Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Discovery+ Merges with HBO - Weekly Advertising News August 12, 2022

Episode Date: August 12, 2022

Welcome back to your weekly update on all things related to marketing and advertising! Sponsors:Branded BillsOld Glory collectionHoodies, flannels, beanies - perfect for fall and back to school!20% off with code RADCAST20Social HolidaysAugust 12 - World Elephant DayAugust 13 - Left handers dayAugust 15 - National relaxation dayAugust 16 - National tell a joke daySocial Media News:Sweetarts encourages amateur filmmakers on TikTokhttps://www.marketingdive.com/news/sweetarts-filmmakers-tiktok-festival-influencer-gomez/629015/Instagram strongholds influencer marketing despite growing competitionhttps://www.marketingdive.com/news/instagram-rivalry-tiktok-influencer-marketing/628837/Advertising News:Walmart reportedly seeks streaming partner to bolster Walmart+https://www.marketingdive.com/news/walmart-disney-comcast-paramount-peacock-streaming/629329/Warner Bros. Discovery to combine streamers next summer, considers ad-supported offeringhttps://www.marketingdive.com/news/warner-bros-discovery-combined-hbo-max-discovery-FAST/628974/Miller Lite rents out grills in latest summer stunthttps://www.marketingdive.com/news/miller-lite-rents-out-grills/629064/NYT plans advertising expansion into non-news productshttps://www.axios.com/2022/08/09/new-york-times-advertising-expansionRun ads or place products in-show? Both are best, research findshttps://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2022/08/10/run-ads-or-place-products-in-show-both-are-best-research-findsIf you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, let us know by visiting our website www.theradcast.com. Check out www.theradicalformula.com. Like, Share and Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/RadicalHomeofTheRadcast or leave us a review on Apple Podcast. Be sure to keep up with all that’s radical from @ryanalford @radicalresults @the.rad.cast @christinaroseyasi @nick_weaver If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. 

Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast. Here is the Radcast News. It's Friday, August 12th, 2022. Weekly marketing, advertising, business news. What's up, Ray Harvey? How's it going? How's it going? Good, man. Good to have you in the chair. Absolutely. I'm definitely not Christina, but...

That's for sure. No long hair, no funky glasses and and you're a man just small differences yes had a good week i did i did how about yourself it's been good it's been busy it has been busy thanks of uh we've come out of the uh we're headed into the fall on a a wave of business here and just you know just keep riding it i was about to say we're gonna ride that wave it's good i'm uh you know like school starting back with the kids like i'm ready for a schedule a little but at the same time not ready like i feel like in like i'm ready for it but then like three weeks from now i'm gonna be like all right you know over it yeah yeah i get

it the uh you'll know that when your kids get uh school age which is in january supposedly oh yeah they get that out the other day oh yeah yeah they have to apply in january for next fall but nice neither here nor there yes so it's been a good week at radical nick you had a good week there buddy yeah it's pretty good very Very productive. A few shoots. A few things here and there. Nick Weaver, the producer of the Radcast, for those that don't know. I call out

Nick all the time. I put him on the spot just randomly. We'll give you a shout out. Wait, I am going to shout out too because that reel you posted the other day of the Ferris wheel pretty awesome oh yeah what you're breaking out the new fpv drone yeah nick weaver nick underscore weaver underscore and check it out go go watch it because it's cool new technology we practice what we preach around here at the radical agency hey if you don't know

we're in greenville south carolina so if you. So we're hitting all the other lists, so you might as well put it on your trip as well, because everyone else is coming here. Right. Cradle in every corner. The best city ever. G Vegas, baby. I saw this. We put this on our small talk list.

Olivia Newton-John passed away. Yeah. You know, I have vivid memories of Greece growing, like it was even a little before my time. I don't want to totally age myself, but I just remember watching it. Like it was like the first time I watched a musical and I was like, OK, that's kind of cool, you know, and lots of fond memories. Right. My mom absolutely loved Greece. So I grew up. I could tell you every line in the movie to this day. I absolutely loved Grease. So I grew up, I could tell you every line in the movie to this day.

