Sean Spector

A fun morning at CES with Bloomberg News talking about 2026 Media Predictions 1. Streamers Will Own Their Discovery Feeds Vertical scrolling feeds move inside streaming apps. Short form becomes the front door, not a distraction. 2. AI Moves from Shiny Object to The Operating System. The experimentation phase is over. AI becomes the connective tissue linking recommendation engines, ad tech, CMS, and analytics into a single intelligence layer. 3. Broadcasters Become Community Aggregators. Traditional broadcasters reinvent themselves by combining subscription tiers, shorts, UGC, and hyper local content. In a fragmented landscape, community wins. 4. Consolidation Is Coming - Build Technical Value Should Not Stop. M&A pressure is mounting but regulatory timelines are long. Smart companies drive technical agility into the stack now instead of waiting for deals that may take years. #AI #CES #M&A

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Amazon just took a huge step toward owning your living room. And independent DSPs are cooked! Let me explain what happened ... The Fire TV maker is teaming up with Roku—the #1 CTV platform in the U.S.—to launch a massive joint ad network. Together, they now control access to 80% of connected TV households in the U.S. Amazon’s DSP will power ad placement across both Fire TV and Roku Channel. 💡Why does this matter? Because it’s not Netflix vs. Disney anymore. Arguably it never was. It’s Fire TV vs. Roku vs. Samsung vs. Google TV. Silicon Valley vs. Asian OEMs. This is a hardware + OS war for the TV home screen - and Amazon just moved into a commanding position. If Amazon ends up acquiring Roku (as many now predict for 2026), it won’t just be the biggest CTV deal of the decade. It would be the final blow to independent DSPs like The Trade Desk. I still don't get it!? Because whoever owns the OS, owns the pipes. No OS access = no data, no placement, no power. The Trade Desk has spent years building algorithms to optimize CTV buys. But if Roku and Fire TV stop giving them inventory or data, or price it up, it’s game over. And building a competing OS? Too late. Amazon just blocked the last open lane. CTV ad spend is expected to hit $30B in the U.S. Owning the operating system means owning: ✅ Ad inventory ✅ Audience data ✅ Content discovery ✅ The future of streaming itself. Shout-out to Anna K. for all the killer adtech insights on our flight form Cannes Lions to Vienna. (Anna, I ultimately missed my connection and had to overnight - Tafelspitz at Plachutta made it worth it 😅) 💬 What’s your take: Is Amazon about to buy Roku? And what does that mean for the rest of the CTV stack? #CTV #Amazon #Roku #AdTech

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I caught up with dLocal CEO Pedro Arnt and SVP Corp Dev Christopher Stromeyer to discuss the company’s Q2 2025 results and the factors driving its strong performance. dLocal posted a 50% rise in revenues to $256m – its fastest pace since 2023 – with cross-border volumes up 75%. All this helped push the share price 31% higher. Growth is broad-based, with Brazil and Mexico rebounding, while markets outside the company’s top three are expanding almost three times faster, strengthening diversification. Product innovation is also key, from SmartPix in Brazil to BNPL rollouts across multiple markets, alongside stablecoin settlement capabilities via partnerships with Circle and BVNK. With raised guidance across all key metrics, dLocal is positioning itself at the forefront of alternative payments and localised solutions for global merchants. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/eRMiuNms #Payments #Fintech #CrossBorder #EmergingMarkets #dLocal

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Raising a $160M Series F at an $8B valuation looks like the headline. But it’s not the most important part of today’s news... The real win is what this enables us to build, and we've started with Shared Spaces. Shared spaces makes secure collaboration between firms and their clients seamless.  With guest accounts, firms can share specific work product with clients - even if they aren’t Harvey users - while maintaining full control.  This builds directly on the collaboration features already live across Vault, Workflows, and Playbooks, bringing them together into a unified shared workspace.  More in the video below. We’re also announcing our Series F - led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from new investors T. Rowe Price and WndrCo, alongside continued support from Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Conviction, and Elad Gil. Both announcements reflect our commitment to leading the industry and supporting our customers as they scale their growth with Harvey. Grateful to our customers, employees, and investors, and energized for what’s ahead. 

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In 2007, Georgia generated roughly $100 million in annual direct production spend before uncapping its incentive program. By 2022, that number had climbed to $4.4 billion. In 2025, it sits closer to $2.3 billion — still impressive, but notably down. Why the drop? The global incentive race is pushing much of the industry overseas. Production is more mobile than ever. Capital is chasing the most competitive environments. Studios dictate the where and the what — and development stalls when those economics don’t pencil. Rock Paper Cannon flips the script. We are financing and producing recurring live-audience sitcoms in a business-friendly region with sitcom-specific state incentives — designed to create a stronger, more durable foundation for Oklahoma’s entertainment industry. For more than sixty years, broadcast sitcoms have stabilized legacy studios. We are using that same trusted format to rebrand and relocate the American sitcom genre. Which also allows our investors to monetize that asset. Oklahoma can become the destination for live-audience sitcoms. Nashville generates roughly $30 million a day in tourism revenue anchored to its entertainment identity. In Burbank, Universal earns more from the tourism ecosystem at CityWalk than from soundstage rentals alone. Branson thrives as a ticked live-entertainment destination. Demand for content has never been higher. Industry analysis shows global streaming platforms alone are projected to spend more than $100 billion on content in 2026 — nearly 40% of worldwide media production budgets. Total global content investment is forecast to reach approximately $255 billion this year. (deadline) Demand is accelerating.
Scripted output is declining.
Seasons are compressed.
Costs are rising.
Incentive competition is intensifying globally.
Platforms are prioritizing short-run subscription drivers over long-running libraries. A structural gap is forming.
Rock Paper Cannon is poised to fill it. Entertainment is art.
But it’s also an asset class.
The key is building systems that make creativity sustainable. Who’s coming with us? More on the blog rachelcannon(dot)com✨

