platforms

Letterboxd was one of the last “clean” and community-focused platforms. Now the fear is that it will end

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Letterboxd has been the exception that proves the rule in the wild landscape of social networks for years: it is one that grows without sacrificing your communitywithout optimizing screen time by trampling on the quality of its users’ experience, without searching for viral content at all costs. Now, the Canadian company that controls 60% of the platform is looking for a buyer, and a question arises that has very short legs, because we already fear the little things that are coming. Where does it come from? Letterboxd was born in 2011 in Auckland, New Zealand, by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow. It functioned as a digital diary where movie fans could record what they saw, rate it, and share it with whoever they wanted. Without feeds algorithmic (there is not much doomscroll on Letterboxd), no viral content from strangers, no (too much) intrusive advertising. Just movies, opinions and the formation of a community relieved to be able to leave the suffocating world of trendsthe hashtags and the influencers. The growth. For almost a decade it was a niche tool, but with the pandemic, Letterboxd grew from 1.8 million users in 2020 to 17 million in 2024. Nearly 100 million reviews were written that year. In 2026 it has reached 26 million members. All of that growth has occurred without the main feed ceasing to be chronological, more akin to a classic 2006 incarnation of Facebook than any current social network. She soon became known in the industry. A24 explicitly cited Letterboxd when talking about the strong theatrical debut ‘The brutalist‘ and directors like Michael Mann, Rian Johnson or Francis Ford Coppola they ended up using the platform as a genuine space to talk about your film-loving tastes. Tiny arrives. In September 2023, the Canadian Tiny (investor that owns very different brands, such as the AeroPress coffee machine manufacturer) acquired 60% of Letterboxd for between 50 and 60 million dollars. The founders retained a minority stake and continued at the helm, and users were promised independence and respect for what had made the platform grow, something that was broadly fulfilled. Some more advertising appeared, a movie rental service that was difficult to access and little else. Tiny leaves. Now, Tiny wants to go out. The company has contacted with possible buyers: Versant, parent company of CNBC and MS NOW, and The Ankler, a specialized media with which it already attempted an operation in 2025 that did not prosper. The reason is that Tiny’s shares have fallen since the acquisition of Letterboxd. Additionally, the platform was purchased through its venture capital fund. sign that Tiny always planned for a quick change of hands. The Goodreads precedent. It’s a similar case in terms of community, function, and size: Goodreads is the literary equivalent of Letterboxd, and ended up being acquired by Amazon in 2013, while also promising not to botch the platform’s user experience. Today we know that Amazon uses it to collect user data and it is true that it has barely touched it. But that has its negative impact: the design is practically unusable today, moderation does not exist and users are beginning to migrate to alternatives like The StoryGraph. The fear of shit. At this point we already know perfectly well what the term refers to, which has an almost academic status: the enshittificationcoined by Cory Doctorow, happens when platforms start by offering a good user experience to attract users, then they exploit them to attract clients with money to invest in the business and finally they also exploit those clients to maximize short-term profits. Letterboxd has lived outside that cycle longer than its rivals have. But each threat of a new owner sets off alarm bells again. Inframonetization. Letterboxd is clearly undermonetized compared to its competitors. Your generous level Free allows you to use the platform with almost the same features as the paid option and advertising remains surprisingly limited, without invading everyday use, as happens on X or Instagram. And they try things: interviews with actors and directors about their favorite films, rental service for little-known films, in-person events… all on a very small scale, almost more as a way of spreading the brand in small spaces than as an open form of monetization. That is, there is growth potential, and that is what might interest a buyer. That is precisely what generates concern among its community: activating these options too aggressively can destroy the value of genuine cinephilia that resides behind them. Letterboxd users are very active and sensitive, and we must not forget cases like Mubi, whose user base canceled subscriptions en masse after learning of the links of one of its investors with the Gaza war. Right to veto. There is a safety button that can prevent a company with interests other than its subscribers from coming to buy Letterboxd: Buchanan retains veto rights over any potential buyer, a condition that exists openly to preserve the original spirit of the platform. Its effective scope, of course, will depend on how much the original owner is willing to exercise it and what price that veto has in the final negotiation. In Xataka | “Caution: non-vegetarian content”: when disclaimers warn about absolutely everything

In two days the animated spin-off of the platform’s only powerful franchise premieres on Netflix: ‘Stranger Things’

