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A PhD student figured out why you hate Nickelback so much

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Nickelback sucks

There are few bands that get as much grief as poor, poor Nickelback, and now there's new research that explains why you probably hate the band's frontman, Chad Kroeger, so much. 

Salli Anttonen, a cultural studies PhD student at the University of Eastern Finland, studied the nickelbacklash in her amazingly titled paper, "‘Hypocritical bullshit performed through gritted teeth’: Authenticity discourses in Nickelback’s album reviews in Finnish media."

By examining reviews of the band published between 2000 and 2014, Anttonen determined that all the hatred is "not about the sound, but what values are attached to the sounds."

Haters ride Nickelback for being inauthentic, faking their way through uninspired, uncool post-grunge for purely commercial purposes, Anttonen surmises. The Canadian group relies on tried-and-true soft rock tropes and rarely attempt to play anything innovative, sticking with what will reliably get radio play. Attacking Nickelback also makes critics look better, as she found that by "nullifying Nickelback’s authenticity, critics are actually authenticating themselves.”

“Nickelback is too much of everything to be enough of something," she concludes. "They follow genre expectations too well, which is seen as empty imitation, but also not well enough, which is read as commercial tactics and as a lack of a stable and sincere identity.”

If you're looking for a Nickelback song that perfectly exemplifies Anttonen's findings, might we suggest their 2005 track "Rockstar" for your listening, um, pleasure? 

SEE ALSO: Jennifer Lawrence has finally taken over the 'X-Men' franchise

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Will Ferrell pulls out of controversial Ronald Reagan Alzheimer's comedy

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On the heels of outrage from the family of President Ronald Reagan, Will Ferrell announced Friday that he was no longer involved with a comedy movie being made about Reagan's battle with Alzheimer's.

According to Page Six, though Ferrell had seen the script and was considering producing it and starring as the former president, he has dropped out of the project.

"The 'Reagan' script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered," a Ferrell representative told Page Six. "While it is by no means an 'Alzheimer's comedy' as has been suggested, Mr. Ferrell is not pursuing this project."

Reagan's daughter Patty Davis wrote an open letter on her website about news of the project, which read:

Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous. Alzheimer's … steals what is most precious to a human being — memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime … I watched as fear invaded my father's eyes — this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, "I don't know where I am."

The project has no financing or a director attached.

According to Variety, the script, written by Mike Rosolio, begins at the start of the then-president's second term when he falls into dementia and an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander-in-chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.

A popular project on The Black List, the annual catalog of top unproduced scripts in Hollywood, the script even had a live read last month done by Lena Dunham and John Cho.

Business Insider's attempt to get further comment from Ferrell's rep was not successful.

SEE ALSO: The incredibly successful life of Drake

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The first game coming to Nintendo's new console looks stunning

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There are two sure things in this world: death, and delays of Nintendo games.

The most recent example of this is "The Legend of Zelda." It was recently delayed to 2017  to line up with the launch of Nintendo's new console, currently codenamed "NX," which makes it the first officially announced game for the mysterious new console. (Fret not: The game is also headed to Nintendo's Wii U.)

"The Legend of Zelda" has likely changed a lot since we last saw it. It will undoubtedly boast upgraded visuals on the new console, but let's take a look back about everything we've seen so far:

This is Eiji Aonuma, the main visionary behind the recent "The Legend of Zelda" games, discussing the new "Legend of Zelda" back in 2014.



During this video, Aonuma says, "It’s quite a vast world, isn’t it? You can even reach those mountains in the distance, if you walk far enough."



Here are Link and his horse, Epona, surveying the peaceful landscape.

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Isn't it gorgeous? It's hard to imagine this looking much better on an updated console.



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The all-star 'Mother's Day' is already one of the worst-reviewed movies of the year

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Mothers Day 2016 Movie

Director Garry Marshall is responsible for some of the most legendary TV shows and movies ever made, like “Happy Days,” the TV version of “The Odd Couple, and ”Pretty Woman.”

But in his later years, the 81-year-old has been making a series of movies focused on holidays, like “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve,” that outside of all-star casts have done precious little for critics or audiences.

But that hasn’t stopped him from making a third film, “Mother’s Day,” which opens Friday. And critics are really letting this one have it.

"Mother's Day" has the usual cast of A-listers in Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, and Jason Sudeikis, playing characters whose lives intersect leading up to the holiday.

With a current rating of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes and taking in only $225,000 in its Thursday preview, the movie will likely make around $12 million in over 3,000 theaters. 

When you have stars like this, that's pretty weak.

Here’s what critics had to say about what's already one of the worst-reviewed movies of the year:

We've been down this road three too many times.

Movies like "Valentine's Day" and "New Year's Eve" have already scarred critics, and it doesn't seem they've lightned up with the third offering from Marshall. 

"Following the lazy formula the director laid down in 'Valentine’s Day' and 'New Year’s Eve,' Marshall and his writers line up a bunch of stars, set up some basic sitcom situations, then hope audiences are in the right holiday spirit," the New York Daily News wrote.

And Rolling Stone says "director Garry Marshall is a menace. He keeps killing holidays with all-star comedies in which a laugh would die of loneliness."



You will be laughing at it, not with it.

If you think critics are a little harsh on the movie, here are a few examples on why it's so painful.

ScreenCrush highlights: "Britt Robertson [plays] an unwed mother who refuses to marry her aspiring standup comedian baby daddy (Jack Whitehall) because she has abandonment issues. This is made clear in the scene where she loudly announces 'I have abandonment issues!' in a public park full of kids. As you do."

