And not just for the giants of the industry Last year, in December, I ran a piece that held the catchy headline “ Cross-media partnerships hint at a deeper consolidation to come. ” In it, I discussed the various business models that could be applicable to some of the giants of the industry as they move from the exponential growth of their services to more mature models which require optimisation of costs, cross-pollination of advertising and retention of customers within an ecosystem. In the last year, many of my predictions have either come true or are of greater focus: Netflix has indeed moved into games, mobile and all, and is even experimenting with merchandise. AVoD has exploded as a tool of strategy with the acronym FAST being a regular feature of any strategy-focused conference panel. Cloud subscription gaming is increasingly looking to become part of a solid home-ent telco bundle, while Spotify continues to test and roll out more interactive features, looking at making more use of its dedicated user base (despite missing targets). Now, at (hopefully) the latter days of the pandemic that shook the world, it is a good time to revisit this topic. Not just to look at what each part of the puzzle is, but also to discuss how they fit together within a single entity. Not just the very large One of the most striking developments I have noted over the past year is this: Not only are large entities looking to make the most of their franchises in this way, but many smaller companies have realised the benefits of targeting multiple vertices with a single franchise. Indeed, some smaller and more nimble companies have carefully designed their processes to take advantage of these efficiency gains. In the run-up to MipCom I received a slide deck from the German company Kiddinx Media, and later had the pleasure of sitting down for a coffee with Karl Blatz, Head of International Business Development, and Carsten Schwarz, Head of Sales, outside of the Palais. Kiddinx has a number of franchised IP series, but their explanation of how they view the role of IP in their business really hit the nail on the head. With permission, I share their content ecosystem. While Kiddinx is very obviously a kids specialist, it exemplifies the principles of a vertically integrated business. Not only has the company sold 10m videos, but it has also taken an 86% awareness among its target demo, and then doubled down by selling 20m birthday cakes. Kiddinx has literally built the icing on its ‘IP cake’ using iced cakes. The key takeaway here is not that every company should start selling confectionary, but instead, it is this: If, as a business, you consider the relationship with your end-user the product, and not whatever it is you actually produce, then new avenues of monetisation will open to you. Managing relationships in this way is not easy, it requires wider skills and a ‘fail fast’ mentality, but the results of a successful broadening of focus are obvious in terms of both margin and long-term resilience. Telco bundle of the future Telcos are a fairly obvious example of entities that thrive by deploying vertically integrated business models; the vast majority of them bundle multiple services to single consumers. For the last decade, many telcos have struggled with falling data prices, increasingly stringent regulation, and of course, unbundling stemming from the streaming revolution. But Telcos continue to be the gatekeepers to what is now, for many, their single most important utility – data. Not only does it bring entertainment and news, but for millions across the globe, their telco now provides them with the means to work from home and earn a living. For this reason, telco’s will always be relevant and central to people's lives, and using this as their base, will always be able to bundle, upsell and, by virtue of asymmetric competition, in many ways outlast their rivals. Much has been talked about in the role of telcos as increasingly agnostic aggregators, but often this suggestion is made mainly looking at bundling a greater quantity and variety of video services. This of course forms a logical core, but as sophisticated devices become cheaper and more compatible, there is no reason for this to be limited in such a fashion. Consider cloud gaming; while solutions have been created which solve the technical demands for interpreting signals and processing games remotely – the last remaining pieces of the puzzle are mainly logistical. Firstly, to sell cloud gaming, a relationship and trust with a user needs to be established to secure a subscription, and crucially this must be a long-term relationship, based on years, not months. Notably, in the gaming space, the platform Steam has long held the largest piece of the pie as a retail platform. To build trust and relationships, rival platform Epic Games Store is running a campaign that has offered free games every 2 weeks ever since the store’s launch in Dec 2018, increasing to every week since June 2019, just to ensure that users have sufficient reason to use, and trust the platform with their money and time. Secondly, there must be a supply of low-latency information. While high bandwidth is great for downloading and streaming media, when a medium of entertainment is reliant on maintaining a response time in the fraction of a second between a user and their screen, most systems exhibit a major failing. This, in many cases, extends to wired broadband, fibre, or otherwise. To solve this issue, there are two options: 1. Deploy new technology that can provide the response times needed over an open network, or 2. Provide a managed network where capacity data for cloud gaming is supplied over private networks where possible. In both cases, telcos hold the solutions via ownership of wired networks and the ability to deploy 5G, with its inherent super-low latency where needed. Look at who you sell to, not what you sell I once attended a series of lectures on the basics of business strategy. In it, the guest lecturer, who was from Siemens Vai, asked the audience what kind of business Siemens ran, what was their goal. A plethora of suggestions came from the audience: steel, technology, manufacture, industry etc... all of which were dismissed until eventually, the lecturer turned to his next slide – which was a single image on a white screen, the image being a large stack of dollar bills. His point: Siemens was in the money-making business, and a business that focuses on something other than making money, is a charity. It is all too easy to get distracted by the quality of your product, the desire to keep your customers happy and the small intricacies that make your job fun, and indeed much of this is laudable and core to the sustainability of your business. But if the last decade is anything to go by, the businesses that are on top now are those who thought long term, outside the box, and were flexible. Those who rigidly stuck to the same business model that they began the last ten years with are often lagging behind. Companies that have reinvented themselves many times over are among the oldest in the world (Nintendo, IBM, Remmington), while those that refuse to diversify, sputter and fail. Take Nintendo, which was founded in 1889 and was originally a manufacturer and retailer of handmade playing cards. Today, by following the customer relationship and need for entertainment, rather than focussing on its product (cards), Nintendo provides a huge range of hardware and software, and via its franchised IP; music, TV and film content. IBM, another centennial company has evolved from a manufacturer of mechanical computing machines to providing a vast array of hardware, software and cutting-edge technology including true AI and quantum computing. These products and services are far from the company’s original core, but relate to the specifics of the consumer relationship and associated needs. Vertical integration is a huge part of not only building an efficient business but also as the building blocks of diversification and sustainability. Looking at how your customers perceive your business is the first step, followed by using that understanding to design and supply complementary products and services.

