The Media Odyssey

MEDIA M&A MANIA

Full Disclosure meets Media Odyssey in this crossover episode of The Media Odyssey podcast with Roben Farzad, host of Full Disclosure on NPR and former Wall Street reporter for BusinessWeek and Bloomberg.The episode covers a wide sweep of interconnected stories: the proposed Paramount-Warner merger, the editorial independence implications of foreign money in US media, the GameStop-eBay bid as a case study in social media-driven market manipulation, and the state of M&A activity across the Atlantic.From Roben's firsthand perspective on the lack of US media coverage of Iran and the effect of Gulf sovereign wealth funds acquiring stakes in major news organizations to a forensic breakdown of the Skydance-Paramount deal, Evan Shapiro, Marion Ranchet, and Roben Farzad discuss the 60 Minutes settlement, the Colbert cancellation, the Bari Weiss hiring, and the White House's reported role in pushing the merger through before a potential political shift in the fall. They close with a frank debate on the future of professional journalism and whether public media, billionaire backstops, or direct-to-consumer Substacks can fill the gap left by a collapsing legacy news industry.Key Takeaways1. Foreign Money in US News Roughly 50% of the Skydance-Paramount acquisition is being funded by foreign interests, including Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. Roben notes that editorial independence becomes structurally compromised the moment a controlling financier has geopolitical interests that conflict with the newsroom's reporting mandate.2. The M&A Math Doesn't Add Up Global M&A deal volume in media dropped 30% year over year, while total deal value rose 10%. This means fewer but larger bets. Warner Brothers Discovery was valued at roughly $60 billion at merger and shed close to 70% of that value before recovering, driven almost entirely by the Zaslav-engineered auction rather than operational performance. 3. Social Media as Market Manipulation GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen publicly floated a bid for eBay, a company worth roughly 5x GameStop's market cap, with no serious financing behind it. The move drove GameStop's stock up and forced eBay to respond publicly. Roben frames this as a direct extension of the meme stock playbook: social media reach, combined with extreme wealth, can now move markets in ways that previously required regulated financial instruments.4. The Merger Approval Odds Roben puts the probability of the Paramount-Warner merger getting approved at approximately 65%, driven primarily by White House pressure to push it through before a potential political shift after the fall election. Marion is skeptical that EU regulators will independently block it if the US approves, noting that European authorities are increasingly prioritizing survival of local media players over strict competition concerns.5. The Journalism Funding Problem The New York Times has reached a $12 billion market cap by building a subscription-driven lifestyle and news bundle. NPR, by contrast, has failed to become a digital native, still relies heavily on pledge drives targeting Boomers and late Gen Xers, and has lost significant talent to for-profit outlets. There is a small but growing tier of independent journalists going direct to consumer as the most promising emerging model, though it leaves out readers who can't afford paid subscriptions.Thank you Roben Farzad for joining the pod!Roben Farzad - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robenfarzad/ Full Disclosure Podcast - https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1062190100/full-disclosure Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8 Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/ Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/ The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Crossover Introductions (04:30) - Journalism and Iran Coverage (06:38) - Foreign Money and Newsrooms (09:37) - Iran Parallels and US Politics (14:24) - GameStop Bids for eBay (18:10) - M&A Trends and Data Centers (20:24) - Europe Consolidation and MFE (23:44) - US Mega Merger Skepticism (27:47) - Wealth As Power Moat (28:54) - Ellison Paramount Quid Pro Quo (31:42) - Why Media Won't Cover It and Colbert Profitability (34:37) - European View On Mergers (37:48) - Will Regulators Approve (39:45) - Barry Weiss Incompetence (42:08) - Odds, Predictions, and the Future of Journalism Models (48:59) - Wrap Up And Farewell

