The Media Odyssey

Evan Shapiro & Marion Ranchet

Each week, two of media’s most influential thinkers, Evan Shapiro & Marion Ranchet, take on the hottest media topics with their hottest takes, helping their audience chart a course through the maelstrom that is today’s Media Odyssey. Based in the US, Evan Shapiro is the Media Industry’s official Cartographer, known for his well-researched and provocative analysis of the entertainment ecosystem in his must read treatises on Media’s latest trends and trajectories. Marion Ranchet, French expat based in Amsterdam, has become the industry’s go-to expert in all things streaming, building a following for turning even the most complex problems into easily digestible and actionable insights. Ranchet and Shapiro are known for their sharp-yet-accessible content on Media consumption, audience trends, and the shifting fundamentals of the business itself. Even during the toughest of topics, they each make talking about Media fun. Together every week, these two will offer entertaining, often humorous, and always educational content on today’s Media Odyssey.

  1. AI SLOP, GATEKEEPERS, AND THE KID'S MEDIA CRISIS

    6 hr ago

    AI SLOP, GATEKEEPERS, AND THE KID'S MEDIA CRISIS

    Demand for high-quality kids' content has never been higher, but the supply has never been more broken. And YouTube, the most powerful kids' platform on Earth, is running it like an algorithm, not a network. This live panel episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast, recorded at the Media Universe Summit, features Evan Shapiro and Jamie Shapiro alongside Andy Donner, Head of Partnerships at Common Sense Media, and Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President & General Manager at PBS Kids. The conversation centers on Evan and Common Sense Media's joint report on the state of the kids' content industry.  The picture it paints is stark with millennial and Gen Z parents demanding more high-quality, trusted kids' content than ever, while streaming platforms have cut series orders by 25%, public media is being defunded, and YouTube Kids remains under-monetized and under-curated despite being the most-watched kids' platform in the world. The panel covers co-viewing trends, the collapse of the independent kids' production ecosystem, the rise of AI slop in children's content feeds, and what it would actually take for a major streamer or YouTube to step up and fill the gap. Key Takeaways: 1. Supply vs. Demand Demand for quality kids' content has doubled among parents (70% of whom are now millennials or Gen Z) while the number of series orders from streamers has dropped 25% from its 2022 peak. Streamers figured out kids' content reduces churn but doesn't drive new subscribers, and largely stopped commissioning it. Public broadcasters like PBS, BBC, and ABC Australia now produce 54% of kids' content worldwide. 2. The YouTube Kids Problem 88% of parents of kids under seven say their children prefer YouTube over any other platform, yet kids' content represents 15% of total YouTube usage and just 2% of its monetization. YouTube Kids has the lowest co-viewing rate of any major platform and AI-generated slop is regularly making it through content filters. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns YouTube is actively harming children's development. 3. The Algorithm Gap COPPA enforcement removed an estimated $2 billion from the kids' content marketplace, primarily from YouTube. Streamers that stopped commissioning original kids' content are now inadvertently driving young viewers to YouTube. PBS Kids saw 40% YouTube growth simply by launching content globally and allowing international ads, because global distribution signals demand to the algorithm and lifts domestic reach. 4. Co-Viewing Is Back and Underserved Co-viewing has surged since COVID, with the desire to watch content together as a family now ranking as the top thing parents say they don't want to lose from the pandemic period. Research shows kids learn significantly more when a parent or sibling is present. But fragmented subscriptions, too few family-friendly titles, and algorithm-driven autoplay leave a commercial gap for any platform willing to program for the whole family. 5. YouTube Needs to Run Kids Like a Network The panel's clearest call to action: YouTube should treat YouTube Kids as a curated network, not an algorithm. That means human curation, better revenue sharing for kids' content creators, global distribution partnerships, and taking its developmental responsibility seriously. YouTube would make more money doing it, and the goodwill from parents and educators would be commercially valuable in its own right. Thank you Andy Donner and Sara DeWitt for joining the pod! Andy Donner - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andydonner/  Sara DeWitt - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradewitt/ Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8  Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/  Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/  The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast  (00:00) - Introduction to Kids' Content Landscape (02:50) - The Supply and Demand Crisis in Kids' Media (09:45) - The Co-Viewing Phenomenon and Its Impact (14:04) - Legacy Brands vs. New Creators in Kids' Content (20:50) - The Role of YouTube and Content Curation (24:01) - Monetization Challenges and Opportunities in Kids' Media

