, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra stated that the business is trying to create more profitable, genre-specific streaming projects that are equivalent to Crunchyroll. Tony stated, "We would love to launch more genre-based targeted, passionate fan centered streaming services. We're really positive on that front. And that's what we're now working on. However, it will take some time for the market to stabilize." He added that Sony is not beset by legacy TV networks, in contrast to Disney and other broadcasters. When he began working for Sony, the business had 110 cable networks worldwide. However, all of those networks have since been sold, with the exception of three markets—Spain, Latin America, and India—where cable networks are continuously expanding. For licensing of content, Sony has "proposed structures where we'd get the show back after 4 years or 5 years as opposed to the much longer terms that are currently in place, but thus far, there hasn't been much development in that area." Tony said that when it comes to consolidation in the market, Sony plans to "sit back and watch what comes available to us because we're in a very stable, very comfortable position. And we think that there will be lots of businesses that pop out of these companies...we would be interested in taking on mainly in the IP area, and that's really where we'll be focused." #streamingmedia #sony #SVOD #AVOD #paytv #cordcutting

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Thrilled to share our feature on Forbes spotlighting Quality Media and our first-to-market offering "Performance Publishing"! "Developed by full-service performance marketing agency Quality Media, performance publishing sits at the intersection of third-party validation, storytelling, and paid amplification. It’s a tidy place to be, especially when you’re trying to stand out and stay competitive. Lauren Kleinman Lee Joselowitz and I noted that our brand partners have seen other financial outcomes, including a 30% higher return on advertising spend (ROAS) rates and a 20% reduction in customer acquisition costs (CAC). Why? The answer lies in the innovative way that performance publishing plants and grows what traditional digital marketing methods overlook: trust." Check out the full spotlight below! https://lnkd.in/gpuaMf3f

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Peter Yang knows a thing or two about the creator economy with his career at Roblox I find myself repeating this mantra constantly to friends and colleagues in the media space. Do the work. Don’t wait for someone to give you a job and title to make stuff. Two key points he makes here: you stop following your own curiosity and you don’t develop real skills. I think it can also make you a crappy employee - how many times have you worked with someone who fails to see the bigger picture? I’ve been reading a Japanese self-help book called “courage to be disliked” - and one point that resonated with me is the illusion of making plans. Paraphrasing here, but author makes the point that you don’t become a lawyer by saying you will go to law school (at least not a good one). You succeed because you regularly engage with the study and practise of law, eventually being asked to pass the bar. Think like your boss. Act like the person you want to be and engage in that practise. Over time you become that person. https://lnkd.in/gmb_2zCx

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Alt-weeklies deserve to be known for more than just AI-generated headlines about OnlyFans models. Focusing on a couple of viral stories about the industry misses out on what they’ve provided us over the years and the opportunity they still have: in-depth coverage of culture and entertainment coupled with muckraking journalism to expose corruption and hold the power to account. Many in our Stacker newsroom either worked at alt-weeklies or have been voracious readers of them over the years. And we want to see them continue to succeed. That’s one of the reasons we partnered with Wil Gerken and Carla Clark at Foundation CMS. Many alt-weeklies are facing challenges and need free content to reach their readers but also free up their teams to focus on what they do best. Here are a few stories on the newswire that our team felt resonates perfectly with the mission of alt-weeklies like Chicago Reader, Pittsburgh City Paper, Phoenix New Times, Dallas Observer, Cleveland Scene Magazine (Euclid Media), and The Austin Chronicle. SOCIAL JUSTICE & CULTURE - The big issue with 'Big Formula:' Americans want paid parental leave, the formula industry says it's bad for business - Latinos have been the fastest-growing demographic in swing states since the last election. Could they choose the next president? - Latino churches are social service hubs - How Texas election officials are dealing with a flood of challenges to voter registrations - Do AI-generated images reinforce gender and racial stereotypes? ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT  - Disney+ follows Netflix in raising prices for consumers, while eliminating family sharing - These US cities boast the most active nightlife scenes - NFL Inflation: How ticket and concession prices have changed over time LOCAL STORIES & RANKINGS - San Diego is the happiest city in America (but LA is one of the unhappiest)—see where other cities rank (via hims) - Movies and TV shows casting in Pennsylvania - See how Philadelphia ranks in commuting See the link in the comments to learn how to access the Stacker Newswire via Foundation today. (And feel free to link to your favorite alt-weekly stories of all time!)

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Could not be more proud of the work our team did at Amazon Upfronts this week in New York. Was honored to help Creative Direct / Produce the creative for the Amazon MGM Studios section, and I think it turned out fantastically. It was Amazon MGM Studios’ first time doing an Upfronts presentation, and we insisted upon the highest standards. Here are some of my favorite press quotes about it: “So far Amazon is winning the Upfront presentation game. I am not trying to blow smoke, there is energy at Amazon Upfront that wasn’t at yesterday’s gathering. Great stage presentation, star-power and a clear message.”– Joe Flint, Wall Street Journal “Amazon breaks news, dazzles advertisers star-studded first upfront presentation.” – Joe Otterson, Variety   “Amazon’s inaugural upfront presentation established the streamer among the ranks of its competitors as Prime Video brought formidable star power and lucrative new TV and film orders on Tuesday morning.” – Lucas Manfredi, The Wrap “Inside the Amazon Upfront: An A-list gauntlet is thrown. Could Reese Witherspoon in character as Legally Blond’s Elle Woods possibly be topped?” – Mikey O’Connell , The Hollywood Reporter “Amazon right now is running circles around NBCU and Fox’s Upfronts from yesterday. It’s a throwback to how these used to be in the best way.”  Tim Baysinger, Axios   “🔥first Amazon Upfront. You can feel the rush of ad dollars leaving TV.” - Rich Greenfield, Lightshed Huge kudos to the many many talented folks across teams that came together and made this happen.

