Attack Of The Drones

PRESENTED BY VIIA

Happy Thursday, FutureParty people. Who’s traveling for the holidays? According to AAA, a lot of you are — a record 119.3 million Americans, to be exact. 90% of travelers are expected to hit the road to get to their destination, so here’s your reminder to get that oil change and check your tire pressure.

While direct-to-streaming movies dominated the COVID years in a rush to catch up with Netflix’s original library, it turns out that releasing movies in theaters is really the best way to capture the most engagement when it lands on a streamer.

The Big Picture: A lot of money was spent to ramp up production during the streaming wars. But, when it comes to movies, many barely made a blip on the cultural radar. Why? It turns out that traditional marketing campaigns, press tours, and box office numbers have more sway than an algorithm… unless you’re Netflix.

Behind the Scenes: In modern Hollywood, releasing a movie is no longer about success on one type of screen.

The Future: During Disney’s last earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said, “A successful Disney movie today drives more value than it ever has in the past” — meaning a movie that’s successful in theaters can also be successful on streaming and then successful in the parks, etc. It’s a steady waterfall of revenue over time. So, while Netflix successfully sticks to its guns on streaming only releases (there’s just no other platform with the same scale and impact), expect the theatrical-movie calendar to really beef up over the next few years.

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The Great Drone Panic of 2024 (which turned out to be a big nothing-burger) will go down as one of the oddest but far-reaching conspiracies of 2024 — a tale of how citizens, government officials, and even the President-Elect got caught up in mass, social-media driven paranoia.

Why It Hits: Outcry over the drones is the latest example of trust breaking down across American society and government. If there’s this much dangerous speculation over what’s allegedly nothing, we may be ill-equipped to handle a real technological threat.

Behind the Curtain: Boy, did people get worked up by the drone sightings over the past three weeks.

Closing Thoughts: What a ride. But blame can’t totally be put on the mass hysteria of concerned citizens. A Chinese spy balloon was downplayed and then shot down in February 2023; WSJ reported that mysterious drones were spotted near Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last year; and an uncovered Department of Homeland Security memo warned that cities were woefully unprepared for protecting from drone attacks (a staple on the Ukrainian battlefront). Expect the rollout of cutting-edge drone-detection tech to go nationwide next year.

Go Higher: Wing and DoorDash are teaming up to fulfill food orders via drone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so things are about to get even more complicated.

Peak shopping season isn’t over yet! Two thirds of consumers plan to shop the week after Christmas, and “Q5” – the period between Christmas and mid-January – has become a significant shopping window.* Roku Ads Manager makes it easy to run self-serve CTV ads and reach shoppers where they’re streaming post-holidays. Get started for as little as $500 and find your next customers on the big screen. (*National Retail Federation, 2023)

Discover CTV performance on Roku

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66% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Do you think individual actions can significantly reduce plastic pollution?

“Every little bit helps!”

“We’re all just drops in a bucket of water, but we have to first affect those who produce the plastic and get them to make something else. That will be hard to do...”

“Any change is good, but the major offenders need to step up and stop gaslighting individuals.”

“You’d have to stop getting takeout, stop going out to eat, and stop shopping for goods with plastic wrapping. It’s hard. I’ve tried. Plastic is everywhere.”

“Individuals aren’t the problem. The entities wrapping their products in plastic are. They leave it up to us to figure out how to dispose of it — either recycle or trash. But the burden should lie on the shoulders of those who produce plastic. They should have a foolproof plan for how to dispose of it. The government and industries should hold the manufacturers responsible for the products they make. Making individuals responsible for the disposal of plastic is passing the buck, and, as we’ve seen, not a true solution.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

📽️ Disney is the only studio to hit $2 billion at the domestic box office this year, thanks to Inside Out 2 and Moana 2.

🎞️ A new report by the National Association of Theatre Owners found that 85% of Americans plan to go to the movies more next year.

🛹 Roku scored the X Games in a major deal for its sports-rights push.

👨‍⚖️ The Supreme Court has decided to hear TikTok’s free speech case against being banned on January 19th.

🏢 Amazon delayed its return-to-work mandate because it now doesn’t have enough office space. Hilarious.

₿ Australian businessman Craig Wright, who claimed (and was disproved) of being Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto, faces a $1.2 trillion lawsuit.

🛍️ Speaking of Bitcoin, luxury brands may now start accepting it as payment.

🍝 An app called Access is offering guaranteed reservations to NYC restaurants for the not-so-insane price of $1,788 per year.

🎁 Influencers and brands are in a real gifting mood this holiday season.