AT&T is spinning off its WarnerMedia unit and combining it with Discovery, Inc. to create an even larger media business. AT&T shareholders will own 71% of the combined business while Discovery shareholders own 29%. This matters to you, Dear Reader, because the new entity will collect even more customer data than before.
Cloud-based communications platform Twilio is buying toll-free messaging platform Zipwhip to expand its multi-channel message delivery capabilities. Price is $850 million in cash and stock. Growth of multi-channel cloud platforms is one of the trends we’ve been watching. You’ll recall that Twilio bought the Segment CDP last year for $3.2 billion.
To further clarify how valuable that streaming TV data is, we have this report that TV maker Vizio is making nearly as much money from its advertising and data business as it is from selling hardware: $38.4 million for data and ads vs $48.2 million for hardware in the first quarter of 2021, with the data and ad portion growing much more quickly. The value comes from the comprehensive customer data Vizio’s smart TVs can collect.
Salesforce has reversed course on its bid to acquire data management and integration platform Informatica a source has told Reuters. Informatica itself said that it is not in talks to be acquired. Salesforce stocks rose on this latest news while Informatica’s fell.