Cordkillers 228 - No More Petri Dishes (w/ Mikey Neumann)

Netflix wins, Netflix loses, and Overwatch on TV?! All this and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Mikey Neumann.

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CordKillers: Ep. 228 - No More Petri Dishes
Recorded: July 16 2018
Guest: Mikey Neumann

Intro Video


Primary Target

  • For the first time, Netflix tops HBO for most Emmy nominations
    - Netflix received 112 Emmy nominations slightly ahead of HBO's 108, and breaking HBO's 17-year streak as the most-nominated network. Among the Netflix shows getting nominated were Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, GLOW, The Crown and Stranger Things. Jason Bateman also got nominated for Ozark and the USS Callister episdoe of Black Mirror got a nod. Hulu got 27 nominations, 20 of which were for Handmaid's Tale, making it the third-most nominated show behind Westworld and Game of Thrones. Amazon got 22 nominations. ONly 10 years ago was HBO's domination of non-broadcast Emmies broken by Mad Men, Damages and Dexter. The Emmies will be awarded September 17th with hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che.
  • Netflix Isn’t Being Reckless, It’s Just Playing a Game No One Else Dares
    - Redef.com has an extensive explanation of how Netflix is winning. The tl;dr is that the more subscribers Netflix gets the more shows it can make because it's not limited by a time slot, because it's a la carte, people are more likely to use it if they pay for it, and it can have a world market for unprecedented scale.
  • Netflix shares tank after big miss on subscriber growth
    - Netflix subscribers reached 130 million worldwide last quarter but that was 1 million fewer than expected. Netflix added 4.47 million subscribers internationally, below the expected 4.97 million and added 670,000 subscribers in the US below the 1.19 million expected. Netflix said it had “over-forecasted” quarterly fluctuations in the pace of new customers. Revenue and earnings both beat expectations.
  • Netflix Falls Short of Q2 Subscriber Expectations Worldwide, Stock Dives
    - Netflix reported Q2 revenue of $3.91 billion, up 40% year over year, and earnings per share of 85 cents (versus 15 cents in the year-ago quarter)


How to Watch

  • Roku wants to make your smart TV sound better with its new Wireless Speakers
    - Roku introduced its Roku TV Wireless Speakers, for use with Roku TVs, but not with Roku boxes or sticks. The speakers connect to a Roku-powered TV using the WiFi-powered Roku Connect platform announced at CES. The speakers also have Bluetooth for playing music from other devices. The speakers come with the Roku TV Voice Remote and a square Roku Touch remote for keeping on a coffee table. Customers who pre-order now can get them for $150 until July 24, and $180 after that until October 15 when they start shipping and become $200.


What to Watch


What We're Watching


Front Lines

  • AT&T CEO confident Time Warner deal on solid ground
    - A judge ruled against blocking the AT&T Time Warner merger on June 12. The US Department of Justice said it would not seek an injunction to stop the merger. The deal closed and the companies merged on June 14. However the DoJ said at the time it was still considering whether or not to appeal. Thursday it came out that the DoJ has filed an appeal of the decision in the U.S. District Court in Washington . If it prevails in court the merger that is a month old would have to be undone.
  • Overwatch League will air on ABC, ESPN and Disney networks
    - Blizzard and Disney have agreed to a multi-year deal to show Overwatch League matches on ESPN, ESPN2, Disney XD, and ABC. That includes Live airings and full replays on broadcast as well as highlight packages online. The deals do not affect Blizzard's deal with Twitch. Wednesday's Quarterfinals air at 8PM Eastern on Disney XD and ESPN3. Finals are set to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on July 27th and 28th.
  • Netflix experiments with promoting its shows on the login screen
    - Netflix has been testing playing trailers for its originals on the lock screen of its app. TechCrunch saw the test on Roku and Fire TV Netflix apps. Netflix confirmed the test and says it is running for TV.
  • 'Drive' director's free cult film streaming service debuts this month
    - Nicolas Winding Refn, director of the movie Drive is launching ByNWR later this month. It's a streaming service for overlooked cult films like Night Tide, The Burning Hell, and Hot Thrills and Warm Chills. The selection will be based on themes and rotate each month potentially along with essays, music and photos too.
  • Netflix makes it easier to manage downloaded shows on Android
    - Netflix has launched Smart downloads for its Android app. The feature automatically deletes downloads you've finished watching and replaces it with the next episode in case you forget before you move away from your internet connection. Users can turn off Smart Downloads in settings if they want.
  • Blockbuster is one store away from extinction in the US
    - The last two Blockbuster Video stores in Alaska have closed leaving one last Blockbuster up and running in Bend, Oregon. The chain still has several stores and kiosks in Australia.
     


