Essays
The Apple TV+ Problem
Apple TV+ has more money than anyone and a production slate that cannot be reconciled with itself. An essay on the strangest major streamer.
Priya Nair·21 Mar·6 min
TAG
#streaming
15 pieces
Industry
Netflix Ad Tier Hits Commercial Scale
Netflix's advertising-supported tier, launched in November 2022, crossed 125 million global monthly active users by the fourth quarter of 2025. The ad business is now material to the company's financials.
Casey Winters·14 Mar·4 min
Essays
Why I Still Buy Records
A personal essay on the specific pleasure of owning music in a physical format in the year 2026. Not an argument against streaming. An argument for both.
Jules Okonkwo·18 Feb·6 min
Industry
The 45-Day Theatrical Window Settles In
The 45-day theatrical exclusivity window, first negotiated after the 2020 pandemic disruption, has become the de facto industry standard. The stability it provides is helpful. The constraint it preserves is partial.
Casey Winters·3 Feb·4 min
Essays
Prestige TV Eats Its Own Tail
The specific tools that made prestige TV great have, across two decades of refinement, become the tools that are now limiting it. An essay on formal exhaustion.
Priya Nair·30 Dec·6 min
Essays
The Year Pop Became an Album Again
After fifteen years of singles-first streaming strategy, 2024 was the year pop music remembered how to be an album again. An essay on why it happened and what it means.
Jules Okonkwo·20 Dec·5 min
Essays
Why Criterion, Arrow, and Vinegar Syndrome Are Winning
The physical-media market for serious film has specifically grown across the last five years, against every predicted trend. An essay on what streaming failed to provide, and what the 4K disc is doing to fill the gap.
Lena Ashworth·18 Nov·7 min
Essays
Against the Eight-Episode Season
The eight-episode prestige-TV season has become the default format. It is also, for most shows, the wrong length. An essay on what the episode count is costing us.
Priya Nair·14 Oct·6 min
Industry
Max Returns to HBO Max
Warner Bros Discovery has reversed its 2023 streaming-service rebrand, returning the Max service to the HBO Max name. The admission is that dropping HBO cost the service more than it gained.
Casey Winters·15 Jul·4 min
Industry
Warner Bros Discovery Splits in Two
Warner Bros Discovery will split into two companies in mid-2026, separating the studio and streaming business from the declining cable networks. The move mirrors Comcast's earlier transaction.
Casey Winters·20 Jun·4 min
Industry
Starz and Lionsgate Complete the Separation
Starz and Lionsgate closed their long-announced separation on 6 May 2025, splitting the studio and the premium cable network into two independent public companies. The transaction's specific structure matters.
Casey Winters·9 May·4 min
Industry
The Apple TV+ Profitability Question
Apple TV+ loses roughly $1 billion a year. At what point does Apple decide that the strategic value justifies the loss? The question is becoming urgent.
Casey Winters·4 Mar·5 min
Industry
Peak TV Is Over
FX's John Landgraf coined 'Peak TV' in 2015 and has been tracking the scripted-production numbers since. The 2024 numbers confirmed the inflection. We are now in Post-Peak.
Casey Winters·25 Feb·6 min
Industry
Amazon's MGM and the Bond Problem
Amazon has owned MGM for three years. The James Bond franchise has not released a film in that time. The reasons are worth understanding.
Casey Winters·4 Nov·5 min
Industry
The Netflix Password Crackdown Worked
Netflix's 2023 paid-sharing rollout was widely predicted to cost the company subscribers. It did the opposite. A look at the numbers, eighteen months in.
Casey Winters·24 Sep·5 min