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AI-generated dreck posing as local news, aka pink slime journalism, is proliferating. The cost of making it is practically zero. The incentives for bad actors to create it range from money -- by delivering programmatic advertising and affiliate links to unwitting readers -- to political manipulation via misinformation and disinformation. And the platforms that distribute it don't care. John Biggs at The Media Copilot recently lamented this situation. "AI isn’t just stealing our jobs," he wrote. "It’s also going to steal the truth." It doesn't have to, though. Here are two things you can do to protect the truth: 1. Give your attention to real publications. Taproot Edmonton employs actual people who you can meet in real life. We live here and we care about this place. And we put our names on what we publish. You'll never be fooled by pink slime if you intentionally read and listen to work made by humans you know instead of just consuming the news-eque junk an algorithm may serve you. 2. Help real publications pay for those people. A $20/month subscription to ChatGPT can generate an awful lot of words; a full-time employee doing the work of finding stuff out and telling you about it costs considerably more. We don't put a paywall around Taproot's work because we don't want to live in a world where only those who pay get real journalism and the rest get pink slime. That means we have to fund ourselves by other means. If you have a business, you can now buy a business membership to Taproot. That lets you easily sign up all of your employees to receive Taproot's work, which in itself will help your organization better understand the community it serves. But you'll also be helping us continue to inform and connect the people who live in this place that we love. You can sign up for a business membership here: https://lnkd.in/gRWAm_Ay. And you can learn more about what this is and why we're offering it here: https://lnkd.in/gNc3yvAW If a business membership isn't right for you, you can become an individual member for $100 per year or $10 per month here: https://lnkd.in/g6yRVG77 As Mack Male said at Taproot Publishing Inc.'s event during Upper Bound with Katrina Ingram, AI helps our responsible local news outlet scale our ability to pay attention to our community. We're excited about the technology's potential to help us do the work. But humans report and write what you read. "While human-led AI is a boon, non-human-led AI is an existential threat," Biggs writes (https://lnkd.in/gDj55fEm). "We all need to be ready to fight it." I'm inviting you to join us in the fight. #yegmedia #edmonton #yeg #edmontonmedia #futureofmedia

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Media giants like Warner Bros. Discovery are entering a new phase of bundling, spending cuts, and ending freeloading as they fight to make streaming profitable. It's a recognition that the days of trying to catch Netflix at any cost are over. "Costs are going back to the reality of what they should have been," Jean-Briac Perrette told me. "We're finally at a point where people realize you can't keep doing uneconomically viable things forever. Great stories are expensive to produce, and consumers have to pay." But after a year of fits and starts, can #Max, with just 1.2% of #streamingTV viewing share, catch up? #entertainment #streamingwars #subscriptions #bundling Read my interview with JB in Business Insider: https://lnkd.in/eyjj3sRV

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DURING THE FALL This past week: - We found out that Streaming hit its highest share of TV viewing ever. - We learned that YouTube surpassed The Walt Disney Company as the most watched single distributor - on the TV. - And we heard from Sony’s CEO that in the next two years the Media industry is in for “chaos - mergers and bankruptcies and sales and all kinds of fun things.” “The business will be in a period of chaos for the next 18 to 24 months. Just look at all the companies with cable networks that have this albatross of cable networks around their necks that they have to figure out what to do with.” https://lnkd.in/eGmhjXya The most surprising part of all this? That the collective braintrust of the Media ecosystem acted as if all of this was somehow surprising. “Vinciquerra is certainly not the first media executive to predict more consolidation in Hollywood, but he may be the only one using the most-damning language.” - IndieWire Really IndieWire? I have been ringing the alarm bell with much stronger language FOR YEARS. I have written the phase “Media Apocalypse” more times than anyone can count. I have been urging Disney to do big things like buy Roblox. I have been calling for David Zaslav to be fired for malpractice. I have been beseeching the C-Suites, boards, and shareholders of Big Media to look beyond the models of the past, look towards Big Tech lifestyle bundles as the the future, to collaborate with their data in order to better compete with the Trillion Dollar Death Stars, to empower younger product and project managers to make the transformations they need, and to (finally) put their consumers at the center of everything they do. While some of you reading this may have listened, few (if any) in Hollywood have. To be fair, it’s hard to hear the strategic advice of an outsider when your conference rooms are packed full of Ivy League fraternity brothers harrumphing their sycophancy in your ears. And boy are those free sushi lunches on the 52nd floor hella distracting! Now, as a consequence of years of corporately delinquent negligence and continual narcissistic anal gazing, Paramount is being sold for parts, Warner Bros. Discovery has lost 71% of its value, Disney (after an historically disastrous and permanently damaging non-succession) is AGAIN looking for a successor, Fox Corporation is reenacting (verbatim) the last season of Succession, and Netflix is playing a shell game with their failing ad business. So what’s a Media business to do now? More importantly, what the fuck happens NEXT? As we embark on the fall and begin the end of 2024, here (at the link) are my TOP SIX PREDICTIONS for THE NEXT 24 MONTHS... https://lnkd.in/ea8FHD33 Have a safe fall! 💀

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Selling Like Hot Takes Alan Wolk & TVREV are out with another episode of Hot Takes - polling big brains from around the industry on their latest ah-ha's. This edition asks "What Trends Are The Industry Sleeping On?" Not sure which makes me happier: Being called a "loquacious map man;" getting to call out the collective ignorance by the TV/FAST/AVOD/SVOD community of YouTube as BOTH their biggest challenger AND largest opportunity as "dumbfounding;" or seeing Wolk refer to this as "ostrich-like." Either way, get everyone's Hottest Takes on TVREV here: https://lnkd.in/erHuRqku

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