We've watched it so many times. But when she turned around with those leather pants, come on. Come on. Iconic and legendary. Okay. All that to say, though, she will be missed for sure. Because, I mean, I'm only 31 and that's all I really know her in. But she was a legend in her own right. I know.

I mean, you know, sometimes we joke, and she was more than a one-hit wonder for sure. But, you know, we'd all die to have a one-hit wonder, you know? Right. And I don't know. I remember the leather pants, and I remember, you know, watching it the first time. And I didn't know, I think, the first time I watched it,

that there was going to be singing. So it was a movie. At first, they break out into tune. I was like, what is this? What's happening? And I don't know if we've... You'll see movies here still in there. I guess it's kind of a lost art. Right. Well, especially the iconic ones,

right? I mean, the legends of their time that have... I think I read somewhere and maybe this is... Maybe I'm thinking of a different movie but i think when greece first came out it wasn't a hit one of those i i don't remember well enough i know you're right about one of those right movies that wasn't that became like iconic after the fact but i i don't know i'm not sure if it was greece either way olivia newton john was an icon. Yes. I was going to say Saturday Night Fever. They didn't think that was going to be a hit, but it turned out to be a pretty big one. That might have been it.

Huge. Yeah. So, RIP Olivia Newton-John. I don't know where John Travolta is. He's kind of gotten a little weird over the years. A little bit. I did see a little tweet that he put out or something that was acknowledging her passing and saying something like, sincerely yours, you're Danny or something.

I don't know, but you're right. I haven't heard of him or seen him in the past couple years. The Radcast, if you've been checking it out, I don't know if you're an old O-Town fan, throwing it back to the boy band days, we had Ashley Parker Angel was on the show this week from O-Town. He started a few side ventures and a new fitness company. He was fun on the show this week. So if you haven't checked that out, go check it out next week. Cosmo from Cosmos Q.

Speaking of Cosmos Q, I'm talking about samples from here to Vegas. Never ending. Never ending. Never ending. Cosmo was very gracious, sending us lots of barbecue rub sauces and everything else. And, you know, I don't know what you thought, Nick. I thought he was really down to earth. It was probably one of the more laid back, but fun episodes. You know, it was just kind of like two dudes talking.

Yeah. I really enjoyed that episode. Yeah. He was super down to earth and i don't know he was just really transparent about how he started the business the ups and downs and i don't know he kind of i think he if you're one like to be reminded of the american spirit and like what you know america's about like i don't know i guess rags to riches is right but it's like great story and just a great success story.

Right. Yeah. We always hear about rags to riches, but they love to go to the richest part first. Yeah. And just skip over the rags. Tell us the whole story. And what Cosmo did.

And, uh, you know, he, uh, some good, uh, a good revenge story a bit too.

Like when, uh, someone was a jerk to him at like a barbecue contest and he's like, okay, all right. I think that guy's using his rubs now. Look for that next Tuesday, the 15th. I'm really excited for you guys to hear this one.

He's a great follow on Instagram. The Captain, Kyle Creek. Also known as Sugar Steak. S-G-R-S-T-K. I guess that I was the first to guess that. Was that right? Am I overstating that? No, you definitely were the first. And you have to listen, know exactly what all that means. But Kyle is an author of fucking history. You know, how can you not want to read a book that's fucking history you know and uh he was great super good follow you need to follow him just he's a writer uh and you know instigator right and he's fun so uh kyle was awesome so

be on the lookout for that in a couple weeks and And we've got some other goodies up the sleeve. I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag yet, but it's going to be fun. So be on the lookout for all our latest guest episodes. And speaking of being on the lookout, you need to be on the lookout for this gear. If you're watching the episode, Branded Bills, brandedbills.com, the official merchandise sponsor of the Radcast. I'm holding up one of their lovely radcast hats here in the studio if you're watching if you're listening then you need to go watch it or just go to branded bills.com insert radcast 20 get 20 off

hats tees hoodies hey it's starting to get not starting here in south carolina but somewhere i'm sure starting to get cool soon uh hoies, flannels, beanies, everything for back to school. 20% off with Radcast 20. Go to theradcast.com, search for sponsors, or just click on the sponsors tab, click on Rad, excuse me, Brand of Bills, and the Radcast code is immediately plugged in, and you get 20% off your entire order.