While the Washington Post can't forget (but wants to): "At one point, Jennifer Garner sings a Huey Lewis and the News song, in what feels like the whitest moment in the history of cinema. That is, until roughly 45 minutes later, when Jason Sudeikis does a karaoke version of 'The Humpty Dance' while wearing salmon-colored pants."



That wig!

Julia Roberts wears a wig in the movie that looks so awful you think it must be a joke, but it's not. Variety has some questions about it.

"Like the glowing briefcase in 'Pulp Fiction' or the final whispered words of 'Lost in Translation,' the ill-fitting Anna Wintour wig worn by Julia Roberts in 'Mother’s Day' seems destined to enter the pantheon of great cinematic mysteries. Did some earlier version of the script explain the wig’s presence? Why does no character in the film point out how strange it looks? Did Roberts insist on wearing the wig — a leftover prop from one of her faux films in 'Notting Hill' — as a Brando-esque bit of actorly mischief, or does it hold deeper significance?"

Hopefully, we'll never know.



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It’s surreal to watch this 2011 video of Obama and Seth Meyers taunting Trump about a presidential run

The 'Ghostbusters' remake is the most disliked trailer in YouTube history

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The backlash against the new "Ghostbusters" and, in particular, its trailer has hit epic proportions.

With 508,023 dislikes on YouTube at of this writing, the trailer is now the most disliked in YouTube history. It currently has over 28 million views.

The eagle eyes at ScreenCrush caught the soon-to-be-infamous feat. It's currently in 28th place on the all-time disliked-video list. Justin Bieber's "Baby" music video is No. 1 with over 1.3 billion views.

It should be noted that many of these thumbs-down for "Ghostbusters — which opens in theaters on July 15 — no doubt come from people suspicious about the larger project, whether because they protest the all-female cast or they perceived actress Leslie Jones as the "token black" character in the movie.

And now those people seem to be on a personal quest to do the movie harm.

The most disliked movie-related YouTube video behind the "Ghostbusters" trailer is the "Frozen" song "Let It Go," which is in 52nd place with over 300,000 votes against it.

Judge for yourself: Is the "Ghostbusters" trailer that bad?

SEE ALSO: 'The Daily Show' turned Donald Trump's outlandish quotes into a rap video

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How Amazon's Netflix competitor could be a success without making any money — and what that means for Netflix (NFLX)

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mozart in the jungle gael garcia bernalNetflix might be the king of content in the streaming video world, but there's one gargantuan advantage Amazon has in the space: it doesn’t actually have to make money on its Netflix competitor, Prime Video.

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky highlighted the value of video to Amazon during its earnings call on Thursday. He said that Amazon is going to “significantly increase [its] content spend” on its video offerings because the company is seeing better engagement and conversions from Prime members who use the video service.

In plain English: Prime Video helps Amazon make money in other ways.

Here’s a simple example. In a recent survey conducted by CutCableToday (independent of its website), Amazon Prime subscribers were found to be 10 times as likely to rent or buy movies from Amazon Instant Video than non-Prime members.

Let’s break that down. Amazon has two tiers of video. The first is Prime Video, which is a Netflix-like service attached to Prime (or available separately for $8.99 per month). The second is Amazon Instant Video, which is a “rent or buy” service like iTunes. And you can browse both at the same time.

One of the advantages for Amazon is that once people get in the habit of going to Prime to watch videos, which are free except for subscription fees, the company has a chance to sell them on renting or buying videos that aren’t available. Here’s the scenario: you search for “The Revenant,” and it’s not available on Prime, but there it is sitting on your screen, available to rent on Amazon for $5.99 with one click. You might just go for it.

Amazon Prime videoIn the survey, 40% of 380 Prime members polled said they rent or bought video from Amazon Video at least once per month, as opposed to just 4% of non-Prime members. That’s a big difference. And while that difference might be affected by factors other than exposure to Prime Video, Olsavsky’s comments suggest Amazon sees video as a driver of other purchases.

This isn’t good news for competitors like Netflix, whose core business is providing high-quality movies and shows for a per-month fee. Amazon could theoretically never make a single cent directly off of Prime Video, and still have the project be a resounding success. But a bigger threat to Netflix might be if other companies, like wireless carriers, follow Amazon's lead and start using subscription video primarily as a tool to make money off of other products.

SEE ALSO: The top games Apple thinks everyone should have on their iPhone

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Here's how much Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg made off their $4 billion DreamWorks deal

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Curious who had the best week? It was Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The cofounders of DreamWorks made out huge on Thursday when Comcast bought DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion.

Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, stands to make $408 million based on his roughly 10 million shares in the company, the largest of any individual investor, according to TheWrap. Spielberg, whose production company Amblin Partners started under DreamWorks, will pocket $187.6 million from the 4.6 million shares of the company he owns.

David Geffen, the third founder of the company, ceased to be listed as a shareholder in 2012, as he didn't have more than 5% of the company's stock — the threshold at which investors are required to disclose their stake.

Katzenberg will now transition to being chairman of DreamWorks New Media. If he were to leave the company during its transition, his compensation would be worth $21.9 million, according to TheWrap.

SEE ALSO: Inside Prince's massive $10 million mansion where he was found dead

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The marketing genius behind Beyoncé has put his chic Tribeca apartment up for sale for $3.5 million

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Beyoncé has been able to dominate airwaves and pop culture for years now, in no small part because of Jim Sabey, her marketing genius and manager.

But Sabey, the former head of worldwide marketing for Beyoncé's management company, Parkwood Entertainment, looks to be moving on from at least one thing: his Tribeca co-op apartment. He's listed the two-bedroom for $3.5 million.