    32 min
  2. THE WHOLE CONSUMER: A CARTOGRAPHER'S BLUEPRINT

    3 days ago ·  Bonus

    THE WHOLE CONSUMER: A CARTOGRAPHER'S BLUEPRINT

    59% of people now watch video on their phone first. If your content strategy doesn't account for that, Evan Shapiro has a message for you: you're already losing. This keynote episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features Evan Shapiro's live Stream TV Europe presentation. It is a fast, data-driven breakdown of where streaming media, social media, YouTube, and TikTok are headed next. Built on original research from MX8 Labs and Evan's new Cross-Screen Attention Index, the talk argues the media industry is now entirely consumer-driven, and most legacy companies haven't caught up.  Through real-world case studies (Duolingo, Kit Kat, PBS, RuPaul's Drag Race, Toonstar) Evan makes the case for what he calls the "affinity economy": brands and creators win by building loyalty and fandom, not chasing scale. Key Takeaways: 1. Phone-First Is the Default 59% of consumers age 13+ say their phone is their primary video device — nearly 2x television. For Gen Z, the bathroom ranks third among top video-watching locations. 2. YouTube Leads, But Faces PressureYouTube ranks #1 in total attention per Evan's new Cross-Screen Index, but Meta overtakes it when Instagram and Facebook are combined. TikTok ranks #2 among under-55s and is bigger than Netflix, Paramount, NBCU, and Warner Bros. Discovery combined. 3. Retention Reveals a Loyalty Gap The average premium streamer has 11% retention, gaining 175 million subscribers last year while losing 156 million. WOW Presents Plus, home to RuPaul's Drag Race has a smaller subscription base, but maintains just 4% churn. 4. Fan Engagement Drives Real ROI Coach's UGC campaign drove a 142% rise in company value. Duolingo's mascot stunt drove its first billion-dollar year. PBS's Frontline now averages tens of millions of YouTube views, with donations up 61%.  5. Vertical Video Is a White Space Disney, Netflix, and Paramount are all launching vertical feeds. Evan argues most vertical content is low-quality leaving room for premium creators willing to treat it as real programming, not marketing. Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8  Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/  Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/  The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast  (00:00) - Scaling Business Without Overhead (03:00) - Understanding the Consumer-Driven Media Landscape (05:45) - The Shift in Video Consumption Trends (08:51) - The Importance of Mobile and Vertical Content (12:03) - Measuring Attention Across Platforms (15:07) - The Rise of the Affinity Economy (18:03) - Empowering Employees as Creators (20:59) - The Future of Content Creation and Distribution