Tell them that the Radcast sent you. Brand of Bills, brandofbills.com. Got a few social holidays we're going to run through. I know this one's important to you, Ray, today. Your pet. You just happened, you know, Dumbo. World Elephant Day. All the elephants running around Greenville.

Yeah. Nick, are you an elephant lover? Yeah, I got one at home you ride them or you just pet them i just like to look at them they're pretty big listen i do have some friends i forgot i think it was india somewhere they went to ride the elephants they loved it really yeah i don't know man uh just keep that trunk over to yourself yeah or the tusks yeah Yeah, a lot of junk in the trunk.

I'm just saying they're just giant animals. I don't want to be that close to them. Yeah, I just feel like they can accidentally crush you.

Not even meaning to. He's trying to be friendly to you and nudge you and you fall over and you're squashed. You're squashed because he steps

on your toe. But hey, all you elephant lovers out there, go watch Dumbo and, you know, sing a little ditty. Tomorrow, for all you creatives out there, left handers day. Hey, you know, are you left handed? Yeah, I am left handed. Now it all makes sense.

It's all coming together. left-handed now it all makes sense it's all coming together you know what's crazy to me though is historically they like back in the times of the witch trials used to like kill people for being left-handed how weird is that crazy that was nick i don't know you got that Nick. Can you do that again? Okay, all right. So, left-handers day. You know, I give you a high five with my left hand tomorrow or fist bump. But I will say this.

I've dated left-handed women and I've known and had a lot of friends that are left-handed. And the stigma of creative, a little, airy-fairy is probably not fair, but a little like, I don't know, just different. Wired differently. I would say nine out of 10 that I know are are that way not i don't want i'm not stereotyping at all but they typically are a little more free-spirited and a little more creative makes sense i know and so and just weird thanks those dang left-handers yeah hey you deserve to

be celebrated so Left hand. I will say this. I don't think I've ever met a left-handed type A person. Like super type A. Not because they're not organized or something, but just like hyper. Someone's going to DM me and go, I'm type A and I'm left-handed. I know they're out there. I'm just saying, me personally,

I've probably known a hundred left-handed people in my life. I can't remember one that was just like, they were all just kind of creative and free spirits. Yeah. I'm just impressed that you remember which hand they went with. I just, I pick up on that stuff. Because it's, you know, like, since I grew up, like, you're throwing the baseball

or something like, whoa, you know, or football or football or right i don't know i was just tackling people so i didn't really you know i was more uh doing throwing things or shooting basketball you can see that immediately too enough uh and i mean i'm definitely going to celebrate this on monday the 15th, National Relaxation Day. I'm all for it. Can we make that every day, please? Is that boss relaxation? How can I relax if you guys relax?

Right. No. Yes. Nick, you going to relax on Monday? Big time. You can fit right in. On the 16th, I expect everyone to tell me a joke. Tell a joke day.

My jokes are terrible. I'm not going to tell you a joke. I've got a good one that I heard the other day. It's a little dirty. And it would definitely fit on the Radcast, but it takes too long. Too much. Yeah. Are you a good joke teller, Nick?

Well, did y'all hear about that guy that fell off the cliff? He wrote a book. No. You know what his name was? What? Eileen Toofar. Read my lips. No.

I think that's us all. There you go. There's those left-handers for you. Yeah. Eileen. Okay, I'm going to stay away from that. All right. First article today comes to us from Sweet Tarts and TikTok.

Sweet Tarts encourages amateur filmmakers on TikTok. Sweet Tarts is hosting a branded film festival on tiktok encouraging young filmmakers to submit their creations which thing i 100 absolutely love this and i'll tell you why is because sweet tarts is sweet tarts of sweet tarts people that want sweet tarts go and buy them but what they're focusing on is a brand attempt of growing it and saying, hey, we're going to grow it through the strengths of the people that enjoy sweet tarts. Yes. And so kind of going back to the human to human aspect, it's a giant brand that's realizing, hey, let's focus on what our consumers love, not necessarily on us. I will say this about TikTok.

