Cordkillers 324 - Mulan Demand (w/ Lamarr Wilson)
Mulan's got a plan: pay for it AND Disney+. Lots of personnel shakeups are the media conglomerates embrace streaming. Tenet gets a release plan and Fargo is coming back in September! With special guest Lamarr Wilson.
CordKillers: 324 - Mulan Demand
Recorded: August 10 2020
Guest: Lamarr Wilson
Intro Video
Netflix series Away
Primary Target
Mulan' to Skip Theaters for Disney Plus Premiere
Disney+ grows to more than 60.5M subscribers
Disney is launching a new Star-branded streaming service internationally
‘Mulan’ is coming to Disney+ on September 4, for an additional price of $29.99
Disney focuses on streaming as it falls to a loss
Disney+ grows to more than 60.5M subscribers
- Disney announced that Disney+ now has more than 60.5 million paying subscribers. That's up from the 57.5 million reported in its earnings for the quarter ending June 27. ESPN+ has grown more than 100% to 8.5 million and Hulu grew 27% to 35.5 million. 3.4 million pay for Hulu plus Live TV.
Disney is launching a new Star-branded streaming service internationally
- Disney also announced it will launch a streaming service under its international brand name Star outside the US. Star will include programming from ABC, FX, Freeform, Searchlight and 20th Century Studios but will not license content from outside Disney the way Hulu does.
Disney Television Studios Rebrands Its Three Units As 20th Television, ABC Signature & Touchstone Television
- Disney also renamed some of its TV studios. 20th Century Fox Television becomes 20th Television, ABC Studios and ABC Signature merge to become just ABC Signature and Fox 21 Television becomes Touchstone Television.
Disney has no idea what it's doing with 'Mulan'
- Disney also announced that its live action movie of Mulan will premiere on Disney+ September 4 for an additionl fee of $29.99. You'll have access to the film for as long as you remain a Disney+ subscriber In regions without Disney+ it will show in theaters.
How to Watch
How NBCUniversal's Reorganization Reveals the Future of the TV Business
WarnerMedia CEO puts pressure on Amazon to carry HBO Max by holidays
WarnerMedia’s Jason Kilar On New Structure, Layoffs & Future Of HBO Max, Theatrical Distribution & Linear TV
WarnerMedia restructures to focus on HBO Max, senior executives out
Jeffrey Schlesinger, Ron Sanders & Kim Williams Among Top Executive Departures In WarnerMedia Layoffs
- A couple shakeups that indicate the future of major studios is now in the hands of the streaming folks.
- NBCU announced Thursday that Mark Lazarus, chairman of the television and streaming units, is now the in charge as Paul Telegdy, head of NBC Entertainment is out the door followed by behavioral allegations. NBC is consolidation broadcast, cable and streaming into one organization with an emphasis on what's being called "Direct-to-cionsumer" these days.
- More dramatic was the shift at Warner Media, where former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar ousted industry vet and Chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment Robert Greenblatt and the man who oversaw creation of HBO Max, Chief Content Officer Kevin Reilly. fiurther layoffs including more executives came Monday.
- Film, TV and streaming studios are now consolidated under Ann Sarnoff. HBO Max GM Andy Forssell will head a newly created HBO Max business unit and Kilar said “We’re laser focusing on HBO Max and lifting it up in the organization
- In a memo on the changes Kilar emphasized shifting from being wholesale-oriented to consumer-oriented, putting a premium on direct-to-consumer and going global.
- Kilar also told Bloomberg that Amazon will need to change their mind and add HBO Max to Fire TVs by the holidays or they will have lower sales.
What to Watch
‘Tenet’ China Release Set For September 4; ‘Inception’ Reissue To Hit A Week Prior
- Tenet has release dateS. Several markets will get the movie August 26, China will get it September 4 and select US cities will be able to see it September 3. Nolan's Intersellar just set the single day box office high since reopening in China.
‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Spinoff Series ‘The Patrick Star Show’ Set At Nickelodeon
- Hat tip to Merrill Barr for alerting us to this one. Deadline's sources say Nickelodeon is finalizing a deal for The Patrick Star Show, a spinoff of SpongeBob Squarepants. From the Deadline article "The Patrick Star Show is in the vein of The Larry Sanders Show and Comedy Bang! Bang!, with Patrick hosting his own late-night talk show."
‘Ren & Stimpy’ Revival Set at Comedy Central; Adult Animation Veteran Grant Gish Joins ViacomCBS
- Comedy Central announced that it will bring out new episodes of Ren and Stimpy. Marvel Studios and Fox Animation vet Grant Gish is coming on board as head of adult animation at ViacomCBS as well. The new Ren and Stimpy will not involve
‘Fargo’ Season 4 Premiere Date Set at FX
- Fargo season 4 is back on the schedule with back to back episodes premiering September 27 on FX. The season was supposed to premiere in April but production wasn't quite finished and it had to be delayed. Season 4 is set in Kansas City and stars Chris Rock.
NBCU’s Peacock Will Stream All Eight ‘Harry Potter’ Movies for Free Starting Later in 2020
- NBC Universal has a deal with WarnerMedia locking up rights to Harry Potter both for Universal Theme Parks but also for TV. Warner carved out a three month exception to get the movies on HBO Max at launch but they will be leaving that service August 25 and heading to Peacock in October.
CBS is bringing The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show With James Corden back to their respective studios this week with no audience.
