Cordkillers 313 - Huge Bytes Online (w/ Merrill Barr)
HBO Max arrives this week--but with what? Netflix will cancel your subscription if you don't watch. Some Bad News for Some Good News fans? All this and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Merrill Barr.
CordKillers: 313 - Huge Bytes Online
Recorded: May 25 2020
Guest: Merrill Barr
Intro Video
The Old Guard
Primary Target
HBO Max: WarnerMedia in Talks With Roku on Deal, Amazon Fire TV Appears to Be a No-Go
- HBO Max launches May 27 and gives you HBO plus a lot of other content from Warner Media (TNT, TBS etc) Warner Studios (DC movies for example) and HBO Max originals. It costs the same as HBO alone at $14.99. If Warner reaches a deal with a cable or streaming device platform, you may automatically get HBO Max if you're an HBO subscriber. Deals have already been announced with Apple, Charter, Hulu, Google and YouTube TV. Wednesday May 20, Warner announced deals with Altice, Cox, Microsoft (so Xbox) NCTC (smaller cable operators) Samsung, Sony (so, PlayStation) and Verizon. The three big names without a deal yet are Amazon, Comcast and Roku. Variety says Roku and Warner are close but Amazon is likely not to happen. Oh and Dish hasn't had regular HBO since November 2018, so there' that too.
HBO Max Signs 7 More Launch Partners Including Xbox, PlayStation, Cox, Verizon, Samsung
Zack Snyder Will Release the ‘Snyder Cut’ of ‘Justice League’ on HBO Max
- But whatever. HBO Max is now indelibly associated in fanboy minds as the place that will release the Snyder Cut of Justice League in 2021.
- For those blissfully unaware, Snyder suffered a family tragedy in 2016 and Warner Brothers brought in Joss Whedon to finish the work on Justice League. A hashtag for Release TheSnyderCut gained momentum and in November last year Gal Gadot tweeted it followed by Ben Affleckand Snyder himself and most recently Jason Momoa.
How to Watch
Netflix Will Start Automatically Canceling Inactive Accounts
- On May 18, Netflix started asking subscribers who don't watch anything if they want to keep their subscription. If you haven't streamed anything in two years OR yo9u signed up 12 months ago and haven't streamed anything since,Netflix will ask you if you want to stay subscribed. If you do not confirm that, Netflix will automatically cancel your subscription on the next billing cycle. Cancellations start June 1. Netflix says these kind of accounts are less than 0.5% of all members, a few hundred thousand all told. Canceled accounts will maintain favorites, profiles and preferences for 10 months. Netflix director of product innovation Eddy Wu says it ""saves people some hard-earned cash."" "On May 18, Netflix started asking subscribers who don't watch anything if they want to keep their subscription. If you haven't streamed anything in two years OR yo9u signed up 12 months ago and haven't streamed anything since,Netflix will ask you if you want to stay subscribed. If you do not confirm that, Netflix will automatically cancel your subscription on the next billing cycle. Cancellations start June 1. Netflix says these kind of accounts are less than 0.5% of all members, a few hundred thousand all told. Canceled accounts will maintain favorites, profiles and preferences for 10 months. Netflix director of product innovation Eddy Wu says it ""saves people some hard-earned cash."
Quibiwatch with Merill Barr
- Quibi launched April 6 so nearing it's two month mark. Loup Ventures managing partner (and former Piper Jaffray research analyst) Douglas Clinton wrote Friday “Quibi’s content isn’t bad, it’s perfectly fine. It’s just hard to get the attention of a new audience without very compelling content.”
What to Watch
John Krasinski’s adorable YouTube series ‘Some Good News’ is moving to CBS All Access
- John Krasinski will no longer host his YouTube show "Some Good News" but he has licensed it to ViacomCBS which plans to put it on CBS All Access with a new host with Karasinski producing. Shows will premiere not he streaming platform and then be shown on linear networks.
Tenet: Trailer for Christopher Nolan film arrives minus release date
- A second trailer for Christohper Nolan's movie Tenet was released in Fortnite. The trailer does not include a release date, just "Coming to theaters." Tenet stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson and Sir Kenneth Branagh as a Russian national who can communicate with the future. The ilm is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters July 17 and is seen as the bellwether for the return of movies to theaters.