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On December 31, 2025, Netflix aired the final episode of ‘Stranger Things‘. With it, the platform recorded its most viewed New Year’s broadcast in history and put the finishing touch to the platform’s most viewed series, exceeding 1.2 billion accumulated views. And four months later Eleven, Mike, Dustin and the rest of the Hawkins gang are back, but this time in animated format With new voices and a new showrunnerthis ‘Stranger Things: Stories from 85′ this one arrives April 23 to Netflix. And how is it presented when the main story has already closed? Well, going back to when it wasn’t yet: the series takes place in the winter of 1985, between the second and third original seasons. That interval existed in the canon, although it did not come without a technical problem: at the end of T2, Eleven closes the door to the Other Side. T3 starts in July of that same year. How do you fit interdimensional monsters into a story that takes place during the months when the door is sealed? Easy: Particles from the Other Side that escaped before the door closed have begun to mutate into different plant species in Hawkins, generating hybrid creatures like a “snow shark.” All of this comes from the original visual style of the illustrator Meybis Ruiz Cruz and which, through animation, Netflix has wanted to bring closer to series from the eighties such as ‘He-Man’ or ‘The Real Ghostbusters’, but without losing sight of more recent proposals such as the animated films of the Spider-verse or ‘Arcane’. ‘Stories of 85’ obeys the tactic of keeping a franchise alive once it is impossible to do so with the original actors, through formats that alleviate technical and distribution demands. If this experiment works, we will undoubtedly see similar attempts with series like ‘Wednesday’ or ‘The Bridgertons’, and that without leaving Netflix. And, of course, if it works it will also continue on this side: according to the new showrunnerEric Robles, there are ideas to cover many other intervals in the official series. You have to milk it from somewhere. In Xataka | 16 premieres on Netflix: this week, the new ‘Stranger Things’, a rare British series and the return of Charlize Theron

Years ago the series had more scenes. The platforms are cutting them without warning

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The seasons of the series streaming They are increasingly shorter, and not always by creative decision. Behind the cuts are skyrocketing production costs, subscriber retention strategies and, sometimes, decisions made from the accounting department and not from the writers’ table. The phenomenon is so broad that it also affects altered versions of classic series, eliminating scenes and changing soundtracks without warning. This episode is not how I remembered. You are reviewing a series that you already know and something goes wrong: a scene that you remembered clearly does not appear. Or the opening credits song sounds different. Or the final episode ends earlier than it should. It is not always a failure of your memory. Often, the version you see in front of you is not the same as the one you saw back in the day. This phenomenon has gained visibility in recent months thanks to users who document on social networks the differences between versions, and its scope is greater than it seems. The platforms of streaming They offer, in many cases and without realizing it, degraded or cut versions of series and movies. The reasons behind these decisions are multiple. Sustained contraction. Before entering into the phenomenon of cuts without notice, it is worth remembering some facts. According to the firm Parrot Analyticsthe average number of episodes per season on free-to-air television fell from 16.2 in 2018 to 11.8 in July 2024. On streaming platforms streamingwhich already started from shorter seasons, have also contracted: from 10.7 episodes on average in 2018 to 9.3 in the same period. Some studies talk that production companies and platforms are increasingly stingy when it comes to renewing or ordering series: they simply ask for fewer episodes. One last piece of information about this reduction: in 2025, the number of original series streaming fell by 11% year-on-year. Beyond those series that suffer, against the will of their creators, cuts in the number of their episodes (as it happened at the time with ‘The House of the Dragon’), there are cuts from series already broadcast. For example, the final episode of ‘Friday Night Lights’, which is now on Filmin (in its shortened version) had a duration of more than 60 minutes. When it moved to NBC for free-to-air broadcast, it was cut to less than 45 minutes to fit with advertising. Complete scenes are missing from this mutilated version. Here we can see a similar case with an episode of ‘The Bill Cosby Hour’ streaming. Music, another point of friction. The licensing rights for musical themes do not always extend to all platforms or expire after a period of time, which requires replacing original songs with others. When ‘The Wonder Years’ arrived on Netflix in 2011 after years of being blocked by rights issues, numerous songs had been replaced, including Joe Cocker’s iconic version of ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ that opened each episode. In ‘Dawson Grows’, Paula Cole’s original tune was replaced in streaming by a Jann Arden song; The fan outcry was so intense that Cole ended up re-recording his own song. It is a common problem, which has meant that legendary series like ‘Luz de Luna’ or ‘Búscate la vida’ have spent years without being able to be seen, not even in domestic formats (in the case of Chris Peterson’s legendary series, we are still waiting). The war of the formats. We’ve already talked about itbut it is not bad to remember that the image format has been manipulated on countless occasions to adapt it to widescreen televisions. The case of ‘The Simpsons’ is perhaps the most popularsince many jokes with the original square format of the first seasons were lost. Also The case of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ is popular‘, which in its panoramic format and retouched colors makes the illusion of night scenes from the original series disappear and allows the filming crew and sets to be seen. A disaster that can only be solved by going to the first editions on DVD before their “remastering”. What to do to solve it. One more time: do not completely rule out the physical format. Until now we were certain (video game fans have been suffering from this for years) that fluctuations in catalogs, even of material that you have purchased and that is theoretically yours, can play tricks on you. We are now convinced that the fact that a film is in a catalog today streaming It does not assure us that it will be within a year: reasons as spurious as saving fees or storage space for platform owners can lead to the elimination of thousands of movies and series. The only way to preserve a movie or series without anyone modifying it, to make sure that no one is going to cut it because they think you are not prepared to pay enough attention to it, is to have your own copy. In physical or digital form, but in a safe place. Until recently, keeping our DVDs, our CDs with games, our cartridges and our vinyl, our records with backup copies was something for nostalgic and paranoid people. Now it is a matter of preserving what the platforms continue to mutilate. In Xataka | Generation Z has found the remedy to streaming subscription fatigue: buying DVDs again

