Cordkillers 418 - Prestige Thursdays (w/ Andrew Mayne)
Warner Brothers Discovery has given us a lot to talk about this week: shelved movies, consolidation, and ads. Plus, She-Hulk changes days, Joker 2 gets Gaga, and one soap goes digital. All that and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Andrew Mayne ( https://andrewmayne.com/ ).
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Prey (2022 film), Better Call Saul (611), What We Do in the Shadows (405), Westworld (407)
Next week: Better Call Saul (612), What We Do in the Shadows (406), Westworld (408)
CordKillers: 418 - Prestige Thursdays
Recorded: August 8 2022
Guest: Andrew Mayne
Intro Video
The Sandman trailer
Primary Target
Why Warner Bros. Killed ‘Batgirl’: Inside the Decision Not to Release the DC Movie
WB Discovery merger strikes down “nearly finished” live-action Batgirl film
HBO Max Quietly Removed Six Warner Bros. Streaming-Exclusive Movies
- Warner Brothers has decided not to release either Batgirl or Scoob 2: Holiday Haunt.
- Both movies were headed straight to HBO Max. Both were part of a plan by Jason Kilar to beef up the quality and quantity of HBO Max original content. Kilar left HBO Max after Discovery's merge with Warner completed.
- Batgirl starred Michael Keaton as Batman, JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Breandan Fraser as the villain Firefly, and Leslie Grace as Batgirl.
- Scoop 2 featured the voices of Mark Hamill, Ming Na-Wen, Patrick Warburton, and JB Smoove.- It did not feel worthy of a theatrical release but too expensive to justify being released straight to HBO Max. It would have cost $30 to $50 million to properly market as a theatrical release.
- Variety says the most likely reason for shelving the movies was taxes. Warner can now write down the entire cost for the films as a loss and as long as they don't make any money off of it, get a tax benefit from that cost. But to do that it would have to be done by mid-August. This is described as a "purchase accounting maneuver" and to explain more would likely require one of us to go get a degree in accounting.
- Tax reasons might also explain why six HBO Max-only films were taken off the service last Tuesday as well.
Warner Bros. Discovery To “Spend Dramatically More” On HBO/HBO Max & “Lock Up” Majority Of Casey Bloys’ Top Team
- After shelving Batgirl, Scoob 2, and removing several originals from HBO Max earlier this week, folks have wondered if the Discovery executives that run Warner Brothers Discovery really value HBO. Addressing those concerns, former Discovery CEO and now Warner Brothers Discovery CEO, David Zaslav said “we’re going to spend dramatically more” on HBO content in the next few years and said they had "locked up" the majority of HBO's executive team. Presumably he means with employment contracts, but Zaslav didn't provide any numbers to go with those comments, just saying “Quality is what matters."
HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+ report a combined total of 92.1M subscribers, plans for major restructuring
- THEN it announced its first earnings since the merger of the two companies. Of particular interest was the number of subscribers to HBO Max. Warner reported one combined number for Discovery+, HBO Max and HBO on its own. Those three had 92.1 million subscribers, up 1.7 million on the quarter. The growth came entirely from international subscribers, as domestic subscribers fell by 300,000 to 53 million. However, the company forecasted growth, saying it expects to have more than 130 million global subscribers by 2025.
Why HBO Max May Already Have Lost the International Streaming Race (Analysis)
- One of the reasons the company combined the numbers is that it has long planned to combine the services into one platform. In its earnings statement, Warner Brothers Discovery confirmed that plan, saying it will roll out the combined version of the service in the US and Latin America in 2023 and Europe and Asia Pacific in 2024. They pitched it as each platform bringing a strength. CEO and president of global streaming and games JB Perrette noted that HBO Max has “performance and customer issues,” but rich features, while Discovery+ has more limited features but a more robust tech stack. HBO Max also has strong scripted content and a male skewing audience while Discovery+ has strong unscripted content and a female skewing audience. So the pitch is that combining them gives you all the content, all the audience and rich features with a solid tech platform.
