Cordkillers 354 - Executive Producing is Not a Full-Time Job
Trailer for the new Suicide Squad, details on the Obi-wan TV series, and HBO Max gets audio descriptions. All this and more on Cordkillers!
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Falcon and the Winter Soldier (102), Raised By Wolves (109-110), Hannibal (204)
Next week: Falcon and the Winter Soldier (103), Invincible (101-104), Hannibal (205)
CordKillers: 354 - Executive Producing is Not a Full-Time Job
Recorded: March 29 2021
Guest: None
Intro Video
Stowaway
Primary Target
Regal agrees on new window with Warner Media starting in 2022
Disney to push out Black Widow and Cruella on Disney Plus "premium" the same day as theatrical release
Disney’s Day-And-Date ‘Black Widow’ & ‘Cruella’ Decision Sends Shockwaves
Marvel couldn’t wait any longer to kick off its next phase of movies and shows
- Last Tuesday, Cineworld announced it would reopen its Regal cinemas in the US in April. The cinemas have been closed there for 6 months. Warner Brothers Godzilla vs. Kong would be the first opening for a limited number of locations followed by a wider reporting when Mortal Kombat hits on April 16.
- These are day and date releases with HBO Max still, but Regal will get a 45-day theater-exclusive on Warner Brothers titles starting in 2022. In the Uk that can drop down to 31 days for lower box office titles.
- Then Wednesday Disney announced it would do day and date Disney + Premium releases along with the theatrical releases of Cruella on May 28th and Black Widow July 9th. The Pixar movie Luca will stream exclusively on Disney Plus in the US on Father's Day weekend June 18th. Also Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten rings was moved to September 3rd, no streaming news for that one though.
- This led to condemnations from industry outlets like Deadline that one day after a sense of normalcy returned with Warner agreeing to a window, Disney tore up that sense of security with away and date...
- Except... If you ignore the timing of the announcements, here's the situation.
- Warner has day and date releases until the end of the year after which it switches to a 45-day window.
- Disney has a day and date releases for a couple movies this summer after which the window is back and while still negotiable currently at the old 90 days.
- So honestly Disney is still giving theaters a BETTER deal than Warner. That could change but it hasn't and doesn't need to. Disney might come out with a 60 day window or do what universal did with a 90 day window, not the biggest movies and a sliding scale for the rest.
- The fact is Black Widow couldn't wait uany longer because the Disney Plus series rely on it to kick off the next phase. Wanda Vision was supposed to come out a week or two before Doctor Strange, now it will be a year. So Dinsey had to get it out and a simultaneous release is better at this point than sending it Disney Plus only like it did with Luca.
How to Watch
Marvel: Falcon and Winter Soldier was Disney Plus' most watched series debut
‘Justice League’ Cut Ranks Behind ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ In HBO Max
Netflix & Amazon Should Hand Over Viewing Data To UK Broadcasters
- We get some numbers about streaming services these days.
- Marvel self-reported that Falcon and the Winter Soldier was Disney PLus's most-watched series premiere yet, followed by WandaVision and The Mandalorian. Disney didn't give any actual numbers, heck it didn't even clarify if WandaVision or the Mandalorian came in second.
- For numbers you have to look at Nielsen, which surveys just a. Handful of outlets or something like SambaTV which uses data collected from Smart TVs. Samba for instance says 1.8 million households watched at least 5 minutes fo Zack Snyder's Justice League in its premiere weekend, behind the 2.2 million that watched Wonder Woman 1984 on its premiere weekend in December.
- While I think most of us are curious what shows get watched the most, I've always argued that beyond occasional PR considerations, streaming services don't necessarily have any motivation to share those numbers, especially if they're not selling ads.
- So it struck me as unusual when last week The UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMSC) said broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, had a right to know how shows that they originally commissioned are performing on major streaming services and recommended introducing legislation to force them to do it.
- This came as a part of a report on Public Service Broadcasters in the UK. You probably already know that the BBC is a public service broadcaster in its entirety, but Channel 4 is also a public broadcaster, although it generates its revenue from commercials not from government-collected licenses. Even privately-owned channels like ITV and Channel 5 have public service broadcasting requirements.
- So the idea is that if there is content required by and often funded by the government, the viewing on other platforms should be accounted for in evaluating how well those programs did at achieving the goal of reaching a worldwide audience with British culture.
What to Watch
The Suicide Squad trailer is here, and the film looks wonderfully bonkers
- The first full trailer for James Gunn's Suicide Squad released. The red band trailer shows Killer Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone, and a bunch of other folks some of whom were in the previous Suicide Squad some of whom weren't all of whom except for Harley Quinn are possibly going to die in the story. Also Steely Dan's Dirty Work is the new Hooked on a Feeling
Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi’s ‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Spinoff ‘Wellington Paranormal’ Heads To The CW & HBO Max In First Joint Acquisition
- A spinoff of What We Do In the Shadows, Wellington Paranormal, follows two of the police officers from the movie who investigate supernatural occurrences in the capital of New Zealand. It premiered on TVNZ2 in 2018 and has now been jointly acquired by the CW and HBO Max. Shows will air on the CW starting this summer and then be available streaming on the CW app and HBO Max the next day.
Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus adds Kumail Nanjiani to cast
- The Obi-Wan Kenobi show on Disney Plus will start production in April and will include Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse and Kumail Nanjiani in the cast, along with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christiansen. Edgerton and Pieesse played the young Owen and Beru Lars in Revenge of the Sith. No clue what Nanjiani's role will be.
Dwayne Johnson Unveils ‘Black Adam’ Summer 2022 Release Date During NCAA Tourney Game
- Dwayne Johnson is playing Black Adam in the upcoming DC movie and announced Sunday before a basketball game that the movie will arrive July 29th, 2022. The announcement was made in a TV spot, an Instagram post, on Twitter and in a Times Square digital display in New York. Interestingly the next Indiana Jones movie is penciled in for July 29th 2022 as well.
‘Game Of Thrones’ Author George R.R. Martin Inks New HBO Overall Deal Amid Big Franchise Expansion
- George R. R. Martin has signed a new 5 year deal with HBO, so all those Game of Thrones spinoff ideas are on solid ground. But Martin will also develop non Sogn of Ice and Fire ideas as well. Martin executive produces Who Fears Death and Roadmarks, both of which are in development at HBO.
‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ Casts ‘Vikings’ Actor Laurence O’FuarainZ
The video game Ghost of Tsushima is getting a movie adaptation from the director of John Wick
Amazon will stream 21 regular-season Yankees baseball games on Prime Video
‘National Treasure’ TV Series With Latina Lead Greenlighted By Disney+; Mira Nair To Direct
- Disney Plus will make a ‘National Treasure’ TV Series With Mira Nair To Direct and focusing on a character named Jess Morales, who is a twenty-year-old who came to the US as a child and is undocumented.
Sony Pictures is working on a ‘Bewitched’ Movie Based On Classic TV Series
Netflix will make you savor two of its reality shows with a weekly release schedule
- The next seasons of The Circle and Too Hot to Handle will be released over the course of a month instead of all at once. The Circle will release starting April 14th through May 5th.
HBO drops full trailer for new sci-fi period drama The Nevers coming April 11th to HBO and HBO max.
Eyes On
Brian: Q: Into the Storm, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Tom: The Yin Yang Master
On the Lookout: Prospect
Front Lines
Amazon's redesigned Fire TV interface rolls out to more devices
- Amazon's new Fire TV interface is rolling out to the Fire TV Stick 4K and both generations of the Fire TV Cube, with plans to bring it to the second-gen Fire TV stick and Fire TV Smart TVs later this year. The UI, which includes user profiles and an updated Home screen, originally launched on third-gen Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite last year.
NBC Universal told advertisers last week that Peacock now has 35 million signups, up from 33 million at the end of 2020. That includes free and paid users.
Disney+ is about to get more expensive in the United States
- Disney Plus-- which has more than 100 million subscribers-- is raising its prices in the US by $1. Month or $10 a year. The bundle with Hulu and ESPN Plus will be $13.99 a month or $19.99. with no ads. And ESPN Plus and Disney Plus are now available on Comcast's Xfinity X1 boxes as well as in the Flex streaming service.
Disney+ And ESPN+ Launch On Comcast Xfinity X1 And Flex
HBO Max gets more accessible with audio-described content rollout
- HBO Max is adding audio-described content to make it accessible to blind and visually-impaired users. That applies to HBO and Max originals, Warner Brothers films and some but not all acquired content. Netflix, Apple TV, Prime Video and Hulu all offer audio description tracks as well.
T-Mobile shuts down TVision live TV service, partners with YouTube TV and Philo
- T-Mobile announced it will stop offering its TVision streaming service as of April 29th. T-Mobile is offering $10 off of YouTube TV and Philo as an alternative for its TVision subscribers. All T-Mobile subscribers can get the discount starting April 6.
Dispatches from the Front
Tom, Brian, Bryce
I wanted to cut the cord but was worried I would hit the data cap Comcast had at the time. So summer of 2009 (I think), I decided to do a test. I unplugged the cable box and would use the Roku only. I would be home all day because I'm a teacher. I made a spreadsheet to monitor my data. It had a graph that showed what it would look like if I used the max each day over the month and another line that showed my actual use. I never came close to maxing out. I also was not lacking entertainment. So before teachers went back in August. I turned off the cable and returned the box. I've never been tempted to go back.