Video games have grown a lot this year. But the money goes to China, Roblox and the owners of mobile platforms

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The global video game industry had a turnover of around $185 billion in 2024 and continues to grow. But there is a catch: this growth does not reach the studios or the area that traditional players look at, those of the console wars and the old PC Master Race. Matthew Ball’s usual annual report leaves a less complacent diagnosis: revenue is concentrated in China, on platforms like Roblox and on the owners of mobile operating systems. The rest survive as best they can. The Old Times (2021): There is still talk about how great the year 2021 was for video games. It seems like it was yesterday when the pandemic (insert meme of Grandpa Simpson telling stories to the kids here) confined hundreds of millions of people to their homes, and games (mobile, console, PC, free, subscription) absorbed the benefits of that confinement. As Ball, CEO of Epyllion, analyzes in The State of Video Gaming in 2025the factors that drove that peak were an extraordinary sum of factors: mobile platforms, free-to-play models, games as a service, the cross play and new genres like battle royale and social play. Downhill. The flip side of that was a much bigger recession than expected: global spending on video games fell 3.5% in 2022 and barely recovered a few percentage points towards the end of 2024. According to the consulting firm MIDiA Research, the sector had enjoyed growth of 26.3% in 2020 and 9.8% in 2021, and the rebound was inevitable. According to Ball, the engines that had driven the industry between 2011 and 2021 stopped all at once: the smartphones They were no longer surprising with each interaction, social networks were paralyzed, the free-to-play was normalized. 6.5% of total gaming time in 2023 corresponded to new video games, says Ball, and only four titles shared half of that percentage. Layoffs in full force. He report also speaks how the sector’s layoffs since 2022 illustrate this adjustment: more than 44,000 jobs, 61% of them concentrated in North America. This does not mean that it is the end of the industry or that the same pattern is being repeated. crash 1983, as has been said (the industry is too diversified and globalized to repeat a systemic collapse of that magnitude). What we are paying is the cost of having built a structure designed for an industry in continuous growth during the pandemic. The Chinese monster. Ball puts on the table that global spending on video games grew by approximately $10 billion between 2021 and 2025. But… where did that money go? The report assures that to Beijing: about 4,000 million of that growth is from the Chinese market, and another 1,500 million are from titles developed in China sold in international markets. In total, Chinese publishers have racked up about half of global growth since 2019. And there are more data: Gamer spending in China reached $49.2 billion in 2024, with a base of 722 million active gamers, more than double the total population of the United States. China is already the first market in the world by income. Not foreigners. Very significantlythat market remains almost closed to foreign games. 84% of Chinese gamers’ spending goes on titles produced in China, and that percentage has increased, as unusual as it may seem: 20% of Chinese domestic spending goes on imported titles (a figure that also registered a decrease of 5% between 2023 and 2024). It is comparable to what happens with cinemawith local films devouring foreign ones at the box office. A situation favored by a combination of factors: First, the Chinese regulatory framework favors national titles through a licensing system; second, development costs are substantially lower than in the West; Finally, the work culture of the country’s studios allows for more intensive production cycles. You don’t have to dig far to find examples of great Chinese international successes: ‘Genshin Impact‘, from miHoYo, raised more than $3.5 billion in its first year70% outside China with a character design rooted in anime. ‘Honor of Kings‘, from Tencent, dominated the Chinese mobile market for years before making the international leap with adaptations of character names. AND ‘Black Myth: Wukong‘, developed with support from Tencent, sold ten million copies in its first three days launching in August 2024, betting on the opposite of assimilation: an unequivocally Chinese mythology without thematic concessions to Western taste. Roblox sweeps. The numbers sing: 70% of the growth of the video game market outside of China in 2025 was absorbed by ‘Roblox‘. Which is an infrastructure on which millions of creators build interactive experiences using the platform’s own tools. Players access it for free and spend real money on cosmetic items and access within these worlds, transactions that are carried out in Robux, the ecosystem’s virtual currency. Of every dollar spent,’Roblox’ historically retained around 70% leaving the creator with approximately 25 or 30 cents. In September 2024, ‘Roblox’ announced a new delivery model for paid games that increases the creator’s commission up to 70% on titles that sell for $49.99. What does this translate into? In 2024, ‘Roblox’ paid around $923 million to its creators (an increase of 25% compared to 2023), while its total revenue grew by 29% until reaching 3.6 billion dollars. Its intentions are colossal: CEO David Baszucki stated that the company’s goal is to capture 10% of the global video game content market. Some more questions. Just to finish outlining the portrait: ‘Roblox’ registers sustained net losses (a accumulated deficit of 3.5 billion) with the logic of the platform in the expansion phase, sacrificing immediate profitability. Some observers they point because ‘Roblox’ has become the video game equivalent of YouTube, a platform that extracts value from the work of its creators in the form of data, advertising and infrastructure. And one last thing: two titles on the platform (‘Blox Fruits’ and ‘Brookhaven RP’) each accumulate 60% of the monthly gaming hours of all of Electronic Arts. 30%. If the global video game market reached an all-time high in … Read more

