Disney Fox Max+
February 7th, 2024
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It’s the middle of the week. In honor of Hump Day, we want to know your productivity hacks. Do you time block? Do you use AI to organize your schedule? Just respond to this email with your tips and tricks.
In other news… sports streaming is evolving, the Apple Vision Pro is fashion, and Gen Z has an early bedtime.
Top Trends
YouTube → Palm Royale Google → Toby Keith | Reddit → Bill Maher TikTok → “Flowers” Spotify → “Turn the Lights Back On” |
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SPORTS
Streaming homerun
Sports streaming moves under one roof
The Future. Disney, Fox Corp., and Warner Bros. Discovery are joining forces to launch a sports streaming venture that’ll be the ultimate hub for each company’s sports programming. Blending the discoverability of cable for customers with the economics of cable for the participating companies, the service could kick off a major consolidation and rebundling across the entire streaming ecosystem.
Disney Fox Max+
Disney, Fox, and WBD decided to all play for the same team.
The joint venture, co-owned by the three companies, will bring together sports programming from ESPN, ABC, TNT, FS1, and more acronyms than you can count on two hands.
Customers will be able to watch games from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, FIFA, Formula 1, and nearly every other major sports league — roughly 85% of the sports rights market.
The still-unnamed service will launch in the fall, and pricing is TBD, but it’s expected to have a monthly cost close to Hulu Live or YouTube TV ($75 to $80 per month).
Of note, the service won’t stop each company’s independent sports streaming plans, such as Disney’s expansion of ESPN+ and WBD’s rollout of Bleacher Report.
The service, which will have independent management and branding, will act like a distribution hub for the three participating companies — it’ll license programming from the three participating broadcasters. The hope, according to Variety, is to remake the affiliate fee market for streaming that’s been so lucrative on cable for decades.
Or, more simply, welcome to Cable+.
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FASHION
Courtesy of Apple
The Apple Vision Pro gets fitted for fashion
The Future. Luxury brands are keeping a close eye on the rollout of the Apple Vision Pro, which may not just be one of the most incredible tech innovations of the decade but also the device that finally makes wearing big, techie goggles on the daily a normal occurrence. If enough people have them strapped on their faces while out in the world, don’t be surprised if virtual clothing starts to become a mainstream trend.
Luxury lens
The Vision Pro may be the next accessory that transforms the runway.
Every Apple device in recent memory has become a fashion statement in some way, including the Watch, the Airpods Max, and, ironically, the wired Apple headphones.
Luxury brands have jumped on the bandwagon, with designers like Michael Kors, Hermès, and Ted Baker offering high-end alternatives to Watch bands or carrying cases.
German brand BandWerk is wasting no time getting started on accessories for the Vision Pro — a line of headbands, including one made of Italian leather, will be available soon.
Top style journalist Max Berlinger says that Apple has always been “fashion-adjacent.” And that vibe may also extend to its apps — luxury ecommerce platform Mytheresa has a VisionOS shop that transports customers to Paris and Capri, while Swatchbook’s Remix app lets designers send clients a 360-degree rendering of items that they can literally walk around.
It looks like the boundary between hardware and software is already blurring.
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Hit up Nebulab.
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CULTURE
Early sleepytime // Illustration by Kait Cunniff with Midjourney
Gen Z has an early bedtime
The Future. Although experts say that people really only need seven to nine hours of sleep per night, Gen Z is inching towards ten hours… and going to sleep early to accommodate. The new sleep schedules are a byproduct of hybrid work schedules, a lack of spending money, and a focus on health and wellness… all of which may force nightlife culture to start the moment the sun sets if it hopes to attract a younger crowd.
Cozy culture
Sorry, night owls… it’s apparently now cool to go to sleep early.
A 2022 study found that people in their 20s are getting an average of nine hours and 28 minutes of sleep per night — an 8% increase from 2010. (People in their 30s and 40s posted smaller increases.)
Naturally, that means bedtimes are getting earlier — an analysis of two million Sleep Number smart-bed customers between the ages of 18 and 34 went to bed at 10:06pm on average.
The reason for the shut-eye surge is twofold — young people are way more aware of the link between sleep and health, and the #SoftGirl trend (2.9 billion views) has made turning in early a viral sensation.
Businesses are already trying to accommodate for the earlier bedtimes. Reservations for restaurant seatings between 4pm and 6pm now make up 31% of all reservations on Yelp.
We guess happy hour is just regular ole dinner now.
So, we want to hear from you…
YOUR DAILY POLL
We ask the hard-hitting questions.
Are you an early bird or a night owl? |
50.3% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Are you looking forward to Usher’s halftime performance?
“I care about the game.”
“Not my genre.”
“Waiting with bated breath!”
“Looking forward to all things Super Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday.”
“Those who were less than excited by the idea are about to be seriously reminded of this man’s caliber and his catalog.”
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Who’s as good as gold?
Drum roll, please… the winners for the 3rd Annual Anthem Awards have been announced!
The Anthem Awards celebrate the purpose and mission-driven work of people, companies, and organizations worldwide. This year’s winners include some of the most impactful projects, inspiring activists, and innovative leaders in the world.
They’ve also recognized Matt Damon, Misty Copeland, Kevin Bacon, Jesper Brodin, Aurora James, Leon Ford, Selma Blair, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson with special achievement honors. What a crew!
Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
Disney is facing a second battle with an activist-investor — Blackwells Capital has nominated three people to the board of directors. Read More → thr
Due to the UMG fallout, over a third of the songs on Billboard’s TikTok Top 50 chart have disappeared from the platform. Read More → billboard
Spotify has quickly emerged as the second-largest audiobook platform in the world, just behind Audible. Read More → techcrunch
Fashion & E-Commerce
Gap has named designer Zac Posen as its creative director, who’s now tasked with refreshing the output of all of Gap’s brands. Read More → bof
Lyft is introducing a novel “minimum pay standard” for all of its drivers, ensuring that they make at least 70% of what their riders paid for trips each week. Read More → fastcompany
Stanley is leveraging the TikTok fame of its big water bottles to build hype for its first apparel line. Read More → highsnobiety
Tech, Web3, & AI
Meta is calling on the AI industry to develop a standardized label for AI-generated content after its Oversight Board claimed that its policies on deepfakes were “incoherent.” Read More → nyt
Adam Neumann is making a play to buy WeWork out of bankruptcy five years after he was forced out for crashing the company in over-promised, under-delivered hype. Read More → wsj
Bioscience firm BD actually invented the blood-testing tech that Theranos fraudulently claimed to have developed a decade ago. Read More → fastcompany
Creator Economy
Bluesky, the decentralized X competitor, is finally clear for public signups. Read More → techcrunch
YouTube is giving users the ability to filter their feeds by the color of their thumbnails for a more pleasing scrolling experience. Read More → theverge
Speaking of YouTube, the platform accounts for one billion minutes of watch time on TV every day. Read More → tubefilter
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Boye Akolade. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.
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