What makes the TV industry so appealing and exciting? Talking to some TV industry veterans, we will learn about their long-standing careers and what motivates them to be the best at what they do. Catch Jonathan's panel from NEM 2021 OD at the link below: https://neweumarket.com/dubrovnik/why-we-love-tv-industry/

WorkShare Consulting is proud to announce a partnership with Vuulr, the largest global online content marketplace for film and TV rights. WorkShare will be providing support and outreach for the online marketplace as it continues to increase its presence and footprint across the globe. “This partnership with Vuulr is incredibly exciting for two big reasons. It’s fantastic to be involved with the cutting edge of how the content industry is evolving. Secondly, at WorkShare we have been carefully noting how the fragmentation and democratisation of how content is consumed is changing the type of content that is in demand. Marketplaces like Vuulr offer an amazing freedom of choice and ease of access that is sure to prove the next evolution of how our content industry operates.” Jonathan Broughton MD of WorkShare Consulting “WorkShare brings to the table a deep and wide understanding of the industry, its drivers, and where it is going next. Through them we hope to realise a more complete understanding of where the demand is coming from, who is buying and what they are interested in buying. WorkShare will be connecting the dots to provide a range of insight and strategic solutions.” Ian McKee, CEO for Vuulr Era of the Indie producer While the advent of VOD and online delivery gave rise to content democratisation, for the most part this affected delivery of content and not necessarily how it was sold and who was buying. The streaming wars between major studios, and the now incumbent SVOD giants has led to tighter controls, with content again being retained under umbrella brands and ring-fenced from competitor services. Despite traditional companies throwing their weight into the VOD space, connected devices and better aggregation continues to foster consumers’ ability to maintain a higher number of VoD subscriptions and so the number of services. The result is an increasingly dynamic and international industry composed of more fragmented pieces than ever before. It is against this background that Vuulr operates to provide a simple, secure and effective platform to discover, understand and license content from the plethora of creative talent that the globe has to offer.
About WorkShare Consulting: WorkShare Consulting was created to bring together expertise from an elite pool of consultants and specialists across a range of industries including media, devices, consumer trends, consumer tech, TMT and data processes. Workshare offer services across the media space which include: Bespoke Research and Whitepapers Consumer Surveys and Analytics Data Warehousing and Automation Data Exploration and Visualisation www.workshareconsulting.com About Vuulr: Vuulr is a global online content marketplace for film & TV rights that connects buyers with distributors worldwide, providing them with a platform to negotiate and transact directly and securely online. Vuulr connects buyers and distributors regardless of timezone or geography, giving them an opportunity to access an always-on diverse selection of mainstream and niche content that appeals to their audiences’ global appetites. The online sales platform currently features content from producers and distributors across the globe, comprising over 165,000 hours of shows. Over 11,000 buyers and sellers from 120 countries are now using the platform with over 1,700 licensing transactions generated since its international launch in January 2020. Content originating from 124 countries and across 71 different languages have sold on Vuulr. The company also champions budding, independent filmmakers by giving them an opportunity for their work to be discovered by buyers worldwide. Vuulr aims to slash the cost, effort and time involved in doing transactions for the industry e.g. licensing transactions on Vuulr close, on average, in 10 days. https://www.vuulr.com/ For further information please contact: Comms@WorkShareConsulting.com