The EU already has a date to charge Chinese platforms at least three euros per package. Temu had been preparing for a long time

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Buying something cheap online has become an almost automatic gesture for many. A pair of t-shirts, a mobile accessory or a small gadget that costs little more than a coffee arrives at home in a few days, often from platforms such as Shein, AliExpress or Temu. It is not an isolated perception. The compliance reports themselves under the Digital Services Law They show the extent to which these platforms have been integrated into the day-to-day life of digital consumption in the Old Continent. This change in habits has a very concrete translation in figures and logistics. In 2024, the European Union received 4.6 billion low-value shipments, equivalent to more than twelve million a day. According to the European Commission91% of these shipments came from China, a constant flow that has not only grown exponentially in recent years, but has put customs and control systems, designed for another volume and another reality of international trade, under unprecedented pressure. What changes come and when. Brussels’ response to this scenario has a calendar and concrete measures. It has been agreed to apply a fixed tariff of three euros to items contained in small shipments that enter the European Union and have a value of less than 150 euros. We are facing a transitional solution that will begin to be applied on July 1, 2026 and that will serve as a bridge until the entry into operation of the new European customs systemwith a large data node to centralize information and improve risk management, and with a community authority to coordinate and homogenize the application of the rules. The EU has been working for some time on a structural reform of its customs union to unify data, streamline procedures and strengthen supervision at community level. The creation of a common information system and a European customs authority seeks to correct the fragmentation between Member States, a problem that the massive increase in small shipments has made evident. Faced with increasingly atomized and low-value trade, Brussels aspires to a different model, with more coordination and a more homogeneous application of the rules throughout the internal market. Behind the scenes of the measure. The political impulse behind this reform responds to several fronts open at the same time. On the one hand, European authorities have been warning for years about undervaluation practices that distort competition and penalize businesses that do comply with the rules. Added to this are “risks to the health and safety of consumers, high levels of fraud and environmental concerns.” When is the fee paid? The key to this measure is the moment in which the tax is activated. The three-euro tariff is applied when the merchandise enters the European Union, that is, at the time of importation. This implies a fundamental difference for our purchases. If the product is shipped directly from outside the EU, the shipping is subject to that rate. Things change when the order leaves a warehouse located within the single market, the package does not cross a customs border again and the tax is not activated in this case because the import should have occurred earlier. The document approved by the EU does not say at any time that the consumer will pay this tariff directly. The rule is limited to establishing that the tax will be applied to the goods at the time of their importation. From there, the logic of the market suggests that it will be the platforms, sellers or logistics operators who manage the payment before the customs authority and then decide how to integrate that cost. In practice, the most common thing is that it ends up being reflected in the final price or in the costs of the order, that is, we would see it reflected at the time of “checkout” of our purchase. Three euros per product or per item? The Council document is precise in one key nuance. The tariff is defined as a fixed charge of three euros on items contained in small shipments, and not as a flat rate per package or as a surcharge for each individual unit. This choice of words indicates that the calculation is linked to the declared content of the shipment, and not only to the box in which it travels. In the absence of a more detailed operational guide from the authorities, and following the usual logic of customs, this allows us to interpret that several identical products would be grouped under the same item. For example, if an order includes three pairs of sneakers and three watches, the tax would not be applied six times, but rather once for the sneakers and once for the watches. That is, three euros for each type of product included in the shipment, and not for each unit purchased. Temu anticipates the change. Faced with this new scenario, Temu has been adjusting its model in Europe for some time. The platform has reinforced agreements with local logistics operators to expand delivery options and support its local seller program, with a bid to serve more orders from within the community market. In its official communications, the company notes that it expects local sellers and logistical compliance within the EU represent up to 80% of its European sales, a strategy that seeks to gain agility, shorten deadlines and adapt to a more demanding regulatory environment. The key question is whether this model pays off. Centralizing stock in the EU provides control and speed, but requires better selection of which products are offered and in what quantities. The calendar, in any case, is already defined and the countdown for the changes in the community customs system to come into force is underway. At the same time, e-commerce platforms are starting to respond. Everything indicates that part of this adjustment will end up being reflected in higher prices for some products from China, although its real scope will depend on how logistics is reorganized in the coming months. Images | Xataka with Grok | Olga Nayda In Xataka … Read more

