Cordkillers 283 - No Soup For Hulu (w/ Nicole Lee)
Seinfeld coming to Netflix, RIP in peace to MoviePass, and a sneak-peek at Disney+. All this and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Nicole Lee.
This week on Spoilerin' Time: Preacher (408), The Righteous Gemstones (105), Extras (205)
Next week: Preacher (409), The Righteous Gemstones (106), Extras (206)
Mark your calendars! The Winter Movie Draft is happening live September 23rd. 30 movies, 6 players, 1 winner. Catch it live on the Night Attack Twitch or listen on the Cordkillers feed the next day.
CordKillers: 283 - No Soup For Hulu
Recorded: September 16 2019
Guest: Nicole Lee
Intro Video
Looking for Alaska
Primary Target
Netflix Lands Streaming Rights to ‘Seinfeld’
- Are you Netflix, and the makers of some of your most popular library content like The Office and Friends are taking them back for their own competing services? No problem. You're made of cash. Just go buy the top library content from the studios have decided NOT to create their own competing services and just profit on those of you who are. Netflix has reportedly struck deal to get all 180 episodes of Seinfeld from Sony Pictures Television for five years starting in 2021. Hulu's deal for the series ends in 2021 and Amazon has the rights internationally.
How to Watch
MoviePass will shut down for good on Sept. 14
- Moviepass announced Friday it was shutting down Saturday, which it did.
- “efforts to recapitalize MoviePass have not been successful to date.”
- Parent company Helios and Matheson are considering a sale of some or all of MoviePass assets. (MoviePass, MovieFone, MoviePass Films)
- Subscribers and declined from a peak of 3 million members to about 225,000 as of April 2019.
Apple TV Plus launches on November 1st for $4.99 per month
- Apple TV+
- Trailer for See (Jason Momoa)
- Trailer for The Morning Show (one of most watched TV trailers)
- Apple TV+ first shows Nov. 1 More shows each month. $4.99/mo (family), in more than 100 countries at launch.
- New iPhones, iPad, Apple TV purchases come with one year of Apple TV Plus.
Free Disney+ pilot launches in the Netherlands, here’s what it’s like
-If you're int he Netherlands you can get an early look at Disney Plus which launched there in preview. No early look at content like the Mandalorian but it is a test run of the interface. Free for the Dutch until full launch on November 12.
- Apps on iOS, Android and Apple TV
- Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, or National Geographic titles are separated below a carousel of highlighted titles.
- Rows of "Hit Movies, Out of the Vault classics, Musicals, and Documentaries."
- 4K Ultra HD and HDR row (no search)
- Settings for Kid friendly content and turning Autoplay on and off.
- seven profiles
- Downloading for offline view
- November 12th when it launches in the US, Canada, and the Netherlands, followed by Australia and New Zealand on November 19th.
What to Watch
‘Game Of Thrones’ House Targaryen Prequel From George R.R. Martin & Ryan Condal Nears HBO Pilot Order
- Deadline has a source saying HBO is close to approving a pilot for a show based on Geiorge R.R. martin's "Fire and Blood" book which tells the history of House Targaryen. The series would take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. It's written and EP'd by Ryan Condal (Colony). Deadline says it's similar to the prequel idea Bryan Cogman developed that Cogman confirmed was not going forward back in April.
‘Kingkiller Chronicle’ Series Not Moving Forward at Showtime, Lionsgate TV to Shop
- Variety's sources confirmed that the Kingkiller Chronicles series based on Patrick Rothfuss's books with Lin Manuel-Miranda on board is not going forward at Showtime. Lionsgate TV is producing it and is apparently shopping it around now. The TV series is set a generation before the events of the first novel.
J.J. Abrams Officially Closes Sizable WarnerMedia Film, TV Partnership
- JJ Abrams Bad Robot signed a five-year deal with WarnerMedia for film and TV. The exclusive deal includes video games and digital content as well. Abrams will honor pre-existing deals with Paramount and Lucasfilm, but it's unclear if he'll be able to go direct for other studios. Bad Robot will also be able to sell to third party suppliers.