Summary

THE FILMTOK EFFECT: BONUS EPISODE

4d ago00:20:42Summary ready

Eight episodes, $25,000, 2 million views. One indie creator just proved you don't need a studio, a streamer, or a greenlight to break into the fastest-growing format in streaming media.This bonus episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features Eli Shell, founder of Sidewise Studios and creator of In-House, a vertical comedy series he wrote, funded, and launched entirely on his own. The vertical video market is almost entirely dominated by high-melodrama romantic drama and Eli saw that as a gap, not a template. In-House is a workplace comedy shot in vertical format, built on a minimum viable product mindset borrowed from his years in the Bay Area tech world: shoot a pilot season, put it in front of an audience on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, read the signals, and scale from there. The episode also zooms out into the broader state of the independent vertical production market from TikTok's emerging role as a serious funder to Peacock's first microdrama slate announcement, and the question of whether Netflix, Disney, and the major streamers will start acquiring independent vertical IP. Eli's answer: we're at the very beginning, the economics are still being figured out, and the creators willing to bet on themselves right now are the ones who'll be best positioned when the market matures.Key Takeaways:1. Expand the GenreThe vertical video market today is almost entirely romantic drama which means every other genre is a wide-open opportunity. Eli's workplace comedy In-House attracted talent willing to work at reduced rates specifically because it wasn't another melodrama. For creators and producers looking to enter the vertical space, the least crowded lane is everything that isn't a romance.2. Minimum Viable SeasonEli spent $25,000 across eight episodes, roughly $3,000 per episode, and treated it explicitly as a minimum viable product, not a finished show. The goal was audience signals, not perfection.3. Bet on Distribution DiversificationIn-House launched simultaneously on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts and its 2 million views are an aggregate across all three. In a format this early, no single platform has won, and the audiences don't fully overlap. Multi-platform distribution is the only way to build meaningful reach without a marketing budget.4. Watch TikTokTikTok is the sleeping giant in the vertical video and microdrama space. If they decide to fund and distribute vertical series at scale — as the early investment in Issa Rae's Screen Time (80 million views) suggests they might — the existing microdrama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox face a serious existential threat. 5. The Acquisition Window Is OpeningPeacock, Netflix, Disney, and Paramount are all starting to test vertical content, mostly as a discovery tool for now, but the direction of travel is clear. Independent producers who have built proven IP with real audience data are going to be the most attractive acquisition targets when the major streamers decide they want original vertical content at scale. Thank you Eli Shell for joining the pod!Eli Shell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/elishell/ Sidewise Studios - https://www.linkedin.com/company/sidewise-studios/ In-House Show - https://elishell.com/projects/in-house/ Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8 Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/ Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/ The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Meeting in the DMs (01:11) - Eli’s Career Origin Story (02:59) - Discovering Vertical Microdramas (05:09) - In House Pitch and Format (06:20) - Views Platforms and Self Funding (08:20) - Why Make It and Budget Breakdown (11:13) - Monetization and MVP Season Two (12:17) - Vertical Drama Market Lessons (16:00) - Streamers Going Vertical (18:51) - TikTok Funding and Genre Expansion (20:13) - Wrap Up and Where to Watch

Summary

THE NEW PRODUCTION PLAYBOOK

1w ago00:33:37Summary ready

10 billion views. 200+ episodes. A Random House deal and a streamer announcement incoming. Toonstar built it all without asking anyone's permission.Welcome to this episode of The Media Odyssey Podcast with hosts Marion Ranchet and Evan Shapiro featuring John Attanasio and Luisa Huang, co-founders of Toonstar, a next-generation animation studio built from the ground up to produce kids' and family content at the speed of the internet. Veterans of the Warner Bros. who got an early front-row seat to the rise of YouTube and the creator economy, John and Luisa are tacking a simple but radical question: building an animation studio designed for digital-first streaming media distribution.The episode walks through how Toonstar works from their proprietary AI animation tech Ink and Pixel to their audience intelligence platform Spot, which translates real-time viewing data into storytelling decisions. Together, the two tools form what they call an "agile production loop" that lets them move from greenlight to first episode in 90 days. The centerpiece case study is Steven and Parker, a show born from a creator with a Snapchat filter and 9 million TikTok followers, now sitting at 10 billion lifetime views across five languages, with a Random House graphic novel deal and a streamer announcement imminent. Key Takeaways:1. Greenlight Yourself The traditional development cycle doesn't just cost money, it holds your time hostage. Toonstar's model eliminates the waiting game: pilot on existing creator audiences, read the signals, and go. Find the smallest viable version of your idea, put it in front of an audience, and start there.2. Production Meets Performance Most animation studios can't iterate because production and performance data live in separate worlds. Toonstar's agile production loop directly tethers the two with real-time audience signals that inform weekly creative decisions about episode length, character arcs, and cadence.3. Creator IP as the New Development Pipeline The franchise IP of tomorrow isn't sitting in a writer's room — it's already in front of an audience on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Parker James had 9 million followers and a character that existed only as a Snapchat filter before Toonstar turned it into a 10-billion-view animated franchise. 4. AI as Throughput, Not Replacement Toonstar's AI system accelerates every production function without replacing the human creative voice. Writers, visual direction, and character vision remain entirely human. The lesson: build AI tooling around your creative people, not around your budget.5. The Content Flywheel YouTube ad revenue and brand sponsorships are the starting point, not the business model. Toonstar's real play is using digital-first distribution to build proven IP that extends into books, merchandise, and streaming deals. YouTube channels should be treated as an IP incubator, not just a distribution platform.Thank you John Attanasio and Luisa Huang for joining the pod!John Attanasio - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnattanasio/Luisa Huang - https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisahuang/ Toonstar - https://www.linkedin.com/company/toonstarhq/posts/?feedView=all Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8 Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/ Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/ The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Fail Fast Mindset (00:29) - Welcome And Guests (01:25) - ToonStar Origin Story (04:02) - Tech Driven Production (06:33) - Steven And Parker Hit (09:38) - Humans Plus AI Workflow (12:50) - Data Driven Cadence (16:59) - Building Spot Analytics (21:08) - HarperCollins Speed Run (25:17) - Monetization Flywheel (26:59) - Advice To Creators (31:59) - Wrap Up And Takeaways