The US responds by filling the Gulf of Mexico with platforms again

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The horizon of the Gulf of Mexico has once again become populated with lights, cranes and metal structures that rise above the sea as if they were floating cities. At first glance, it might seem like a throwback to a time when offshore drilling dominated American oil, but the context is completely different. At a time when markets anticipate an oversupply of crude oil by 2026 “almost cartoonish”the Gulf is experiencing an unexpected renaissance. An unexpected return. According to the Financial Timescompanies such as BP, Chevron, Talos Energy or Beacon Offshore have reactivated projects that require investments of billions of dollars and that drill more than 3,000 meters under the sea. The clearest signal came from BP. According to Reutersthe British oil company has approved a $5 billion project—Tiber-Guadalupe—that contemplates a platform capable of producing 80,000 barrels per day starting in 2030. It will be its second project in the area prepared to operate at 20,000 psi, a technical leap that opens up deposits previously considered inaccessible. Chevron and Beacon Offshore have also begun producing in ultra-deep fields using these new systems. Gulf production will rise to 1.89 million barrels per day in 2025 and reach 1.96 million in 2026, according to calculations cited by Reuters. These are figures that contrast with the cooling of shale: land formations – especially in the Permian – show slower growth and increasing costs. The keys to the resurgence. There are several very clear drivers for reopening the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. First, the new generation of high-pressure systems—the famous 20,000 psi—has transformed the map of the Gulf. Talos Energy assures that its offshore break-even can fall to $20 per barrel, a level that challenges the myths of the sector and that places the Gulf at an advantage over many shale areas, where the best wells are already exhausted. Land production is no longer the miracle it was in the last decade. As Reuters points outthe most productive areas on land are maturing. The industry must drill more and source less, and that makes each barrel more expensive. Offshore, although requiring massive initial investments, offers decades of stable, large-scale production. In a volatile market, that predictability has become a strategic asset. Finally, another key driver is the political turn. The call “One Big Beautiful Bill”recently approved, requires at least 30 auctions of oil rights in the Gulf of America —name that the White House has begun to impose to refer to its continental shelf— in the next 15 years. In addition, deepwater royalties have been reduced to attract capital. According to Washington Postthe administration is also preparing new auctions in California and the East Coast, breaking with almost 40 years of restrictions. But that movement has sparked a political war: Governor Gavin Newsom rated the plan of “dead on arrival” and warned that he will defend the state’s coast “over our dead body.” A long-term vision. Big oil is not investing for today, but for 2035 or 2040. As Bloomberg has detailedExxon, Chevron and BP are accelerating global exploration because, despite the climate discourse, the International Energy Agency has softened its peak oil forecast, in your current policy scenario (CPS)predicts that global oil demand could increase to 113 million barrels per day in 2050. The platforms that are approved now will produce when the current shale fields are already in decline. The ghost of spills. The rise of the Gulf coincides with a broader geopolitical conflict. According to The Guardianany attempt to drill off California — where no new licenses have been approved since the 1980s — faces fierce opposition, both Democrats and Republicans. Memories of the disaster from Santa Barbara (1969) and of the spill in California (2015) They are still alive. In Florida, explains The New York Times, Even Republicans reject new drilling in the eastern Gulf for fear of the impact on tourism. In addition, the federal moratorium prohibiting drilling off its coast extends until 2032, making any attempt to reopen the area a conflict within Trump’s own party. and the trauma of Deepwater Horizonin 2010, continues to be the underground wound of all debate. Ultra-deep drilling is technically extraordinary, but it also carries high risks: an accident can take months to contain. Mexico looks askance. The boom on the US side of the Gulf has direct repercussions in Mexico. According to the cross-border agreement explained by BOEMthe United States and Mexico share deposits on the maritime border and can exploit them jointly. However, if the United States accelerates drilling with 20,000 psi technologies and Mexico does not keep up with that pace, tension could arise over reserves, inspections and exploitation rights. A saturated global market. The Gulf’s renaissance comes at a contradictory time for the world market. the world heading towards a gigantic crude surplus in 2026, fueled by increased production from Saudi Arabia and Russia. At the same time, China is acting as a global buffer: has purchased about 150 million additional barrels and filled much of its strategic reserves. But that balance is fragile. Analysts warn that if Beijing reduces its purchases, oversupply could emerge suddenly and cause a sharp drop in prices. Furthermore, with interest rates at record highs, storing oil is once again an expensive business: a larger contango would be needed than at any time in the last 25 years for storage to be profitable. A new boom or the last great gasp of oil? Helicopters are flying over the towers again, support ships are queuing in the ports of Louisiana and Texas and oil companies have reactivated one of the largest offshore hubs on the planet. The Gulf of Mexico is experiencing an unexpected renaissance. The question that hovers over this return is uncomfortable and decisive: are we facing a new golden age of deepwater oil or the last great push of an industry that refuses to disappear? For now, politics pushes and technology accompanies, but the reality is that this new “energy heart of the United States” is involved in … Read more