A new trailer for the Netflix series Space Force hit. The Greg Daniels comedy starring Steve Carell and John Malkovich comes to Netflix May 29.
From creators Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith, and Josh Gad, “Central Park” comes to Apple TV Plus May 29. The caretaker of Central Park and his family try to stop a malevolent heiress from destroying the park.
‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Renewed For Season 3 At FX. The finale of season 2 is June 10.
David Tennant and Michael Sheen who teamed up on Good Omens will star in a lockdown comedy called “Staged,” about a furloughed theater company. It's produced for BBC One.
Sony's Tom Hanks picture "Greyhound" about a convoy of allied ships in the early days of World War II will come to Apple TV Plus instead of theaters. No date.
Apple Announces ‘Greatness Code’ Docu Series With Tom Brady and LeBron James
- Apple announced Greatness Code, a short form documentary series about the untold stories of great athletes, co-produced by LeBron James’ Uninterrupted and Tom Brady’s Religion of Sports and directed by Emmy-winner Gotham Chopra
Eyes On
Brian: Finished Last of Us with Josie, also Devs, Middleditch & Schwartz
Tom: Harley Quinn
Merrillt: Leverage, completed a full first time binge of Rick & Morty
On the Lookout: My Love from the Star
Front Lines
Bloomberg's sources say Apple is talking to Studios about licensing older TV content for Apple TV Plus. Apple only offers original shows through the service right now.
Apple TV+ shows including 'Ghostwriter' and 'Helpsters' pick up 17 Daytime Emmy nominations
- Apple TV+ shows Ghostwriter, Helpsters, Snoopy in Space, and Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10 have been nominated for 17 daytime Emmys. CBS led all networks with 57 nominations and Amazon was second with 55. Online shows may enter the daytime Emmys if they are available to 50% or more of the country and are not entered in the Primetime Emmys.
Hulu is rolling out a new home screen to Apple TV and Roku users
- Hulu updated its home screen for Roku and Apple TV users. It will roll out over two months and hit other platforms but he end of summer. Yes it has finally succumbed to multiple horizontal rows of thumbnails. Each row however can have three sizes of tiles to combat "scroll fatigue." For example continue watching will have smaller tiles, new drama recommendation might have medium-sized tiles and the largest titles would be used for high confidence recommendations. Trays will include human and algorithmic recommendations, sometimes both in one tray. Top-level navigation now has simple headers. Disney intends to align the UI of Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+.
BBC Eyes Plan To Make BBC Four A Global Subscription Service
- BBC Four is known for high-end documentaries and long-form television. In its annual plan the BBC proposes making BBC Four into a global subscription service. BBC Four originals would air on BBC Two and BBC Four would show the best fo the archive.
Coronavirus Shutdown Will Delay 60% Of U.S. & Global Drama As Scripted Hangover Set To Extend Well In 2021, Data Shows
- Ampere Analysis estimates about 60% of scripted titles around the world will be delayed now and 5-10% will be scrapped entirely. Unscripted programming will return to normal by the end of the year. Compared to 2019, only 51% of scripted projects have so far aired.
Korean Box Office Has Yet to Find Post-Coronavirus New Normal
- South Korea's box office is right now the leading data point for people coming back to theaters. This weekend brought in 7% of the receipts it did at this time last year. Granted screens are showing re-releases and small to mid-sized films. Top grosser was "The Greatest Showman" at $205,600" “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” Makoto Shinkai’s Japanese animation “Weathering with You,” and Chinese director Chen Kaige’s historical drama “Farewell My Concubine” also re-released into the top 10. The Platform is showing on Netflix outside Korea and Taiwan earned $387,000 after two weekends.
Dispatches from the Front
I rarely have time to sit down and watch a full length movie, but I do often find time where I can watch a couple minutes here and there. The perfect service for me would be one that divided a movie into its different scenes. This would be the perfect use case for Quibi. You don’t have three hours to carve out and watch this blockbuster? What if those three hours were spread over the course of a week?
Original content isn’t what Quibi needs. Taking preexisting content and Quibifying it is what Quibi needs to do.
- Paul
Hi Guys,
I don't normally take the time to provide feedback, either positive or negative, but I really enjoyed your show this week with Ashley Esqueda. The content was great, the discussion never missed a beat, and Ashley really provided some great perspectives and knowledge of the industry.
I would love to see her more frequently on the show!!
Thank you.
- Von