Summary

UPFRONT 2026: THE CROWN JEWEL OF TV ADS

2w ago00:50:22Summary ready

Pure play digital is now capturing 75% of every US ad dollar and 60% of that goes to just three companies. What's left for everyone else?This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast brings in Mike Shields, founder of the Next in Media newsletter and podcast and one of the sharpest voices in streaming media and advertising analysis working today. Recorded during Upfront week, this snapshot of the advertising ecosystem addresses who's winning, who's losing, and whether traditional media advertising still has a viable path forward in the era of accelerating cord-cutting and big tech dominance.Evan, Marion, and Mike use the Upfront to dig into the broader power shift underway in TV advertising that saw Amazon open the week, YouTube and Netflix close it, and the legacy broadcast and cable networks stuck somewhere in the middle trying to stay relevant in an increasingly creator-driven, platform-first world. They cover the major trends shaping the rest of the year: the ad industry's obsession with performance advertising and outcome measurement, the rise of shoppable TV, AI-driven dynamic ad insertion, the verticalization of streaming content, and the escalating sports rights arms race that traditional media may not be able to afford much longer.Key Takeaways:1. The Sports TrapSports rights are growing at 4–5x the rate of television revenue, with big tech projected to account for $30 billion of the $34 billion increase in rights costs over the next five years. Traditional media companies are overpaying for rights they can't fully monetize through advertising alone. Trad media will have to question whether their sports strategy is a growth play or a slow bleed. Big tech can hide the ROI inside a flywheel, but trad media cannot. 2. Performance or PerishThe ad industry has become addicted to outcome-based, performance-driven buying modeled on Amazon's retail media business, where an ad impression and a purchase can be directly connected. TV is structurally a brand-building medium, which puts it at a disadvantage with CFOs who want spreadsheet-provable results. Networks that haven't built credible outcome measurement platforms are increasingly losing SME budgets to Meta and Google by default. The OpenAP partnership between major networks is a step in the right direction, but cross-competitor joint ventures are notoriously hard to execute.3. The Measurement GapEvery major streaming platform (Disney's Compass, NBCU's Performance platform, etc.) is building proprietary measurement and identity infrastructure. The problem is brands don't live in one network's universe. Until there's a neutral, cross-platform layer that lets advertisers buy and optimize across the entire TV ecosystem, trad media will continue to lose ground to walled gardens that can at least show results within their own ecosystem. There's a real business opportunity here for whoever can build that neutral layer credibly.4. Eventize EverythingTraditional TV's most defensible advantage is not its library or its streaming, rather its ability to aggregate massive audiences around a single moment. NBC's Super Bowl + Olympics + NBA All-Star February generated $2 billion in incremental ad revenue. The lesson: stop competing on daily ratings and double down on cultural events, appointment television, and live moments that brands are willing to pay a premium to be part of. 5. Stop Fighting the FlywheelTrad media must stop resenting big tech and start building partnerships with it. Google owns the most popular TV OS on the planet. Amazon has identity and attribution data no broadcaster can replicate. YouTube is the most-watched channel in the US. The companies that are quietly winning — Fox with Tubi, French broadcasters partnering with Netflix and Amazon — are the ones that accepted their place in the ecosystem and found ways to draft off the platforms rather than fight them. The era of unexpected partnerships isn't a sign of weakness, it is the only viable strategy left.Thank you Mike Shields for joining the pod!Mike Shields - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-shields-78150b5/Next in Media - https://mikeshields.substack.com/Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Cold Open and Banter (01:26) - Meet Mike Shields (03:15) - Why Upfronts Persist (06:06) - Big Tech Takes Over (09:29) - Ad Market Numbers and Outlook (11:40) - Sports Arms Race (15:27) - Regulation and Consumer Impact (19:11) - AI and Shoppable TV (24:49) - TV Measurement Fragmentation (26:47) - Neutral Layer Opportunity (27:54) - Walled Gardens Reality Check (29:09) - Amazon Backbone Dilemma (34:05) - Trad Media Sweet Spot (36:40) - YouTube Events And Scale (39:50) - Why Everyone Wants TV (45:21) - Path Forward And Wrap