83% see lack of BAME representation in TV industry New survey finds increase in stress for 55% of TV executives as 60% work longer hours during pandemic 60% think admission to live industry events should require COVID testing In the first of a regular series of surveys to test the health of the international TV industry, the TellyCast/ WorkShare Consulting Content Industry Monitor found that less than one in ten (9%) of executives wish to return to full time , permanent office working following the pandemic. The results showed that the vast majority of TV industry office workers are looking forward to a balance of working environments in the future with nearly half of all respondents preferring either 3 days per week (26%) or 2 days a week (21%) back in their regular pre-pandemic office space . The survey also found that there is a mountain to climb in terms of diversity in TV with a massive 83% of respondents seeing a lack of BAME (Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic) representation in the industry . 60% of TV executives have worked longer hours during the pandemic with an increase in stress during the pandemic with 55% reporting an increase in stress . Perhaps a contributing factor was video calling as 43% found they went on too long . Other key findings in the TellyCast/ WorkShare Content Industry Monitor, which is available for free download from www.w orkshareconsulting.com/content-industry-monitor , include the influential events side of the industry. Virtual events were no match for the real thing with 64% finding them a worse experience than their in person counterparts , but 53% are resigned to seeing them as a big part of the industry going forward . Industry behemoth events MIPCOM (51%) and MIPTV (47%) were the first and second choices as events the industry still plans on attending , followed by Edinburgh TV Festival (30%), Realscreen (26%), IBC (23%) and NEM and NATPE with 19% each. However, safety is a major concern for prospective delegates as 60% think that live events should require COVID testing as an entry requirement and nearly half (47%) felt events should be for vaccinated attendees only . Finally, on a buoyant note, nearly one in five (19%) of respondents are generating revenues exceeding those pre-pandemic and 34% expect this to take 12-18 months from now to see revenues return to pre COVID levels. Additionally, 77% are either extremely confident or confident about retaining employment in the next 6 months with little sign of the recession hitting jobs confidence in the TV industry this summer. Commenting on the survey, Jonathan Broughton, MD of Workshare Consulting said: ” The Content Industry Monitor represents an amazing opportunity to understand the readiness of the industry to return and to tackle critical questions in the market. Whether that be a return to physical events or working in an office this partnership with TellyCast has been an amazingly revealing and rewarding experience. ” TellyCast ’s Justin Crosby said “I wanted to mark a year of TellyCast podcasts and by teaming up with WorkShare were doing exactly that with our Content Industry Monitor. It’s packed with revealing insights into a year in TV, the likes of which we’ve never seen before.I hope industry executives will find the survey as fascinating as we do”.

