So This Happened...2nd July 2025
Your weekly filter for what actually matters in the world of content, tech, and commerce
This week in So This Happened…Google faces a major regulatory challenge as UK watchdogs reshape search infrastructure, Anthropic and Meta celebrate AI copyright victories, in the UK, mobile usage officially overtakes TV for the first time in two decades, TikTok gamifies live streaming to accelerate commerce integration, and European broadcasters consolidate to counter Silicon Valley dominance.
Let’s dive in!
AI Copyright Rulings Create Complex Landscape for Media Industry
The Hollywood Reporter - Sarah Silverman Loses Key Issue in AI Lawsuit Against Meta, But Creators Get a Silver Lining
The Wrap - AI Companies Can Use Copyrighted Books to Train Language Models, Judge Rules in Anthropic Case
The Verge - Did AI companies win a fight with authors? Technically
Why It Matters:
How should media companies balance the transformative potential of AI with the fundamental protection of creative intellectual property that drives their business models?
This week's qualified legal victories for Meta and Anthropic in copyright disputes with authors illuminate profound tensions that could reshape the entire media and entertainment ecosystem's approach to AI integration. It’s important to take note of this. These are the foundation stones building on the next generation of IP rights protection.
This week, Judge William Alsup ruled that Anthropic's training of Claude on copyrighted books constituted fair use, calling the outputs "exceedingly transformative." However, he condemned the company's piracy of over seven million books, noting they "could have purchased books, but preferred to steal them."
Elsewhere, Judge Vince Chhabria sided with Meta while warning that AI's capacity to "flood the market with endless amounts of images, songs, articles, books" could undermine the very fair use protections these companies claim.
These rulings matter because they illuminate a critical inflection point for content creators, publishers, and media platforms. And these recent rulings are only the beginning, expect to see many more as we define the parameters of rights and IP ownership in a world where the source of creative output and ownership challenges traditional understanding of rights ownership: The ongoing New York Times versus OpenAI litigation continues testing whether AI systems can reproduce substantial portions of copyrighted content, whilst Disney and Universal's lawsuit against Midjourney directly challenges whether AI-generated images featuring copyrighted characters constitute transformation or infringement.
The outcomes of all these legal actions will fundamentally determine how content creators and media companies monetise their intellectual property in an AI-driven landscape. If AI can legally consume vast libraries of copyrighted material for training whilst potentially displacing original creators through automated content generation, the traditional economics of storytelling, journalism, and the concept of the right to own and be rewarded for the output of your creative endeavours faces existential challenges.
The most pressing concern centres on economic sustainability. Advanced organisations are developing frameworks that embrace AI's creative potential while attempting to protect their core intellectual assets, including building in clear AI usage protocols, exploring licensing models with technology partners, and preparing for coexistence rather than competition between human creativity and artificial intelligence. It’s important to follow this, as the frameworks for the protection and exploitation of human creative output is is being adapted and rebuilt. We will be briefing you on this, and the evolution of these new commercial and legal frameworks regularly.
Have you changed your content strategy to take advantage of AI? How are you approaching safeguarding the creative foundation that drives your business value?
Google could be forced to change UK search as watchdog takes steps
Why It Matters:
How should media companies position themselves when search infrastructure faces its most significant regulatory disruption in two decades?
The Competition and Markets Authority's proposed designation of Google as having "strategic market status" represents far more than regulatory housekeeping - it’s a WOW moment, and reinforces the fundamental shift in how audiences will discover and engage with content across the digital ecosystem.
So what has happened? The CMA is preparing to force Google, which controls over 90% of UK search queries, to implement “choice screens,” that would present users with alternative search engines, including AI-powered platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT. These screens would appear when users set up devices or browsers, breaking Google's default dominance. The proposals also include requirements for fairer search result rankings and enhanced publisher control over how their content appears in AI-generated responses.
This regulatory intervention arrives precisely as search behaviour undergoes dramatic transformation. Recent analysis reveals that 37.5% of AI search prompts now request content creation rather than information retrieval, fundamentally altering how audiences are discovering content.
For media companies, “choice screens” could democratise access to emerging discovery platforms where consumer behaviour is already evolving beyond traditional SEO strategies. When users can easily switch between conventional search and AI-powered creation tools, the implications for content strategy, audience acquisition, and advertising models become profound.