I agree 100%. So I'll give you one of these. Yes. Made it. TikToks is one of those, you know, like you think of candy as kids, right? Kids, candy and all that. I also like candy too. TikToks is on that list or excuse me, Sweet Tarts, not TikToks.

Sweet Tarts is on the list for me of kind of universal candy. Right. uh sweet tarts is on the list for me of kind of universal candy right like i still like sweet tarts and i don't need nearly as much candy as i my kids do or i used to right but you need a little pack of sweet tarts i'm probably in for that right you know you know you got a sweet i'll take one of those it's an iconic candy yeah it's like uh if you don't like a sweet tart i'm i might have an issue with you. What's wrong with you? You know, sweet tarts you can pay us later.

If you want to be a sponsor, let us know. Thus, you know, I think, number one, the demo obviously makes a ton of sense being on TikTok and everything. But I do think the film side, which is going a little older in, in the play here makes a lot of sense for the brand. It's a lot of fun. And I think it's, it'd be interesting to me, you know, we talk all the time about branded demand. This is clearly like a brand play, right? Yeah. I mean, so if you're the chief marketing officer and you have all these pressures of sales and everything else like i wonder how they tie certain things like this back to attribution

when i think part of it too is going to be i mean obviously it's a giant user generated content yeah like pool yeah and so instead of paying influencers hundreds of thousands millions of dollars they have all this content now that they can say hey these are actual real life consumers yep it's true but either way if you're sweet tarts you need mass appeal and mass branding so it's a way to leverage the fast-growing trends that are on TikTok. Next article, Instagram strongholds position with influencers despite growing competition. Instagram this year will maintain its spot as the number one platform for influencer marketing amid growing competition, especially from TikTok. Got a little point of view on this. This comes to us from MarketingDive, Marketing from TikTok. Got a little point of view on this. This comes to us

from marketingdive, marketingdive.com. Does this surprise you at all? It does. And my first thought is I can't wait to see next year. Because I feel like if TikTok hasn't overcome them next year, they're going to be super close. Yeah. Yeah. yeah i mean that's really all i have to say is so we had a little pre uh episode conversation you know and it my point of view and it's related not related um certainly influencers are booming everywhere and certainly on tiktok it's non-stop and all that but for me if i'm building a personal brand the ui experience on instagram is still more conducive to building it around the person and not just the content right and that's not look if we if you've been paying attention no one's pumped tiktok and what's

happening on the platform any more than yours truly the host of the Radcast. And I still believe that. But in my personal experience with who is starting to register to me, the person, the brand of the person, and not just the content itself, the video, Instagram has more influence on me with my usage pattern and the ui the combination because it's still pictures and videos and the ui of stories and other things to me helps personal brands grow more around the person in the brand and not just the frenetic content. Makes sense. And I say this to say, if I'm Instagram and it sounds like they have after the whole Kardashian thing, I'm hitting the pause button on trying to be like TikTok and embracing your differences. also acknowledging obviously video content and video content that's less produced and democratized and all those things is the rage and recognizing that you can recognize that and embrace it and empower it without throwing the baby out with the bathwater yeah and that being the core experience

that you have on instagram yeah and i think one of things too, that is kind of overlooked with Instagram too, especially with influencers, that they've had a longer runway. Yeah. They've been able to build that community and engage with them faster or longer than TikTok has. I think that's a hundred percent right. But there's something about the UI.

Yeah, absolutely. That look, and there's, and the algorithm on TikTok is like magic potion potion lotion, whatever you want to call it. It's scary. It's scary good. And there's a million things going for TikTok. But I still think from a UI perspective, if I'm trying to curate a brand around myself and not just every frenetic piece of content right you know if i'm a if i'm just purely wanting to get known for being an amazing content creator right tiktok is absolutely

the place but it's about the content not the person. I feel like when you're building a personal brand, yeah, I don't, I'm not doing content on social media to be known as a content creator. Right. I'm doing it to build my personal brand around me, my knowledge base, my thought leadership, and not necessarily how great I can work the TikTok video editor. Right. You know? Yeah. And so, and I think that's the differentiation is like, am I a great video editor on TikTok? And I'm known for that.

