‘Strictly Business’ 2023 Rewind: Hollywood Strikes, AI Bites, Streaming Wars Turn Ugly and Taylor Swift Takes All
variety.comCynthia Littleton Business Editor From Hollywood strikes to the ascent of AI to sinking stock prices, 2023 was a topsy-turvy year for media and entertainment.
Cynthia Littleton and Andrew Wallenstein, hosts of Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” discuss the highs and lows of the past year on the latest episode.
Wallenstein, president and chief media analyst of Variety Intelligence Platform data division, pointed to the spread of easy-to-use generative AI tools as the biggest unknown that is casting a cloud over the industry. “This is something that is still just in the very early stages of transforming so many processes, particularly in production — and even of course beyond this industry,” Wallenstein observed.
The hosts also discuss the twists and turns of the streaming wars in a year when traditional Hollywood faced steep cuts. Netflix earned the right to do a “victory lap,” the hosts agreed, for solidifying its global lead in streaming subscribers. “It was the year of pullback that everybody knew was coming but nobody was quite ready to articulate it until [Warner Bros.
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