Cordkillers 420 - Unfairomones (w/ Bill Meeks)
Nielsen says streaming beats cable, but maybe not combined with broadcast. MoviePass is going to come back in the coming weeks, but we don't know what it even really looks like. Plus, we got a look at the Last of Us HBO show and The Sandman drops a surprise special episode. All that and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Bill Meeks ( https://billmeeks.com/whereimfrom/ ).
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Better Call Saul (613), What We Do in the Shadows (407), She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (101)
Next week: Star Trek: Lower Decks (301), What We Do in the Shadows (408), She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (102)
CordKillers: 420 - Unfairomones
Recorded: August 22 2022
Guest: Bill Meeks
Intro Video
The Anthrax Attacks
Primary Target
U.S. Streaming Tops Cable TV Viewing for First Time, Nielsen Says
- At the end of July Netflix announced proudly that Nielsen estimated that it was the most viewed TV service in the US, ahead of number two CBS. Nielsen has now released the rest of those numbers showing that Netflix is the leader in a broader trend.
- In July, for the first time, streaming platforms had a larger share of US viewing than cable or TV. Streaming represented 34.8% of viewing, cable came in at 34.1% and broadcast at 21.6%. So if you combine broadcast and cable, it's still bigger. For now.
- Nielsen also breaks that down by services. Netflix rose from 7.7% in June to 8% in July thanks mostly to Stranger Things. -YouTube had 7.3% followed by Hulu's 3.6%, Amazon Prime Video's 3% and Disney Plus's 1.8%. The rest of the services had 1% or less.
-These numbers all apply to TVs. They do not include mobile or Web streaming.
-It's a milestone. It seems inevitable at this point. And it brings up the question, how long does cable and broadcast have left?
How to Watch
MoviePass Sets Late Summer Relaunch With Tiered Prices — and a Waitlist
MoviePass will return on September 5th with plans starting at around $10 per month
MoviePass to relaunch on Labor Day in beta form with pricing ranging from $10-$30 a month
Regal Cinemas Owner Cineworld Indicates ‘Possible Voluntary Chapter 11 Filing’ in U.S., in Response to Bankruptcy Reports
- Previously on MoviePass,
- In November 2021, one of the original founders, Stacey Spikes, bought the assets and in February 2022, announced he would relaunch the service on more reasonable grounds and with a cryptocurrency flavor.
- Now we hear that MoviePass will launch in beta on September 5th. If you want to be part of it, you'll need to sign up for the waitlist starting Thursday August 25 at 9AM. They'll take signups for 5 days ending at 11:59 PM Monday August 29. If you're selected to become a member you'll get ten invites you can send to friends. If you were a member of the old Moviepass, you'll get some bonus credits. We don't know how many.
- And that September 5th launch data won't apply to all markets. MoviePass says which markets get launched first based on where they get signups and where they have partner theaters.
- Business Insider says prices will vary by zip code, just like prices at theaters. Tiers will be around $10, $20 or $30 a month. MoviePass says it has partnered with 25% of US theaters. You'll get a number of credits per month to use on tickets. We don't know how many per tier or how many credits per movie. We also don't know if it excludes any movies or which theaters it will work with.
- It will also have a black card not a red card.You can use it to pick up tickets at the box office, though you can also book them through the app.
- And no details about anything crypto-related have been announced yet, though MoviePass says it will have more details soon.
- It's an interesting time to launch a business related to movie theaters, especially a business that went bankrupt when theaters were booming. Theaters are not booming right now, in fact, Cineworld, which owns Regal theaters in the US, said it is considering filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chapter 11 allows the business to continue to operate while it negotiates a solution to its debts with its creditors.
What to Watch
‘The Last of Us’: First Footage of Pedro Pascal Series Released by HBO
- HBO released the first video of its upcoming series The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie as well as Nick Offerman as Bill. The video is included with other upcoming HBO series in a promotion for all its pending shows. The show comes to HBO next year.
Surprise! Netflix Adds a Bonus 'Sandman' Episode‘The Sandman’ Is the No. 1 Show on Netflix, but That ‘May Not Be Enough’ to Get Season 2, Neil Gaiman Says
- "Netflix's Sandman series has received widespread praise and Netflix pulled an interesting stunt to give it even more of a boost. The 10-episode series launched August 3rd, but on August 19th an 11th episode showed up. The special episode adapts two stories from the comic. One is animated and the other is live action. Lots of recognizable names voice the animated characters and appear in the live action story.
- The Sandman was Netflix's top show for the third straight week topping 127.5 million hours viewed. Creator New Gaiman said that may not be enough to get it a season 2 though, because it was so expensive to produce. "
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power’; Prime Video Reveals Rollout Schedule
- The first two episodes of Lord of the Rings the Rings of Power will arrive on Amazon Prime Video at 9 PM Eastern time Thursday September 1st. After that the show will have a weekly rollout at Midnight eastern Friday, with the 8th and final episode arriving October 14th.
Here’s what Embracer Group can (and can’t) do with Lord of the Rings
- "And related to all that is the news that video game company Embracer has reached a deal to buy Middle Earth Enterprises. Middle Earth Enterprises is a licensing company set up by the Tolkien Estate that handles the licensing for some elements of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. If I have it right, Middle Earth Enterprises can license rights for movies, stage productions, video games, tabletop games and collectibles. It does not appear to have TV rights, which remain with the Tolkien estate. The movie rights for adapting the books are with New Line Cinemas. So Amazon's show licensed rights directly from the Tolkien Estate and with New Line to reference the movies some. Embracer wants to ""explore additional movies based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn, and other characters.""
