Cordkillers 406 - Cable Minority Report
Discovery made a lot of money--well before they merge with Warner. Peacock wants you to think they're serious! Dr. Strange is on-track to sell gangbusters. All that and more on Cordkillers!
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Picard (209), Moon Knight (105), Better Call Saul (603), Barry (302)
Next week: Picard (210), Moon Knight (106), Better Call Saul (604), Barry (303)
CordKillers: 406 - Cable Minority Report
Recorded: May 2 2022
Guest: None
Intro Video
Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend
Primary Target
Streaming Buoys Q1 Profit for Warner Bros Discovery, Despite Cable Declines
- Discovery released its last earnings without Warner Brothers properties included and it saw revenue increase by 13%. A big part of it was from advertising on digital and mobile. So, streaming.
- Discovery isn't alone.
- The Interactive Advertising Bureau or IAB says digital advertising grew 21% last year and is expected grow 26% this year to reach $49.2 billion. And the fastest growing part of that market is the Connected TV ad market. It's expected to grow 39% this year to reach $21.2 billion. Just a little less than half o f the whole digital market.
- And there's room to grow. IAB says Connected TV makes up 36% of the total time spent watching TV but only gets 18% of the ad spend.
- The big hurdles are a lack of transparency and interoperability across platforms and fragmentation of supply paths. In other words it's harder to place a digital ad properly.
- The money is slowly following the people. Dat from NPOWER 27% of homes have ditched cable, up from 9% three years ago. Over the air has barely budged in that time from 14 to 15% while cable has declined from 76% to 57%.
- We're going to pass that 50% mark soon and I expect that's when we'll see a sea change in how you get your TV.
Streaming ad spend grew 57% in 2021 reaching $15.2B, market to more than double from 2020 to 2022
42% Of Us Homes Have Ditched Cable TV And Gone Broadband Only
As Streaming Peaks, Sony, Universal & Others Prove The Lucrative Power Of Theatrical Windows – CinemaCon
Theater Owners Chief Says Day-and-Date Movies Are ‘Dead as a Serious Business Model’
- With all that streaming you might be forgiven for thinking it has won the war but with Cinemacon happening less week, it's worth noting that theater owners are pushing back. Yes the window looks like its's going to end up at 45 days for blockbusters and 17 days for specialty titles, but the window will remain. Sony for one believes theater money is driving its success.
-John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theatre Owners, told a packed auditorium of exhibitors on Tuesday at CinemaCon. “I am pleased to announce that simultaneous release is dead as a serious business model, and piracy is what killed it.” Certainly the perception fo piracy helped kill it. But I don't know if I'd count it entirely dead. Just sleeping.
How to Watch
Peacock added 4 million paid subscribers in Q1, up 44% from last quarter
Peacock Hits 13 Million Paid Subscribers, 28 Million MAAs
Peacock’s making a LeBron James biopic and a remake of John Woo’s The Killer
‘Bel-Air’ Sets Peacock Streaming Records, Adds Anthony Sparks As EP For Season 2
Peacock Shows Could Have New Commercial Ads Under NBCU Plan
Peacock Will Stream Bravo Shows Next-Day, Inks Lionsgate Movie Deal
Lionsgate Sets Movie Output Deal With Roku Channel
- Peacock ended Q1 with 28 million monthly active accounts up from 24.5 million at the end of 2021. 13 million are paying, up from 9 million. NBC expects the service to grow slowly until Q4 when when Sunday Night Football, Premiere League soccer and the World Cup are expected to drive users.
- Peacock will keep trying to get you to identify it with more than just sports though.
- Bel-air season 1 set a streaming record for Peacock at 8 million accounts.
- John Woo is going to reimaigine The Killer.
- A church choir comedy from Will Packer, starring Chloe Bailey, called Praise This.
- And a movie about the origin story of LeBron James called Shooting Stars.
- Bravo shows will show up on Peacock the day after they air on the cable channel. The back catalogs of those shows will leave Hulu for Peacock exclusivity int he autumn.
- And Peacock will get Lionsgate films in the Pay 2 window starting in 2024. Yes, Roku is getting Pay 2 from Lionsgate as well. Basically when a Lionsgate film leaves theaters it will go to Starz, then Roku, then Peacock then back to Roku.
- Also Peacock is attempting to work in more ads without totally upsetting you. It will introduce a frame ad where the video keeps playing but shrinks a little to show an ad in a frame around it. The example uses a golf broadcast.
What to Watch
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness’ Presales Outpacing ‘Captain Marvel’, ‘GOTG Vol. 2’ & ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, Heading Toward $150M+ U.S. Opening
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ latest teaser would like you to meet the Illuminati
- Pre-sales are high for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which arrives later this week, already passing The Batman, Captain Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Apparently it has $42 million in resales according to Disney. Projections are of a $150 million domestic opening weekend. Some think it might even go up to $200 million. Marvel also released a trailer implying things regarding Marvel's Illuminati. And possible mutants.
