Weekly Wrap: The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath CTV Gatekeepers

TSW Shortlist: 5 Stories From Last Week That Still Matter

🎙 Phil Wendler (FloSports) joins the pod We chopped it up with the EVP of FloSports about how they’ve built a sustainable platform without tier-one leagues—fueled by 40K+ niche events, a vertical model, and a serious sense of mission. Also on the menu: Beastie Boys, parenting, and staying locked in. → [Listen to the episode]

📉 Apple vs. the DOJ heats up Apple’s been referred to federal prosecutors for criminal contempt over its App Store practices. If you're Roku, Amazon, or Vizio—this isn’t just noise. Skip breaks down what it means for platform tax models in the CTV world. → [Explore the platform tax fallout]

🛍 Shoppable TV: cool tech, wrong problem Skip's latest rant hits where it hurts. Most “buy now” overlays aren’t solving user pain—they’re adding friction. The real opportunity? Using interactivity to build loyalty, not sell crap. → [Read Skip’s take]

🌍 Roku’s global blind spot Roku’s $185M Frndly TV deal was more about infrastructure than content. But the real story is what Roku still lacks: international scale. And that blind spot could cost them their edge in a market going global fast. → [Why it matters]

📺 The churn you built is the churn you get Legacy media taught users to binge and bail. Now they're stunned by the spike in churn. Meanwhile, YouTube and Netflix are eating every other platform’s lunch with habit, frequency, and personalization. → [Inside the retention fallout]

“There are roughly 2.7 million video titles out there across five countries.About 86.7% is available via streaming.That’s 3.5 million hours of content—or 400+ years of non-stop watching. That’s not a flex. That’s a problem.”— Skip Buffering

I’m Kirby, founder of 43Twenty and The Streaming Wars.

Every week, I handpick the biggest moves, boldest insights, and sharpest commentary from across the streaming industry—so you can actually keep up without getting buried in fluff.

If you want the full Weekly Wrap (the real breakdown drops Saturdays, ad-free and straight to your inbox), go here.