    27 min
  3. VALERIE'S PLACE WITH VALERIE BERTINELLI

    18 Jun

    VALERIE'S PLACE WITH VALERIE BERTINELLI

    Valerie Bertinelli has been a content creator since she was 12 years old. She just stopped asking permission to make the shows she wants. This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features special guest co-host Valerie Bertinelli — television icon, actress, author, and Food Network — alongside Billy Cooper, CEO and co-founder of Visible Things, the direct-to-consumer platform infrastructure company behind Valerie's brand new streaming destination, Valerie's Place.  The episode is equal parts media business case study and candid personal conversation. Billy walks through how Visible Things works as a white-label platform technology that gives legacy talent and creators their own streaming home that Patreon, Substack, and YouTube simply can't replicate. Valerie brings the human side of it: why she got tired of being held hostage by the algorithm on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, what it actually feels like to have a real social relationship with fans versus a parasocial one, and how Valerie's Place has already produced moments of genuine connection that no brand deal or Food Network season ever could.  The conversation closes with a broader and surprisingly frank debate on why the economics of legacy television and streaming media are broken — and why Valerie thinks algorithmic fragmentation isn't the real culprit: it's wealth concentration at the very top of the entertainment industry. Key Takeaways: 1. Own Your AudienceYouTube and social media platforms are top-of-funnel marketing tools, not businesses. Billy's core thesis: when you post on YouTube, the platform's job is to get your audience to watch something else next. Visible Things is built on the opposite logic with a branded destination where the talent owns the subscriber relationship, the email list, and the content IP outright, with no algorithm standing between them and their audience. 2. The 1% MathValerie has 5 million combined social followers. The Visible Things model targets 1% of that, the 50,000 super fans, paying an average of $7 a month. That's $350,000 a month, or roughly $4 million a year, generated entirely through direct subscription with zero ad revenue, zero network dependency, and zero creative compromise. The platform launched March 1st and built 300,000 followers across social and 50,000 email subscribers within its first six weeks, all organically. 3. Legacy IP as a Launch AssetOne of the first moves Visible Things made was licensing back all 172 episodes of Valerie's Home Cooking from Warner Bros. Discovery, content that had effectively disappeared from public availability after the merger. Bringing a beloved, canceled show back to a direct platform isn't just a fan service move; it's an immediate, concrete value proposition. 4. Real Social vs. ParasocialValerie draws a sharp distinction between parasocial relationships and real social ones where the wall comes down and the connection becomes genuinely mutual. Valerie's Place book club is the clearest example: live Zoom-style sessions where members talk about their own lives, not just Valerie's, and where a fan sending a feather necklace after hearing Valerie mention losing one on a podcast becomes a meaningful moment of human connection. 5. The Economics Are Broken at the Top, Not the BottomValerie notes she hasn't matched her per-episode earnings from the last two seasons of One Day at a Time (which ended in 1983) in any project since, including a 14-season Food Network run. Her diagnosis: the problem isn't fragmentation of channels, it's concentration of money at the very top of the industry, with too few people controlling too much of the revenue that content creators actually generate. The direct-to-consumer model isn't just a creative choice, it's the first time creatives have a genuine shot at keeping what they earn. Thank you Valerie Bertinelli and Billy Cooper for joining the pod! Valerie’s Place - https://valeriesplace.com/  https://www.instagram.com/itsvaleriesplace/  Billy Cooper - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wbcoop/  Visible Things - https://visible-things.com/  Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8  Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/  Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/  The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast  (00:00) - Valerie Joins the Pod (01:43) - Why Valerie's Place (03:01) - Authenticity vs Algorithm (03:46) - Meet Billy Cooper (04:34) - Visible Things Origin Story (07:56) - Creators and Legacy Talent (10:15) - Platform Pitch Explained (11:59) - Book Club Community (15:49) - Parasocial to Real Social (27:20) - Membership Value Breakdown (27:52) - Three New Cooking Shows (28:16) - Reheated Behind The Scenes (29:08) - Meals For One Vision (30:04) - Book Club And Naked Podcast (30:37) - Still Hot In Cleveland Reveal (32:52) - Lean Production And Fan Economics (35:58) - Organic Funnel And Engagement (42:41) - Final Questions And Farewell

