HBO Max is putting on vertical shorts by Jay Peters
Warner Bros. Discovery is bringing a vertical video feed to HBO Max to help you find something new to watch. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney Plus, and Peacock already offer TikTok-like vertical video feeds to surface content that might be interesting to users, and now HBO Max will have a similar feed of its own.
Much of the content I see on YouTube Shorts for example is just clips from shows and movies, clipped for vertical form factor. And they are entertaining.
The problem is not the content. The problem is where the people are. I don’t find myself opening Netflix when I want to watch vertical videos. I’m on Instagram or YouTube and then they show me the vertical videos.
The problem is that people don’t pick up Netflix or HBO to pass time at work or elsewhere. They pick up Instagram or YouTube.
Amazon’s new plan for games: James Bond and AI Snoop Dogg by Jay Peters
Amazon’s bet on putting Tomb Raider everywhere — there are also a handful of titles available through Luna — indicates where the company sees things going. “We really believe that this line between TV and video games is increasingly coming together” such that “I think every major IP is going to have to have a video game story” as part of its go-to-market strategy, Gattis says. He also points to Amazon’s rights deals with sports leagues like the NBA and the NFL, saying there are “all kinds” of “companion-type games” that it can make.
Having both IP and execution is important. Good games need to be at their core, good games. But there is an increasing trend in the market of Sony and Nintendo making movies and TV shows from their games, so why not go the other way around?