Summary

THE FAN-FUNDED FILM REVOLUTION

3w ago00:40:49Summary ready

What if fans could own a piece of the films they love and get paid when they hit? One company is making it happen, and Hollywood gatekeepers are not invited.Welcome to The Media Odyssey podcast featuring Marc Iserlis, Head of Film at Republic, a platform built one simple but radical idea: fans should be able to invest in the films and studios they care about. Evan and Marion have spent the season exploring what they call the "affinity economy," and in a streaming media landscape where independent voices are increasingly squeezed out, Marc's model sits squarely at the center of where the industry is heading. Marc explains the legal and structural architecture making Republic Film possible, specifically the 2016 JOBS Act that created exemptions to century-old securities laws blocking non-millionaires from investing in private ventures. Republic has 3 million members and $2.6 billion deployed across industries, built the licensing infrastructure to take advantage of those exemptions and applied them to film. The result is a platform where independent filmmakers, studios, and creators can raise development or production capital from fans with real equity, real revenue sharing, and even a secondary market for trading shares. The conversation moves through concrete case studies: Pressman Film raised $2 million from roughly 380 investors, Robert Rodriguez built a community of "Brass Knuckle Warriors" who sold out a raise in days, Eli Roth raised $6 million from 2,500 fans for his new horror studio, and Skybound (The Walking Dead, Invincible) pulling in $18 million from over 5,000 retail investors. Plus a look at Republic's partnership with XPRIZE, Google, and Range Media Partners on a $3.5 million sci-fi filmmaking competition designed to inspire the next Star Trek.Key Takeaways:1. The Audience Equity ModelRepublic Film's approach gives fans actual equity and revenue sharing in the projects they back, transforming them from passive donors into active stakeholders with financial incentive to promote the film. Republic was built specifically to serve everyday people with a net worth under $1 million who were previously barred from participating in private market opportunities. For producers and studios, that's not just capital, it's a built-in marketing army. 2. Fan Base Democratized The 2016 JOBS Act cracked open private market investing to everyone, but the industry hasn't caught up to what that means. If you're an independent filmmaker, studio, or even a creator-led brand, you now have legal pathways to raise meaningful capital. Skybound raised $18 million from 5,000+ investors, making it the largest raise on the platform to date. Republic has sold out every single film raise it has ever run.3. The Key is Actual Equity and Revenue SharingThe distinction between crowd investing and crowdfunding is equity and revenue sharing, not just perks and donations. Investors receive real ownership stake, revenue distributions when films sell or stream, and secondary market trading rights. Republic uses blockchain infrastructure to pay out thousands of investors in real time across theatrical, streaming, and merchandise revenue without expensive bank fees.4. The Payout is More Than a Passion ProjectRepublic’s first-ever investor payout happened within six months of launch. The Pressman Film raise, focused on a slate that included new IP from the producers of American Psycho and Wall Street, paid out investors following the sale of Bad Lieutenant Tokyo to Neon, making it the first investable development slate in film history to return capital to retail investors at this scale.5. $3.5 Million For the Next Star TrekThe XPRIZE partnership, with Google, a16z, and the Roddenberry Foundation to crowdsource the "next Star Trek," is a playbook for how studios and platforms can use open competition to surface new IP, build community ownership before a single frame is shot, and attract institutional backing. For content companies thinking about franchise development, this model is worth studying.Thank you Marc Iserlis for joining the pod!Marc Iserlis - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-iserlis-02848a13/ Republic - https://www.linkedin.com/company/republic.co/ Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Trading Film Shares (00:54) - Podcast Intro and Guest (01:45) - Why Republic Exists (04:48) - The JOBS Act (07:32) - Crowdinvesting Not Crowdfunding (10:16) - Platform Compliance and Blockchain (13:47) - Case Studies Pressman and Rodriguez (18:53) - Skybound and Horror Section (25:35) - What Makes Raises Work (30:17) - Cannes and Distribution Leverage (33:07) - First Investor Payouts (34:21) - Future Vision XPRIZE (36:32) - Wrap Up

