Surviving 2017: Media & Entertainment in a Bumpy and Transformational Year

My latest Tubefilter column wrapped up a not-always-great year in tech and media with a run through some of the big trends and What They Might Mean. 

Net neutrality changes could have a big long-term impact on the vitality and diversiy of Internet media, should monopolistically inclined access providers start putting toll booths on the information highway. 

Bigger changes are afoot, I think, with the big entertainment providers on the other side of the equation, including the sales of most of Fox’s TV and film assets to Disney, and the now-contested acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T. We won’t know until at least March if the DOJ suit to block the Time Warner deal is successful, but it already has had an impact, in shifting what Rupert Murdoch is selling off among his collection of media assets (22 regional sports networks out the door, but not the national sports network, are going to the owner of ESPN, for instance). 

On the tech-giant side of entertainment, Apple keeps hiring away notable executives and has announced a few notable shows with big names, while Hulu and Amazon, the big competitors, are both dealing with changes at the top that may slow their momentum and focus for months to come. Google keeps rolling out Red subscription content, but not details on how many people are actually paying for it (Hulu hasn’t released its subscriber numbers in more than a year either).

I get into lots of other happenings in my Tubefilter column, and I’d love for you to read it. I also would love to hear from you about what you thought were the most important trends and events of 2017 in media & entertainment, and what they may portend for the year ahead. 

Read my full column here: https://ht.ly/3SAh30hrb7H