Talking Localisation

Today, localisation remains a critical budgetary line item for content owners delivering shows to diverse and transnational audiences, and it is probably one whose typical costs have not, until recently, changed considerably in quite some time. The increasingly prevalent use of AI in content localisation, subtitling, and translation promises to change all of that—particularly through the controversial and ethically fraught use of imitative synthetic voices.

Post-Peak Performance in the M&E Universe

The recent Subscription Wars report commissioned by U.K.-based digital payments tech company Bango points to consumer dissatisfaction with the fractured state of subscription services in general and the increasing appeal of indirect subscription options and super-bundles of aggregated services sold through telcos like Optus in Australia. Perhaps it's another sign of less-than-inspiring times that the best thing consumers say streaming services can do for them is to stop standing out from the crowd and start disappearing into it.

Synthetic Scabs Are Awful: Netflix, AI, and the M&E Industry's Ongoing Labor Struggle

Somehow, greenlighting "Joan Is Awful" has made Netflix look oddly actor strike-sympatico, via its winking endorsement of a show that warns against a writer-less, actor-less "profits without people" media and entertainment future from whose realisation they stand to benefit.

Streaming Sustainability and Imaginary Bridges in the Cloud

Only time will tell how successful new sustainability reporting standards ESRS E1 (European) and the SEC (US) mandate will be in the near-term in curbing greenwashing and improving sustainability requirements and adherence in the streaming industry, or how much of the long-term their failure might costs us.

The Closed Circle

Long gone are the days of three-channels-only broadcast entertainment options in most countries, yet we remain nations of cord-cutters. Whether we swore off OTA because of monthly costs, fixed schedules, or intrusive advertising, OTT has largely won out because viewers clearly wanted something else.

Get Back: Peter Jackson's 8-Hour Movie Suggests OTT Attention Spans Might Be Longer Than We Thought

Today, binge-watching is many people's favored mode of viewing. That's entirely our industry's doing (some might say fault), and it stands as a compelling counterpoint to the notion that we've devolved to the point where we're incapable of paying sustained attention to stories and storytellers.

Stay Connected

When it comes to industry events, perhaps the old 'normal' will become the new 'exclusive'

Ditch the Niche: It's Time to Come Up With a New Term

Calling some OTT services "niche" is an insult to not only the content they deliver but the audiences they serve. Isn't ESPN a "niche" service, too?