HBO Max will be replaced next year by a new service combined with Discovery Plus
WBD Brass Stress Commitment To HBO Brand As They Mull Name For Combined Streaming Service
Warner Bros. Discovery’s new streaming strategy is to undo its old streaming strategy
- "Warner also said that once it has rolled out the new combined platform of HBO Max and Discovery+, it may launch a FAST service. FAST stands for Free Ad-supported Streaming TV. HBO Max offers an ad-supported version of its service, but it is not free. This potential new free service would not have all the same programming as HBO Max or Discovery+.
- A few other developments of note. CNN Originals- aka what's left after they canceled CNN+ -- will get its own hub in Discovery+. "
Warner Bros. Movies No Longer Moving to HBO Max After 45 Days in Theaters
How to Watch
Paramount+ Tops 43 Million Subscribers in Q2, Adding 3.7 Million in Quarter- Paramount announced numbers for paramount Plus at its quarterly earnings call too. It added 3.7 million subscribers last quarter to reach 43.3 million paid customers. That includes losing 1.2 million subscribers in Russia when it pulled out of that country. Overall Paramount had 63.7 million subscribers across all its streaming services, a gain of 1.7 million.
- So if you do the math, that means that all of its other paid streaming services, Showtime, BET+ and Noggin, lost 2.4 million subscribers.
- Still, with Peacock flat and Netflix down, HBO Max and Paramount Plus seem to be bucking a trend. And revenue for Paramount Plus more than doubled.
- Paramount's FAST service, Pluto TV added 1.1 million viewers and rose revenue by 10%.
- But none of that means streaming is profitable yet--And Paramount still plans to spend $6 billion on content through 2024 and reach break-even after 2023.
What to Watch
Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker sequel is releasing in October 2024, and Lady Gaga is joining the cast
- Oh one more piece of news related to Warner Brothers Discovery. A sequel to Joker is on the schedule for October 4th, 2024. Joaquin Phoenix will return alongside Lady Gaga. Director Todd Phillips previously posted on Instagram that the name would be Joker: Folie à Deux, which literally translates to “madness for two.” It's rumored to have musical elements. Gaga is suspected to be playing Harley Quinn.
She-Hulk episodes will debut on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays
- Disney will not premiere She Hulk on Wednesdays after all but instead on Thursdays. Disney plans to debut Growing Up and Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory on Thursday, September 8th, while the new Disney Plus exclusive season of Dancing With the Stars will begin airing on Monday, September 19th.
Amazon Wants Its NFL Coverage to Come in Different Flavors
- Amazon will be the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football this year, instead of simulcasting with a broadcast network--That's why they hired long-time football host Al Michaels to host the broadcast. Amazon will also now have the freedom to offer alternate commentaries. One alternate feed will be hosted by a sports comedy team called Dude Perfect. The group is known for its Youtube stunts, like throwing a baseball through the open window of a moving car. Dude Perfect will broadcast from their studios in Frisco, Texas, while doing challenges and stunts. There will also be a Spanish-language stream. Amazon's Thursday Night Football schedule begins September 15th.
‘Days Of Our Lives’ Moving From NBC To Peacock
- Days of Our Lives is moving from NBC to Peacock. The soap opera has been on NBC daytime broadcasts since 1965. Broadcast NBC will replace Days with NBC News Daily, which will also stream on NBC News NOW and Peacock. This will leave General Hospital, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful as the last remaining broadcast soaps. [[[TOM THOUGHT: Maybe broadcast over-the-air channels just eventually become news channels simulcasting the free ad-supported news streams like NBC News NOW]]]
Eyes On:
Andrew: WestWorld seasons 1-3
Bryce: Rewatched Blade Runner 2049
Brian: School of Rock holds up
On the Lookout: Prey
Front Lines
Sling TV continues to drop subscribers, loses 55K subscribers in second quarter
- Sling TV lost 55,000 subscribers in Q2, a smaller drop than the 234,000 it lost in Q1 but the third straight quarter of declines. Sling now has a total of 2.197 million subscribers. Sling sits behind YouTube TV's 5 million and Hulu Live TV's 4.3 million.