Apple TV has decided to swim against the current of all streaming platforms with a singular decision: not to put ads

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The common note among all streaming platforms, beyond catalog details, seems to be in the search for profit by raising cheaper rates in exchange for advertising interruptions. Apple, however, seems determined to differentiate itself, which can undoubtedly bring benefits at an economic and image level. Which is exactly what would benefit you the most at this moment. No ads. Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Apple Services, has confirmed in an interview with Screen International that the company has no plans to launch an Apple TV subscription with ads. The refusal is not indefinite, but at this time that is Apple’s decision. Cue states that “we will not include them for now. It is not a forever negative, but at the moment there are no plans”, and it comes in a context where practically all of its large competitors are expanding their advertising strategies, with more and more rates with ads. Because. He streaming has entered into something we could call his “advertising era“But Apple wants to differentiate itself from there: it believes that if it can maintain a competitive price, consumers will value not having their content interrupted by ads. It is a position that connects directly with the brand’s DNA: control over the user experience, frictionless design, and a commitment to the perception of premium value even if the price is not the highest on the market. It is the same philosophy that applies with Apple Musicwhich has never competed with free, ad-supported versions. What is coming. Apple’s decision takes on its true dimension when you look at what is happening in the rest of the industry. One of the next trends that is going to reach us are ads that fire even if the content is paused. At the moment, in the United States it is Peacock that is experimenting with this way of displaying ads, as well as Netflix in some territories. Disney+ has also shown interest in incorporating it into its catalog. That is to say, what is coming for the more immediate future are increasingly invasive ads, in the style of YouTube or Spotify on their cheaper accounts, and which undoubtedly revalue decisions like Apple’s. Prices: competitive but quality. AppleTV It currently costs 9.99 euros per month in Spainwhile in the United States the price has reached $12.99. At first glance, it might seem expensive compared to competitors’ basic plans. But this is where Apple has executed an interesting positioning maneuver: it does not compete in the low end of the market, but instead offers premium features at an intermediate price. The key is that all content is available in 4K HDR quality with spatial audio, at no additional cost and without advertising interruptions. But also, there are no steps, no temptation to “improve” the plan. You pay a single fee and access the full experience. It’s a radically simple model in a market that has become increasingly (unnecessarily) complicated. Comparison with other services. Apple’s tactic is evident: for 9.99 euros, Apple TV offers an experience equivalent to competing premium planswhich cost between 13.99 and 19.99 euros. It is not the cheapest option on the market (that happens with the ad-supported plans of Disney+, €5.99, or Netflix, €6.99) but it offers superior features at an average price: accessible enough to not seem exclusive, premium enough to justify the quality. What Apple TV offers. If we stay with the numbers, Apple TV loses by a landslide: just 226 titles in its catalog, a microscopic figure compared to Netflix’s 5,720, Prime Video’s 5,354, Disney+’s 2,461 or even HBO Max’s 2,300. according to recent calculations. It only makes sense if the catalog is measured by the quality of the content. While Netflix and Prime Video invest millions in producing and acquiring piece-rate content, Apple TV focuses on fewer productions, but ones that convey exclusivity. Although Apple is far from having series with the impact of ‘Stranger Things’, its biggest hits (‘Separation’, ‘Silo’, ‘F1’), convey that feeling of “there is no filler” that compensates for the smaller amount. The decision to dispense with advertisements for the moment moves along the same lines: to provide the viewer with something that no one else does, an experience of enjoying the series without interruptions or noise. Even if you have to pay something more (and even though the platform accounts they are not at their best). In Xataka | If the question is “where to watch all sports on a single platform”, one company wants to have the answer: Apple

