Weekly Wrap: Greenwashed, Backslapped, and Budget-Jacked

I’m Kirby, founder of 43Twenty and The Streaming Wars. Every week, I handpick the best news, insights, and analysis from our FAST-paced industry (yes, pun intended). My mission? To make all this industry chaos easy to consume, no fluff, no filler. If this was forwarded, you can grab the newsletter here.

In today’s edition:

• The Streaming Madman rips into AdTech Week’s fraud, greenwashing, and VC-fueled hype

• Kirby unpacks Wall Street’s real streaming war—where perception beats programming

• Deloitte: Gen Z & millennials ditch SVOD for creator content

• YouTube tops Nielsen’s U.S. TV rankings with 11.6% share

• From the Archives revisits Blip.tv, the indie platform that paved the way for Patreon and Twitch

TSW SPOTLIGHT

The Streaming Madman critiques the spectacle of AdTech Week, highlighting how fraud, greenwashing, and middlemen siphon up to 65% of ad spend. Despite some real talk on brand safety, he likens the $20B adtech space to a VC-fueled cartel propped up by hype and crypto delusion. The Streaming Wars

Kirby breaks the “streaming wars” waged by investors, analysts, and bankers behind the scenes. This battle is about controlling narratives to move markets, where a well-timed analyst upgrade or leak can shift billions. The Streaming Wars

From the Archives revisits Blip.tv, the indie video platform that challenged YouTube with better rev shares and curated content. After its 2013 sale to Maker Studios, Blip quickly faded—but its influence lives on in today’s creator platforms like Patreon and Twitch. The Streaming Wars

FROM THE FRONTLINES

Playback raised $22M to build a creator-first livestreaming sports platform. With rights from NBA and MLB, it's betting that community and commentary will matter more to young fans than cable bundles ever did. The Streaming Wars

JioHotstar just crossed 100 million paid subscribers, dominating India’s streaming scene by fusing cheap prices, telco tie-ins, and a firehose of sports and entertainment. The Streaming Wars

YouTube just hit an all-time high 11.6% share of U.S. TV viewing in Nielsen’s February rankings, topping Disney and claiming the No. 1 spot for the second time. CTV growth is being powered by Boomers—65+ viewing has nearly doubled. The Streaming Wars

Paramount+ is rolling out Premium and Basic tiers in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. With tiered pricing already working overseas, Paramount is gunning for more subs, ad dollars, and regional monetization. The Streaming Wars

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Looper Insights says most Americans don’t care about sports when picking streamers—56% say rights don’t matter, and only 14% will pay extra. That’s a reality check for execs banking on sports to boost subs. Link

Deloitte says Gen Z and millennials are ghosting streaming services for creator content on social platforms. This trend is driving SVOD churn, undermining value, and rerouting ad dollars to platforms with better targeting and tech. The Streaming Wars

PARTNERSHIPS

NFL & WePlay Studios are teaming up for NFL Offsides, a weekly game show dropping on YouTube April 15. NFL players, Legends, and gaming creators face off in IRL stunts and video game battles, all wrapped in a ‘90s-style package built for Gen Z. The Streaming Wars

RACER is buying and rebranding MAVTV, gunning to become North America’s go-to motorsports hub across cable, FAST, and streaming. Expect 300+ live races and more car culture content revving up in 2025. The Streaming Wars

Infinite Reality dropped $207 million to buy Napster, planning to reboot the OG music brand as a Web3 -powered social platform where artists can stream concerts, hawk merch, and hang with fans in the metaverse. The Streaming Wars

PFL signed a multi-year deal with STARZPLAY to stream all its MMA leagues in MENA. The Saudi-backed push kicks off April 3, with free regional access in 2025 and a clear play to bulk up STARZPLAY’s sports lineup. The Streaming Wars

ICYMI

Philo has quietly grown to 3.4M monthly active users, fueled by its hybrid of subs and FAST channels. It’s now courting advertisers with robust data, boasting 79M hours streamed and 900M monthly impressions. Link

Netflix is now streaming in HDR10+ on AV1-supported devices, delivering sharper visuals while saving bandwidth. Better picture quality, broader device reach—same subscription. The Streaming Wars

These weekly wrap ups will drop on Linkedin every Tuesday. If you'd like them 3 days sooner, plus our Daily Wrap, some original insights and curated job listings, consider signing up for The Streaming Wars newsletter directly