The most sophisticated organisations recognise this as an opportunity to diversify their discovery strategies beyond Google's ecosystem. Enhanced transparency requirements in search advertising could level the playing field, while publisher control over AI-generated responses directly impacts how editorial content flows through search results.
The timing coincides with intensifying pressure on traditional media economics, making alternative discovery channels increasingly valuable for audience development and revenue diversification.
With the increased important of “Generative Search Optimisation”, are you re-examining your content and audience strategies for a potentially fragmented search landscape? If not, let’s talk!
UK now spends longer on phones than watching TV
The Media Leader - UK now spends longer on phones than watching TV
Why It Matters:
What does a media strategist do when 2 decades of standard practice is upended?
The IPA TouchPoints data signals a complete transformation in how audiences engage with content and, critically, with brands across the media ecosystem.
For the first time in two decades, UK adults now spend more time on mobile phones than watching television - 3 hours 21 minutes versus 3 hours 16 minutes daily. This crossover represents more than statistical curiosity, driven primarily by 15-24 year olds who dedicate nearly five hours (!) daily to mobile versus under two hours watching TV, whilst the 65-74 demographic maintains traditional patterns with over 4.5 hours of TV viewing.
What makes this matter so much isn't just about time allocation - it's the emotional context surrounding consumption as well. TouchPoints research reveals viewers are 52% more likely to feel relaxed watching TV than consuming mobile video, whilst being 55% more likely to experience sadness when viewing content on phones.
This emotional disparity has a major impact on advertising effectiveness and brand association, and is something that needs to be taken into consideration from a marketing and advertising perspective. The divergence of emotional response creates complex challenges for media companies seeking coherent messaging across fragmented audience segments, whilst mobile's "always on" nature requires different creative approaches than TV's evening appointment viewing.
The broader implications extend to CTV strategies, where media organisations will need to bridge television's emotional comfort with mobile's persistent presence. Some companies are developing content ecosystems that leverage mobile's immediacy whilst preserving television's relaxed receptivity, with different content, not just format changes, recognising that effective audience engagement increasingly depends on understanding contextual emotional states rather than simple reach metrics. In a world moving towards contextual measurement this is an important requirement.
Given these evolving consumption patterns, how are you balancing the pursuit of mobile reach against the quality of engagement that content requires to drive meaningful audience relationships?
Comcast to Sell Sky Deutschland to Bertelsmann’s RTL Group
The Hollywood Reporter - Comcast to Sell Sky Deutschland to Bertelsmann’s RTL Group
Why It Matters:
How are European media companies reshaping their strategic architectures to compete effectively against Silicon Valley's seemingly unstoppable streaming expansion?
Bertelsmann's RTL Group has struck a transformational €150 million deal to acquire Sky Deutschland from Comcast, signalling a decisive shift in European media consolidation strategies that could fundamentally reshape how content reaches audiences across international markets.
By combining Sky's subscriber base across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with RTL's existing RTL+ service, the merged entity will command 11.5 million paying subscribers, positioning it as Germany's third-largest streaming platform ahead of Disney+. The acquisition delivers immediate access to valuable premium sports rights including Bundesliga, Premier League football, and Formula 1 - content categories that remain key for driving subscriber loyalty and reducing churn in increasingly competitive markets.
RTL CEO Thomas Rabe's description of creating "national media champions" reflects a sophisticated European response to Silicon Valley's streaming dominance. The acquisition demonstrates how traditional broadcasters are leveraging existing infrastructure and premium content portfolios to compete at scale against global platforms.
Sports rights provide appointment viewing that streaming platforms struggle to replicate, whilst local-language content creates defensive moats against international competitors. The integration of Sky's WOW streaming service with RTL+ showcases how regional players are building comprehensive content ecosystems that combine familiar broadcast strengths with digital-first capabilities.
The regulatory landscape is worth paying attention to given RTL's previous setbacks with blocked mergers in France and rejected acquisitions in the Netherlands. However, remember Sky Deutschland's lack of profitability despite €2 billion annual revenue - that strengthened RTL's case that consolidation serves consumer interests rather than restricting competition. It also explains why Sky was willing to broker this deal.