Plus a little bit of the, whatever I'm talking about, or am I building it around me and my point of view and my thought leadership? That's also interesting content right right and i think there's a delineation there when i think once tiktok's fake once they figure out the story situation because to me that's the biggest differentiator yes with instagram you can see instantly for that 24-hour period what's going on in their lives that they want to um and i know you can do live and all that kind of stuff. But once they figure that out, I think it'll at least balance the scales a little bit. I'll see some of this money start moving towards TikTok.

I would like to have seen if I'm Instagram, I would have doubled down on stories and how I make stories better and not fuck with the feed. Yep. Because stories could be your right your i'm a lot like tiktok or better you know right but your feed remains the same your grid and all that everything that's made instagram instagram right don't mess with that experience don't mess with the core experience stories could have been can still be the place where it's a more natural it was always been it was it was tick tock before tick tock was sliding and and content so lean into that and how you innovate there and so what instagram historically has always done is stolen from other platforms

yeah i mean they've taken it and tweaked it and said oh look we have this now right um i mean even as recently as like with the be real app they now have the front facing camera on instagram well there's a there's a there's an old you know and it falls a lot of places first market or best market right right you know yeah and i think the reason tiktok one of the reasons it blew up is because it was different enough not only our attention span is short, but it was different enough and they didn't necessarily outright steal anything. It was different. Yeah. And then lo and behold, reels came along on Instagram and now they're kind of all the same. Exactly. But at some point you're right. They have to embrace

their differences because again, none of those platforms, I don't see TikTok going away. I don't see Instagram going away. Facebook might die down a little bit, but I still don't see it going away. Facebook groups, Facebook marketplace. Right. None of them are going to take the route of MySpace. No, I don't think so. Not yet. Be real.

Yes, no. The verdict's still out. Yeah, I know. I think it works if you actually use it for what it's worked for but what we're seeing now is a lot of engineered be reals or reels whatever they call them that's like that's not really your life you're just actually waiting for the timer to go off to say hey take your picture let me be at the beach at this time so if someone's listening and i didn't ask you just

pre-episodes i'm putting you on the spot so i'm going to kind of drag out the question this is this is a interview 101 by the way when you're going to ask someone you haven't prepped them for the question you ask it and you extend the asking of the question because i'm going to ask ray like who's a tick tocker that someone should be paying attention to that's hit your radar in a while. And so when you ask a question that someone's not ready for, you do what I'm doing right now, which is stall a little bit to give them time to answer and think about and process the answer. Yeah. Well, I think that, gosh, it's our marketers favorite answer. I think it depends.

I think it depends on who that person is. If it's my 14 year old nephew, it's the Mr. I think it depends. I think it depends on who that person is. If it's my 14 year old nephew, it's the Mr. Beast of the world. If it's my wife, it's the, um, gosh, her name's Danae. I can't remember her last name on Tik TOK, but she loves, she makes us prank calls to like, um, nursing homes. If she can rent a grandma, like she loves it, eats it up for me. It's going to be whatever i want to eat this week like that's that's recipes recipes or even like well i guess recipes um i mean cooking it or is it where you're gonna go eat like i'm gonna go ahead but i also like also there's a lot of like

fatherhood videos right now on my feed that's the kind of stuff that in each in each little niche they have their own person and so i think that's one of the differentiators again of tiktok is there's not one giant kim kardashian influencer like there is on i think you're proving my point earlier what he's not naming a name and i'd name kyle creek if you'd asked me like Instagram or, you know, Maria Louise that I mean, I can name like 10 people on Instagram right now in the last like month that have kind of hit my radar as the brands. But on TikTok, I can't name a single one. Now, I think back and go, yeah, he's that girl or guy that's making good content. But I don't remember their name. I don't I don't go explore them.