The chic, minimalist 1,600-square-foot corner apartment is filled with light and boasts some high-tech amenities. Bonus: Some of Beyoncé's greatest hits were allegedly written here, establishing this apartment's own claim to fame.

It's listed with Deborah V. Hughes and Diane D'Ambrosio of Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

SEE ALSO: A former fashion exec is selling his historic New York City townhouse for $17 million

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The Tribeca apartment, in a 1915 co-op with 14 units in total, has a spacious terrace for taking in some sun.



Inside, wide windows let in plenty of light, but there are also shades that can be brought down on every window with the use of an app.



The master bathroom has lighting designed by Mariah Carey's Grammy-winning stage-lighting designer in the 2000s. The architecture itself is worth about $100,000, according to Sabey.



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Everyone is coming back for the next 'Wet Hot American Summer' Netflix series, says Michael Ian Black

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As far as Michael Ian Black knows, he and the entire original cast of cult movie "Wet Hot American Summer" will be returning for Netflix's newly announced sequel series, "Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later," set for 2017.

"I’ve sort of known about it for several months," Black told Business Insider on Friday. "I haven’t talked to [creators] David Wain and Michael Showalter too much about it in terms of what they’re thinking about storylines. But as far as I know, everybody is doing it. I don’t think they’d want to do it if the vast majority of the original cast weren’t on board. As far as I know, everyone’s doing it."

The movie's original screenwriters Showalter and Wain will pen the sequel, with Wain once again directing the new eight-episode season — as he did with the original 2001 movie and Netflix's 2015 prequel, "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp."

Netflix hasn't announced the sequel's cast list, but Black says that returning for the series is a no-brainer.

"Any time something like this comes along, it’s just an opportunity to hang out with people you know you already like and to revisit characters you’re familiar with in a world you think is funny," he said. "So the decision to do something like that is pretty easy, at least from my point of view. My philosophy is, if it’s a fun thing to do, I want to do it. And this has always been a fun thing to do, so I always want to do it."

wet hot american summer 10 years later cast netflixBlack, known for his longtime work with Showalter and Wain in "The State" and "Stella," plays McKinley, a camp counselor who's in love with fellow camp counselor Ben (Bradley Cooper). In Black's stand-up special premiering Friday, May 13, on Epix, the comedian jokes about how the role has led to many other gay roles.

"A lot of people assume that if I'm on a show, I must play the gay guy because I f---ed Bradley Cooper in a sport shed one time," he said.

The original "Wet Hot American Summer" cast includes Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garofalo, Christopher Meloni, and Ken Marino, among others. 

SEE ALSO: An original 'Gilmore Girls' producer is suing for $200,000 over Netflix's revival

SEE ALSO: Chelsea Handler finally shared details about what to expect from her new Netflix talk show

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Allison Janney revived her 'West Wing' character to fill in for the White House press secretary

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One of actress Allison Janney’s most memorable roles is playing White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg on the hit TV show “The West Wing,” and the real press at the White House got a surprise when Janney appeared Friday in the press room.

After Janney said she was filling in for White House press secretary Josh Earnest, the room filled with laughs as she went back into her C.J. Cregg character.

But it turned out Janney was there for a serious cause. She came with Chick Lorre, executive producer on her current show, “Mom,” to honor 10 individuals from across the country with the White House Champions of Change honor for their leadership in preventing prescription drug abuse and heroin use in the country.

In “Mom,” which airs on CBS, Janney and costar Anna Faris play characters who are recovering addicts.

Watch Janney’s surprise appearance in the White House press room here:

SEE ALSO: The all-star "Mother's Day" is already one of the worst-reviewed movies of the year

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Anthony Bourdain explains why the New York City restaurant scene would have been 'unthinkable' 20 years ago

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Anthony Bourdain has spent roughly the past 15 years in the limelight as a television personality exploring the world, but before that he spent two decades in New York City kitchens, culminating with a stint as the executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles.

Business Insider recently spoke with Bourdain, and he told us that when he looks at the New York restaurant scene today, he's amazed.

"It's come so, so, so, so far in just my lifetime," he said. "So much of what we have now would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, 25 years ago when I was still in the business."

He embraces what a generation of young hipsters have created in Manhattan and the outer boroughs, a culture that has also manifested in other parts of the country.

"You've got tattooed young people all over the city and all over the country making their own sausages, curing their own meat, and rotting things in their cellars, and they're acutely aware of the seasons and are aping obscure subgenres of like Basque-specific restaurants," he said. "It is a wonderful thing."

When Bourdain looks at the New York food scene today, he sees a significant portion of customers who care about the chefs and cooks making their food, and this has in turn made these customers more adventurous.

Celebrity chef culture was in full swing in the '90s, but not in the same way it is now. The 1991 novel "American Psycho" and its 2000 film adaptation, for example, famously satirizes the high-end restaurant culture of the time by having characters obsessed with getting a reservation at the latest hot restaurant, simply because it was the popular thing to do.

What Bourdain is saying is that the same fervor for restaurants exists now, but for better reasons.

He explained that the "admittedly bizarre and frequently hilarious celebrity-chef phenomenon" has allowed chefs "to cook as well as they know how, because people are interested in their best game now. They're not showing up at their restaurant saying, 'I'd like the chicken.' They come in wanting to try Eric Ripert's food or Daniel Boulud's food and they don't go in there with a specific menu item in mind. I think that's a really important change in the landscape over the last 20 years."

daniel bouludContributing to this change in tastes is the fact that the current batch of 18-35-year olds, millennials, are more interested in "experiences" like a meal at a fine restaurant than a big purchase like a luxury handbag, studies like one from Eventbrite have found. And New York City, with its endless supply of restaurants and young people with disposable income, is the perfect breeding ground for a new wave of foodies.

