Julia Alexander
Julia Alexander is Director of Strategy at Parrot Analytics, where she advises clients on the tectonic shifts in tech, media, and telecom. Previously, she covered TMT at The Verge.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
HOLLYWOOD
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August 23, 2022
Zaslav’s Disappearing Act
David Zaslav’s removal of some 36 shows and movies from HBO Max may make sense to Wall Street, but it’s hell for creators: There isn’t enough viewership data for them to argue their projects are valuable, and they have no control over whether they get pulled.
HOLLYWOOD
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August 16, 2022
Bob Chapek’s Funny Math on Streaming
No, Disney didn’t just surpass Netflix in total subscribers—unless you can justify 1+1=3. Inside the semantic-financial civil war over the most powerful number in streaming.
HOLLYWOOD
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August 9, 2022
Zaz’s Law of Streaming
In light of his Batgirl slashing and earnings call manifesto, WBD C.E.O. David Zaslav is articulating a new logic for streaming: it’s going to be an important and growing revenue channel, but not the only one that matters. Here’s what Zaz is really saying, and how it might (or might not) work.
HOLLYWOOD
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August 2, 2022
The Only Surprise About Plepler’s New Hit Show
Richard Plepler has the surprise of the summer in Black Bird, but not because it is executive produced by the former HBO chief. It’s because the Apple TV+ show is so damn hard to find. Also: Notes on Hulu’s latest strategy.
HOLLYWOOD
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July 31, 2022
Zaz’s Tween Gamble
As he recontorts the content strategy (and budget) of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav is making a bet that technology has forever changed the way kids consume content, particularly live-action fare.
HOLLYWOOD
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July 28, 2022
The Summer Box Office Wars Come to Streaming
At last, the streaming industry has matured to the state where it has multiple viable contenders, the best content on the market, and intense summer season face-offs can make-or-break a parentco’s quarter.
HOLLYWOOD
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July 24, 2022
Netflix’s Animated Double-Down
Out with the Ryan Murphy deals, and in with the modest-sized bets on cheaper, “stickier” animation and anime fare.
HOLLYWOOD
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July 21, 2022
Netflix’s Domestic Crisis
For years, Netflix projected it could acquire 90 million subscribers in the U.S.—and that international growth would follow a familiar hockey-stick path. But subscriber losses in its most mature, valuable market also foreshadow future impediments to Netflix’s TAM: What happens when the competition heats up there, too?
HOLLYWOOD
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May 30, 2022
Can ‘Stranger Things’ Save Netflix From Its New Self?
The global phenomenon, back after a three-year break, offers the embattled streamer an opportunity to change its narrative with a hybrid-binge drop strategy calculated to lure back subscribers and reduce churn.
HOLLYWOOD
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April 14, 2022
Dear Zaz, Read This Before the “Synergies” Start…
The streaming wars are, simply put, a race to own the best content and have the strongest pipes to distribute it (along with all the financial engineering and tax avoidance befitting a media behemoth, naturally). Here are my four predictions for how David Zaslav can take Warner Bros. Discovery from No. 3 to No. 2—or even higher.