but I don't remember their name. I don't, I don't go explore them. And I'm sure they're out there. But when I think of those, those personal brands, it's the ones that have already been established. Yeah. Again, going back to your point earlier, it's, is it harder? Sure. But are they going to be only on Tik TOK? No, they're going to be on Tik TOK Instagram. Who knows where else they'll be? There's we're no longer living in a world where it's a singular platform. You're going to have a vast majority of most i use the analogy of tiktok to me is me at midnight when i'm i never have a hard time sleeping so it's mainly like maybe just trying to fall asleep

i'm flipping channels like non-stop you know like i bounce in between 20 programs maybe like hoping to find like dateline or something like something like juicy and yeah and that's kind of tick tock for me in instagram i spend more time on the posts or the person typically and i don't know if it's chicken or the egg because I've used Instagram longer. I built my brand there first. Right. But there's something about that UI that makes me dig into the person and not just the individual channels. Right.

It feels there's more intention to it. Yeah. Instead of just, I mean, last night was a great example. I had the TV on. I was sitting on my couch. I was scrolling through TikTok with the TV on, just sitting on my couch i was scrolling through tiktok with the tv on just scrolling swiping not scrolling swiping um i'm like what am i doing because again it's there's no intention to it it's just trying to it's being entertained to death vortex right yeah all right walmart reportedly seeks a streaming partner to bolster walmart plus how many pluses are we gonna have disney plus walmart plus espn plus right cnn plus which didn't make it uh walmart recently met with

executives from disney comcast and paramount about bringing a streaming service to its walmart plus membership program i mean didn't this just go to show you'm going to go on a tangent here for a second. I'm tangent central today. Back to the Me Too, like, first to market best. Like, once someone does the plus sign, does everybody just give up and go, that's how we're going to do it too? Like, ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, and the Plus. Right. There's no other way.

Like, everybody just does the same thing. And these brands are huge. They have unlimited budgets. They have unlimited ability to hire someone like radical to come up with a creative way to name it and just gonna me to it right plus yep sign done innovation at its best listen if it works it works but obviously for some it does not. That's what I'm thinking about. Anyway, Walmart Plus, a sizable streaming integration would help turn it into a service that more closely mirrors Amazon Prime and a destination for activities beyond shopping. Disney has a variety of options in the streaming space, including Disney Plus, ESPN Plusulu+, Comcast operates Peacock, and Paramount owns Paramount+. All the pluses.

And none of them are PLUS. I actually might like them better if they didn't all have a plus sign. Right. Yeah. ESPN minus. So, yeah. What do you think about Walmart here? Media company. I mean company stick to your lane

when I think Walmart we have a Walmart a mile from my house and I still use Walmart Plus to deliver the two hour or less delivery when I don't have time to go pick something up you know what I'm not thinking about with Walmart is streaming and to make to shift that mindset

it's another revenue stream, I guess. Yeah. I get it from that standpoint, but at the same time, focus on low prices every day. That's your tagline. Right. You know, well, and the irony of all this, all the pluses out there, all the streaming started off at like a year or two ago, like two2.99 a month. And just yesterday, I got an email from Disney Plus saying, oh, we're increasing our prices. So that seems to be a disconnect between Walmart and all the rest of the streaming. Walmart is affordable. Walmart has low prices. All the other pluses out there are increasing their prices. Yeah. I feel like I'd like to see a more innovative pivot towards the core brand value.

So think about everyday low prices, everyday value, family value. What's the spinoff that goes down that lane? Right. And I'm not going to give them free advice on this podcast anymore than we already are. Right. And they probably aren't listening anyway. They should be. They should be.

But go down that lane. Where does that lead you? And instead of just, okay, we're going to do media. We're going to do this, that, or the other. And content. And, you know, it's another revenue stream. It's fine. But, like, a little innovation.