This generation has also grown up with fears of processed and genetically modified foods, stoked by books like "Fast Food Nation" and films like "Food, Inc.," which has enhanced the power of buzzwords like "artisanal," "locally sourced," and "non-GMO organic."

Bourdain finds this to be the main downside among hot places in New York. "You'll hear the name of the farm, the name of the farmer, what my cattle was fed," he said. "I don't need to know all that." But it's a small price to pay, he said.

"I'm glad that people are aware and think about these things, and I'm glad when waiters and servers know," Bourdain said. "And I'm glad that chefs are making the real effort to get the best quality ingredients and that the public is more and more likely to appreciate it and even understand it."

SEE ALSO: Anthony Bourdain discusses the new season of 'Parts Unknown,' his favorite restaurants, and how he went from outsider chef to the top of the food world

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Here are the 10 best candidates to cohost 'Live' with Kelly Ripa when Michael Strahan leaves

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There are plenty of people who could take the seat next to Kelly Ripa on "Live."

For the second time in four years, the syndicated show is going to whittle down a pool of people to find the perfect morning sidekick. And with Michael Strahan leaving early amid what seems like behind-the-scenes drama for the daytime show, the clock is ticking.

The drill will be the same as before: Ripa will share the show with a revolving door of guest cohosts. It took months and about 60 contenders before "Live" landed on former NFL player Michael Strahan in 2012.

The stakes are high. "Live" is currently the No. 2 syndicated show in daytime TV. And all involved, from producer ABC to the local affiliates, don't want that to sink any lower.

Naturally, there will be repeat contenders from the last round and new people who express their desire to fill the role this time around (we see you, Bow Wow).

Here's a look at some strong potential candidates who could take the seat next to Ripa:

(Note: Since the show has always kept the duo to a male and a female, we're looking at only men for Ripa's sidekick.)

SEE ALSO: Kelly Ripa finally returned to 'Live" and had some words for ABC over Michael Strahan's exit

SEE ALSO: The 14 biggest comedy power couples in Hollywood

Anderson Cooper

CNN host Anderson Cooper is reportedly one of Kelly Ripa's top choices for the spot. They're good friends, so the chemistry would already be there. Plus, he's definitely proven on his show "Anderson Cooper 360" that he has a lot of opinions. And despite earlier statements to the contrary, and the fact that he has plenty to do as it is, it sounds like he's actually open to the idea.

"Look, I'm very happy at CNN," Cooper told Andy Cohen on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live." "It would be a dream to work with Kelly, but nobody's offering anything, so..."



Andy Cohen

Andy Cohen is reportedly Kelly Ripa's other top pick to replace Strahan. Again, they're very close friends, and Cohen clearly stays up on the news for his late-night show "Watch What Happens Live."

The problem is he may not want to do a late-night show and then wake up to do an early daytime show, too. And he's very entrenched in Bravo as an executive producer on the "Real Housewives" franchise and future projects, such as the upcoming pop-culture history show "Then & Now with Andy Cohen."



D. L. Hughley

Comedian D. L. Hughley would be a hilarious addition to "Live." But he also has some pretty good hosting chops, having fronted shows for BET, CNN, and shows on both New York radio and satellite radio. Like Strahan, Hughley was also in the cohost rotation in 2012 after Regis Philbin retired.



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The hilarious 'Damn Daniel' meme blew up sales for the company that makes white Vans (VFC)

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Daniel definitely helped the company that makes Vans sell a ton of white Vans. 

In case you missed it, the "damn, Daniel" meme blew up in February. It's a video of one friend named Josh Holz calling out his teen friend Daniel Lara over and over for wearing Vans. Mostly white Vans. 

"Dammmmnnnnn, Daniel, back at it again with the white Vans!" the tagline goes.

Daniel and Josh gained a ton of Twitter followers, went on Ellen, made a website, and did all the other things viral sensations get up to soon after.

Sales of white Vans on Amazon because of Daniel blew up in the following weeks. And that was the first sign we got that VF Corp, the apparel company that owns the Vans brand, was cashing in.

The company reported first-quarter earnings on Friday, and beat expectations for profits and sales. It said direct-to-consumer sales spiked 20%, while online sales jumped 30%. 

Here's president and COO Steven Rendle:

Of course, how could we not mention Daniel, as in 'Damn Daniel', which, as you can imagine, did have a strong impact on the sales of White Vans, which saw 100% sell-through in both retail direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels. 

The national media attention the brand received is a wild demonstration of how creative expression, youth culture and loyalty can conspire to cause a phenomenon. Well done, Daniel, well done.

Bloomberg notes that Vans jumped on the meme — like a #brand would —  and redirected its homepage to a listing for white Vans.  

All this happened at a tough time for apparel retailers, who are facing headwinds from changing consumer tastes and online shopping. 

Here's the original viral video:

 

SEE ALSO: The insanely popular ‘damn Daniel’ meme is now an insanely popular game in the App Store

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Here's the moment that made Prince a superstar


The 10 most bizarre TED Talks

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People have watched the 2,100 TED Talks available online more than one billion times, exploring cutting edge insights from the worlds of technology, entertainment, and design.

There are presentations that are moving, hilarious, and profound. But some are enthralling mainly because of how strange they are.

We've picked some of the quirkiest, most ridiculous talks, from one about a self-proclaimed cyborg to another about a woman whose contribution to the field of wearable technology is a hat that lets you talk to yourself by channeling your voice into your ears.