Summary

WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KIDS…CONTENT, THE AI LOOP, AND FRANCE TV UNDER THREAT

May 700:45:10Summary ready

Five companies just committed $725 billion to AI in a single year. Meanwhile, kids content is in freefall and the people who can least afford it are paying the price.Welcome to the Media Odyssey Podcast! Evan, fresh off a surprise Webby Award win for Best Creator Thought Leadership, breaks down Q1 earnings from the five biggest tech companies (Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple) and the AI Loop. Big tech’s collective $725 billion AI spending commitment is less a sign of innovation than a circular, self-reinforcing economy with dot-com bubble written all over it. Marion brings the European lens, walking through the political assault on France Télévisions and the France Télévisions-YouTube partnership that followed. And then a deep dive on Evan's newly released Kids Content Landscape Report, co-produced with Common Sense Media, which draws on over a dozen data sources to paint a sobering picture of an industry in retreat with fewer commissions, broken YouTube economics, gutted public media funding, and a generation of producers caught in the middle.Key Takeaways:1. Big Tech Companies Committed $725 Billion in the “AI Loop”Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple collectively pledged $725 billion, more than the Apollo program, the Marshall Plan, and the Manhattan Project combined. This “AI Loop” is a deeply circular economy, with companies essentially contracting with and investing in each other, raising serious dot-com bubble parallels.2. Kids Content Has No Way to MonetizeKids content commissioning is down 25% from its 2022 peak and public broadcasters are now funding more than 50% of kids content worldwide. The big streamers have pulled back dramatically, shifting from treating kids content as an acquisition tool to a retention tool and largely stopping wholly-owned commissions. At the same time, YouTube ad CPMs for kids content have bottomed out, leaving independent producers stranded between two broken revenue models.3. Public Funding for Kids Media is At RiskThe US spends just $3 per capita on public media, compared to roughly $60 per capita in France, and a significant portion of that was just cut. The current US administration removed roughly $1 billion in public media funding, hitting local PBS affiliates hardest and most adversely affecting lower-income families who rely on free kids programming. Marion draws a direct parallel to right-wing efforts in France to cut €1 billion from France Télévisions.4. Kids Prefer YouTube, But Producers Don’t88% of US parents say kids under five prefer YouTube over any other platform, but YouTube Kids remains under-monetized and poorly curated. Despite YouTube's dominance as a kids platform, the economics for producers are broken: low CPMs, poor fill rates, and a curation system that has not been meaningfully updated in years. YouTube needs to rethink how it curates and shares revenue within YouTube Kids before the next generation of Cocomelons and Blueys never gets made.5. Co-Viewing in GenerationalCo-viewing is rising sharply, and Millennial and Gen Z parents are substantially more engaged in what their kids watch. Data from multiple sources, including Common Sense Media, Ampere Analysis, and Precisify, show a notable uptick in family co-viewing, particularly on YouTube watched via the TV set. Evan and Marion both see this as one of the few genuinely bright spots in an otherwise bleak kids content landscape, and a real commercial opportunity that platforms are currently underserving.Read the full Kids Content: Landscape Analysis https://eshap.substack.com/p/kids-content-landscape Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Webby Win in Portugal (01:42) - Five Word Speech Prep (03:45) - Q1 Earnings and Big Tech (07:07) - AI Bubble and Anthropic Hype (09:50) - Altman Profile and Defense Ties (12:53) - France Public Media Under Fire (15:36) - YouTube Deal and Kids Content (23:34) - Inside the Kids Report (24:23) - Demand Up, Funding Down (25:46) - Why the Ecosystem Broke (27:48) - Co-Viewing and Parenting Shift (30:02) - Public Broadcasters Step Up (35:40) - Fixing YouTube Kids Monetization (41:11) - Who Takes the Risk Next