Any list of the tangible effects of a misuse of data, having a tangible effect on our lives would include the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the UK’s ISO authorities’ findings that Facebook was largely complacent in allowing one million user accounts to be harvested for information. The penalty for this was £500,000, or roughly 1p per ‘hacked’ account. A tiny sum for a company which generates more than $70bn. To put this into perspective, the company generates this kind of cash every 4 minutes or so – it would have taken Zuckerberg longer to read the summary judgement, that to earn the cash to pay the fine. Other industries have long faced fines which are proportional to the size of their business. In April 2017, VW was found to have mislead consumers and ‘cheated’ on emissions tests. Most governments-imposed fines which varied is size, but a fine of around $30,000 dollars per car become roughly standard, and VW eventually ended up shelling out around $33bn un compensation. Putting this in perspective, Facebook was fined the emissions test cheating equivalent of 20 family sized hatchbacks, your personal data about everything that you do, your habits, your friends and your behaviours, is valued 3 million times less by our legislation, than a gassy car is. Now, emissions have serious repercussions which can result in premature death and cheating these should have consequences. But the difference in the magnitude of fines betrays a lack of respect for and understanding of, the impact that digital crimes can have. In the case of the misuse of personal data and the all-too-common data breaches, consequences can include anything from credit card phishing and loss of personal savings to de-railing of democracy. But how prevalent is this problem? To underline how commonplace these are, and how little repercussions there can be I urge you, right now, to go to the website https://haveibeenpwned.com and enter one of your email addresses. Using my personal email, I have been subject to no less than 10 data breaches in the last two years, which include Canva in May 2019, Covve in Feb 2020, DataCamp in December 2018, MyFitness in February 2019 and Zynga in September 2019. Through no fault of my own, my username and various passwords, my location data (scary), and authentication for my google account has been harvested, packaged and shared through various dark corners of the web – or traded for hash on Silk Road. When Canva failed to protect my data, they did so alongside 139 million other users. The data was stolen by powerful hacker group Gnosticplayers who have listed (and most likely sold) around 1bn compromised records this year. Disney was forced to issue a statement earlier this year, in response to accusations that Disney+ accounts had been hijacked. In this case Disney claimed that they had not suffered from a data-breach, but instead so many username and password combination have been stolen, that when users created a new account, using old usernames, they were immediately stolen. We are constantly being told to use unique combinations for every site, and to never share our details, but if these sites were half as responsible as we are supposed to be, we would have to. My own username/passwords are now stolen an average of five times a year, from companies that supposedly have a duty to protect my data. Most likely yours are too, and yet very few consequences exist for companies that were not prepared to pay the expense to fulfil the legal obligation to protect you, their customer. The misuse of personal data has serious repercussions and the protection of it is woefully lacking. While misusing this data is criminal, it’s also far too late to catch and punish the individuals who have stolen the data, years after a user or country has had their life disrupted by the data loss. Financial Vectors Needed Companies in general may like to pursue ethical avenues, but economic studies indicate that the only real way to enact broad change is to create a financial vector. Companies may at conceal the truth against the law, but this is always in the name of profit – not just because they feel like it. Therefore, altering the behaviour of companies must also lead from a profit standpoint. Again, cars are a great example, having grown much more efficient over the last 15 years, using technology invented in the 1930s (high pressure intakes). This came about though simple legislation, which placed a cost on inefficient engines. Consumers immediately looked for the cheaper stuff, and companies created better and better products to fill their needs. Data needs to be treated the same way. We can pass whatever moral judgements we like, but until we create financial vectors that force the companies that use our data, along the route that society needs, a few companies will change, but the majority will not. In the case of data breaches – this needs to take emissions as an example and impose fines big enough to hurt when companies do not comply. A sunny lining While for years, companies that do not protect data have been punished, the severity was laughable. But the new raft of legislation being passed now, services to correct this, and importantly is scalable for the future. In the UK, new legislation aim to deal with online harm, which includes data protection, but also the protection from harmful content. The fines will not be limited £500,000 but up to 10% of global turnover for companies like Facebook, meaning a current cap of £5bn which is 10,000 times greater or 36 days of revenue, rather than 4 minutes. Ofcom, which is experienced in the investigation and enforcement of duty of care type legislation will be taking charge, which is generally seen as a progressive move as the organisation has both the experience and the manpower to take on high-profile cases with international mega-corps. The European Commission is also upgrading its powers to deal with big tech with the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts. These laws again increase the level of fines that can be imposed on tech companies and again include duty of care requirements. In addition, these also start to regulate competition between the larger groups and independent bodies. Mainly this takes aim at ringfenced ecosystems, while this also has a smaller role in dealing with unintended consequences of GDPR, which disproportionally effected smaller companies. The next battleground Data breaches are very definable, but there are more issues which need to be tacked, which recent events have brought into the foreground. Facebook is once again in the spotlight in the US and this time legislators seem to have done their homework, not only understanding that ad-funded companies “sell ads” but are beginning to question whether having three of the six major social and messaging services owned by one company potentially bad from a competitive standpoint. A serious decision against Facebook could lead to the company being split up with Facebook main, being separated from WhatsApp and Instagram. Facebook, for its role will need to prove that the functionality of these three divisions are suitably different as to not represent a strangle-hold on the industry when combined. Social media demanded legislation when asked about their responsibility to protect the public. They were right to so, as a company censoring its users without any true public mandate is troublesome at best. But the extent of the laws now being passed reach far above what they wanted. Expect a number of high-profile lawsuits and arguments at the top level of government over the next few years as legislators and tech clash over the exact meanings of the new far-reaching policies.

