Amazon strives to join the social media circuit. Their original plan is linking videos to a subscription service. Now they want to take their services to a whole new level.
Amazon now wants ad-supported television and music services to air 24/7. This would include an Amazon produced series called Betas. Amazon wants to move from retailer to social media powerhouse that would rival You Tube and Netflix. Amazon has spent over a billion dollars on original entertainment production. With Amazon’s Prime service, which cost subscribers $99 a year, hired 10 pilots to go on air, sponsored by Geico and other companies. Betas was chosen for a first season on Amazon Prime. But if Amazon went from subscription to streaming mode, that would mean more pilots and original shows right?
Amazon hopes this process will drive people to buy more products. I think this is Amazon’s best way to go. Come to think of it, I think this is Amazon’s only way to go. Why would I pay $99 a year for a service I can get with other social media for free? Wouldn’t it make more sense to get advertisers to get invest in your company than to ask subscribers to pay basically chump change? And if you’re trying to produce TV shows, wouldn’t streaming give you more freedom to produce more shows? And wouldn’t streaming make you stronger against your competition? So wouldn’t it make more sense for Amazon to stream rather than subscribe?
How much media does Disney own? Let’s count: There’s ABC, ESPN, Lucasfilm (think Star Wars), A&E channels, Lifetime, History Channel, Marvel Entertainment, just to name some. But why stop there?
The Walt Disney Co. is purchasing Maker Studios, one of You Tube’s largest video producers and studios, for a half billion dollars at least. That number could reach as high as $950 million. It’s videos target Millennials,, those born between the early 1980s and early 2000s, who can’t get enough of online entertainment. Maker videos have over 380 million subscribers worldwide. Their videos span over 55,000 channels. They collect over a combined 5.5 million views every month. Their backers include Time Warner Investments. This deal is expected to be done by the third fiscal quarter, or by June 2013.
On the surface, this looks like progress. It looks like two giants are coming together to reach out to a generation. But is it necessary?? I understand Disney is trying to reach out to teens and young adults, but can’t the media Disney already have do that? And if Maker Studios have Time Warner and other major investments backing them up, why do they need Disney? You see, my concern is that when a mega media corporation buying out a smaller medium, is that the quality of the content sometimes goes down. Look at what happen to BET when Viacom bought that cable channel out. Could this happen to Maker Studios?
Did you see the Oscars last night? Did you like who won (on a personal note, I’m so glad Lupita Nyong’o won)? The 2014 Oscars made history because of another reason.
Oscar host Ellen?Degeneres took a selfie during the show that became the most tweeted and retweeted picture of all time. Actually, it wasn’t really a selfie. Ellen asked Meryl Streep for a picture and many other stars were called into the picture. I think Bradley Cooper was the one who took the picture. That picture has been retweeted over 1.3 million times over, easily breaking the previous record, set when President Obama was reelected in November 2012. This is particular good news for Samsung. Ellen used her Samsung Galaxy Note 3 often during the show. Samsung saturated that show with ads. Too bad Ellen used her iPhone to take backstage photos. I can imagine this will be good for Twitter.
So what’s to make of this? I’m wonder if other phone companies like Apple and Droid are going to follow suit. During the next award show, will their competitors get their host to pump up their latest product? I do have one question about that photo, particular to those who watched the Oscars last night. Was that selfie picture planned all along or was Ellen’s comic improvisation genius at work here?
Yes indeed mega communications corporation is at it again.? They have bought out yet another smaller company, adding to their corporate machine.
This time, Comcast is acquiring Free Wheel TV. Free Wheel is one of the major platforms used by TV networks to serve ads appropriate for their online content. It’s used by conglomerates like NBC Universal, Fox, ESPN, VEVO, and many others. This deal is expected to cost Comcast around $320 million dollars. Comcast is doing this to build it’s own video ad platform. But this acquisition might cause conflict: Free Wheel has a partnership with Amazon and one of it’s top competitors, Direct TV.
But that’s not my worry. My worry is that one corporation is getting way too powerful. Keep in mind Comcast owns NBC Universal and has wants to buy Time Warner for $45 billion dollars. I hope that deal doesn’t go through either. Look, I understand they want to get better, especially at online advertising. But to purchase other companies and creating your own monopoly? I’m afraid there’s going to come a time when something goes wrong with your cable, they can either take their time getting it fixed, or not fix it at all, because hey, you can’t go to a competitor. That’s because there are no competitors! That is what this can lead to. And why haven’t Congress intervened in this? Or am I just being paranoid again?
Times are changing. You use to call on the telephone for certain things and information. Now there are apps for that. And one more cultural treasure has become a casualty of 21st century technology.
The Moviefone phone service, which gave us movie tickets and times through a male computerized voice, is going silent. All you had to do is call 777-FILM. In the 1990s, they were getting 3 million calls a week. Moviefone?got so popular it was featured on a Seinfeld episode. ?But by 2000, after AOL bought it out, those calls were already starting to decline. Consumer and technological changes have only increased.
For example, Moviefone’s app will go on. Now people are turning to the?movie app, Fandango, Movie Tickets.com and other online choices. I good as I like the convenience of today’s technology, but I am saddened when icons like this have to suffer. I will miss Moviefone. Heck, sometimes I even miss my CD player and record store; I’ll admit it. Moviefone founder Andrew Jarcki says, “?There are very few things that really come to the surface in pop culture and manage to occupy a quirky, special place.” You know when you’re being spoofed on Seinfeld, Married with Children, Saturday Night Live, and other aspects of pop culture, you built something special. Now that something special is gone. Do you have favorite Moviefone memories?
The app Flappy Bird has become a major, major sensation. But as of February 9, 2014, Flappy Bird is no longer. Don’t even think about trying to cash in on that name.
Last week, the popular game Flappy Bird was taken down. It wasn’t because of legal or economic woes, but because instant fame and fortune became too much for founder Dong Nguyen. Apple and Google are now rejecting games with the word ‘flappy’ in them. A game designer, Ken Carpenter, had his ‘Flappy Dragon’ app rejected because of this. A gaming designer company named Kuyi Mobile had their ‘Flappy’ ideas turned down.
A few years ago, a young teenager released a video and song ‘Friday’ on You Tube. This song got so popular so quick that the girl was subject to bullying and other social problems. She just got burnout and I don’t think she’s made another song/video since. I think that’s what happened to Dong Nguyen. These days, fame and fortune can happen so fast. With the advent of social media, it can happen. One day, you’re living a regular life. The next day, you’re an instant celebrity, whether you want to be or not. Now for those who want to take advantage: I don’t blame them and can’t hate on them. So long as they’re not copying Nguyen’s exact idea, I say let them do so. And as long as the have Dong’s backing, go for it. I know there’s a huge debate about creative ethics, but as long as it’s done responsibly, I say go for it. Do you think Apple and Google are being too strict with this policy?