Roku Channel Adds Paramount+ To Subscription Offerings
- The Roku Channel continues to add options for you to subscribe to add-ons. The latest is Paramount Plus. You can subscribe to the Paramount+ ad-supported ($4.99) or ad-free ($9.99). The Roku Channel offers more than 50 add-ons and recent struck a deal to include some local NBC News streams.
Fox Corp, Verizon Renew Multi-Year Distribution Deal as Fios Adds Tubi and Fox Weather
- Fox reached an agreement for carriage of many of its channels on Verizon's FiOS TV including Tubi. Tubi will be available on Verizon's Fios TV set top boxes
AMC Networks Ends Q2 With 10.8M Streaming Subscribers, Ad Revenue Dips
- AMC Networks announced its streaming subscribers rose 46% last quarter to reach 10.8 million. The company said it’s on track to reach its goal of 20 million to 25 million streaming subscribers by 2025. Revenue rose 20%. AMC runs ANC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK and HIDIVE.
‘Atlanta’: FX Sets Premiere Date For Fourth & Final Season; Drops Trailer
‘The White Lotus’ Season 2 to Premiere in October
James Gunn Says ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Is ‘Safe’ at HBO Max After ‘Batgirl’ Axed: ‘Guys, Calm Down’
Paramount+ Unveils Final Season Trailer for ‘The Good Fight’
Moon Knight Is Returning for Season 2, Oscar Isaac Suggests in TikTok
‘Outlander’ Prequel Series Confirmed In The Works At Starz; Title, Details Revealed
- A few more things to note:
- FX will launch the 4th and final season of Atlanta on September 15th with two of the 10 episode season premiering at once.
- HBO will release the second season of The White Lotus in October.
- When a fan on Twitter asked James Gunn if Peacemaker season 2 was safe from the HBO Max axe, Gunn replied “Yes, guys, calm down.”
- Paramount+ released a trailer for the final season of The Good Fight coming September 8th. It was the first original for CBS All Access.
- Mohamed Diab posted a TikTok video of himself and Jason Isaac in Egypt implying there is a season 2 of Moon Knight being shot.
- Outlander will have a prequel series on Stars about Jamie's parents called "Outlander: Blood of my Blood."
Dispatches from the Front
I have long KIND OF wished for TV to be like an RSS Feed. "Subscribe" to the shows you want and they all get collated into a single place/feed. I know Apple TV can KIND OF do something like this, but all the apps don't expose the deep-linked to allow that to happen for everything. So, it's easy to forget things... :(
The one bill conundrum is something I prefer to NOT have. I have occasionally run into the situation where my "one bill" on Patreon has concealed that "Whoops! I didn't unsub from that thing I thought I unsubbed from months ago. Yikes!" So, I prefer seeing the individual fees showing up on my credit card for Paramount+, Disney+, HBOMax, YouTube Premium, etc.
And I pay THAT one bill. :)
But, that's just me!
Later!
- Michael
Hey Killers!
I just came across this video by Drew Gooden called Overwhelmed by Choice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZwXr3RwldY) where he talks about how there's so much content on the platform that he can't make a decision and it ends up serving him more as a browsing platform than a streaming platform.
I had an idea of something that could fix this: make it work like TikTok. Have something play automatically, starting wherever the algorithm thinks it can get the most retention out of you (whether that be the beginning, the middle, or the end). If you like what you see, you can press the middle button and start from the beginning, and if not, you can press the up or down buttons and something else will play. This way, you're not distracted by the amount of choice you have because you're only presented with just one thing, you'll be presented with the most interesting part of the show or movie which is more likely to get you invested in it, and your goal of turning on the TV to watch something will have been fulfilled. What do you guys think of this idea?
From,
- Amar
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue
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