Summary

MY DRAMA AND THE VERTICAL TAKEOVER

Apr 3000:32:42Summary ready

What if the future of entertainment fits in your pocket and a six-year-old startup from Ukraine is already building it?Welcome to the Media Odyssey Podcast, recorded live at StreamTV Europe, featuring Bogdan Nesvit, founder of HOLYWATER TECH and the microdrama platform My Drama. What started six years ago as an interactive fiction app has quietly evolved into one of the most data-sophisticated entertainment companies operating today. One that is now partnering with Fox Entertainment and eyeing a full theatrical release.If you've ever wondered how a media startup goes from zero to 7 million monthly active users without a single piece of traditional distribution, Bogdan doesn't just tell you what HOLYWATER TECH built, he gives raw data and operational transparency you almost never get from a founder.Beyond content strategy, Bogdan pulls back the curtain on the business model to detail the full transition from microtransactions to subscription, how the platform runs over 1,000 A/B tests per year, and why he believes proprietary user data (not product or AI) will be the defining competitive advantage of the AI era. He also touches on the Fox partnership, the road to ad monetization, and his personal philosophy around meditation, focus, and leadership.Key Takeaways:1. Scale is Accelerating FastMy Drama currently has close to 300 titles on the platform, targeting 500 by the end of 2026 and 1,000 by the end of 2027. Each title contains around 90 one-minute episodes, effectively repackaging a full 90–120 minute film into bite-sized vertical content.2. The Subscription Model DominatesThe platform fully shifted away from microtransactions with more than 90% of customers subscribing. Subscription users retain at 2x the rate of in-app purchase users and consume 3x more content. Users on an ad-supported tier consume an average of 1.5 hours of content per day, a striking engagement metric.3. AI Slashes Production Costs and Timelines Live-action microdrama costs $120K–$250K per title and takes roughly four months to produce. Netflix takes 100 weeks. AI-generated content on the MyMuse platform costs only a few thousand dollars and can be produced and tested in two weeks. Scripts, however, remain 100% human-written.4. Paid and Organic Impressions Are Needed TogetherMy Drama generates two billion monthly impressions across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube using a cliffhanger-driven content preview strategy for a 70/30 paid-to-organic acquisition split. At any given month, the team runs 30,000 unique video ad creatives across Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok. Despite heavy paid spend, the company is currently profitable and growing more than 2x year-over-year.5. It’s a Growing MarketThe global microdrama market is $11–12B today, projected to reach $25B by 2030. China dominates the current market (the format originated there around 6 years ago). Outside China, the market is much smaller today but is projected to hit ~$10B, mostly driven by the US, by 2030. Holywater is betting that expanding beyond the current five core content tropes into genres like thriller, fantasy, and detective stories is essential to moving microdrama from niche to mainstream.Thank you to Bogdan Nesvit for joining the pod!Bogdan Nesvit - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bogdannesvit/ HOLYWATER TECH - https://www.linkedin.com/company/holywatertech/ Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Live Podcast Kickoff (00:47) - Meet the Micro Drama Guest (01:47) - HOLYWATER TECH Origin Story (02:43) - From Books to Vertical Video (04:04) - My Drama Scale and Audience (05:19) - Micro Episodes and Library Growth (06:23) - Monetization Evolution (08:56) - Subscription Data and Retention (10:10) - Customer Acquisition Playbook (13:24) - Organic Social Cliffhangers (15:26) - Data Moat and AB Testing (16:31) - Market Size and New Genres (18:58) - AI Production and Costs (26:45) - Fox Partnership and Mindfulness Finale

Summary

STREAM TV EUROPE UNPLUGGED

Apr 2300:35:29Summary ready

Europe’s media industry leaders gathered in Lisbon this past week for the inaugural Stream TV Europe, and the prognosis is—to everyone’s surprise—refreshingly optimistic. Welcome to The Media Odyssey podcast!In this episode, Evan and Marion break down the biggest moments from Stream TV including: the "renaissance" of the living room and the shift in digital strategy by global players. They are later joined by Denis Oštir to discuss V’s ambitious new V Index, a unified measurement tool designed to bridge the gap between traditional broadcast and digital streaming.1. The Power of the Living Room SofaMarion shares insights from her workshop including a survey of 15,000 people across Europe, the US, and China, conducted in partnership with RTL AdAlliance. The findings highlight the continued dominance of the big screen, with 83% of Europeans prioritizing video content in the living room. The research reveals an ecosystem where different platforms serve distinct social needs: Netflix primarily caters to couples, VOD brings together larger family groups of five or more, and YouTube remains a hub for solo viewing.2. The Optimistic OutlookThe duo discusses how the digital evolution of legacy media is fueling a surprisingly positive outlook across the sector. Evan highlights his panel featuring TF1, France’s largest broadcaster, and news creator Gaspard G to illustrate this shift. This collaboration serves as a strategic blueprint for how legacy brands can think and act like creators to maintain relevance in a fragmented market.3. Deep Dive: The V Index & CTV StrategyDenis Oštir joins the conversation to explain V’s role as a top-three smart TV platform in Europe with a global footprint of 50 million connected TVs. Given their reach, V aims to solve a major measurement discrepancy where the same "eyeballs" are valued differently based on signal delivery (CPMs for digital vs. GRPs for broadcast). Oštir is inviting other OEMs and industry players to join an open standard to ensure content creators are fairly compensated as money shifts toward digital. Additionally, as Editor-in-Chief, he oversaw a "quality over quantity" shift that reduced their channel count from 100 to 80, which paradoxically led to a 20% increase in viewing time and engagement.4. Vertical Video: Couch vs. ToiletThe group debates the viability of vertical video on the big screen. Denis’ take: Vertical content is highly personalized, making it a poor fit for the social, shared environment of the living room. Evan's take: Premium vertical video has a future, but it’s for "the between times"—the bus, the doctor’s office, or the bathroom—not for the couch.Thank you to Denis Oštir for joining the pod!Denis Oštir - http://linkedin.com/in/denisostir/ V - https://v-home.com/ Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast00:00 StreamTV Europe Vibes02:04 Living Room Viewing Data with RTL AdAlliance04:25 Fragmentation and Partnerships05:29 Marion’s Favorite Panel: Super Aggregation or Super Fragmentation? 06:38 Evan’s Favorite Panel: TF1 & Gaspard G Transforming Journalism on YouTube with a Creator Mindset 08:19 Live Sports Becoming a Creator10:39 Industry Mood Shift14:58 Meet Denis Oštir, Editor-in-Chief of V17:03 V Index Measurement Fix22:57 Fixing FAST Data24:58 Trends in Viewing28:15 Editor in Chief Role29:23 Platform Monetization Model31:28 Vertical Video Debate34:58 Closing Thoughts

