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đŸ”„ Disney losing the Z-factor?

Plus: 4D Cinemas and In-Car Gaming

Author

Oli Thomas
August 20, 2024

Here we are, back after a short Summer break with a roundup of whats happening in Media land. Most companies are still deep in Pina Colada territory right now so things are characteristically quiet out there.

However, when you do a deal with the world’s biggest YouTuber, there’s no such thing as a quiet month. And so it was with Amazon, who have experienced the raw end of their $100M partnership with Mr Beast after reports of safety violations emerged on the set of the new Prime Video production (Beast Games) and other bad publicity swirling around the influencer’s broader businesses.

We’ve also had some dealmaking from Universal & Meta, and Disney’s annual D23 fan conference taking place - albeit with a noticeably older audience.

Lets dive in.

Vamos 👍

Disney struggling with the (Gen) Z-factor

They built an empire on creating an appealing brand for all ages - films, characters and experiences that kids and adults are drawn to in equal measure.

But even Disney seems to be struggling to connect with the elusive Gen Z, based on the turnout at their annual fan conference last week.

There are a few factors cited for this:

  • Gen Z’s love of UGC (which means “they don’t have to spend time searching for what to watch”)

  • Sequel overload

  • The cost of holidaying at Disney theme parks (up 25% for a family of 4 since 2019)

On the plus side, 1M+ Fortnite players tuned into the recent Disney livestream and its latest film Inside Out 2 has rocketed into the top 10 highest grossing films of all time.

I don’t think Disney execs will be sweating over this just yet


Source: Fortnite

Read more here

4D Cinema goes mainstream

Cinema has been searching for ways to get people out of their living rooms and back in front of the big screen for a while. Judging by recent audiences, the 4D experience may be the answer.

Being splashed with water and rocked around in your chair may not be for everyone, but 4DX screens are currently breaking records in the US thanks to the popularity of Twisters and Deadpool & Wolverine.

They’re also getting bigger across the UK and Europe. Tipping point?

Source: Cineworld

Read more here

Best of the Rest

GAMING:Intel has created a chip to power in-car gaming, with plans to turn the car into a “mobile office and entertainment hub”.

CONTENT: The largest Actor’s union has struck a deal with an AI startup for actors to easily licence their voice for AI-created content

STREAMING: The race to buy Paramount isn’t over yet - with further bids being prepared ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.

CREATORS: The Paris Olympics was the first to really take advantage of the ‘TikTok era’ as athletes offering behind-the-scenes footage and stories helped elevate engagement.

Tubi’s rise to the top table of Streaming

Tubi emerged from the world of FAST channels - free, ad-supported streaming channels that look and feel like old-school TV but typically contain older, library content focused around a specific genre or property (eg. The Gordon Ramsay channel, The Masked Singer channel, etc).

Its now evolved into a much bigger VOD proposition - and is doing pretty well - consistently outranking HBO Max, Paramount+, and Apple TV+ for total viewing time in the US.

And revenues are estimated at c.$900M for this year, up 16% YoY.

The recent UK launch will be a good test - its notoriously challenging for new ‘free TV’ services to make any headway here given the sheer volume of free video available.

Read more here