Dispatches from the Front

Gentlemen,
I'd love to support your program as it has really helped me since I've been watching.

However, I'm not a Patreon fan. Paypal? Check? You name it and I'll try to do it.

Thanks for what you're doing for the community.

- Harold

 

 

 

When I go to Netflix I'm paralyzed by the number of choices. Sometimes I even switch to some less prolific service because I can't decide. What I'd like instead is themed streams like SciFi, Documentaries, Romance, Sitcoms, etc., that I can join already in progress. I don't mind watching the second half of a Star Trek episode (even if it's not great) or starting partway into an old movie. These are things that I enjoy watching but probably wouldn't pick from Netflix's huge catalog.

Of course, that's was the only way we could watch TV when we grew up -- so maybe I'm just nostalgic.
- Chris

 

 

 

 

 I just thought I would give you a couple perspectives from a long time (over a decade) cordkiller. The only form of sportsball I can imagine watching is soccer, and though I was able to find highlights of World Cup games, they were mostly pretty bad, so I decided to get a month of YouTube TV, and am overall very happy with what I received for 40 bucks. All I had to do was click on "record everything World Cup", and I got each game, with the advantage that when I finally watched them a day or two later, I would get only the game - no pregame, half-time or post game shows, and I could watch at a faster speed, usually 1.5x. When a game ended, it would usually set up another game I hadn't seen yet, but on two occasions, I got soap operas auto starting. Apparently, YouTube TV doesn't correlate my long history in the regular YouTube experience with the TV because I have never watched anything like or related to a soap opera. In fact the only other things I clicked on to record were a couple of MCU films I hadn't seen. So where did the soap operas come from???? That anomaly, along with the fact there is nothing else worth 40 bucks on there means I will be canceling as soon as I catch up on my last game.

- Dave

 

 

 

After hanging up in frustration on my annual "please lower my bill" call to Comcast, I ordered an antenna. I had tried a cheap one before, but this time I used a nice one recommended by AntennaWeb.org. It worked much better than my previous experience.

I'm one of those curmudgeons still loving Windows Media Center, but I decided to give Plex's relatively new TV/DVR feature a try. Setup was easy and the feature set is almost there, but the deal breaker is that you have to wait until a show is done recording to watch it. Hopefully they'll add that soon and I can switch over.

I turned my cable card back in to Comcast, dropped my internet speed to save a few more buckets and reduced my bill from $98/month to $45/month. They threw in a free month of their Instant TV service as well. It’s easy to justify a nice antenna when you’re saving $53/month!

After listening to you since the Frame Rate days, I can finally say that I'm an official Cordkiller!

Your boss,

- Ben 

 

 

 

Hey Bryce, Brian, Tom, and guest(s)(?),

I'm with you in theory when it comes to the general public about reviewing stuff on Netflix, but I personally have stopped rating things because yes/no is way more difficult for me than something on a scale from "I hate it" to "I loved it" (the old 5 star levels)

Regardless, Netflix's recommendations used to be about putting content in front of me that they thought I would like. I discovered Howl's Moving Castle and other Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki movies because of Netflix's old recommendations. Now, they just push their own new stuff with their auto-playing trailers, and I don't even have the option of the old "not interested" button to make it go away. (All this despite the fact that I'm still most likely to continue watching that show I've been going through the past month)

Sorry this got ranty. I'm just incredibly disappointed because the system that worked so well for me simply doesn't exist anymore. That said, I expect Tom's movie ratings from now on to be yes/no instead of the bad/good/great/amazing scale he has been using. Keep up the good work.

Love,
- Greg

 



Links

2018 Summer Movie Draft
patreon.com/cordkillers

Bryce CastilloComment