The Muppets Comedy Series Reboot Not Going Forward At Disney+
- The Muppets Live Another Day, which was supposed to pick up from the 1984 movie Muppets Take Manhattan, has been shelved by Disney +. This is not the same as the short form "Muppets Now" Unscripted format that will launch in 2020 on Disney +. This other Muppets series, Muppets Live Another Day was coming from Josh Gad, Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis. Music had been composed by Bobby Lopez and Kristen Lopez and it was to be directed by Jason Moore (Avenue Q and Pitch Perfect). There were creative differences with the studio.
‘Dickinson’ Tribeca Premiere Lifts Veil On Apple TV+ As Star Hailee Steinfeld Touts New Single “Afterlife”
- The first actual look at a full Apple TV+ offering was the premier of Episode 1 of Dickinson starring Hailee Steinfeld which showed at the TribecaTV festival on Saturday. A new song called "Afterlife" will be released by Steinfeld September 19 ahead of the November 1 launch of Apple TV+.
Whoopi Goldberg will star in CBS All Access series 'The Stand' as the self-proclaimed prophet of God who's immune to the virus. Alexander Skarsgård will reportedly play Randall Flagg.
Sterling K. Brown's “Washington Black” which tells the story of George Washington Black, an 11-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation has got a script commitment from Hulu.
His Dark Materials will air on BBC Sunday November 3 and on HBO Monday November 4.
A reboot of the 1980s kids series Ghostwriter, about a ghost that release fictional characters from a bookstore into the real world, will premiere on Apple TV+ November 1.
Netflix cast Sweden's Adam Pålsson as Wallander in its series Young Wallander. Argo’s Richard Dillane and Black Mirror’s Leanne Best also have roles int he series.
Millie Bobby Brown to Produce Drama Film ‘A Time Lost’ for Netflix
- Netflix is developing the drama “A Time Lost,” based on an original story by Millie Bobby Brown and her sister Paige Brown, produced by the sisters as well. It's a about a Long Island teenager diagnosed with cancer fueling a feud between families.
HBO Max Orders Unscripted Voguing, Design Competition Shows
- HBO Max ordered its first unscripted series. “Legendary” a voguing fashion and dance competition and “The Greatest Space” an interior design competition. Both get straight-to-series with a 10-episode order for each.
Warner Bros has optioned rights to Funko figurines, and Warner Animation Group will develop and produce an animated film
Jane Lynch, Cyndi Lauper Developing ‘Golden Girls’-Style Comedy for Netflix
- At the Creative Arts Emmys Jane Lynch mentioned that she and Cyndi Lauper will start in a Netflix comedy that she called a “kind of a ‘Golden Girls’ for today.” “kind of a ‘Golden Girls’ for today.” Writer and Comedian Carol Liefer who worked on Seinfeld is working on the show as well.
‘The Good Place’ Preps Viewers For Its Final Season With ‘The Selection’ Digital Series
- The Good Place returns September 26 and NBC is offering six digital shorts featuring the demon Shawn (Marc Evan Jackson) and his cohorts. It's in the NBC App and is called "The Selection" It's meant to bridge the gap between last season and this one.
Eyes On
Brian: Hunt for Red October
Tom: Arthdal Chronicles
Nicole: The Good Place
On the Lookout: Hotel Del Luna
Front Lines
Norman Lear Becomes Oldest Emmy Winner Ever With ‘Live In Front Of A Studio Audience’ Variety Special Prize
- 97-year-old Norman Lear became the oldest Emmy winner in history when Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All In the Family’ And ‘The Jeffersons.’took the emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). Lear credited Jimmy Kimmel, thanked farmers and ranchers and said they will do it again in December.