Alison Griswold contributed to a previous version of this post.

SEE ALSO: The 20 most popular TED Talks of all time

An Oregon activist demonstrates how to dry your hands with just 1 paper towel

Oregon activist Joe Smith wants to reduce waste in the US, which is a noble pursuit, for sure. And it's interesting to discover that Americans use 13 billion pounds of paper towels a year. But his instructional presentation on how to revolutionize drying your hands, "How To Use A Paper Towel," is just plain silly.

His technique: "Shake, and fold." Shake your hands after washing, and fold your towel before using — a two-step process Smith enthusiastically demos for his audience with a variety of paper towels. "The fold is important because it allows interstitial suspension," he explains. "You don't have to remember that part, but trust me."

Watch it here »



Neuroscientist Greg Gage choreographs a cockroach leg

This is probably one of the weirdest science experiments featured on TED: a severed cockroach leg waving back and forth to the bass notes of rock music. In "The Cockroach Beatbox," a November 2011 talk, Gage uses the insect to demonstrate how brains receive and deliver electrical signals. And don't worry about the leg the cockroach loses — Gage assures us that it'll grow back.

Watch it here »



Artist Jae Rhim Lee explains why she's training mushrooms to eat her body

In "My Mushroom Burial Suit," Lee explains how the human body is full of "toxins" and that traditional burial methods poison the environment. It's why she's training mushrooms to recognize her body's excess skin and hair cells, so that when she's buried, the mushrooms can decompose her body.

We're not confident mushroom suit wakes are going to catch on.

Watch it here »



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How the free-to-play model captured the mobile gaming market, why it's proven problematic, and how to fix it

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The mobile gaming app industry is quickly growing. Over the past eight years, developers have flocked to create mobile games as smartphones became a mainstream consumer device. Technological evolutions including faster processors, larger screens, more input points, and better overall graphics capabilities, combined with dropping prices, brought the ability for gaming via smartphone to audiences larger than ever before. 

In that growth and through that transition, smartphones as a gaming arena experienced its own evolution. More developers flocked to this medium, and the gaming sections of app stores became saturated. While mobile gaming apps using an up-front paid downloading model, wherein consumers paid a typically nominal fee to download an app, flourished in the early days of mobile gaming, the deluge of apps led to a change in monetization strategy. More apps started using the free-to-play (F2P) model, wherein a consumer can download an app for free, and is then later monetized either via in-app purchases or in-app advertising. Since that transition, most consumers have been conditioned to expect quality mobile gaming apps for little or no cost.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we examine how the mobile gaming market has been affected by the transition to F2P monetization. We also take a close look at how saturation in the mobile gaming category, combined with the standard F2P model, has led to numerous issues for developers, including spiking marketing costs, the premium on acquiring users who will spend heavily within a game (called whales), and the impact that it's having on mobile gamers who do not spend in-app. The report then identifies innovations in mobile app marketing and engagement that seek to alleviate the issues of F2P and inadequate monetization in the fact of mounting marketing costs.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

  • The mobile gaming app market is so big it makes other app categories seem small by comparison. Mobile gaming apps accounted for 20% of active apps in Apple's App Store in March 2016, according to AppsFlyer. That’s more than double the second most popular category, business apps.
  • It's only going to keep growing as quality smartphones become more accessible and more consumers look to their smartphones for gaming. In the US alone, 180.4 million consumers will play games on their mobile phones in 2016, representing 56% of the population and a whopping 70% of all mobile phone users, according to estimates from eMarketer. 
  • This quick growth is resulting in numerous growing pains. Saturation in the market has led to the dominance of the free-to-play (F2P) monetization model, which in turn has led to sky-high marketing costs.
  • As marketing costs for mobile gaming apps has skyrocketed, so has the tendency for apps to focus on the very small segment of players who spend money in-app. This has resulted in game mechanics that optimize the amount of money being spent by this small user group, which can often alienate the large swath of users who do not spend money in-app.
  • There are numerous new solutions coming to market that offer developers and publishing houses a diverse selection of monetization models which combine in-app purchases with other methods. 

In full, the report:

  • Sizes up the current mobile gaming app market and its future growth trajectory.
  • Examines the role of free-to-play (F2P) games in the greater mobile gaming ecosystem.
  • Identifies the major threats and opportunities inherent in the current mobile gaming market and in peripheral markets such as marketing.
  • Explains the current monetization conundrum wherein the vast majority of revenue comes abysmally small segments of mobile gamers.
  • Presents new approaches and solutions that can help mobile gaming apps monetize without alienating swaths of mobile gamers.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

  1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now
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Anthony Bourdain discusses the new season of 'Parts Unknown,' his favorite restaurants, and how he went from outsider chef to the top of the food world

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Anthony Bourdain BI Interview

Anthony Bourdain is a master storyteller.

In 2000, at 44, he was propelled into stardom by his best-selling memoir, "Kitchen Confidential." It's the tell-all of a Manhattan chef unafraid to talk about the grittier side of the restaurant industry, as well as his own past struggles with drug addiction.

Its success led to another book deal, with an accompanying Food Network show, both called "A Cook's Tour." He left his role as executive chef of the Manhattan French restaurant Les Halles and became a television personality who traveled the world, next with the Travel Channel shows "No Reservations" and "The Layover," and then the CNN series "Parts Unknown."

Over the past 16 years, Bourdain, now 59, has explored the cultures and cuisines in locales across 80 countries, and he's won three Emmys and a Peabody award.