Right. You know, like, what's, I don't know, what's making people's lives easier that relates to affordability? You got a recession somewhat in place, maybe coming. Don't know. We're not, we're not taking part in it by the way. Right. But the, but still like, I don't know, go down, stay in your lane, figure out something innovative down your lane. That's not just, I don't know. When I think even like when I think of Amazon, when I'm shopping or more so, when Jenny Lynn, my wife is shopping on a daily basis now on Amazon,

she's not thinking Amazon prime, the streaming service, she's thinking Amazon prime, how can I get this as quickly as possible? And so they're both Amazon prime. In fact, the app is called Amazon prime that you go and watch streaming on. Yep.

But there's nothing I watch less and I pay for Amazon prime than anything on Amazon prime. Right. I don't, or the music. I don't use it for music. I mean, it comes with it,

but I don't use any of it. I don't use anybody. I have, I have both of them. I don't use any of the, I use Apple for subscription music and Netflix and, or YouTube TV, whatever's on that.

Right. That's what we have for cable. Right. So I don't know, but, uh, we'll see. They're looking for a partner.

If you're out there listening, team up with Walmart plus, uh, Warner brothers discovery is to combine streamers next summer considers ad supported offering Warner brothers announced that it plans to combine hbo max and discovery plus into a combined streaming offer under a single brand beginning in the u.s next summer per the company's first full earnings call since the two companies merged this year yeah that's a smart move. I will say Discovery Plus is probably the most under the radar

best streaming app out there. It is good. I agree. A lot of content on that that you probably watched and you didn't realize you watched and it's there. Yeah. I agree. Between that and probably YouTube Live or YouTube TV

is what we watch the most in our house. Yeah. Discovery plus. I mean, look, if these companies come together and you need to streamline it, like keeping them disparate, it makes no sense at all.

Right. So, uh, you know, and how many more pluses do we need? All right. I like this Miller light, rinse out grills in latest summer stunt.

It grills share stations in New York and Chicago. Consumers can reserve a Miller Lite grill and spatula. I don't want to share any spatulas, but apron, folding beach chair with umbrella, and a $25 gift card. Some people lick those things. Either by signing up online or scanning a QR code code consumers can then unlock and roll their grill to a nearby spot this is fun it is fun but you touched on the first thought that i had is i don't know what central right what this person before me cooked the grill on or grilled out i don't know what's i mean i'm sure they'll have new spatulas every time but

keep your germs away from me please please. I have to agree here. If I'm Miller Lite and I'm looking for brand extensions and I'm looking for activations, this makes sense on the surface. But I am a little bit of a grill phobia person myself, too. When I've gone to parks back in the day and I go to the public grill, that runs through my mind. I'm just like, I know no one licked the grill or like, I don't know. It's not necessarily even germs. Right. But it's like what funky concoction was cooked on your last.

And that's going to flavor my hamburger. Yep. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. I liked the Miller Lite charcoal better flavored Flavored like the beer infused charcoal. Yeah. I mean, that would be smart. They already did it.

Yeah. It was awesome. Beer coal. Beer coal. Hey. I mean, I like the folding beach chair, though. Like, that idea works. Yeah. Sharing beach chairs and umbrellas.

That's fine. Right. The grills, though. Yeah. I don't know. New York Times plans advertising expansion into non-news products. Over the past 10 years, the Times has pivoted its strategy to focus on subscriptions. Now that it's reached critical mass, it sees an opportunity to build more ad products that cater to those users.

I think you're going to see a lot more of this across the board. I mean, Apple the other day announced they're having their own DSP. And so it's just situations like, I mean, what was the, I'm sure you guys talked about it, the car dealer or the car brand that has a subscription service now for heated seats. We've reached a point where we're so individualized that we want individualized services for everything that let me pick and play and pick and pay what I want.

Well, that and those media companies, you know, like newspapers are dead. Right. And you've got community journals, but with limited reach, the limited ad dollars they can collect. Right. So you've got subscription online.

So they're just, they've got to have another revenue stream. Yep. And you know, everything's gonna be at supported. Yep. Cause people don't really want to pay what it takes to, to get that content or that media or whatever it is.