Disney just unveiled the first teaser trailer for Avatar 2
- Disney showed a trailer at Cinemacon of Avatar: The Way of the Water, which is the official name of the second Avatar movie. That trailer has not been released to the general public, but odds are you may see it before Doctor Strange this weekend, since it's a 20th Century film, which is owned by Disney.
‘The Flash’ Footage Shows Off Michael Keaton’s Batman
- Also shown at CinemaCon was some footage from the new Flash movie with Michael Keaton saying “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts.” As well as the batcycle from the Christoperh Nolan films. Also a young superman apparently. The movie hits theaters on June 23, 2023.
- No word if/when the trailer goes public.
Bad Bunny Unveiled as New Marvel Hero ‘El Muerto’ for Sony Pictures
- And Marvel and Sony announced that Bad Bunny has been cast as El Muerto in a movie set to come to theaters Jan. 12, 2024. El Muerto is a wrestler whose powers are handed down by ancestry in the form of a mask. This joins Made Web and Kraven the Hunter as Sony movies based on marvel characters it has the license to beyond Spider-Man.
Eyes On
Brian: starting Deluxe Stanley Parable
Tom: The Flight Attendant
On the Lookout: Balthazar
Front Lines
Streaming services see slightly higher customer retention with ad-free plans
- Bloomberg Second Measure’s transaction data shows that Netflix and the Disney+ bundle had the highest overall average customer retention rates in 2021. In fact most-ad-free plans had higher retention rates than ad-supported versions. Netflix had the highest retention at 72%, the Disney Bundle at 68%, And Discovery + Plus in third at 64%. Disney + outside the bundle had retention at 62%. Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+ followed in that order.
Netflix Reorganizes Marketing Team as Layoffs Hit Department
- Netflix laid off 25 people from its 500-person global marketing team, including some of the writers of Netflix's entertainment-news website, Tudum. Netflix does not plan to shut down the site.
Roku Hits Q1 Streaming Slowdown, Gains Just 1.1 Million User Accounts
- In its Q1 earnings, Roku reported active accounts increased 14% on the year to 61.3 million, adding 1.1 million since last quarter. Overall hours streamed in Q1 grew 14% to 20.9 billion. Platform revenue, which includes ads and content deals, increased 39% on the year to $647 million, but its hardware player segment fell 19% on the year to $86.8 million, with unit sales down 12% on the year. Roku added the Apple Music app to its channel store Monday. It will work on any currently-supported Roku streaming device. Music videos will play in 4K.
Comcast and Charter team up to launch a new streaming platform for US consumers
- Comcast and Charter are developing a streaming platform which will run on TVs and streaming devices. So think, a competitor to Roku and Fire TV. It's based on Comcast's Flex software, so it already has apps, including Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV+, Prime Video and the like. Comcast's Xumo will get prominent placement.
All New ‘Iron Chef’ Coming To Netflix In June; Alton Brown Returns As Host With Kristen Kish
Netflix drops Meghan Markle's animated series 'Pearl'
‘Pachinko’ Renewed For Season 2 By Apple TV+
Value Of MGM Film And TV Operation Revealed In Amazon Filing
‘The Batman 2’ Is Happening & Robert Pattinson Is Returning
‘Fast X’: Louis Leterrier to Replace Justin Lin as Director
- "And a few other notes here, Netflix giveth and taketh away. A new Iron Chef with Alton Brown cohosting alongside Kristen Kiss will premiere June 15th. However Meghan Markle's animated series has been dropped by Netflix.
- Apple TV+ ordered a second season of historical drama, Pachinko.
- Amazon filed paperwork valuing its purchase of MGM at $3.4 billion.
- Robert Pattinson will return as Batman in a second movie with Matt Reeves returning to direct.
- Justin Lin left the Fast X production, a week in and Variety reports that Universal has hired French filmmaker Louis Leterrier to replace him. He did the 2010 Class of the Titans and the series Lupin."
Dispatches from the Front
I wanted to comment on one of Brian's questions from two weeks ago. In the story about FIFA starting a new service to show lots and lots of soccer (football) games. Brian asked why people would want to watch games they already know the result for. For me, I usually don't care who wins, but as a 25 year referee, I watch the games for the chance to watch the third team in each game - the four members of the referee team. I watch particularly to learn from the best referees about positioning and decision making. In addition, soccer is the only sport I enjoy watching, so any game is a good game to me.
FIFA+
- Dave
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue
World's Greatest Con