Some thoughts on the #Parler situation and associated fallout. There's something of an irony in world leaders voicing concerns over tech companies imposing their own standards, when regulators have been slow to act. If Parler survives and finds a new server provider (of which there are many), it is likely that the company will need to enforce stricter editorial rules. In the short term this will allow Parler to regain access to important mobile devices, long term will allow the company to sell ads, which makes it tick first place. Meanwhile #MeWe and #Gab are picking up the churned users. Check out the video interview here #apple #google #amazon #aws

Spent a great morning hanging out and chatting with Justin Crosby of TellyCast - the TV industry news review . We chat about 5 big VOD-leaning changes facing the industry. #media #podcast #VoD Check out the podcast here

Last week (19th June) saw Spotify announce a deal in which characters from the DC universe will narrate new, story-driven podcasts. This deal is one of a growing number of cross-media partnerships which trade IP and new functions for consumer access. As the growth of new digital services slows, and in many cases, margins are squeezed in many cases, owners will be keen to find additional ways to monetise their client base. At the same time, consumers are inundated with accounts and fragmented services, and bringing together billing solutions is sure to drive demand. AVoD will not be stand-alone Pay-TV platforms carrying SVoD services has become an established norm and integration of BVoD services is also commonplace. It is also likely that over the next few years AVoD services from commercial channel groups will feature more prominently. Channel groups are facing increased pressure on higher channel number (multichannel) slots. Some have voiced concerns about content being devalued, with consequences for their tangible assets. As an example: in 2017 Discovery and Sky had major ‘US-style’ carriage dispute in the UK, complete with inflammatory consumer messaging and channel blackouts. Eventually Discovery was forced to accept reduced terms of carriage. For some channel operators, AVoD services are a way to add that value back, especially by monetising library content (ViacomCBS’s Pluto TV has become increasingly successful in this area). Following the dispute, Discovery focussed on its range of VoD services, which include specialist sport and AVoD service DPlay. These services now form a key part of Discovery’s new Sky deal, announced earlier this month. Direct integration of channel owned AVoD services across pay-TV, telco and OTT aggregators is likely to feature as the next, simplest form of content aggregation. OTT Games Cloud gaming may be seen by many as the latest fad for tech companies, but it has a number of qualities which imply it is truly sustainable. Cloud gaming is more accessible than the current format, which requires dedicated and expensive hardware. In general consumers tend to drift to solutions which are simple and have a lower cost of entry. Cloud gaming does, however, require control of company-owned hardware to make it cost efficient for the provider. Microsoft and Nvidia for example draw on established computing power. Telcos control the ‘playout’, meaning that they optimise latency and delivery, while not incurring data costs over networks that they already own. Telcos are currently facing a huge need to find new revenue streams as data costs decrease and cloud gaming may hold the next service to add to the traditional telco bundle, alongside broadband, mobile, TV and telephony. Some groups, including Deutsche Telecom are already developing their own solutions, but traditionally telcos have done best when aggregating 3rd party services. If cloud gaming picks up, expect to see a plethora of telco deals with the likes of Microsoft, Playstation, Nvidia and newcomers such as Shadow. Music and more A new wave of music services is emerging, catering to niche audiences. As with video, the now-crowded market creates discoverability problems as smaller nascent voices struggle to be heard. Finding an existing platform to carry the service is the key to discovery. In the digital age, any company that controls consumer access could be an aggregator, and that extends to the new wave of SVoDs. Big SVoDs tend to offer single services, but their large number of subscribers gives them the potential to be effective at launching new products. Netflix now has more than 200m accounts, and while it has eschewed advertising for a purity of experience, adding music streaming would not dilute the brand and may enhance consumers experiences. Work that Vertical Integration One company stands above all as an example of how to monetise product across multiple verticals. Disney re-uses familiar IP in its theme parks, movies, toys and TV series. Disney’s selling strategies are so effective that it made its money back on its Star Wars investment on the sale of toys alone. Disney has launched a mixed media ‘fansite’ called D23 that is targeted at superfans, but holds many of the key principles of cross media integration: it uses a single touchpoint (and billing), to retail merchandise, video content, theme parks and events. In the past, franchises tended to be limited to film, and only few channel groups could build a vertically integrated solution. But with the increased push to original video content, most large studios and channel groups (including Netflix) now own substantial rights to music, games, attractions and events, based off their proprietary IP. Netflix is pushing into gaming territory, with upcoming interactive series including Puss in Book, Minecraft Story Mode and Carmen Sandiego, however its first attempt (Bandersnatch) drew more heavily from TV than games and many mistakes that experienced game dev’s who produce in the same genre (such as TellTale games) soled years ago. Expect simple VoD services to either evolve additional facets, or to spin-off sister services, which offer additional functionality. The Bottom line Re-aggregation of TV services has been talked about as the final step in a grand arc, which would see multiple SVoD services bundled together to create the contemporary version of a traditional channel bundle. But the evolution of the telco has proved that integrating more diverse services also works, especially where they can share infrastructure. Cross media deals indicate that distribution avenues, which were typically reserved for a single format, such as broadcast video, music, or movies are ripe to branch out into new areas. The Spotify deal, and other like it indicates that perhaps true aggregation will occur deeper that at the functional level and instead will occur at the consumer level, while the medium delivered matters less. Consumer gatekeepers can, and will, expand the type of content that they provide to maximise the return in ‘owning’ a consumer relationship, and their billing details.