AT&T to lose 1.1 million TV subscribers as DirecTV continues nosedive
- AT&T forecast it will lose around 1.1 million TV customers in Q3. AT&T reported a net loss of 778,000 subscribers last quarter. Those numbers are for DirecTV and U-vers, not DirecTV Now aka ATT Now. ATT lost 168,000 subscribers from those OTT services but has not made a projection for Q3 for them.
YouTube is shutting off its TV-friendly interface for web browsers. You'll still be able to get YouTube in browser on a home theater PC, just not with the leanback interface that's easier to use from across a room.
‘The Irishman’ To Get Centerpiece Screening At The Rome Film Festival
- Netflix's The Irishman from Martin Scorsese will get centerpiece screening at the Rome Film Festival October 21. This will be after its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on September 27. The Irishman also will get a world premiere at the London Film Festival in mid-October and a limited theater run in November before arriving on Netflix.
Netflix Bandwidth Consumption Eclipsed by Web Media Streaming Applications
- Netflix is no longer the number one source of bandwidth consumption on the internet. According to Sandvine that spot now belongs to HTTP media streaming at 12.8% over Netflix's 12.6%. In other words Netflix streaming hasn't gone down but general video streaming is definitely up. “HTTP media stream” category represents streaming services that the company has not yet tracked individually like they do for Netflix and YouTube. A lot of it are cable channel apps and websites. U.S. internet pay-TV services aimed at cord-cutters — including AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Sony’s PlayStation Vue, Hulu With Live TV, and YouTube TV — are “still a drop in the bucket”
Local TV Stations Make Bid To Get Away From Traditional TV Ratings
- TVB, the trade organization for local TV stations is working to convince advertising groups to use viewer impressions for ad deals instead of TV ratings. This would make it easier for advertisers to buy across multiple local outlets beyond just local linear TV.
Dispatches from the Front
Hi Tom & Brian,
I drove by a billboard about 10 minutes after the die hard email from last week. It seems Disney is rethinking the policy on showing old movies in theaters.
https://www.marcustheatres.com/marcus-specials/family-friendly-films/disney-enchanted-tales
- Thom.
If Disney is locking down the 20th Century Fox Film Catalog will this include the traditional Midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings? Sends like this could cause lots less toast to be tossed.
Doctor Frankenfurter is Disney's latest evil Queen.
- Curt
Howdy Killaz,
Glad to see the animated discussion about YouTube Recommendations. As a developer who has dabbled with AI I wanted to share my thoughts. I often hear things like Brian claimed where you need to feed the algo or use the service more. However this is not always the case. AI basically analyzes data and matches patterns, yet human likes dislikes are not always predicable.
For example, without AI and just through pure observation, when I watch a movie that will be covered on Spoilerin Time I know with nearly 100% accuracy whether Brian will like or dislike it. In fact I also know whether he will rant or rave about it. Tom, however, is more of an enigma. I only "often" know whether he will like or dislike it and I am sometimes surprised by what he might love or hate.
In this case Brian's preferences are predicable, but Tom's preferences are not. This also means Tom's continued use of the service and broadcasted signals might even add more junk data that could confuse the AI even more. As such I am not surprised that each of you had a unique take on this story. If your personal data has no obvious pattern or if your tastes are not in alignment with what the algo thinks is "popular" then recommendations will be garbage.
When Brian talks about his Utopia with an AI curated content stream I can only see this as my own personal hell. I have fed many recommendation AIs with lack luster results. When Netflix first started delivering DVDs I spent a whole week searching and rating movies I had watched. At the end I completely broke the recommendations which gave a simple "we have nothing to recommend" message. Even today I have to manually search for many shows as Netflix will not even bubble up stuff I am interested in on the main page feeds which are all recommendation and popularity based.
If AI works for you then great, but I think junk data and unpredictable individual tastes account for many complaints about AI driven recommendations. The algo just can't handle things outside of what it considers normal.
Thanks for Killin it!
- Umbrae
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