Raised by Wolves, a horrorish series about Androids from Ridley Scott, has a trailer out. It's coming to HBO Max September 3.
Bill & Ted Face the Music is still on the move. The movie will still come out on demand and in theaters at the same time but the date has been moved earlier to August 28.
Hulu cancelled the TV series High fidelity based on the film and novel but starring Zoe Kravitz.
Peacock issued an eight episode order of a Macgruber series starring Will Forte.
NBC Hopes to Extend Late-Night to Streaming Video With Amber Ruffin, Larry Wilmore
-Peacock will also launch two new weekly talk programs including a sketch-oriented series "The Amber Ruffin Show" and an interview-focused series from Larry Wilmore. Both launching in September.
Censored ‘Black-ish’ Political Themed Episode To Now Air On Hulu, After Over 2 Years In Limbo At ABC
- An episode of Blackish that ABC decided not to air over creative differences with creator Kenya Barris is now available on Hulu. The episode had originally been scheduled as the 13th episode of Season 4 in February 2018.
Eyes On
Brian: Contact
Tom: New Legends of Monkey Season 2
Lamarr: Star Trek Lower Decks Episode 1
On the Lookout: The Speed Cubers
Front Lines
AMC Theaters is learning to embrace the streaming era, not fight it
- On its earnings call AMC clarified that the 17 day window for Universal films won't mean movies stop playing in theaters if they are made available on demand. Also AMC said it will get a cut of every rental no matter where the rental happens. In some good news for theaters in general, Gower Street Analytics estimates cinemas representing 48% of potential global box office were open last weekend. And more innovative programs are on the way including Alamo Drafthouse allowing you rent one of their auditoriums for up to 30 friends for $150 to watch a movie you choose from a list of more than 40 options.
Nearly Half The World’s Cinemas Are Back in Operation, New Data Finds
Alamo Drafthouse Offers Private Theater Rentals With Over 40 Movies
Judge Approves Ending Paramount Antitrust Consent Decrees
- An era has ended. Since the Paramount Consent Decree of 1948, the big 5 movie studios of the time haven't owned theaters and have been limited in something called block booking which lets a studio force a theater to take a smaller movie in order to get a more desirable blockbuster. Friday, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres found “…that termination of the Decrees is in the public interest.” Not all studios were subject to the decree, Lionsgate and Disney were nt part fo the Big 5 for instance and didn't have to comply. But now any studio is free to buy a theater. However they are more likely to take advantage of the end of restrictions against block booking which will end after a two year sunset period.
ViacomCBS to Launch Global Streamer in Early 2021, Headlined By Showtime, CBS All Access Originals
- ViacomCBS announced it will launch. Global streaming video on demand service in 2021 featuring originals from CBS All Access and Showtime and including a "super-sized" selection of content from CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount films and more. It will roll out in Australia, Latin America and the Nordic countries with more international markets to follow. CBS All Access in the US is also expected to get a new name and revamp. US streaming and video sales rose 25% on the year this quarter. And Pluto TV’s domestic monthly active users (MAUs) rose 61%. And one name is likely off the table for the new streaming service as CBS launched an ad platform for buying digital ads called EyeQ.
ViacomCBS Q2 U.S. Streaming & Digital Revenue Up 25% On Subscriptions, PlutoTV; Total Ad Sales Off 27% On COVID-19
ViacomCBS Sets Launch Of EyeQ, A Comprehensive Offering For Advertisers
Quibi finally decided to launch a free ad-supported tier for its short video service--- in New Zealand and Australia. Paid subscribers will see their fee drop from $12.99 Australian to $6.99.
Roku Q2 Revenue Soars 42%, Reaches 43 Million Streaming Accounts
- Roku says streaming hours on its devices rose 65% on the year. It added 3.2 million incremental active accounts to reach 43 million total. Ad revenue bucked the trend rising 46%. As far as disputes with HBO Max and Peacock, Roku CEO Anthony wood said they're working toward a "win-win" scenario and held up Disney Plus as an example. He pointed out Comscore says Roku is the number one device by hours streamed for Disney+ subscribers.
Hulu's discounted annual plan makes a great deal even better
- Disney giveth and Disney taketh away. They giveth you a $1 a month price rise on ESPN Plus for new subscribers. Existing subscribers will stay at their current rate for at least a year. Ahh but Disney also taketh away-- about 17% off your Hulu bill- if you buy the ad-supported plan for a year in advance it costs $59.99, about the equivalent of two months free.
ESPN+ will be $1/month more expensive for new subscribers
Dispatches from the Front
Thought I'd give a brief update on 2 services out of 4 I still subscribe to that I have unsubscribed from.
The 2 I have cancelled is CBS All Access Commercial free through Amazon Prime. And YouTube TV. Those 2 purged has freed up $75 a month for me. I most likely will re-subscribe to CBS by November.
The 4 I still subscribe to are Amazon Prime, Hulu add free tier, HBO Max through Hulu,and Netflix.
Possible services I'm considering trying are Apple TV+, Disney+,and Youtube Premium. But I haven't done so yet.
Hope all is well with everyone,
- David
I installed the peacock app upon release and I was curious but didn't play around with it because there was a lot to the cock and I wasn't sure what part of it to attack.
Last night, I introduced my wife to the cock as we utilized the streaming channels and the commercials were minimal which it easy to handle. This morning to my dismay, I woke up with my wife playing with the cock and really liking it. Keep in mind, this is the free cock as we have yet to see a need to pay for the same cock we can get for free.
- Keith
Links