Bourdain has intentionally avoided leading any food projects since leaving the restaurant industry, but next year his name will be attached to a 155,000-square-foot (think three football fields), $60 million international market in New York City's Pier 57.

We recently spoke with Bourdain about the seventh season of "Parts Unknown," premiering on April 24, Bourdain Market, his favorite place in the world to eat, and his extraordinary career. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Richard Feloni: What about your experiences from your travels in this upcoming season surprised you?

Anthony Bourdain: I knew a little of the Philippines already, but this was a chance to learn about the Filipino character, and why so many of them end up as caregivers, essentially, looking after kids, looking after sick people — that instinct to give. There's also a musical aspect that seems ubiquitous. We're trying to tell a very personal Philippines story, and that was a highlight.

Senegal was a surprise. It's unlike any country I've been before. It's a slice of Islam that I think most people haven't seen, with a very different colonial history than a lot of people have seen. I think that's going to be a real eye-opener.

The situation in the Greek isles, where we shot, is very different from the mainland. They're doing fairly well in Naxos, mostly off predatory tourism, people looking for cheap prices in a buyer's market. They're doing pretty well compared to the mainland. So it's sort of an off-center perspective. And there is a shadow looming, however paradoxical it might seem, from the refugee crisis that has become an increasingly big factor in the country.

anthony bourdain bi interview bio

Feloni: You're now shooting an episode in Rome based on its dark fascist past.

Bourdain: It's not so much that it's a historical show. I think primarily I'm always looking to look at a place from a different perspective, and everybody's seen classic Rome and the Colosseum and the buildings of antiquity.

So I said, let's look at a completely different side of Rome, the EUR [Esposizione universale Roma, the district Mussolini intended to be Rome's new center], fascist-era architecture, early [film director] Pier Paolo Pasolini, Brutalist architecture— I deliberately tried to stay away from antiquity and monuments. Once I made that stylistic decision, I started to read a lot of history of when these structures were built and why.

I've been boning up on Mussolini-era Italy and there are a shocking number of similarities to current-day America, unfortunately.

I think it's worth remembering that Mussolini was elected. He was very, very popular, and basically could say anything he wanted on any given day of the week, completely reverse himself from his opinion yesterday and yet no one minded. I think that apparent need for a man on a horse, we might be in a similar time. I mean, I hope not.

Feloni: Are you getting at Trump specifically?

Bourdain: It won't appear in the show at all, but I hope it hangs in the air.

I mean, Mussolini served his country in combat and did a credible job, and I don't think you could say that about, you know, this guy.

Feloni: Moving to some brighter news. When did the idea for this Pier 57 market first start? When did it move forward in a real way?

Bourdain: We've been working on it for about four, five years. I've always loved those Southeast Asian hawker centers and the big wet market of Hong Kong and São Paulo and Barcelona, and I was sort of bitterly resentful as a New Yorker that we didn't have that. We should. We're a big international city, our diversity is our strength. We have millions of people from all over the world. Why don't we have a big market with democratically available, diversely priced food?

It's something we're missing, and I was given the opportunity to be part of a project that brings that to New York. I led that, and I don't know when it started to become something serious that looked like it was going to happen.

This was an opportunity that arose in New York, and I'm a New Yorker. If I was thinking if this is an extension of me, I would have had little eateries in airports years ago.

This is not a supermarket or a food center, a food hall, or any of that. This is a market that will sell produce and fish, and there will be butchers and bakers. But it will also have one-chef, one-dish specialized, independently owned and operated stalls.

And we're doing absolutely zero Italian, no Italian anything. I mean, Mario Batali does that very well with Eataly, and I don't see any need to duplicate efforts. So we'll assiduously stay away from that. It's not of any interest or expertise in any case.

Feloni: How much time will you spend working on it once it's launched?

Bourdain: There will certainly be no business within the market that I didn't say yes or no to. Will I be driving a forklift? Probably not.

Feloni: What does it mean to you to have this giant project with your name attached to it?

Bourdain: I wish my name wasn't on it! [Laughs] I think this is a great idea whether my name's on it or not. Personally, I would have been happy to live without my name on it. But wiser minds than me apparently thought it was a really important thing. I could live without that. I don't know. I've never done anything like this.

artist rendering of a portion of #bourdainmarket, art by @romanandwilliams #aleschart

A photo posted by Bourdain Market (@bourdainmarket) on Feb 3, 2016 at 4:38pm PST on

An artist's rendering of a portion of Bourdain Market, from Roman and Williams.

Feloni: Speaking of New York, I saw that you shared your favorite restaurants with The Daily Beast ...

Bourdain: Well, somehow it morphed from "What New York restaurants do you eat at when you come home from a long trip abroad" to "What are your favorite New York restaurants of all time"?

In any case, look, it's a respectable list and it accurately represents some aspects of my favorite places.

Anyways, date night is Korean barbecue. Also I love Tori Shin. I love to go for yakitori. That's sort of a go-to for me.

Feloni: What do you think of the New York restaurant scene right now?

Bourdain: I think it's good. It's come so, so, so, so far in just my lifetime. So much of what we have now would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, 25 years ago when I was still in the business.

You've got tattooed young people all over the city and all over the country making their own sausages, curing their own meat, and rotting things in their cellars, and they're acutely aware of the seasons and are aping obscure subgenres of like Basque-specific restaurants. It is a wonderful thing. And chefs are themselves empowered by this admittedly bizarre and frequently hilarious celebrity-chef phenomenon.

