Assertion Supported
Cohen: US YouTube connected TV watch time now exceeds Netflix
“One of our very interesting stats I've noticed more recently was, so in the US, more hours are consumed of YouTube on connected TVs than Netflix.”
Opinion
Cohen: Streaming platform recommendation algorithms are overrated and ineffective
“And frankly, I, the quality of those algorithms is I think slightly overrated because it takes some of those streaming platforms, the stuff they offer me as the things they like to watch, they don't often offer me something I really want to watch. So I think t…”
Opinion
Cohen: Social media, not AI, is what disrupted trusted news brands
“I think brands, trusted brands are really important, but AI isn't the thing that's suddenly going to challenge trusted brands. Social media's already done that for, what, 1015 years now. You know, the breakdown in shared truths, the breakdown our understanding…”
Opinion
Cohen: Publishers should not edit classic texts like Dahl or Dickens
“On that one, I don't think anyone should be changing Roald Dahl or Charles Dickens. I think you may want to, in your footnotes, note something about that use of language. It sort of undermines the intelligence of people not to be able to see and understand tha…”
Opinion
Cohen: Theatre can make money but will never generate massive returns
“You can make money, but you're never going to make a huge amount of money.”
Insight
Cohen: Tech company and founder storytelling is often inadequate
“The entertainment world is all about storytelling, and storytelling by companies and founders is not always as good as it needs to be.”
Insight
Cohen: CEOs should strictly focus on tasks only they can perform
“If the thing you're doing on your list is something someone else in the company should be doing, you probably shouldn't be doing it. Because your focus as CEO should be on only on the things only you can do.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cohen: Audience fragmentation is legacy television's greatest ongoing macro threat
“The biggest challenge, the macro challenge, the most interesting challenges is about that fragmentation and that digital transition. And that's very challenging for a legacy broadcaster like the BBC or like a network in the US, CBS, ABC, when you can see those…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cohen: Long-form video generates far more investor revenue than short-form TikToks
“You know, it's the long form content where the money is as an investor. You know, you're not going to make much unless you're a very highly influential influencer on TikTok. You're not making much at the moment. YouTube, the big YouTube creators, they make mon…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cohen: BBC receives 10x to 20x more young applicants than open roles
“And yeah, there's, there is, I'm sure, 10 x, 20 x the amount of young people who want to work at the BBC than they have roles for.”
Assertion Supported
Cohen: Owning Theatre Royal Haymarket real estate protects against zero-valuation downside
“I mean, it's certainly true in a theater because you own the real estate. So as a minimum, you've got, you know, it's a grade one. We own the Len owns the theater or Haymarket. It's a grade one listed building. It's been on that site for 300 years. It's prime …”
Opinion
Cohen: Theatre businesses offer lower growth but higher stability than tech stocks
“If you're comparing it to a fast growing tech stock probably not but it might be a lot more stable than, you know, some of the trends we've seen in tech stocks in the last year or two.”
Insight
Cohen: Theatre wealth is driven by creative IP ownership, not venue operation
“You can make money, but you're never gonna get, make a huge amount of money. The real money comes in the creativity. You know, if you look at, you know, the stars of musicals like Andrew Lloyd Webber and so on, you know, they're billionaires. And rightly so, b…”
Insight
Cohen: Founders risk other people's money; artists risk deep public vulnerability
“A founder is taking risk with people's money. An actor or an artist is taking a risk in a very public way about how people will respond to their art and what they're doing on stage or on film or in a gallery.”
Insight
Cohen: Indiscretion and badmouthing investors signals how founders run businesses
“And sometimes it can be something like you wouldn't expect, like they don't seem very discreet. You know, they're talking about other investors or they're critical of other people. Sometimes you get a flag like that. You think this isn't going to be for me. An…”
Insight
Cohen: Supportive management makes tough feedback far more impactful
“If you are generally Good to people. When you say something directly, they really notice. One is the product of the other. That if your temperament is always be shouty or over aggressive, I think people begin to tune you out a bit. Whereas if you, if you're su…”
Insight
Cohen: Granular execution questions keep high-flying founders grounded
“Yeah, I think you've just got to keep bringing people around to focus on execution. That's what it's all about in the end. You know, if you can just ask very, you know, granular, specific questions around execution, provide support, but I think that's the only…”
Assertion Supported
Cohen: Data shows young people are lonelier than older demographics
“The data around, you know, young people are actually lonelier than old people.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Cohen: The 'loneliness economy' is a massive, growing market opportunity
“So the range and diversity of the loneliness economy is huge, and I think it's going to keep growing.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Cohen predicts a severe Hollywood content shortage within 12 to 18 months
“But yeah, there will be a point, a pinch point in the next year to 18 months where there's probably a bit less content around than before.”
Assertion Supported
Cohen: Financing a West End show costs four times less than Broadway
“The cost of financing a play or a musical in the West, London, the West End, could be four times less than financing on Broadway.”
Disclosure
Cohen: Access Entertainment is becoming much more cautious about investing on Broadway
“It's making us, certainly at this point at Access, Access Entertainment, much more cautious about what we invest in on Broadway.”
Opinion
Cohen: Founders weaken pitch narratives by assuming investor domain knowledge
“Storytelling by companies and founders is not always as good as it needs to be. Sometimes it's about assuming too much knowledge. I find sometimes with founders, that they expect the person they're pitching to understand a whole set of things about what they d…”
Prediction Held up
Cohen predicts streaming platforms will undergo market consolidation due to subscription fatigue
“Not all of these platforms are going to survive. There's just too many, you know, you've got to have too many subscriptions. It's too much for people. It's too expensive. It's too confusing. So I think you're gonna see consolidation there, which is in the inte…”
Danny Cohen