Facebook opened its first volley in the Content Wars (see: Apple vs Amazon vs Netflix vs AT&T/TimeWarner vs Comcast vs Disney vs FOX vs Verizon/Oath). Okay, it wasn’t THAT big of a shot in its bid to broadcast the Indian Premier League (Indian cricket matches) which it lost out to Rupert Murdoch’s Star. What’s interesting to note is that Facebook was looking at live content. Live content, the rule-of-thumb goes, is highly unskippable. Meaning that Consumers will watch the ads for fear of missing something that occurs. Additionally, the content is something that is preferred to be watched in that moment (no one likes to really see a replay of a game or have to avoid ESPN so as not to see the score of a game that they recorded). It also can be cheaper than building content for sitcoms or movies. Could their bid have been a primer for moving in on NFL broadcast rights that come up next year when Verizon’s mobile rights expire?
Is this the end of eCommerce and the revival of brick & mortar? With Alibaba’s $2.88 billion purchase of a stake in a top Walmart competitor in the Chinese market one would not be faulted for answering that question affirmatively but this is probably moreso that latest stage of the Imperial Army slowly mowing down the last of the Rebels. Sure companies like Amazon and eBay are never going to forsake their digital platforms but they have wrecked enough carnage in the brick & mortar world to now have a wide enough birth to start becoming omni-channel players. What does this mean for the surviving brick & mortar companies? Be afraid. Be very afraid. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba-spending-2-9-billion-111959145.html
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