But what it's done is it's allowed them to cook as well as they know how, because people are interested in their best game now, and they're not showing up at their restaurant saying, "I'd like the chicken." They come in wanting to try Eric Ripert's food or Daniel Boulud's food and they don't go in there with a specific menu item in mind. I think that's a really important change in the landscape over the last 20 years.

anthony bourdain BI Interview top countries

Feloni: Why do you think that's happened?

Bourdain: I think the celebrity-chef thing. People started to put a face to the person in the kitchen, and they started to care about their opinion. And there are a lot of other factors as well, but I think that's an important one.

Feloni: How do you consider your influence? Xi'an Famous Foods, for example, blew up after you featured it on your show.

Bourdain: Look, I try not to f--- places up. You know what I mean? I'm aware of the fact that sometimes if we put this wonderful little neighborhood bar that's beloved by locals and no one else knows about it, if we put that on TV, that we could change its character forever, or that the owner might be happy for the additional money, but the other customers will be miserable and angry and I've basically ruined an important part of their lives.

I think about that a lot, and there have been occasions where we won't even give the name of the establishment that we put on camera. And there have been times where we deliberately shoot in such a way that you'll never find it.

I don't want to hurt people. I don't want to change the world in a bad way, if I can avoid it.

Feloni: In your book "Medium Raw," you start off by saying how your perspective has changed since writing "Kitchen Confidential." That was six years ago. When you look back at each of those versions of yourself, what do you see?

Bourdain: I know the guy who wrote "Kitchen Confidential" very well. He's not me anymore. I'm not boiling with rage. I don't live in this tiny, tunnel-vision world. I had such a limited view of what reality was like outside of the kitchen doors — I had no clue! I never lived with normal people. I lived in the restaurant universe for my entire adult life.

I'm no longer the star of the movie. At all. That's it!

It's a huge relief in a lot of ways. And it's such an understatement to say that having a kid changes your life. You're just no longer the first person you think about or care about. You're not the most important person in the room. It's not your film. The music doesn't play for you — it's all about the girl. And that changes everything.

Feloni: And in those past six years, do you see a change in your relationship to celebrity food culture, or cooking competitions, or branding?

Bourdain: I work really hard to not ever think about my place in the world.

I'm aware of my good fortune. I'm very aware of it, and I'm very aware that, because of it, people offer me things. Opportunities to do extraordinary things. The ones that are interesting to me are collaborations. I get to work with people who 10 years ago I wouldn't have dreamed to have been able to work with. And that's a big change professionally, and it's something that I think about a lot. How can I creatively have fun, do some interesting stuff, not repeat myself? Have fun. Play in a creative way. I like making things.

Feloni: Are there any aspects of food culture, on the Food Network or elsewhere, that still bother you? Everyone likes to talk about the tension between you and Guy Fieri, for example.

Bourdain: No. I keep saying it's fodder for comedy, but I basically do a stand-up act in 10 or 12 cities a year. I stand up in front of an audience at a theater and I'm expected to talk for an hour. If you're sitting there in front of a couple thousand people who paid a lot of money to see you, they don't really want to talk about sustainable agriculture for an hour and a half. They would like the occasional dick joke. And the dick jokes better be funny!

So if you're a middle-aged dude walking around in a flame jacket, there will be the occasional joke about you.

Feloni: Was it about the personality or the level of food as well? In your own show, you visited Waffle House with chef Sean Brock.

anthony bourdain

Bourdain: I think Waffle House is such an important part of Sean Brock's career and life. And he just was so overwhelmingly enthusiastic about it in an earnest way. And I appreciate the mechanics of what they do.

By the way, the way Waffle House works, the whole system is really interesting, and the fact that they're so completely forgiving of outrageously disgusting drunken behavior. Which is, of course, the only way to really appreciate the Waffle House. [Laughs] I gather the food tastes really good because you're drunk. But if you're drunk and at the Waffle House, it's pretty awesome.

I could think of a couple of times I ended up in the Fieri Zone. Sean Brock took me to a place that he loved and that was important in his life. And David Choe took me to Sizzler, which was genuinely important to his life.

Ordinarily, these are not establishments I would have thought of going to. I'd never been to a Waffle House — I felt kind of stupid. I wish I had known more.

Feloni: What do you think the worst thing in food culture right now is?

Bourdain: I mean, there's always snobbery of course.

A couple years ago, I'm holding my daughter's hand and I walk into the supermarket in my neighborhood — I live in the Upper East Side. We're there to buy oranges and lemons, right? And there's the organic produce and the nonorganic sections. And I automatically head over to the nonorganic and I look around and there are all these Upper East Side housewives looking at me like I'm a f---ing war criminal and they're about to call child-protective services. It was so bad that I slump over to the organic section just so these ladies wouldn't hate me.

Feloni: So it's just snobbery over nonsense?

Bourdain: I don't need a 10-minute description of my food. Look, it's annoying but not the worst thing in the world. At least people are interested enough to want to know the details. You'll hear the name of the farm, the name of the farmer, what my cattle was fed. I don't need to know all of that.

But I'm glad that people are aware and think about these things, and I'm glad when waiters and servers know. And I'm glad that chefs are making the real effort to get the best quality ingredients and that the public is more and more likely to appreciate it and even understand it. So I mean, it's good.

I just think that the great food writers, the great enthusiasts — like A.J. Liebling— is that they're not snobs. You can't be a great food writer and a snob about food and just want fancy, expensive ingredients. You have to appreciate the qualities of a properly greasy fast-food burger. Or a short-order burger, at least.

anthony bourdain world tour bi interview

Feloni: How do you determine how your trips will unfold? Are there ever times on a shoot when you just get vicious food poisoning? Do you still abide by that early philosophy that if you eat something and get sick, it might be worth it just for the experience?

