Streaming's second decade begins now
Welcome to a midweek update from Unmade. Today’s full edition is for Unmade’s paying subscribers. Everyone else will hit a paywall further down.
Today: With Netflix celebrating its tenth anniversary of launching in Australia, ESPN coming to Disney+ tomorrow, and Max launching on Monday, subscription streaming’s second decade is now under way.
Plus, an update on the content for Unmade’s AI conference, HumAIn, and the indicators flash red on the Unmade Index.
If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:
A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade’s events, including HumAIn (6 May 2025), REmade (23 Sept), Unlock (Oct 2025), and Compass Australia (Nov 2025)
Member-only content and our paywalled archives;
Your own copy of Media Unmade.
A coupon code for a complimentary pass to HumAIn appears at the bottom of this post, below the paywall.
Art Meets Algorithm: AI Augmented Creativity on the agenda at humAIn
HumAIn curator Cat McGinn writes,
We can today reveal the humAIn opening session, The AI-Augmented Creative Showcase, a session exploring how AI can support and extend the creative process. Rather than replacing human creativity, the discussion focuses on how AI can be used to enable innovation and originality across ideation, production and post-production, and how creative professionals can guard against homogeneity and mediocrity when using AI tools.
Speakers include Vinne Schifferstein, managing director, Made This, Pip Bingeman, co-founder Springboards.ai, who will share case studies, examples and perspectives on working with AI in creative. Ben Cooper, founder, Brainstrust will reveal exclusive insights from D&AD’s comprehensive research into how creative professionals are using AI, with learnings to help accelerate creative adoption.
Pre-conference workshop Applied AI for Marketers tickets now on sale
The workshop offers a practical introduction to AI integration for marketing professionals. Facilitated by Jason Ross, co-founder of AI experience agency Time Under Tension, the two-hour session is designed to help attendees understand how to apply AI within existing workflows.
The session includes a 30-minute overview of organisational strategy and adoption barriers, followed by 60 minutes of hands-on experimentation with current tools, and concludes with a 30-minute Q&A focused on real-world problem solving.
Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how to approach AI integration responsibly and effectively.
The HumAIn early bird ticket deadline has been extended to 1 April 2025. Attendees can save $90 on a full priced ticket by registering at humAIn before next Tuesday.
Subscription streaming’s next chapter
Tim Burrowes writes:
Ten years on, it all seems inevitable.
Streaming was always going to supplant free to air as the preferred way to watch television. The convenience of watching what you want, when you want is inarguable - doubly so when the networks played such stupid games as intentionally running late to stop viewers switching channels, and being greedy with the number of advertising minutes per hour.
Just as Uber was a less horrible experience than Sydney taxis at the 3pm changeover, streaming was a quantum leap forward on broadcast TV - and worth paying for.
Yet, rewind to early 2015, and the winners of streaming were far less obvious.