- Also of note, Embracer owns the Tomb Raider, Legacy of Kain and Deus Ex franchises."
Eyes On:
Bill Meeks: Kevin Can F Himself
Brian: Redlettermedia about Bruce Willis BEFORE announcement of aphasia
Tom: House of the Dragon
On the Lookout: She-Hulk
Front Lines
Amazon’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ Coverage to Be Tracked by Nielsen
- Amazon Prime Video has exclusive rights to NFL Thursday night football this season and those streams will be included in the traditional Nielsen TV ratings. Nielsen has separate ratings for streaming TV and has never included streaming viewer estimates in its traditional TV report. Nielsen's panel of 42,000 homes is used to estimate TV broadcast and cable ratings will be used to measure Amazon viewership, primarily on TV sets.
After CNN+ shutdown, Discovery+ adds a CNN Originals hub to its US service
- Ahead of a pending merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ within the next year, a CNN Originals hub has been added to Discovery+. This includes “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” “Real Life Nightmare,” “Death Row Stories” and “Race for the Vaccine.” Discovery+ costs $4.99 a month, compared to the now defunct CNN+ which was $5.99 a month.
Netflix Cheaper Ad-Supported Plan Reportedly Won’t Allow Downloads for Offline Viewing
Netflix may copy Disney+’s decision not to run ads during kids’ programming
- A few details are trickling out about Netflix's ad-supported tier, expected in 2023. Some code found in the Netflix iOS app indicated viewers on the ad-supported tier would not be able to download shows for offline viewing. Nor will they be able to skip ads. Bloomberg's sources say Netflix may not run ads alongside Kids programming. Disney+ also said it will not run ads next to kids programming. Netflix also may not run ads in original movies.
Google TV is getting improved performance and app management
- An update to the Google TV OS optimizes CPU and cache management to make everything snappier, including the time it takes the "For You" tab to load as well as switching between tabs and navigating in general. The software also uses less RAM. Google also added a "free up storage" option in settings, to make it easier to clear out cache and uninstall apps you don't use.
In lieu of a trailer, Knives Out 2 finally has a release date
Thor: Love and Thunder Hits Disney Plus on Sept. 8
‘The Rings Of Power’ To Screen First Two Episodes In Theaters Ahead of Prime Video Release
‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ Spinoff in the Works With ‘Cobra Kai’ Creators at Paramount
Roku Sets U.S. “The Great Baking Show” Adaptation with Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry (TV News Roundup)
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Extended Version to Stream on Peacock Next Month
Paramount+ will stream the UEFA Champions League until 2030
Addams Family Spinoff 'Wednesday' Trailer Promises Murder, Mayhem
The Roku Channel adds 14 linear channels, expanding its local news offering
- Here are a few more notes
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will come to Netflix December 23rd
- Thor: Love and Thunder Hits Disney Plus on Sept. 8
- Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will show the first two episodes in Cinemark theaters August 31st, a day before it debuts.
- Paramount is working on a spinoff of Ferriss Bueller's Day off called Sam and Victor’s Day Off that focuses on the two valets that joyride in Cameron's fathers car.
- Roku will produce a spinoff of the great British baking show called The Great American Baking Show hosted by Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry.
- Jurassic World Dominion "Extended Version" will come to Peacock September 2nd.
- Parmount+ will be the home of the UEFA Champions League games until the end of the 2029-2030 season.
- There's a new trailer for Netflix's Addams Family spinoff Wednesday coming this autumn.
- And Roku added NBC local news channels, San Diego, Boston and San Francisco.
Dispatches from the Front
Dear Cord Killers,
This is how I would like a streaming platform to work with multiple providers/channels. Show me everything that's available, but don't break it down by service. It should look like one provider for the most part. When I choose to watch a show, check and see if I have a valid subscription. If I do then play the show as normal. If I don't, have ONE pop-up saying "Hey this show is on X and aren't currently paying for it, Buy a month of X?" It should then sign you up and pay for a month, and immediately cancel (or not sign you for a recurring payment). This way you have access to everything, but are only paying for what you use each month.
Some people might not like a monthly pop-up. For them I'd do it the way Brian suggests, sign them up for recurring payments, but email them after 60 days of not using a service.
- Andrew
My ideal feature that I would love would be one place where I can see all of the services I am currently signed up for, and see how many hours each of our profiles spent with that for the past several months.
I've asked my wife and kids what services they are using a few times recently with the idea of cancelling some for a time and they only have a very vague idea. If I bring up a show on a different service, they light up and say, "Oh yeah, that one too."
If I could have a dashboard to see what is actually being used, that would help me see which services that could be dropped.
BTW, my wife has put the kibosh on canceling them all and then just adding them when we want them. =P
Your Boss,
- Jonathan
I was not aware of the price hike on D+. So, thanks for bringing that to my attention! FORTUNATELY, my annual subscription renews at $79.99 / yr before the new rate kicks in in December!
Thanks again!
- Michael
Hey guys
It's been a few years since our last company party. Please set a date for the next Winter Movie Draft. 🤓
If you can find additional ways for patrons to participate it may encourage others to join the company. 🤔😉
Co-boss# 515
- James
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue
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