27th June 2021
The TV Hit Isn’t Just Dying – It May Already Be Dead. Two years ago, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” gathered 20 million viewers to watch its finale. Nothing on the current pay-TV landscape would stand a chance of coming close. A new culture of niche TV has given a platform to more voices for narrower audiences and is helping to retain subscribers: “If you’re Netflix, it makes a lot more sense to have five small shows that are liked by five different family members than one show that all five family members can watch together, you’re much less likely to unsubscribe from the service in the first option. There’s always going to be something someone wants.” (ht @storythings).
Google’s Chrome web browser will not fully block tracking cookies until late 2023, the Alphabet company said on Thursday, delaying by nearly two years a move that has drawn antitrust concerns from competitors and regulators. Rivals accuse the world’s biggest online ads seller by revenue, of using improved privacy as a pretence to gain greater market share.
Here are all the Cannes Lions 2021 ‘Reach’ Grand Prix Winners. Pakistan takes its first ever Grand Prix and Reddit goes large.
Little Amal’ – Not so ‘little’ at 3.5 metres, this 9 year old Syrian child was created by The Handspring Puppet Company & The Good Chance Theatre and will be travelling across Europe to spread awareness of theplight of refugees. Along with hundreds of artists and cultural organisations, you can help her along her way HERE.
Here, a couple of social media stories of import this week. TikTok is launching ‘TikTok Jump’ which enables brands and creators to build mini-programs and services that they can link to from their videos…and Instagram are testing ‘Fan-Club’ Stories – exclusive content that can only be viewed by members of an approved group.
From The Guardian. NFTs and me: meet the people trying to sell their memes for millions.
A chilling video from Australian charity, Anglicare WA makes you feel colder through ‘temperature contagion’. This is a scientific phenomenon where people unknowingly cool their own body temperature by up to 1-degree when seeing or hearing someone who is suffering from the cold. Here the presenting actor is experiencing mild hypothermia after spending one hour in a commercial freezer. (45″)
This is why small museums are stealing the show on TikTok.Museums can sometimes have a reputation for being distant and static — scattered with ‘Do Not Touch’ signs and often incomprehensible plaques. On TikTok, however, innovative institutions have seen great success, bringing their collections and knowledge base to life by leaning into opportunities to bring lighthearted humour to serious history and culture.
A former NRA president unknowingly delivered a commencement speech to 3,044 victims of gun violence. (1.56″).
The famous Easter Island heads, have bodies which are buried underground.