We are going to see a lot of strange things as platforms fight to survive

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The platform war is increasing, and given the atomization that we have been seeing for years (each production company with its own platforms), we started attending to some apparently unnatural pairings but that make all the commercial sense in the world. The latest: Netflix wants to promote content that it had not entered into until now: podcasts. To do this, it partners with another digital communication giant, Spotify. From the digital hand. Netflix and Spotify have signed an agreement which can mark a turning point in the world of streaming audio and video. The pact will allow Netflix to distribute a selection of video podcasts produced by Spotify Studios and The Ringer, the label founded by sports journalist Bill Simmons and acquired by Spotify in 2020. The official launch is scheduled for early 2026 in the United States, with international expansion plans throughout the same year.​ Everyone against YouTube. The alliance places both companies in a competitive position against YouTube, until now a benchmark in the long-form video format with conversational content. Unlike what happens on the Google portal, where the main financing model is advertising, Netflix will not include ads, while Spotify will maintain control of the podcast advertising inventory, which reinforces its business strategy based on creator monetization more than in dependence on the user and subscriptions. The programs. Due to the language barrier, not well known outside the United States, although that could change. The initial catalog will include 16 video podcasts. Some of them are: The Bill Simmons Podcast: sport and pop culture. The Rewatchables: analysis of iconic films The Dave Chang Show: conversations about food culture. Conspiracy Theories and Serial Killers: true crime. Dissect: in-depth analysis of historical records. Also abundant sports programs, a specialty of The Ringer: The Ringer NBA Show, The Ringer NFL Show and Fairway Rollin’. Spotify and podcasts. Since 2023, Spotify is increasing its presence in the podcast landscape after years of heavy investments. The company invested more than a billion dollars in famous exclusive contractslike those of The Joe Rogan Experience or Call Her Daddy. But high costs and the evolution of the podcast landscape led it to abandon the exclusivity policy. For some time now it has decided to reinforce its bet on videosince the video podcasts register a growth twenty times greater than audio-only programs, according to account TechCrunch. Netflix wants variety. As for Netflix, this fits perfectly into its diversification policy: Ted Sarandos, co-CEO, had already advanced in April 2025 the intention to incorporate conversational and experimental video content. It is normal for it to join forces with Spotify to fight Youtubewhich has grown noticeably since the public began to stream your content from television. Two super two. The alliance also allows Spotify to avoid the high infrastructure costs that would entail maintaining its own streaming service. streaming videowhile Netflix obtains a volume of new content that does not require large production investments. It is a beneficial collaboration for both content giants: while Spotify expands the spaces where it can be consumed, Netflix diversifies its catalog with a reasonable investment. Header | kit in Unsplash / Netflix In Xataka | Spain is one of the most important “sets” in Europe: the platforms already invest 2,000 million in filming here

The most ambitious shootings of the platforms are made in Spain, becoming one of the “sets” of Europe

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Madrid has consolidated in 2025 as a global epicenter of the Spanish audiovisual sector: a powerful economic hub promoted by the film and television industry at European and international level. We can say that Madrid has become one of the most important “sets” in Europe thanks to multinational investment such as Netflix. Let’s review the data that are configuring this stimulating situation. Some data. The Madrid community contributes 2.6% to regional GDP Thanks to its audiovisual ecosystem (More than 3,500 companies that generate 29,000 direct jobs, with a global impact of more than 7.2 billion euros). This strong presence is supported by the advanced infrastructure of studies and sets and the presence of large multinationals such as Netflix and Disney, which have opted for the region as the basis of operations in Spain. Of all this has been spoken In the context of the San Sebastián 2025 Film Festivalwhere digital plans and cultural transformation have been exposed such as “Spain, Hub Audiovisual of Europe”. Why Madrid. There are a number of characteristics that make Madrid this powerful audiovisual at European and even world level. Among others, it has a great business and economic concentration (environment rich in producers, studies, digital platforms and specialized services) and an advanced infrastructure (studies and sets where more than 1,400 shootings were recorded in 2024, 32% more than the previous year). All this has the support of the Community of Madrid: 240,000 euros for 2025 and 2026 destined for initiatives such as the Audiovisual Observatory of Madrid or training activities for professionals. Netflix in Madrid. One of the clearest cases of implementation of an international draft model has been that of Netflix, which has just released ‘the atomic refuge’, its most expensive series to date, as told ‘the world’: During the filming 400 technicians and 4,300 extras participated, often exceeding the usual teams. The production was developed on the Vancouver set in Colmenar Viejo, which occupies 7,200 square meters, with large and multifunctional sets that can house up to 300 people working simultaneously in different areas. A considerable investment. Netflix will invest 1 billion of euros in Spain between 2025 and 2028, reflecting the growing relevance of the country, and especially its capital. Spain is the second European country where streaming platforms more investwith 2,000 million destined for production in 2024, surpassing Germany and France. Between 2014 and 2024, The average annual growth of the sector Spanish audiovisual has been 14%, a figure much higher than the European average. Filming tourism. The audiovisual generates direct and multiplier economic impact in the regions where it is rolls, from accommodation and services to tourism linked to shooting places. The latter has grown markedly in Spain in recent years, with 40% of travelers interested in visiting shooting placesaccording to a recent study. Destinations such as Madrid, Andalusia and Catalonia benefit from the visibility provided by films and series, which also boost local economies and promote cultural heritage. Header | Netflix In Xataka | When analyzing the most viewed films of Netflix during this year, the notes and opinions throw a devastating verdict