    47 min
  4. THE CLIP ECONOMY & HOW TO COVER A WORLD CUP WITHOUT BUYING RIGHTS

    11 Jun

    THE CLIP ECONOMY & HOW TO COVER A WORLD CUP WITHOUT BUYING RIGHTS

    1.7 million subscribers. A Global deal. Live Bundesliga rights. And a studio in Brooklyn for the World Cup. The Overlap built it all without owning a single match. This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features Scott Melvin, CEO of The Overlap, the multi-award winning sports channel, for the beginning of the 2026 World Cup. What started as a side hustle for a Sky Sports pundit itching to do long-form conversation has grown into one of the most-watched football content businesses in the UK, now backed by media company Global and expanding its creator network on YouTube and social media. Scott walks through how The Overlap was built from the cold-open, unscripted format of Stick to Football, to the decision to own the conversation around football rather than chase expensive live rights. He breaks down the platform's growth strategy including the acquisition of Mark Goldbridge's Man United channel (2.2 million subscribers) and That's Football (1.3 million) to shortcut years of audience-building, and the Bundesliga deal that proved social clips outperform live streams by roughly 20x in reach. The conversation also zooms out into the bigger structural questions around the World Cup and sports media more broadly: is permanently eating into live viewing, whether rights fragmentation is pushing fans toward highlights, and if the 2026 tournament can permanently shift America's relationship with the sport the rest of the world calls football. Key Takeaways 1. Own the Conversation Live rights for F1 cost Sky $200 million a year while Netflix paid $10–20 million for Drive to Survive and became the defining F1 content brand for a generation. The Overlap applied the same logic to football: if you can't own the rights, own the conversation around them. For any creator or media company priced out of live sports rights, shoulder content is the viable entry point. 2. Clips Beat Live During The Overlap's Bundesliga partnership, social clips of live games outperformed the streams themselves by approximately 20x in total reach. Live attendance figures remain strong, but viewing full matches is declining as fragmented rights force fans across multiple paid subscriptions. The World Cup's expanded format will test that tipping point at unprecedented scale. 3. Acquire Audiences, Don't Build From Scratch It took The Overlap 4.5 years to reach 1.7 million YouTube subscribers. Mark Goldbridge spent 10 years building his channel to 2.2 million. Rather than launch a Man United channel from zero, The Overlap partnered with Goldbridge and acquired his existing audience — effectively skipping 5–7 years of organic growth.  4. Platform Age Beats Talent Age The Overlap's core panel averages 50 years old, yet its biggest demographic is 18–34. Scott's explanation: YouTube is a young platform, and the platform itself attracts younger audiences — the talent keeps them there.  5. The Post-World Cup Moment The 1994 US World Cup triggered a brief soccer boom that faded within months. Scott and Evan both see 2026 as structurally different because the internet has made the world smaller, Gen Z and Gen A are more globally oriented, and the Women's World Cup in Brazil follows a year later. Whether the tournament converts casual viewers into long-term fans of MLS and the Premier League will be a closely watched audience metric in sports media over the next 18 months. Thank you Scott Melvin for joining the pod! Scott Melvin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-melvin-331071a7/  The Overlap - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-overlap/  Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8  Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/  Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/  The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast  (00:00) - World Cup Fever in NYC (01:14) - Meet Scott Melvin and The Overlap (02:49) - Stick to Football Breakout (05:03) - Owning the Conversation (07:50) - Bundesliga Rights Experiment (10:49) - Clip Culture and Sports (13:25) - World Cup Highlights vs Live (18:42) - Growing a YouTube Network (23:24) - Why Partner with Global (25:52) - Who Watches The Overlap (26:25) - Platform Over Talent (27:48) - No Rules Playbook (29:01) - Late Launch Competition (30:00) - Club Shirt Banter (32:01) - World Cup Without Rights (34:17) - Brooklyn Studio Setup (34:59) - Why Not Daily Live (39:40) - US Soccer After World Cup (42:13) - Predictions And Wrap

    46 min
  5. MEDIA M&A MANIA

    4 Jun

    MEDIA M&A MANIA

    Full Disclosure meets Media Odyssey in this crossover episode of The Media Odyssey podcast with Roben Farzad, host of Full Disclosure on NPR and former Wall Street reporter for BusinessWeek and Bloomberg. The episode covers a wide sweep of interconnected stories: the proposed Paramount-Warner merger, the editorial independence implications of foreign money in US media, the GameStop-eBay bid as a case study in social media-driven market manipulation, and the state of M&A activity across the Atlantic. From Roben's firsthand perspective on the lack of US media coverage of Iran and the effect of Gulf sovereign wealth funds acquiring stakes in major news organizations to a forensic breakdown of the Skydance-Paramount deal, Evan Shapiro, Marion Ranchet, and Roben Farzad discuss the 60 Minutes settlement, the Colbert cancellation, the Bari Weiss hiring, and the White House's reported role in pushing the merger through before a potential political shift in the fall. They close with a frank debate on the future of professional journalism and whether public media, billionaire backstops, or direct-to-consumer Substacks can fill the gap left by a collapsing legacy news industry. Key Takeaways 1. Foreign Money in US News  Roughly 50% of the Skydance-Paramount acquisition is being funded by foreign interests, including Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. Roben notes that editorial independence becomes structurally compromised the moment a controlling financier has geopolitical interests that conflict with the newsroom's reporting mandate. 2. The M&A Math Doesn't Add Up  Global M&A deal volume in media dropped 30% year over year, while total deal value rose 10%. This means fewer but larger bets. Warner Brothers Discovery was valued at roughly $60 billion at merger and shed close to 70% of that value before recovering, driven almost entirely by the Zaslav-engineered auction rather than operational performance.  3. Social Media as Market Manipulation  GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen publicly floated a bid for eBay, a company worth roughly 5x GameStop's market cap, with no serious financing behind it. The move drove GameStop's stock up and forced eBay to respond publicly. Roben frames this as a direct extension of the meme stock playbook: social media reach, combined with extreme wealth, can now move markets in ways that previously required regulated financial instruments. 4. The Merger Approval Odds  Roben puts the probability of the Paramount-Warner merger getting approved at approximately 65%, driven primarily by White House pressure to push it through before a potential political shift after the fall election. Marion is skeptical that EU regulators will independently block it if the US approves, noting that European authorities are increasingly prioritizing survival of local media players over strict competition concerns. 5. The Journalism Funding Problem  The New York Times has reached a $12 billion market cap by building a subscription-driven lifestyle and news bundle. NPR, by contrast, has failed to become a digital native, still relies heavily on pledge drives targeting Boomers and late Gen Xers, and has lost significant talent to for-profit outlets. There is a small but growing tier of independent journalists going direct to consumer as the most promising emerging model, though it leaves out readers who can't afford paid subscriptions. Thank you Roben Farzad for joining the pod! Roben Farzad - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robenfarzad/  Full Disclosure Podcast - https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1062190100/full-disclosure  Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8  Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/  Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/  The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast  (00:00) - Crossover Introductions (04:30) - Journalism and Iran Coverage (06:38) - Foreign Money and Newsrooms (09:37) - Iran Parallels and US Politics (14:24) - GameStop Bids for eBay (18:10) - M&A Trends and Data Centers (20:24) - Europe Consolidation and MFE (23:44) - US Mega Merger Skepticism (27:47) - Wealth As Power Moat (28:54) - Ellison Paramount Quid Pro Quo (31:42) - Why Media Won't Cover It and Colbert Profitability (34:37) - European View On Mergers (37:48) - Will Regulators Approve (39:45) - Barry Weiss Incompetence (42:08) - Odds, Predictions, and the Future of Journalism Models (48:59) - Wrap Up And Farewell