Check out this NEM Network panel discussion that deals with the theme “What if Piracy Ends in CEE…”. Find out how will the potential elimination of piracy impact the industry and what could be offered to broad audiences as a constructive alternative for illegal streaming? Three excellent speakers are part of this panel: Christopher Peter Marcich, Chief Executive Officer of Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Nebojsa Taraba , Producer at Drugi Plan and Mark Mulready , Vice President at Cyber Services at Irdeto & Co President at Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance. The panel is be moderated by Jonathan Broughton , Managing Director at Workshare Consulting. Find out more here

Though they have worked worked with US government teams (CFIUS), and might have a point about the lack of 'Due Process', the wording of the executive order (fascinating read) draws upon IEEPA rules. Deep emergency powers which are very hard to challenge. My take, this is a defensive move, aimed to give TikTok a bigger platform and a chance to tell their story. It's not about winning directly. Catch my video interview with Auskar Surbakti here: https://lnkd.in/deXveEY #trt #tiktok #potus #china #uschina

Catch up on the TikTok / US debacle with TRT's Money Talks interviewing Managing Director Jonathan Broughton https://lnkd.in/eb8uskF

Quibi was never supposed to be a Netflix killer. In fact, it was never even supposed to be a competitor. Instead, the founders of the punchy new streamer stressed it was targeted at the minutes of ‘dead time’ during the day, where a potential subscriber would normally pass time aimlessly. Quibi wanted to create a habit in its target audience, tapping into commutes and daily routines. Its launch offer, a 90-day trial, was designed around this concept, rather than a more usual month (though it was also a reaction to Covid-19 lockdowns around the world). Its mobile-only restriction again targets habit building. Removing the ability to cast to a TV was not really about protecting programme formats, but was targeted to train users to catch-up on their mobile, to remind them to use it the next time they have nothing to do and only use their phone to entertain them. This strategy raised questions. If we look at YouTube, peak viewing is at the weekend – across mobile and TV. The VoD platform’s fastest growing segment of viewing is on the TV set, according to its own analytics, and within this subset Saturday is the most active day of the week. In a way, YouTube is pivoting away from its mobile past, towards longer content watched on a TV set. So Quibi is therefore, an attempt to capture a subset of viewers – those looking for more premium content to view opportunistically. YouTube itself has struggled to make use premium content on its platform; first launching original long-form content bundled as a paid-for add-on, then folding that into the main service, then abandoning the approach entirely. Quibi is more focussed and presents a clear message that users can understand: bite-sized videos of quality short form. However, despite this, there are a number of lessons that can be drawn from the successful launch of other services that Quibi ignores. Instagram, and TikTok bear comparison. Quibi even prevents screen shots from being taken and shared, meaning there will be no spontaneous Baby Yoda moments. TikTok, the more recent launch, came to western markets in August 2018, and now counts half a billion users. Both these successful apps draw heavily on social both to create content and to provide the impetus for users to then consume that content. They provide a range of features that aid users in ‘mixing’, commenting, participating and interacting. Quibi, on the other hand, eschews social completely, and goes as far as locking down the app, creating a content-quarantine zone. In addition to its pay wall, Quibi even prevents screen shots from being taken and shared, meaning there will be no spontaneous Baby Yoda moments. The service actively fights attempts for users to promote or share content. There may well be a market subset who truly want to pay for professional, not user-made, short-form content, to view on the go. Quibi would have provided answers to if this demand existed, and how much it was worth. For this subset of audience, it is by far the best positioned player to capitalise, even if it needed a few tweaks. Sadly, with the disruption caused by Covid-19, we may never quite know the answer. There currently exists no commuter market, nor will there be one in the near future. Quibi has confirmed that it will launch support for main set viewing, but further than this it seems difficult for the service to change pace now. Due to lockdown, content production options are limited and isolation restricts the ability for businesses to make sweeping changes. Quibi must weather the storm and attempt a heavy relaunch once its market comes back online.