Digital Digest August 25th 2017

Daniel Murphy
Aug 25, 2017 · 4 min read

1. Big News

Movies, data and the future of content

MoviePass is a watch-all-you-want subscription service for going out to the movies. Last week the web went crazy when they dropped their price from $50/month to a mere $9.95 (reports are they hit 150,000 subscribers in just a couple of days and the traffic crashed their site). MoviePass works by sending you a special debit card so you can buy tickets like normal and the app’s use of geolocation prevents fraud (no gifting / reselling to pals).

You’d think the movie chains would be ecstatic: they often have spare seats to fill, they’ll get additional ticket $$$ and they will likely sell more reasonably priced popped corn and sugar water. The reaction, however, has been the opposite — AMC is looking into legal action to block the service.

How the hell can MoviePass make money on this deal you ask? Data my dear friend, data. The same day it announced the $10-a-month plan, MoviePass raised cash by selling a majority stake to the data firm Helios and Matheson Analytics. They’re betting the ability to connect all your actions online to real world behavior in the age of machine learning will give them unprecedented insight into how to make the hits (and that studios will pay handsomely for this intel).

Why it matters

  • AMC is right to be afraid. Once people expect something for free/cheap, it’s really tough to go back. (Who would ever pay $15.99 for an album in the post-Spotify/Apple Music/Tidal era?)
  • If I were the AMC CEO, I’d also be worried about getting “Amazon’d” over time… whatever movie pass is paying now for tickets will certainly go down if they capture a significant chunk of the market.
  • Location & physicality seemed to be one of the last moats around digital disruption. If the MoviePass model is successful, what is next? An all you can eat, data-subsidized subscription service for concerts? Uber? Outback Steakhouse?

Daniel’s .000007 BTC

  • The rocket ship analogy for startups is apt: they either reach orbit, burn up all their cash before escaping gravity or blow up on the launch pad.
  • It’s clear MoviePass will be one of the first two options.

2. I wish I thought of that

WILL A ROBOT BE MY BOSS? is a simple and provocative site that uses data from Oxford research to let you know when your job will be taken over by AI. (try taxi driver…)

3. Tool of the Week

Social Book offers deep, machine learning powered analytics to evaluate YouTuber audiences. This could be a very useful tool to see what plays well on YT and to make smart influencer recommendations for marketing clients.

4. Startup Radar

Essential raised $300M last month in advance of their first product launch — the PH-1. It is an Android handset that’s getting decent reviews and meant to compete with the top players (Pixel, GS8). If it gains traction, it may create a lane for “small batch artisanal” smartphone makers.

5. From the Archives

Terminator 2 was released this week in 3D (100% on rotten!). I saw it last night and was genuinely impressed by the 3D effects applied to film shot over 26 years ago (apparently it took a team of 1,400 artists took over a year to make it happen). If you were a fan of the original like me, it’s worth a rewatch in 3D.

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Daniel Murphy

Written by

SVP, Director of Digital Operations and Production at Deutsch

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