    50 min
  6. THE FILMTOK EFFECT: BONUS EPISODE

    2 Jun

    THE FILMTOK EFFECT: BONUS EPISODE

    Eight episodes, $25,000, 2 million views. One indie creator just proved you don't need a studio, a streamer, or a greenlight to break into the fastest-growing format in streaming media. This bonus episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features Eli Shell, founder of Sidewise Studios and creator of In-House, a vertical comedy series he wrote, funded, and launched entirely on his own. The vertical video market is almost entirely dominated by high-melodrama romantic drama and Eli saw that as a gap, not a template. In-House is a workplace comedy shot in vertical format, built on a minimum viable product mindset borrowed from his years in the Bay Area tech world: shoot a pilot season, put it in front of an audience on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, read the signals, and scale from there.  The episode also zooms out into the broader state of the independent vertical production market from TikTok's emerging role as a serious funder to Peacock's first microdrama slate announcement, and the question of whether Netflix, Disney, and the major streamers will start acquiring independent vertical IP. Eli's answer: we're at the very beginning, the economics are still being figured out, and the creators willing to bet on themselves right now are the ones who'll be best positioned when the market matures. Key Takeaways: 1. Expand the Genre The vertical video market today is almost entirely romantic drama which means every other genre is a wide-open opportunity. Eli's workplace comedy In-House attracted talent willing to work at reduced rates specifically because it wasn't another melodrama. For creators and producers looking to enter the vertical space, the least crowded lane is everything that isn't a romance. 2. Minimum Viable Season Eli spent $25,000 across eight episodes, roughly $3,000 per episode, and treated it explicitly as a minimum viable product, not a finished show. The goal was audience signals, not perfection. 3. Bet on Distribution Diversification In-House launched simultaneously on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts and its 2 million views are an aggregate across all three. In a format this early, no single platform has won, and the audiences don't fully overlap. Multi-platform distribution is the only way to build meaningful reach without a marketing budget. 4. Watch TikTok TikTok is the sleeping giant in the vertical video and microdrama space. If they decide to fund and distribute vertical series at scale — as the early investment in Issa Rae's Screen Time (80 million views) suggests they might — the existing microdrama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox face a serious existential threat.  5. The Acquisition Window Is Opening Peacock, Netflix, Disney, and Paramount are all starting to test vertical content, mostly as a discovery tool for now, but the direction of travel is clear. Independent producers who have built proven IP with real audience data are going to be the most attractive acquisition targets when the major streamers decide they want original vertical content at scale.  Thank you Eli Shell for joining the pod! Eli Shell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/elishell/  Sidewise Studios - https://www.linkedin.com/company/sidewise-studios/  In-House Show - https://elishell.com/projects/in-house/  Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8  Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/  Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/  The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Meeting in the DMs (01:11) - Eli’s Career Origin Story (02:59) - Discovering Vertical Microdramas (05:09) - In House Pitch and Format (06:20) - Views Platforms and Self Funding (08:20) - Why Make It and Budget Breakdown (11:13) - Monetization and MVP Season Two (12:17) - Vertical Drama Market Lessons (16:00) - Streamers Going Vertical (18:51) - TikTok Funding and Genre Expansion (20:13) - Wrap Up and Where to Watch

