Wednesday Wit, Wisdom and other Words
Vol. 111 - Plus, Affiliate Summit East Recap
Another day, another dollar. Let’s make them both together! I’ve got the hottest headlines of the day, your favorite joke break, AND… it’s Gift Guide Season! Crazy to think it’s already here, but we’re all a little crazy so that checks. You might’ve also heard stirrings about Google getting into the publisher game. It’s (mostly) true and some publishers are calling it an existential threat. I’m digging into it all in the next week or so, so keep an eye out for that.
For today’s feature, the Affiliate Summit East event just wrapped in NYC last week, and it’s a pretty big deal in affiliate world. So much so that they market it as “the original affiliate event.” OG, baby. Anyway, today I’m breaking down some of the major trends coming out of it, which I think all support the bigger picture trends across the industry.
Wellll, that’s a lot to cover so let’s get into it!
Gift Guide SZN
It’s stupid that’s already here, but it IS! I’m talking about gift guide season, of course, the literal busiest time of the year for peasants like us. I’m putting together an updated Guide to Gift Guides, with tips and trickes for both journalists AND publicists, and how it all comes back to affiliate marketing. As with most posts these days, it’ll be locked for subscribers, so if you’re not already in that camp, let’s go camping! Coming to an inbox near you soon!
ShowZ
Welcome to Crappie Lake has become such a hit, which should be a surprise to no one because literally everybody loves the RH franchise and we should stop pretending like they don’t, Peacock has advanced the launch date of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: ROHNY Legacy, which will feature Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan.
You might not know this, but Jersey Shore Family Vacation is still on the on the air, and the second half of Season 7 premiered on MTV last week. Coming soon: Jersey Shore Family Nursing Home, code word still: Lasagne.
The second half of The Lincoln Lawyer also went live this past week on Netflix.
Paramount is honoring 50 years of hip hop, most of which I’ve been alive for and honestly I AM UNWELL with this news. Documentaries start airing this week on Pluto TV, while hip hop videos will be featured on MTV — just like the old days! — beginning Friday. Over on Showtime, All Up in the Biz premieres August 11, which is also when BET is blasting Straight Outta Compton at 6p and showing 8 Mile at the very reasonable hour of 1a. Remember when we used to call the movie theater to listen to the times? That’s what writing that paragraph just felt like.
The Summer I Turned Pretty has been renewed for season three. Be careful. After the summer you turn pretty, there’s only a few seasons left girl.
NewZ
“Crayola is launching Crayola Studios, dedicated to creating multiple genre content for kids and families that leverages color as an intrinsic element of the story,” is a buzzword salad headline ripped straight from the marketing sales deck.
Tom Brady has become a minority co-owner of British football team Birmingham City FC. Okay, boy boss.
Amazon reported quarterly sales of $134.4 billion, and didn’t even say thanks.
🔎 Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? In true Carmen form, she’s taking her talents international. Seasons one to four of the series are headed to RTS (Switzerland), TVNZ (New Zealand), BIGI Channel (Israel), Edel Music and Entertainment (Germany), and SIC K and Txillo (Portugal).
Bethenny Frankel just won’t quit. And she’ll remind you every day that’s how she got where she is. She took another step to formalize a reality TV union, accusing Bravo of a “pattern and practice of grotesque and depraved mistreatment of the reality stars and crewmembers,” as she reportedly plans to sue the network.
In newZ that sounds more like a movie plot with each cycle, The King of Queens star Leah Remini has filed a suit against the Church of Scientology alleging the church used “mob tactics” to defame her.
Mark Margolis of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” died last week at 83. RIP.
FunnieZ
Joke break.
Affiliate ABZs: Takeaways from the Affiliate Summit East conference in NYC
As mentioned, the Affiliate Summit East event was held July 31 and August 1 in NYC this year, where it brought together industry leaders and marketers to talk through the state of the industry, what’s in the pipeline, and how brands and affiliates are managing their affiliate efforts in 2023 and beyond.