Right. Well, and I think so on the con on the conversation of ads, I think people aren't as bothered by them as what we like to believe. I think on TikTok, like the newer media, maybe I get annoyed at some ads that pop up. But if I'm on a news website, I don't really care or look at the ads that are there. They're just there and I expect them to be there. And so I think there's not a world where we go ad free across the board.

Look what's going on with Netflix. I mean, the genie is going back in the bottle. Like literally, I never thought it would, but you can get the genie back in the bottle, clearly. Because Netflix is like, they're going to go back to ads. I think they kind of had a little bit at the beginning, but quickly didn't. And now, because their subscription numbers are dropping off

and nobody wants to spend $20 a month, because all these things, because again, when you play for a lot of pluses, it adds up. Right. Yeah, pun intended. You know what I'm saying, Nick? There's no subtractions in there. It's all plus, plus, plus, plus. $9.99, what I'm saying, Nick? Mm-hmm. There's no subtractions in there. Right.

It's all plus, plus, plus, plus. $9.99, $14.99, $20. Holy shit, I'm paying four times more than I was with cable. With cable, yeah. You care for what you ask for. Right. I want no ads, and I want to buy individual things. Well, here it is, folks.

It's called A Lot of Money. Because that content, it's expensive to make. It is. And it doesn't just get done for free. So Netflix, going back to ads, I mean, that's going to be interesting. Right. I just say from my perspective, I guess you're going to be able to watch it without ads if you keep paying. I assume ad plus ad free.

Right. I don't know. I think some of mine are ad free that I have. Plus ad free. Right. I don't know. I think some of mine are ad free that I have. But again, if there's a price difference there, I didn't choose it because it was ad free. I chose it just because it was probably the first one on the list and I didn't feel like going through the rest of them.

Yeah. I'll say this if you're out there listening. The only thing I do like about it is, you know, being a digital ad agency, you know, we push connected TV a lot. It is democratizing the availability and potential to get a high brand value placement. Yeah. Because, you know, a digital ad, as much as it doesn't annoy me, but it has an impact, no doubt. No doubt, but not as impactful as a 15, 30 second, well-produced, well-created, thoughtful piece of content that you're typically stationary in front of a TV. Right.

You know, even if you're looking at your phone, they're getting just a deeper impression. It's just all impressions are not made equal. Right. You know, I get that. Yeah. And I think one of the things we're going to continue to see, we're already seeing it. We've been seeing it for a couple of years is that continued democratization of what you're saying. I mean, even look at the next Super Bowl. We're already seeing big brands starting to pull out from commercial ads because they know that that money can be spent elsewhere. as the mom and pop stores on the street to have a CTV placement. It might not be in the prime spot of the Super Bowl,

but it might be on the same day on the same station and you can play it for not $30 million. Yeah, exactly. So we'll see. That's what we got today. Final words there, Ray? Not really. No words of wisdom? No words of wisdom?

No words of wisdom. I know. If you're out there and you're listening here on Friday, go celebrate World Elephant Day and glad hand your left-handers tomorrow. Right. Don't get crushed by the elephants. Don't forget to relax on Relaxation Day.

Yeah, this is true. You know, just relax all week. Tell the Radcasts I told you it was okay. With your grill that you can rent. Yeah, in is true. You know, just relax all week. Tell the Radcast that I told you it was okay. With your grill that you can rent. Yeah, in advance of Monday. It's weird that Monday is a relaxing day. This should be a Sunday or Saturday. Yeah, that's poor planning.

Yeah. Someone didn't think that out. Bump it back, you know? Yeah. Great. No productivity at work on Monday, thanks to this. Right. Well, we appreciate whoever you are, wherever you are, whenever you're listening.

We couldn't do it without you. You know where to find us, the Radcast.com. Search for all of today's content, including TikTok, Instagram, and elephants. I'm Ryan Alford on all the platforms. For Ray Harvey, Nick Weaver. We'll see you next time. See you. On the Radcast.

To listen to full episodes or to contact us, visit us on the web at theradcast.com. Or follow our host at Ryan Alford on Instagram. Thanks for tuning in.