Study Hall Digest 5/20/2019

By Study Hall staff writer Allegra Hobbs (@allegraehobbs)

Next in the Streaming Wars: The Reign of Short Content?

Former Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, a man who claims he does not fundamentally understand the word “No” because he’s dyslexic, wants to “create the next generation of film narrative” with his short-form streaming startup Quibi. If he has his way, he tells Deadline, “five years from now will be the Quibi era.” To that end, he has already raised $1 billion from some big-name studios (Disney WarnerMedia, Lionsgate, MGM, etc.) and now plans to raise $1 billion more. What would a Quibi era look like, and what would it take for it to compete with Netflix?

• Quibi’s shows would consist of episodes under 10 minutes in length. This is an untested model for a streaming platform, so Katzenberg’s talk of domination is…bold, to say the least. But there is reason to believe shorter content is on the rise — Netflix recently debuted two shows with episodes around 15 minutes in length (Special and Bonding) and Sundance TV has Nick Hornby’s State of the Union, which features 10-minute episodes.
• Katzenberg tells Deadline he’s targeting viewers (specifically the 25-35 demographic) who watch content on their phones. So in that sense, he’s not really competing with the likes of Netflix and Amazon for consumers’ time and attention. He’s trying to get them when they’re on the go.
• On top of producing high-cost video series — celebrities like Guillermo del Toro and Lena Waithe have signed on — Quibi will also produce lifestyle and news content called “daily essentials,” per Digiday, prioritizing consistency and quantity over production cost. Quibi has already met with digital publishers like Group Nine Media and Refinery29.

The Verge reminds us that the short content model for on-the-go video has been done before, though not successfully — Verizon launched Go90 in 2015, and it was shut down in 2018. Go90’s revenue model was advertising-based, however, while Quibi is subscription-based and will focus on matching the neverending flow of content that has made Netflix indispensable, if not always excellent. And if you’re going to compete in the streaming wars— which were launched by Netflix and will soon include Disney’s platform Disney+ on top of Hulu and Amazon — you need to be indispensable. Viewers only have so much time and so much money for subscriptions. Quibi may be smart to focus on capturing mobile viewers on the go, carving out a unique place for itself in the overcrowded streaming landscape. But does that mean it will be up against other mobile forms of entertainment, like podcasts? (Will Gimlet and Luminary inexplicably start churning out video content in a few years??) It will certainly be competing with YouTube, which arguably provides viewers with all the 10-minute mobile content they could want — but Katzenberg insists Quibi isn’t trying to overtake YouTube, but to be an addition to an already-packed viewing schedule.

Goodbye Game of Thrones…and GOT Content

The end of Game of Thrones marks not just the end of an eight-year fantasy saga that has been extremely lucrative for HBO, but the end of eight years of uniquely rabid coverage and consumption from viewers and the media. New York Magazine noted it has written 1,613 articles about the show (the vast majority for Vulture, but the magazine’s other verticals have managed to create lifestyle content around it too). That figure becomes especially staggering when you remember each season consists of only six to ten episodes.

Game of Thrones was watched on a massive scale, everyone had an opinion and viewers processed it live on social media. To scroll through Twitter on a Sunday night was just to scroll through a feed of GOT reactions. The last comparable phenomenon I can recall was Breaking Bad, but Game of Thrones ultimately outperformed it by several million viewers (this may in part be because GOT appealed to women, while Breaking Bad did not do its one female character any favors!!) and it ended before live tweeting television really took off. The New York Times noted the show also came to be seen as a parable for modern times with its depiction of power, politics and misogyny, whether or not that was the intention of showrunners, lending itself to timely hot takes (including from GOT superfan Elizabeth Warren!) Anyway, it DID literally just end, so I think it’s safe to say there is still more content to be had! Maybe NYMag can make it to 2,000.

ICYMI: The Wing Backpedals on Membership Terms, and Members React

We reported in last week’s digest that The Wing had a non-disparagement clause in its membership terms — an unusually draconian policy for a social club or co-working space — and members were not pleased! I spoke to a few members, who would only share their thoughts with me on the condition of anonymity, and on Friday we published a follow-up(which is unpaywalled!) documenting their reactions and parsing how the controversy reflects broader criticism of the company. In short, they’re shocked by the inclusion of the clause and are angry at the company’s response, which they believe to be dishonest. The Wing claims it presents membership terms upfront, though members told us and tweeted they had not seen them. The Wing also said that the clause was initially created to protect fellow members, though the clause specifies the company itself and its employees. In any case, The Wing has since said it will revise the clause so that it applies only to fellow members, but the controversy is about more than just the clause — it points to larger accusations of faux feminism that have dogged The Wing since the beginning.

Longread of the Week: The New York Times published an infuriating look at the predatory business practices of bankers who sold taxi medallions to immigrant laborers, who were then unknowingly on the hook for upwards of $1 million. While taxi drivers in NYC have suffered — some have died by suicide — the bankers and some city officials have gotten rich.

EVERYTHING ELSE

— The White House launched a tool for Trump supporters to report suspected political bias against them online. I guess tech companies literally meeting with the president to ensure him there’s no bias is not enough!

— A Syracuse University communications professor published an opinion piece in Fast Company imploring Facebook to deactivate Facebook Live until the platform can figure out how to reign in violent, disturbing and dangerous content.

— More bad news for local news: the Reading Eagle in Pennsylvania is bracing itself for mass layoffs as it prepares to be sold at auction. The paper has lost millions in recent years and had to file for bankruptcy. Hopefully it’s not purchased by a hedge fund.

— Speaking of which: In Philadelphia, readers are seeing more “ghost newspapers” — papers that have been bought and picked apart by hedge funds, leaving them skeletons of their former selves and leaving readers uninformed and less likely to vote. For more on the worsening local news crisis, check out my digest from a few weeks ago here.

— Midwesterners did not react well to this tweet from Politico New York reporter Sally Goldenberg, which called the Iowa “flat” and knocked its apparent lack of almond milk. Writer Lyz Lenz started a thread inviting people to share instances of reporters saying “something stupid about your state,” and there was a lot to share! I can’t say Sally deserves the full extent of the pile-on she’s received, but I fully sympathize with the response: As a Texan, I talk shit about Texas constantly, but I will absolutely eviscerate anyone not from Texas who does the same, or anyone who deals in lazy stereotypes about my home state.