As far as mobile, the only times I've gone over my limit were the Tax Day Flood, Memorial Day flood, and Harvey. With each of those, I had entertainment going on the iPad while using the phone to check the local news and connect people asking for help via SM to the Cajun Navy's rescue efforts. We had power and cellular, but cable went down in each of those disasters. AT&T lifted their caps during Harvey, and I think the others. During the most recent disaster, I was lucky my cousins insisted I stay with them, and they live next to a hospital, so they never lost power, and their cable internet worked fine. AT&T, you could call, but no data for the first day or so.
- Kim
Brian wanted to know if any listeners were being impacted by bandwidth caps, and here in Atlanta I definitely am. I’ve been a cord cutter since 2009. When caps first came to our area I was on a business plan through work so they didn’t affect us. But a job change and house change later and we started bumping up against the cap every month. Eventually Comcast made a change that greatly increased the cap and, while I still hate caps and don’t understand why they are implemented on home internet plans, I didn’t think about it much. Then covid hit. All of a sudden my family of four was on online school, video work meetings, etc. Comcast released a statement that because of the pandemic they would not be enforcing caps, so no worries right? With no fanfare, notice, or heads up email Comcast started enforcing caps again and I was stuck with an extra $60 on my bill. Turns out I had already burned through my courtesy months because my Bill auto payed so I never noticed. Tried calling but they refused to remove the charges. All they would do was offer me the $30 “no cap” add on and have that apply to the next month despite already having gone over. The kicker? This topic all came up because of ATT no longer zero rating HBO Max. My wife is a Warner Media employee working on projects directly related to HBO Max, so Max hit us twice on our cap. Brian, I play her the portions of the show where you talk about Max often, she is happy that you’ve softened on it, and wants me to tell you that with a few of the recent additions like Warrior being Cinemax shows they are getting closer to solving the problem you always had with the name.
Thanks
- Anonymous
We have broadband from Comcast with a 1.2TB cap per month. As of Jan 1, 2021 Comcast rolled data caps out to all remaining customers nationwide, so they're increasing the use of data caps, not lessening them....with remote school via Zoom, my work at home, and all of our streaming video usage. I have to be very conscious about usage as we're approaching the end of each month to avoid going over.
Long time listener, and one of your bosses,
- Glenn
I live in central Georgia, in a somewhat rural area. We currently have 2 options, either reliable high speed fiber with data caps, or unreliable cable without data caps. We ended up choosing the fiber, and I just monitor our monthly usage.
- Dan
I am overdue to send this - I heard you guys chatting about Closed Captions a few weeks ago and trying to wrap your head around why and how they work and further why they do or don’t work in certain scenarios (as I recall it started because the original person writing in had a TiVo with apps and it was unclear as to whether it was the TV, the Tivo, or the app that should be activated…..by the way, this will be way too long to read all of it, but the last paragraph might work as a summary if you feel like you want to cover it. If not, perhaps just share my note with the person who originally wrote in.
Before I actually answer your question, a few fun captioning facts:
Closed captions as we used to think of them in analog days were also called 608 or line 21 as they were visibly delivered in to the tv set in the part of the video image that falls outside the normal display area (the vertical blanking interval, which happens to be 21 lines long)
When we moved to digital broadcast, we needed a new method, so the 708 standard was created --- Instead of a visible image that had to be read by the system, now we have a digital signal embedded directly in the MPEG Transport stream,,,
And now we come to the internet - which had no standard for how text was transmitted or rendered for end users until approx. 2015. Up to that point the closest we had to a standard was TTML (Timed Text), which was an extension of HTML that was proposed in the early 2000 by wc3. FINALLY in 2015, the WC#, HBO, and Netflix shared an Emmy for their work around standardizing TTML, which was published as TTML2 spec and by and large has become how CC is delivered to web clients today. ...
OKAY - now with this base level of info, I feel like I can answer the question of why you have to activate some captions one way versus another…..
As I mentioned above there are three likely devices in the playback loop that could render your content - if it's over the air, it’s the tv itself, which would know how to render 708 CC (or if we time traveled to the days of analog, 608 line 21 data). The next in the chain is the device itself - a TiVo, an Xbox, a Roku or fire stick. All these devices have their own OS and some notion of a default media player and a service might choose to utilize that, in which case both in the app and probably at a global settings level, you could turn on and off captions. And finally there is the app itself. If they are using a custom player, it likely isn't really connected to the system reference media player and therefore doesn’t know how to respect those settings, so instead, the devs need to add the ability in app to turn on and off the CC. For both of these last options (device and app) these are some variant of TTML2 captions most likely and their specs are closely aligned with whatever protocol is delivering it (the two most common right now are HLS and DASH, though others are out there, particularly for low latency use cases).
Also Tom, let me know when you want to record a "know a little more" segment on captions 😁
- Andy