The mega-merger that will reach 750 million viewers
Lots of stuff is up for sale.
Hello,
Ah, September, a miserable old time if you’re listening to Greenday. Summer has come and passed etc. Firstly, not true if you’re in the southern hemisphere, summer is on its way. And if you’re living in an equatorial Pacific region, monsoon season is almost over. So, the picture is actually a lot more nuanced if you widen your lens, Greenday.
Secondly, is it that bad even if you are heading for winter? Autumn is the business end of the year, it’s when stuff happens. Rosé and a villa in the Med are all well and good but that’s the recovery phase. And recovery is only good if you’ve got something to recover from. Even if you don’t go charging into Q4, the leaves look nice and cardigans are back, there’s plenty to look forward to.
Dancin’ in September.
Hugo
Chief Autumnal Officer
The Business of Stuff
Prize draw
I am pleased to announce that the first winner of the 100 Stuffs competition is none other than my marvellous colleague Eliza! Well done Eliza you’ve won yourself a year’s subscription to Masterclass. Hello seriously well produced educational but entertaining content.
The next draw will be on 22nd September and entering has become even easier. All you have to do is get someone to subscribe and you will both be entered into the draw for a month’s supply of coffee/hot beverages from an outlet of your choice. Simply send them this link:
The Stuff
Competition authority unimpressed by Google 😑 - the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) suspects the tech company of abusing its dominant position by self-preferencing its own ad exchange over those of its competitors. Adtech is a murky old world that is largely hidden apart from us being asked obscure questions about cookies. Google is very much the puppetmaster, capitalising on the digital footprint we leave to sell adverts to the highest bidder.
A musician has been caught using bots to stream tracks he ‘owns’ 🎶- he racked up billions of streams which left him able to claim millions in royalties. He was given hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs by accomplice which he then used his army of bots to stream. The scheme had been running since 2018 and was thought to have generated over $10m in royalties.
John Lewis is bringing back its price pledge 🛍️ - ‘never knowingly undersold’ was dropped in 2019 but the store has decided it needs to challenge the value perception that is driving customers to their competitors. My favourite reporting of this move was by GB News which popped up when I googled the story. They claim it is a sign of John Lewis Partners fighting back ‘against wokery’. Having read the article I still can’t quite make the connection so maybe it was all just a ploy to make people click in confusion.
Megamerger to dominate Indian entertainment landscape 📺 - a proposed $8.5bn deal will bring together Reliance Industries and Walt Disney, capturing 40% of the Indian TV market and 750 million viewers. For context, that’s the same number of people as there are in Europe. The competition authority has waved it through on the proviso that they play nicely and don’t raise advertising rates too much.
There are loads of bombs that need disposing of in the Baltic 💣 - it seems like the sort of task that would suit a ragtag group of mercenaries with questionable pasts. Luckily Henreik Schönheit is already cleaning up after the Nazis with a robot called Norppa 300. He and Dieter Guldin founded SeaTerra an ordinance disposal company that is supporting the systematic disposal of 1.5 million tonnes of explosive material from WW2.
Anarchist collective teaching people how to make drugs 💊 - Four Thieves Vinegar Collective believes in the ‘right to repair your own body’ and so is teaching people how to make pirated DIY medicines. They have inevitably discovered that drugs which sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars cost mere cents to manufacture.
The owner of OnlyFans paid himself $631m over two years 💰 - the platform for ‘creators’ is a money-making machine with only 41 staff required to run it. It was started by father and son (?) team Guy and Tim Stokey in 2018 and has gone from strength to strength, thanks in part to the pandemic.
Want That Fudge suspended from social media 🍫 - the fudge maker from Scunthorpe’s business has been absolutely devastated by a mysterious ban from Instagram. They’ve been appealing to Meta for weeks and struggled to get through to a human but they are now investigating the issue. Meta, if you’re listening, we want that fudge!
TPG considering stake in Vinted at €5bn valuation 👗 - the US private equity firm is currently in discussions with the Lithuanian company to invest hundreds of millions. The second-hand marketplace has done fantastically well, capturing a desire amongst Gen Z not to just buy new stuff the whole time. Vinted is looking to develop its logistics business so it is able to provide more delivery services to customers.
The Hundred is being auctioned off to raise money 🏏 - 49% of the team is up for sale for a reported £500m with CVC Capital Partners being amongst the potential buyers who have a particular eye on the Oval Invincibles. The Indian Premier League Franchises are all interested in buying stakes which is a positive sign for something that wasn’t even a thing until 2021.
Quote of the week
“September is the other January” - Gretchen Rubin