A type of content is devouring all streaming platforms in silence: the anime

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The Anime It became a large more ingredient of our cultural offer. No one is surprising that an anime feature film reaches the billboards, which is the second or third part of a saga that only the otakus knows but becomes The most watched premiere of the weekend. The anime has one of the most delivered and consistent fandoms in the world. It has nothing strange than the platforms of streamingalways attentive to any new success to which the tooth will have, have increased spectacularly in recent years their anime catalog fund. New mainstream. Since the first anime that triumphed in the West (‘Akira’, ‘Champions’, ‘Dragon Ball’, ‘Ranma’ …) decades have passed. The figures that manage the new successes (‘One Piece’, ‘Attack on the Titans’) show those of those productions, which already marked millions of young people in their day: now, generation Z is that of the anime, and its aesthetics and narrative have become the new new mainstream. That is, we are willing to review a few figures that define a cultural panorama dominated in large part by the anime. Crazy growth. The Parrot Analytics Market Studies firm Recently estimated that the average demand of the United States of anime in streaming It grew 176% between 2019 and 2024, and this is undoubtedly due to a greater amount of offer (in that period the number of anime programs tripled). But also to the increase of occasional spectators, which are those who are giving a renewed impulse to Japanese animation outside the fans circles. For the anime industry, all this means income from 27,000 million euros a year. A for the anime. A quick look at platform catalogs allows you to distinguish to what extent the anime is important in its programming. The first one is betting strongly on classics such as ‘Dragon Ball’ (licensed exclusively outside Asia the new franchise series, ‘Daima’) or ‘One Piece’, whose adaptation Live Action It has been one of the great successes of the platform in recent months. In the United States, in addition, Hulu (owned by Disney) plants face with abundant licenses, but out of there, in countries such as Spain, Netflix and Prime Video are distributed (they often share) the great successes: ‘Death Note’, ‘Guardians of the night’, ‘Naruto’ and many others. Specific services. And to this are added the dedicated platforms, a privilege of which only audiovisual subgenres with a more delivered fandom, such as terror or anime. In the case of anime we have above all to Crunchyrollwhich was born as a fan project in 2006 that spread anime without permission, but whose rapid acceptance led him to start closing deals with distributors to issue anime legally. Owned by Sony since 2021, he absorbed an important competitor, funimation, and has More than 120 million registered users. Other important streaming services exclusively of anime are Restrocush or Hidive, to which the abundant Fast thematic channels are added that emit 24 hours of series such as’ Pokémon ‘,’Conan detective‘ either ‘Inazuma Eleven‘. Everything is anime. Another important sign of how the anime has become undisputed creative force in current streaming is that many series that at another time would undoubtedly have had a western aesthetic approach now start from approaches completely anime: ‘Suicide Squad isekai‘It is produced in Japan and its own title betrays its origin, but is based on DC heroes; The greatest animation success of recent times, ‘Arcane’It is French production, but its anime visual roots are absolutely indisputable; And even a very characteristic series of the United States, ‘Rick and Morty’, has Your own spin-off anime. According to Jason Demarcocreator of the mythical Toonami thematic channel, this type of phenomena are a sign of “maturity” of this animation style. And all this rent extraordinarily in both addresses: 38% of international anime income is produced in Netflix. The benefit navigates In both directions. The new normality. The overwhelming growth and implementation figures in particular and Asian culture in general are no longer surprising (remember that a Korean series, ‘The Squid’s game’, remains the greatest success in Netflix’s history). That ‘Dundundun’ ravages or that one of the most profitable ideas that the platform has had in recent times has been to bring the anime in real image ‘One Piece‘They are some pieces of the many that make up a complex puzzle. One whose final snapshot shows a future in which the anime has an indisputable weight in the global computing of pop culture. In Xataka | The curse of Tolkien’s animated adaptations continues: the prequel anime of ‘The lord of the rings’ click at the box office

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