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Roku just shocked Wall Street: 15% revenue growth + a surprise profit in Q2 2025. Here’s why this matters if you’re an indie filmmaker or small production company: Roku isn’t just selling devices anymore—it’s becoming a serious streaming powerhouse. ✅ $1.11B in revenue (beating expectations). ✅ 35.4B streaming hours (+5.2B YoY). ✅ Platform growth (+18% YoY) from ads + subscription revenue. ✅ Acquisition of Frndly TV (low-cost streaming) to expand content reach. This surge isn’t just numbers—it’s a clear signal: ad-supported streaming (AVOD) is booming. Roku thrives on free, ad-driven content, making it fundamentally different from subscription-heavy giants like Netflix or Hulu. And here’s where it gets interesting for creators: 🎬 Launching content on Roku is far more accessible than pitching to closed platforms. If you’ve got a finished indie project or micro-series, Roku offers a legitimate OTT pathway—without the gatekeepers. 🎯 With better ad-tech (Amazon DSP integration), your niche content stands a greater chance of reaching the right audience. 💡 Indie takeaway: The streaming wars aren’t only for billion-dollar studios. As platforms like Roku profit and scale, they open new doors for small creators willing to think like distributors, not just filmmakers. 🔑 If you’ve been looking for a practical way to test your content in the streaming market—Roku might be worth a serious look.

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Zipline, a U.S.-based drone logistics company backed by Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital, plans to expand to 5 additional Nigerian states by the end of 2025. This expansion follows an MOU signed with the Nigerian government in September 2024, allowing Zipline to use its #drone infrastructure to deliver essential #medical #supplies to #remote and #underserved areas. Zipline, which expanded to Nigeria in 2022, operates drone deployment stations, known as “nests,” in Bayelsa, Kaduna, and Cross River. The company is in talks with five more states to expand its network to seven nests, further strengthening its role in Nigeria’s #healthcare #supplychain Read more on TechCabal: https://lnkd.in/eBrMB-WW

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BREAKING: S&P just downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery to junk status (BB+) Why this matters: This downgrade reflects serious concerns about WBD's financial health three years after the Warner Media acquisition. With debt still weighing heavily on its balance sheet, the company faces critical strategic decisions. Key details: → S&P maintains a "negative" outlook on WBD's credit rating → Linear TV operations seeing accelerated revenue/cash flow declines → EBITDA forecast lowered to $9B for next three years → Leverage expected to remain above 3.5x until 2027 → Potential company split viewed as "credit negative" This downgrade highlights the ongoing transformation in media. Companies with significant linear TV exposure face mounting pressure as viewers shift to streaming. WBD's situation is particularly challenging with: • Higher exposure to general entertainment content • Weaker portfolio of domestic sports rights  • Loss of NBA broadcast rights after 2024/2025 • Smaller ad-supported streaming subscriber base than competitors My analysis: WBD faces a classic innovator's dilemma - invest in growing its streaming business (HBO Max) or focus on debt reduction. While streaming represents the future, the debt burden threatens financial stability. The company's reorganization signals potential separation, but S&P clearly views this as risky from a credit perspective. How should legacy media companies balance growth investments against debt reduction in this challenging environment? 👉 Follow me for more media industry analysis and updates. 🔄 REPOST to help others understand these complex media business dynamics.

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Jack Whitehall just did an equity deal with Seat Unique. Not an ambassador. Not a paid spokesperson. An actual shareholder. The comedian is taking equity in the premium ticketing platform that just ranked 5th in Deloitte's UK Technology Fast 50 with 7,921% growth. Think about the alignment. Whitehall spent his entire career in live entertainment. Comedy clubs. Theaters. Arenas. He knows what makes a great live experience. Seat Unique sells exactly that: VIP packages, hospitality suites, premium access to sports and entertainment events. Founded in 2018 by Robin Sherry and Phillipa Hicks, they've built something impressive: • £100M+ inventory from 120+ rights holders • Partnerships with Wembley, Welsh Rugby Union, Co-op Live • $28M raised with backing from sports stars like Harry Kane, Stuart Broad, Sam Warburton Now Whitehall joins that roster. He's committing to campaigns over the next two years while taking actual equity. Not just posting for a check. Building value he owns. This is what perfect celebrity-business alignment looks like. Whitehall investing in premium live entertainment makes sense. His audience trusts his taste in experiences. When he recommends a show or event, people listen. This isn't some random vodka brand or another men's grooming line. It's a comedian investing in the infrastructure of live entertainment, the industry that made him. As Seat Unique expands beyond the UK, having Whitehall's cultural backing opens doors that money alone can't. Smart celebrities are ditching endorsement deals for equity stakes. Because ownership beats a paycheck every time.

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