    21 min
  7. THE NEW PRODUCTION PLAYBOOK

    28 May

    THE NEW PRODUCTION PLAYBOOK

    10 billion views. 200+ episodes. A Random House deal and a streamer announcement incoming. Toonstar built it all without asking anyone's permission. Welcome to this episode of The Media Odyssey Podcast with hosts Marion Ranchet and Evan Shapiro featuring John Attanasio and Luisa Huang, co-founders of Toonstar, a next-generation animation studio built from the ground up to produce kids' and family content at the speed of the internet. Veterans of the Warner Bros. who got an early front-row seat to the rise of YouTube and the creator economy, John and Luisa are tacking a simple but radical question: building an animation studio designed for digital-first streaming media distribution. The episode walks through how Toonstar works from their proprietary AI animation tech Ink and Pixel to their audience intelligence platform Spot, which translates real-time viewing data into storytelling decisions. Together, the two tools form what they call an "agile production loop" that lets them move from greenlight to first episode in 90 days. The centerpiece case study is Steven and Parker, a show born from a creator with a Snapchat filter and 9 million TikTok followers, now sitting at 10 billion lifetime views across five languages, with a Random House graphic novel deal and a streamer announcement imminent.  Key Takeaways: 1. Greenlight Yourself  The traditional development cycle doesn't just cost money,  it holds your time hostage. Toonstar's model eliminates the waiting game: pilot on existing creator audiences, read the signals, and go. Find the smallest viable version of your idea, put it in front of an audience, and start there. 2. Production Meets Performance  Most animation studios can't iterate because production and performance data live in separate worlds. Toonstar's agile production loop directly tethers the two with real-time audience signals that inform weekly creative decisions about episode length, character arcs, and cadence. 3. Creator IP as the New Development Pipeline  The franchise IP of tomorrow isn't sitting in a writer's room — it's already in front of an audience on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Parker James had 9 million followers and a character that existed only as a Snapchat filter before Toonstar turned it into a 10-billion-view animated franchise.  4. AI as Throughput, Not Replacement  Toonstar's AI system accelerates every production function without replacing the human creative voice. Writers, visual direction, and character vision remain entirely human. The lesson: build AI tooling around your creative people, not around your budget. 5. The Content Flywheel  YouTube ad revenue and brand sponsorships are the starting point, not the business model. Toonstar's real play is using digital-first distribution to build proven IP that extends into books, merchandise, and streaming deals. YouTube channels should be treated as an IP incubator, not just a distribution platform. Thank you John Attanasio and Luisa Huang for joining the pod! John Attanasio - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnattanasio/ Luisa Huang - https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisahuang/  Toonstar - https://www.linkedin.com/company/toonstarhq/posts/?feedView=all  Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8  Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/  Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/  The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast  (00:00) - Fail Fast Mindset (00:29) - Welcome And Guests (01:25) - ToonStar Origin Story (04:02) - Tech Driven Production (06:33) - Steven And Parker Hit (09:38) - Humans Plus AI Workflow (12:50) - Data Driven Cadence (16:59) - Building Spot Analytics (21:08) - HarperCollins Speed Run (25:17) - Monetization Flywheel (26:59) - Advice To Creators (31:59) - Wrap Up And Takeaways