Summary

THE SUBSCRIPTION GAP

Apr 1600:44:41Summary ready

You have six subscriptions, can't remember what's on any of them, and still can't find something to watch. Welcome to the subscription economy in 2026.Get the full Subscription Signals 2026 report here: https://bango.com/reports/reserve-report/?utm_campaign=2026_Campaigns_SubscriberReport_ReserveReportMOIn this episode, Evan and Marion dig into Bango's Subscription Signals 2026 report: an annual study of subscription attitudes and behaviors across the US and UK. Then they are joined by Giles Tongue, VP of Marketing at Bango, to break down the findings. Bango is a white-label subscription bundling platform that powers the backend infrastructure behind multi-service bundles, allowing mobile operators, retailers, and pay TV providers to offer multiple subscriptions under one bill. The report paints a picture of a subscription economy under real strain: consumers feel they're overspending, they can't remember what they subscribe to or which platform holds what content, and discovery is broken. At the same time, the shift toward third-party bundling is accelerating, and a new generation of "savvy subscribers" is rethinking the entire relationship between cost, ads, and access.Key Takeaways:1. UK Subscribers Spend More Despite Fewer Bundling Traditions UK consumers average 5.7 subscriptions, spending roughly £68 ($90) a month, compared to 5.2 subscriptions and $69 a month in the US. The gap is partly because US pay TV providers like Comcast and Charter bundle broadband, mobile, and TV into a single household bill, making it appear as one subscription rather than several. The UK is catching up, with Sky recently launching a master bundle including Disney, HBO, and Netflix for around £24 a month.2. Consumers Feel Overcharged and Gen Z Is Reaching a Breaking Point Almost 25% of US consumers and nearly a third of UK consumers say they spend more on subscriptions than they can afford. Among Gen Z in the US, that number jumps to 41%. At the same time, attitudes toward ads have shifted dramatically: in 2024, 78% of subscribers strongly opposed ads on paid tiers, but now 36% of Americans say they'd accept double the ad load in exchange for a lower price. Among Gen Z and Millennials, that figure climbs to roughly half. The era of the ad-free subscriber is ending.3. Viewers Are Loyal to Shows and Talent, Not Platforms Nearly 60% of consumers in both the US and UK say they are more loyal to an individual show than to the platform delivering it. The data reinforces this: only 13% of people who watch Severance know it's on Apple TV+, and only 18% correctly identified Game of Thrones as an HBO show. Instead, most attributed it to Netflix. This makes a free tier essential for every streamer: if consumers are going to serial churn, a free ad-supported front porch keeps them in the ecosystem.4. Content Discovery Is Broken and the Industry Is Profiting From the Problem In the US, 30% of subscribers spend 30 minutes or more searching for something to watch. In the UK it's 41%, and among Gen Z it rises to 48% in the US and 56% in the UK. Platforms are actively monetizing this search friction through home screen advertising rather than fixing it. And that will cost them in acquisition, retention, and time spent over the long run. Giles points to AI-powered discovery tools like Liberty Group's Super Search as a glimpse of what the solution could look like.5. Bundling Is the Future Over a third of US subscribers and 39% of UK subscribers now get their subscriptions through third-party bundles via banks, mobile operators, or retailers rather than subscribing directly. That number is only growing year on year. Consumers say they trust mobile operators most to deliver their bundles ahead of pay TV providers. Giles' headline warning for the industry: telcos that don't keep delivering excellent bundled experiences risk having their own customers bundled inside someone else's platform. As he puts it, "bundle or be bundled."Thank you to Giles Tongue for joining the pod!Giles Tongue - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilestongue/ Bango - https://www.linkedin.com/company/bango/ Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast00:00 Gen Z Streaming Struggle00:37 Report Drop and StreamTV Buzz01:10 What Bango Actually Does02:50 UK vs US Subscription Math06:23 Bundles and Price Pressure08:30 What People Subscribe To Now15:41 Churn, Ads, and Show Loyalty23:15 Netflix Over Attribution24:17 Talent Follows Platforms24:57 Discovery Friction Crisis26:17 Ads Invade Home Screens27:42 Bundles Shift To Telcos31:32 Meet Bango And Giles36:40 AI Agents And Takeaways