The timing coincides with intensifying pressure on European streaming economics, as platforms grapple with slowing subscriber growth and increased content costs, and as other regional players capitulate to the likes of Netflix (looking at you TF1 in France). Smart regional players recognise that scale through strategic plays may prove more sustainable than competing independently.
Prime Video Leaders Pitch the Benefits of Amazon Channels Marketplace to Content Partners: ‘It’s Not Bundling, It’s A La Carte TV’
Why It Matters:
How should streamers balance platform dependency against the undeniable reach advantages of Amazon's increasingly dominant streaming infrastructure?
Amazon Prime Video is aggressively positioning itself as the essential distribution partner for streaming services, making a compelling case that their platform represents the most effective pathway to audience acquisition and retention in an increasingly fragmented marketplace.
At the Prime Video Engage event, U.S. chief Albert Cheng detailed how Amazon's marketplace model drives measurable results for partners ranging from HBO Max to niche platforms like Crunchyroll. The data is persuasive: Amazon claims their channel marketplace generated 2.3 million HBO Max subscriptions over one year following the service's return to the platform in December 2022, after an earlier dispute over fees. The company's 200+ million Prime member base across 9,000 devices offers discovery capabilities that smaller services cannot replicate independently.
The implications extend far beyond simple content distribution. Amazon's investment in AI-powered personalisation, shoppable advertising, and contextual ad delivery creates a commerce-integrated viewing experience that traditional broadcasters struggle to match. Amazon is truly positioning themselves to own the content commerce space. We have written about this many times and its important for publishers of content to take note: With 130 million ad-supported U.S. viewers generating 40% growth in viewing hours since advertisement introduction 18 months ago, the platform demonstrates how advertising tolerance can fuel subscriber growth and will fuel new monetisation opportunities when executed thoughtfully.
Research also reveals that the marketplace model particularly benefits from Amazon’s streaming churn patterns - with one-third of cancelled subscribers returning within 12 months, Amazon's central billing and discovery infrastructure helps partners recapture lapsed audiences more effectively than isolated platforms. This solves a key problem
However, Amazon's approximately 30% revenue share represents significant margin pressure, creating a fundamental tension between platform reach and economic sustainability for streamers navigating an increasingly consolidated distribution landscape.
Amazon's expanding infrastructure dominance will impact independent publishers - What will be the alternatives given the scale of capabilities of Amazon’s full loop capability?
TikTok Looks to Gamify Livestream Engagement With Fan Clubs
Social Media Today - TikTok Looks to Gamify Livestream Engagement With Fan Clubs
Why It Matters:
How are platforms evolving beyond traditional advertising models to create genuinely commerce-integrated experiences that feel native rather than intrusive?
TikTok's new Fan Clubs feature represents an exciting approach to transforming passive consumption into active community participation (all with clear commercial intent) offering valuable lessons for traditional media companies looking to integrate commerce functionality.
By updating their previous "Creator's Team" functionality, TikTok is creating competitive dynamics that drive both engagement and monetisation through virtual gifting systems. Viewers join Fan Clubs by sending virtual gifts, then complete missions (engagement!) - watching streams, commenting, and purchasing additional gifts - to level up within creator communities. Members unlock exclusive perks including private chat access, special badges, and priority recognition, creating aspirational hierarchies that encourage sustained participation.
What makes this particularly commercially impactful is the integration of purchase behaviour into the engagement framework itself. Data from previous iterations shows active members sent 3x more gifts and watched 4x longer than typical followers, demonstrating how gamification can meaningfully impact revenue metrics beyond surface-level engagement.
This development gains additional significance when considered alongside the comprehensive live content partnerships recently announced at Cannes Lions . demonstrating how traditional media companies are racing to capture the live commerce opportunities that TikTok has pioneered through their live sports and live events.
TikTok's gamified approach offers valuable insights for traditional broadcasters seeking to integrate commerce functionality. The seven-day activity requirement to maintain fan status creates urgency that drives consistent engagement - a model that premium content providers are likely to adapt as they develop their own live commerce strategies.
Given this increasing convergence of gamified engagement and live commerce infrastructure, what's your take on finding that sweet spot between building genuine community and driving meaningful business results in your platform approach?