    34 min
  8. UPFRONT 2026: THE CROWN JEWEL OF TV ADS

    21 May

    UPFRONT 2026: THE CROWN JEWEL OF TV ADS

    Pure play digital is now capturing 75% of every US ad dollar and 60% of that goes to just three companies. What's left for everyone else? This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast brings in Mike Shields, founder of the Next in Media newsletter and podcast and one of the sharpest voices in streaming media and advertising analysis working today. Recorded during Upfront week, this snapshot of the advertising ecosystem addresses who's winning, who's losing, and whether traditional media advertising still has a viable path forward in the era of accelerating cord-cutting and big tech dominance. Evan, Marion, and Mike use the Upfront to dig into the broader power shift underway in TV advertising that saw Amazon open the week, YouTube and Netflix close it, and the legacy broadcast and cable networks stuck somewhere in the middle trying to stay relevant in an increasingly creator-driven, platform-first world. They cover the major trends shaping the rest of the year: the ad industry's obsession with performance advertising and outcome measurement, the rise of shoppable TV, AI-driven dynamic ad insertion, the verticalization of streaming content, and the escalating sports rights arms race that traditional media may not be able to afford much longer. Key Takeaways: 1. The Sports Trap Sports rights are growing at 4–5x the rate of television revenue, with big tech projected to account for $30 billion of the $34 billion increase in rights costs over the next five years. Traditional media companies are overpaying for rights they can't fully monetize through advertising alone. Trad media will have to question whether their sports strategy is a growth play or a slow bleed. Big tech can hide the ROI inside a flywheel, but trad media cannot.  2. Performance or Perish The ad industry has become addicted to outcome-based, performance-driven buying modeled on Amazon's retail media business, where an ad impression and a purchase can be directly connected. TV is structurally a brand-building medium, which puts it at a disadvantage with CFOs who want spreadsheet-provable results. Networks that haven't built credible outcome measurement platforms are increasingly losing SME budgets to Meta and Google by default. The OpenAP partnership between major networks is a step in the right direction, but cross-competitor joint ventures are notoriously hard to execute. 3. The Measurement Gap Every major streaming platform (Disney's Compass, NBCU's Performance platform, etc.) is building proprietary measurement and identity infrastructure. The problem is brands don't live in one network's universe. Until there's a neutral, cross-platform layer that lets advertisers buy and optimize across the entire TV ecosystem, trad media will continue to lose ground to walled gardens that can at least show results within their own ecosystem. There's a real business opportunity here for whoever can build that neutral layer credibly. 4. Eventize Everything Traditional TV's most defensible advantage is not its library or its streaming, rather its ability to aggregate massive audiences around a single moment. NBC's Super Bowl + Olympics + NBA All-Star February generated $2 billion in incremental ad revenue. The lesson: stop competing on daily ratings and double down on cultural events, appointment television, and live moments that brands are willing to pay a premium to be part of.  5. Stop Fighting the Flywheel Trad media must stop resenting big tech and start building partnerships with it. Google owns the most popular TV OS on the planet. Amazon has identity and attribution data no broadcaster can replicate. YouTube is the most-watched channel in the US. The companies that are quietly winning — Fox with Tubi, French broadcasters partnering with Netflix and Amazon — are the ones that accepted their place in the ecosystem and found ways to draft off the platforms rather than fight them. The era of unexpected partnerships isn't a sign of weakness, it is the only viable strategy left. Thank you Mike Shields for joining the pod! Mike Shields - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-shields-78150b5/Next in Media - https://mikeshields.substack.com/ Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8 Connect with us on Linkedin: Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/ Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/ The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast (00:00) - Cold Open and Banter (01:26) - Meet Mike Shields (03:15) - Why Upfronts Persist (06:06) - Big Tech Takes Over (09:29) - Ad Market Numbers and Outlook (11:40) - Sports Arms Race (15:27) - Regulation and Consumer Impact (19:11) - AI and Shoppable TV (24:49) - TV Measurement Fragmentation (26:47) - Neutral Layer Opportunity (27:54) - Walled Gardens Reality Check (29:09) - Amazon Backbone Dilemma (34:05) - Trad Media Sweet Spot (36:40) - YouTube Events And Scale (39:50) - Why Everyone Wants TV (45:21) - Path Forward And Wrap

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About

Each week, two of media’s most influential thinkers, Evan Shapiro & Marion Ranchet, take on the hottest media topics with their hottest takes, helping their audience chart a course through the maelstrom that is today’s Media Odyssey. Based in the US, Evan Shapiro is the Media Industry’s official Cartographer, known for his well-researched and provocative analysis of the entertainment ecosystem in his must read treatises on Media’s latest trends and trajectories. Marion Ranchet, French expat based in Amsterdam, has become the industry’s go-to expert in all things streaming, building a following for turning even the most complex problems into easily digestible and actionable insights. Ranchet and Shapiro are known for their sharp-yet-accessible content on Media consumption, audience trends, and the shifting fundamentals of the business itself. Even during the toughest of topics, they each make talking about Media fun. Together every week, these two will offer entertaining, often humorous, and always educational content on today’s Media Odyssey.

Information

  • Creator
    Evan Shapiro & Marion Ranchet
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    88
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © (c) 2025 The Media Odyssey

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