Summary

THE MAKING OF A HIT PODCAST

Apr 900:58:46Summary ready

He helped create the most listened-to podcasts in history and then walked away from the New York Times to start over from scratch. Welcome to The Media Odyssey Podcast!In this episode, Evan and Marion sit down with Brian Reed, documentary podcaster and co-founder of Placement Theory, whose career spans documentary podcasts This American Life, S-Town, and now Question Everything. The conversation traces the origin story of Serial, which was expected to get a few hundred thousand downloads and ended up with hundreds of millions, all the way through to Brian's decision to leave the New York Times and build something new: Placement Theory, a audio production company built to support journalists and creators. Along the way, the episode digs into a question that runs underneath everything Brian makes: can quality, independent journalism survive? As local newsrooms collapse, public media gets defunded, and audiences feel overwhelmed and burned out, Brian makes the case that the desire for truth is still very much there as a market problem waiting for the right solution.Key Takeaways:1. Serial Was Expected to Get "a Few Hundred Thousand Downloads” Before It Got Hundreds of Millions When Sarah Koenig pitched Serial at This American Life, the team budgeted for a few hundred thousand downloads. It became the most listened-to podcast in the history of the format, redefining audio documentary as a medium, with hundreds of millions of downloads for the first season alone. Brian attributes much of this to the fact that they were reporting the Adnan Syed story in real time, week by week so it was breaking news every episode. It is clear the podcast played a direct role in Adnan's eventual release from prison.2. S-Town Was Designed as an Audio Novel and Released All at Once Brian started reporting S-Town before Serial even existed, after receiving a listener email with the subject line "John B. Macklemore lives in Shit Town, Alabama." When the subject died by suicide in 2015, the story transformed. Brian and editor Julie Snyder used novels as their creative model, labeling the installments chapters instead of episodes and releasing all seven at once. It was one of the first times that had ever happened in podcasting. S-Town now has hundreds of millions of downloads and is in development as a TV show at Apple TV+.3. The Economics of Serious Independent Journalism Are Hard, but People Want TruthBrian is direct about the financial reality of running an independent audio production company: they're still figuring out how to make the show profitable. Their current model blends bespoke sponsorships, listener support through KCRW's public radio fundraising, and eventual subscription offerings. The broader state of journalism is rough with thousands of local newspapers diappearing, public trust in journalists is at historic lows, and signs of media capture happening in the US.But there’s an optimistic conclusion from Brian’s on-the-ground reporting across the country: people do want reliable information. The problem isn't demand, it's discoverability and trust. This as a classic market problem that a journalism business should be positioned to solve.4. Audio Is More Intimate Than Video and That's a Strategic Advantage Worth ProtectingBrian's company Placement Theory is an audio-first production company, and that’s deliberate. Creating video versions of their work would essentially require making a documentary — a completely different and far more expensive enterprise. They experimented with video, found that they weren't posting frequently enough to build a YouTube audience, and redirected their energy to where their audience actually was: Apple Podcasts and NPR. He still sees potential in short-form video as a discovery tool, but doesn't want to sacrifice the intimacy that makes audio narrative work.Thank you to Brian Reed for joining the pod!Brian Reed - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-reed-887411166/ Placement Theory - https://www.placementtheory.com/ Question Everything - https://www.kcrw.com/shows/question-everything/all-episodesS-Town - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s-town/id1212558767 Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8Connect with us on Linkedin:Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Cancel Culture Cold Open (00:39) - Meet Brian Reed (01:32) - Why Documentary Podcasts Win (03:43) - Podcasting Origins and TV Adaptations (05:54) - Defining Documentary Audio (07:17) - This American Life Apprenticeship (11:12) - How Serial Was Born (17:50) - S-Town and the NYT Era (27:55) - Birmingham Letter Mystery (29:23) - Leaving the Times (29:49) - Building Placement Theory (31:52) - Question Everything Mission (34:04) - Making Podcast Economics Work (37:14) - Journalism in Crisis (44:08) - Creators, Audio, and Video (51:56) - Social Media Trials and Wrap

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