Bourdain: I've found that you're not going to have the really great travel experiences if you're not willing to experience the bad ones. If you don't leave yourself open for things to happen to you, nothing really is going to happen to you, good or bad.

The great travel epiphanies seem to sneak up on you because you kind of f---ed up, you took a wrong turn, and you ended up in a place where you permitted events to unfold. That means you're going to eat some bad meals in your life.

Because I'm with a camera crew, people are being nice to us, they're giving us their hospitality, and often a lot of their self-image or their image in the neighborhood counts on that. I try very hard to be polite. I may end up at grandma's house and I may not like grandma's turkey, but I'm sure as hell going to clean my plate and compliment her on it because it's her house. And that's a really important part of being a guest. You eat what's offered wherever you are. That's why the show works the way it does, because not just me but my whole crew take that attitude, that we're happy and grateful to be there and we're willing to try anything that's offered in good faith.

I get ill very infrequently.

anthony bourdain

Feloni: So you just have to be up for things you normally wouldn't be?

Bourdain: It depends what you're looking for. I had a very good idea when I went to Libya and eastern Congo, I had a pretty good idea what the risks were, and what it was going to be like, and I made a calculated decision. In some cases, it was worse than we anticipated, or more difficult. In others, it ended up working out pretty well.

I try not to travel stupidly. I'm not looking to go full Geraldo [Rivera] out there in my flak jacket and sticking my head out of the foxhole just for a good shot. I have the responsibility to try to stay alive for my daughter, and to not get my camera people killed on some narcissistic television show.

Feloni: And when you are back home in New York and aren't going out, do you still cook?

Bourdain: Yes. Oh, I cook a lot. I cook for my daughter every day. I prepare my daughter's school lunch every day and I'll cook dinner every night I'm home.

I have some go-to dishes. But if my daughter doesn't like the idea of something, we're sure as hell not having it. I do Christmas and Thanksgiving and often New Year's at home and invite friends and family. Then all summer long I take an inordinate amount of pleasure in being a super-normal dad, like standing in the backyard with an apron and grilling cheeseburgers and hot dogs. Though I'm a little more organized than the average dad!

I do clambakes, steamer clams, and lobster — basically the greatest hits from my summer vacations as a kid. I try to inflict them on my family. Pasta, spaghetti and meatballs — I make a decent meatball. I love making meatloaf. I cook home food. I'm not doing anything too fancy. Even when I have friends over it's pretty straight-ahead. My daughter's birthday's coming up, I'm doing roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, succotash — and, oh yeah, my daughter asked for foie gras! This is a bad sign!

Feloni: Having traveled the world several times over, is there a cuisine or part of the world that always draws you in and surprises you?

Bourdain: Japan is endlessly, endlessly interesting to me. I just returned from shooting yet another episode there with Masa Takayama and oh it was just amazing. I've made more shows there than any other country and I don't think I've even scratched the surface and I don't think I ever will.

Feloni: Do you have a favorite Japanese dish?

Bourdain: Oh, god, it's hard to pick. Give me some good uni, a really good soba with duck dipping sauce — duck dipping dressing is really amazing — and I adore good yakitori.

SEE ALSO: Ray Dalio, head of the world's largest hedge fund, explains his succession plan for Bridgewater and how its 'radically transparent' culture is misunderstood

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NOW WATCH: This 27-year-old quit her corporate finance job to travel the world

Meet David Haye, the former world heavyweight champion boxer who will be 'just as successful as an actor'

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haye comeback

If anyone ever asks you whether vegans get enough protein, show them a picture of David Haye.

After recovering from a potentially career-ending shoulder injury, the former WBA World Heavy Weight Champion boxer is making a comeback, fueled by protein shakes made of plants.

Since winning his first comeback fight against Mark de Mori in January, Haye says his alter-ego is as strong as ever.

"The Hayemaker is a dangerous fellow who, when the bell rings, is on a seek and destroy mission, by any means necessary. No playing around. No comedy. It’s just straight up business," Haye said.

The Hayemaker's mission is to win the world title back.

However, outside of the ring, a measured, business-savvy man called David Haye is plotting to bring boxing further into the mainstream.

In January, he snubbed the lucrative pay-per-view channels to instead air his comeback fight on the free-to-view UK TV comedy channel Dave, gaining 3 million viewers. He told Business Insider that he hopes his increased profile will help him to launch a "serious" acting career after he retires.

Business Insider sat down face-to-face with Haye to find out more about both sides of the 35-year-old Londoner.

His face was cut and bruised during the interview, from a training session earlier that day.

Haye was a speaker at Advertising Week Europe in London earlier this month. The quotes that follow are a combination of what he said on stage, and an interview with Business Insider after his appearance.

SEE ALSO: We went for a jog with the man who ran 370 marathons in 1 year to win a bet with his girlfriend

Haye grew up in Bermondsey, south London. He lived in a two bedroom flat in an 18th floor apartment with his Jamaican father, British mother, sister, and brother. "I had the best of both nationalities," Haye said.

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"On the outside it doesn't look that great, but I had a lot of love," Haye said. "I was actually very fortunate. I think I was actually the only kid in my class at one stage that actually had a father in the home." Haye credits his father Deron for teaching him the importance of hard work, pulling 13 hour shifts as a panel beater at a railway station.

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At home, the atmosphere was loving, but competitive. "It was always about being first, about winning. There were no prizes for second place," he added. "My mother and father said: 'Do whatever you want, as long as you're the best at it.'" From a young age, Haye felt he had superior strength and speed to his peers.

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