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Netflix Watches as Instagram Unites a Quarantined World
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- “Oh, I like HER,” she says, referring to a berry-toned lipstick. Sarah Hyland, the 29-year-old funny actress best known for playing Haley Dunphy on ABC’s “Modern Family,” is trying on makeup for an Instagram Live audience while at home riding out the pandemic, seemingly as bored as the rest of us. It’s by no means a production: just Hyland in front of her cell phone, using an in-app filter that gives her eyeliner and oversize lashes, sitting at what looks to be a desk, weeding out her cosmetics collection.I don’t know why I’m watching. “Why am I watching this?,” one of her thousands of other viewers suddenly posts in the scrolling comments, as if from my thoughts to that person’s fingertips. Having our normal daily lives upended by the coronavirus has heightened the demand for entertainment — and not just Netflix. We’re looking for content that provides some semblance of human connection, intermittent LOL moments to briefly escape reality. As Kevin Roose put it in the New York Times last week, “The virus is forcing us to use the internet as it was always meant to be used.”There’s also something comforting about seeing celebrities going through the same thing as everyone else, flattening the societal hierarchy so that their feeds run alongside that of our own friends and families. Social media is a place for wholesale interaction, whether it be through memes, amateur TikTok dances, silly Snapchat snaps, Instagram boomerangs of the night’s meal or photos of the view outside, where we all suddenly wish we could be. It’s just enough pleasant distraction; we don’t have to commit our full attention to a 45-minute TV episode, especially when there’s already too much lonely, idle couch viewing happening because of the shelter-in-place orders.Kantar, a consumer research firm, is finding that as countries move deeper into the pandemic, TV viewing and social media engagement both rise by more than 60%. (At that rate, we could quickly grow bored with apps like Netflix and Disney+.) The U.S. may still be in the relatively early stages, but in Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries, Facebook Inc. said that Instagram and Facebook Live views doubled in a week. That yearning for connection is giving more adults a window into why younger people are so amused with watching their peers and celebrities just going about their lives — even when they appear to be doing nothing special at all. George Costanza would love it: videos about nothing.View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib) on Mar 20, 2020 at 12:31am PDTBut if that is what’s missing from Netflix and other TV, could it be that someday it’s not? Perhaps the future of streaming is to aggregate both studio-produced content and user-generated content in a way that allows you to seamlessly scroll between both. That’s how we’re starting to use entertainment, but that’s not yet how it’s delivered to us. Facebook Watch is a step toward the idea, though it has a long way to go. And Google’s YouTube is more of a video-search platform than a sit-back-and-stream service (notwithstanding its YouTube TV subscription for live programming).Quibi, a streaming app launching April 6, borrows from the brevity of user-generated social content, but leaves out the human-connection aspect. It’s the brainchild of Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, a pair of Hollywood and tech old timers, who say the name is short for “quick bites” (though it’s pronounced “qwih-bee”). All of its programs will have episodes that are 10 minutes long or less. Plenty have scoffed at the idea of Quibi trying to get 25- to 35-year-olds to pay $5 a month for an app with bite-size content that still contains ad interruptions. Yet, Katzenberg and Whitman have managed to raise nearly $2 billion for the service and have struck production deals with major studios and entertainers, including Chrissy Teigen and actress Sophie Turner.Social media used to be something college kids did on their laptops, separate from TV time. Now we all do it on our phones, often while the TV is playing. It shows that what’s missing from Netflix, Disney+ and all the other emerging streaming ecosystems is the ability to connect with one another. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Tara Lachapelle is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the business of entertainment and telecommunications, as well as broader deals. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Sat, 28 Mar 2020 12:00:53 +0000Read moreGoogle-parent Alphabet to donate $800 million in response to coronavirus crisis
The company is working with Magid Glove and Safety to produce 2 million to 3 million face masks, and will financially support efforts to boost the production capacity for lifesaving medical devices and personal protective equipment, Pichai said. The rapid outbreak, which has killed nearly 25,000 people globally, has strained healthcare systems around the world and led to a shortage of medical equipment including face masks and ventilators. The company will provide $340 million in Google ad credits to small and medium businesses active on its platform and $250 million in ad grants for the World Health Organization and many government agencies, Pichai said in a blog post.
