Julia Alexander
Hollywood’s most authoritative streaming industry expert and Director of Strategy at Parrot Analytics, where she advises clients on the tectonic shifts in tech, media, and telecom.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
HOLLYWOOD
•
September 27, 2022
Hollywood’s Feel-Good Horror Story
In a time of great anxiety in Hollywood, scary movies are the rare stress-reliever to those in the theatrical business and the direct-to-consumer market, the latest data reveals.
HOLLYWOOD
•
September 20, 2022
CNN+ Reveries & Zaz’s I.P. Strategy
A frank conversation on the hottest topics in streaming: Warner Bros. Discovery’s war chest, CNN’s future, Wall Street’s demands, and the future of ESPN.
HOLLYWOOD
•
September 13, 2022
Apple’s Pixar Fantasy
Was Luck, John Lasseter’s high-budget, Pixar-inspired animated feature for Apple TV+, a flop? The convoluted answer reveals as much about the state of the streaming business as it does about Apple—or about Luck itself.
HOLLYWOOD
•
September 6, 2022
Lord of the Ratings
In media and entertainment circles, it has become irresistible to reductively compare the first-day numbers for HBO’s House of the Dragon (10 million viewers!) and Amazon’s The Rings of Power (25 million streams!!). But dig a little deeper and the data tells a more interesting, and complex, story.
HOLLYWOOD
•
August 30, 2022
Netflix’s Catch-22 Milestone
At last, after an ambitious 2016 proclamation, more than half of Netflix’s library is composed of original programming. And yet, the company faces a complex challenge: as originals grow, so does consumer dissatisfaction. But how else can they entice new subscribers?
HOLLYWOOD
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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.