Sat, 28 Mar 2020 02:22:22 +0000Read moreGoogle Offers $800 Million to Virus Relief, Including Ad Credits
(Bloomberg) -- Google is pledging $800 million in relief funds to customers and health-care workers, joining a list of corporations providing money and materials to address the coronavirus pandemic.The contributions include $250 million in advertising credits for the World Health Organization and $340 million to small businesses to run promotions with Google, Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google and parent Alphabet Inc., announced Friday. The economic fallout from the pandemic has dried up marketing spending. Another $20 million gives researchers working on the novel virus credits to use the company’s cloud-computing services.Google also said it would be working with a partner, Magid Glove and Safety Manufacturing LLC, a supplier based in Illinois, to produce between 2 million and 3 million face masks in the coming weeks. Protective masks are in dire shortage across hospitals in the U.S.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Fri, 27 Mar 2020 17:08:37 +0000Read moreApple Joins Others in Launching Covid-19 Screening Tools
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. joined technology giants such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google in launching Covid-19 screening tools for users to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.The Cupertino, California-based company on Friday released an app for iPhones and iPads with information abut the pandemic and questions to help users determine if they should be tested for the illness. Apple also released a corresponding website with similar functions. The company said it partnered with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build the tools.Apple previously added CDC guidelines about social distancing and curbing the spread of the virus to many of its online platforms, including its website, the App Store and Apple Music. It also recently added answers about the virus to its Siri digital assistant.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Fri, 27 Mar 2020 16:42:58 +0000Read moreGoogle, Oracle and Trump Put on Supreme Court Hold By Virus
(Bloomberg) -- The coronavirus pandemic has put on indefinite hold a major portion of the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket, including a multibillion-dollar clash between software giants Google and Oracle Corp. and cases that could affect President Donald Trump’s re-election chances.What was supposed to have been a drama-filled spring at the high court has instead become a season of waiting, especially for the lawyers and litigants in 20 arguments that had been scheduled for March and April. The court has postponed 11 of those cases and could do the same soon for the remaining nine.The cases include fights over congressional and grand jury subpoenas for Trump’s financial records -- clashes that need to be resolved in the court’s current term to give the president’s critics any chance of seeing the documents before the November election. Also on hold is a clash over the Electoral College for presidential elections and an $8 billion copyright dispute between Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Oracle.It’s not clear whether the justices are still hoping to resolve those cases in their current term, possibly by forgoing argument or by breaking tradition and hearing arguments by phone or online. Lawyers say they’ve received no guidance from the court on the subject, though briefing deadlines are still in force. The term normally ends in late June, although that time frame is now in doubt as well.‘Just Waiting’“As far as oral arguments go, we’re just waiting upon the court,” said Jay Sekulow, the lead lawyer for Trump in the president’s bid to block a New York grand jury subpoena for the president’s financial information. The case had been set for argument March 31.Courtroom arguments are unlikely anytime soon. Elderly people are at increased risk of dying should they contract the coronavirus, and two justices are in their 80s -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, who’s been treated in recent years for pancreatic and lung cancer, and Stephen Breyer, 81. Four others are 65 or older, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 65, whose type 1 diabetes puts her at additional risk.The court is moving ahead with rulings in dozens of cases that have already been argued. The justices issued four opinions earlier this week and plan to issue more on Monday. All nine justices are healthy and took part in a scheduled private conference by phone Friday, spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.Time-Sensitive CasesThe grand jury subpoena case shows the difficulty of holding arguments in the near future. Sekulow’s adversary would be Carey Dunne, a lawyer in the Manhattan district attorney’s office whose city is at the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak. The White House says anyone traveling from New York should self-quarantine for 14 days.And yet the subpoena cases are also among the most time-sensitive, at least from the standpoint of the Democrats seeking the information. Lower courts required Trump’s banks and accountants to turn over the records, which could include his tax returns, but those rulings are on hold.“Delaying this case is effectively picking a side,” seven liberal groups led by Demand Justice said Wednesday. “Every day that Trump is allowed to keep his tax returns secret is a day that he has won and the public has lost.”Similarly, the court had been aiming to resolve clashes over the Electoral College, the body that will formally select the next president, before any election controversies may arise. At issue in cases scheduled for argument April 28 is whether states can stop “faithless electors” who try to cast a vote for someone other the candidate who won their state’s balloting.“We’ve gotten no indication about whether it’s going forward,” said Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor and the lawyer for two groups of electors who say they have the right to vote as they please. But “we’re preparing as if it is.”Google and OracleOther cases could more easily be deferred until the new term opens in October. That includes Google’s appeal of a ruling that the software giant improperly used Oracle’s copyrighted programming code in the Android operating system. Oracle says it’s entitled to at least $8.8 billion in damages in the case, which had been scheduled for a March 24 argument.Google’s lawyer, Tom Goldstein, said he is preparing as if the argument will now be in April even though “it’s unlikely.” That includes taking part in “moot court” practice arguments using Google video chat, he said.Joshua Rosenkranz, Oracle’s lawyer, said he’ll put his three planned moot courts back on his schedule once the court sets a new argument date. He said he expects Chief Justice John Roberts, who argued 39 Supreme Court cases before becoming a judge, will ensure the lawyers have ample time to ramp back up.“The chief justice certainly knows how much time it takes to prepare to stand up in the Supreme Court,” he said.(Updates seventh paragraph to show opinions will be released Monday, justices are healthy)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Fri, 27 Mar 2020 16:31:54 +0000Read more