Cordkillers 423 - Turgid Bundle
Broadcast TV numbers are down, but does that mean it's a "farm team" for streaming? Maybe not 100%! Plus, Disney is getting into the nitty-gritty of bundling, we count the Emmys, and the Rogue Squadron film falls off the calendar. All that and more on Cordkillers!
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Star Trek: Lower Decks (304), She-Hulk (105), Rick and Morty (603)
Next week: Star Trek: Lower Decks (305), She-Hulk (106), Rick and Morty (604)
CordKillers: 423 - Turgid Bundle
Recorded: September 19 2022
Guest: None
Intro Video
A Trip to Infinity
Primary Target
TV Networks Have a New Role: Farm Teams for Streaming Shows
- Over the past five years, the collective average audience for the big four broadcast networks, outside of sports, has fallen 33% to 17.5 million viewers. What is the role of broadcast networks?
- Well, the Wall Street Journal ran a story by Joe Flint on September 10th called "TV Networks Have a New Role: Farm Teams for Streaming Shows"
- Mark Lazarus, chairman of Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal Television and Streaming called it an infinite loop saying "We are able to move our audiences through our services."
- ABC noted that "Abbott Elementary" benefited from ABC's reach and then picked up a sizable amount of different viewers on Hulu.
- CBS Chief Executive George Cheeks said CBS's primary role is to be a first stop on a conveyor belt that leads to Paramount+ and Showtime Now.
- And some network shows are just moving permanently to streaming. Days of Our Lives is now only Peacock and Dancing with Stars is a Disney+ show.
- Prime time schedules are filled with multiple versions of Law & Order, Chicago, NCIS and FBI. Networks are also putting more news on broadcast. NBC may even drop the 10 PM hour and move late night programming up earlier.
How to Watch
Disney’s CEO teases a ‘hard bundle’ of Disney Plus and Hulu
Paramount CEO Suggests Company Has Discussed Showtime-Paramount+ Bundles With Distributors
- Disney is scheduled to buy out the rest of Comcast's stake in Hulu in the next few years, the earliest being the beginning of 2024. They're just trying to agree on a price. Because of that, you may seem some odd headlines as Disney tries to play down its value and Comcast plays it up. Comast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts told a conference "Comast would be interested" if Hulu was put up for sale. Don't expect that to happen though.
- More likely, Disney and Comcast will dance around a price, agree on one and then it will be all Disney's.
-Disney CEO Bob Chapek teased the idea of a "Hard Bundle" of Disney Plus and Hulu coming in the next few years. What is a hard bundle? Well apparently it's “merging the apps together into one app.”
- So I guess the pending merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ is a hard bundle?
- Does the fact that ESPN+ content also shows up in Hulu if you subscribe to both, make that a semi-hard bundle?
- That's sort of what happens now with Showtime content if you subscribe to it and Paramount+. Though you can still get each separately too. In fact Paramount is in talks to make that bundle available to cable companies.
- So how do we like our bundles?
What to Watch
HBO and Apple TV+ win big at the Emmys
Emmy Awards 2022: The Complete Winners List
Netflix and 'Squid Game' Make History with Acting, Directing Emmy Wins
How Netflix, 'Squid Game' and Korea's 'K-Wave' Smashed an Emmys Barrier
Comcast Would Be Interested in Buying Hulu From Disney ‘If It Was Up for Sale,’ CEO Brian Roberts Says
Disney’s Chapek Hints at All-in-One Streaming App Once Hulu Secured
- The primetime Emmys were last week and as has become tradition on Cordkillers, we must count them.
- HBO Max won with 12.
- Five for The White Lotus, 4 for Succession, and one each for Euphoria, Hacks and Last Week Tonight.
- Apple TV+ took 4, all for Ted Lasso.
- And Netflix got three. One for Ozark's Julia Garner and two for Squid Game, best actor Lee Jung-jae and best director, Hwang Dong-hyuk.
- Hulu got one for Michael Keaton in Dopesick and Amanda Seyfried in The Dropout.
- Prime Video got one for Lizzo's Watch Out for Big Grrrls.
- And what the heck. Let's include non-streamers too. Abbott Elementary won2 for ABC won and NBC got one for
- Saturday Night Live.
- Even though Netflix didn't win the most, Squid Game was notable for being the first non-English language program to win a major category primetime Emmy. In fact none had ever been nominated before.
Leonardo DiCaprio Could Join ‘Squid Game’ One Day, Says Director Hwang, As Netflix Ups Budget For Season Two
'Squid Game' director in dilemma over reviving dead characters for 2nd season
- Hwang Dong-hyuk talked a bit about the next series of Squid Game for Netflix. He expressed regret for killing characters and struggles with whether or not to bring some of them back somehow. "So many characters died, especially beloved ones died. I'm sorry I killed them so easily; I didn't know this was coming." He also said that season 2 will be set in Korea and have Korean actors but if there is a season 3 he might bring on Hollywood actors. Hwang said DiCaprio has “said he is a big fan many times.” Hwang said he has also decided on what games will be in the next season but he really hopes people will keep it under wraps. He told the media, “If I get too drunk and babble, I ask you to suffocate me to stop me from giving spoilers.”
Amazon Prime Video announces live-action ‘Blade Runner’ limited TV series
- Amazon confirmed that it will make a limited series for Amazon Prime Video called Blade Runner 2099. That would set it 50 years after the recent movie, Blade Runner 2049. The show will produced by Alcon Entertainment, which also produced the movie.
Eyes On:
Brian: Deadwood: The Movie, Life's Work: A Memoir
Tom: The World Is My Oyster, The Orville
On the Lookout: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Front Lines
Netflix's Tudum Fan Event Teases 'Bridgerton,' 'The Witcher,' 'Money Heist' and More
- Netflix released a trailer for its second Tudum event. You can expect announcements for The Witcher, Stranger Things, Squid Game, Outer Banks, The Umbrella Academy, Elite, and Money Heist spinoff Berlin as well as Movies Extraction 2, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, The School for Good and Evil and Enola Holmes 2. The event kicks off from Korea at 10 PM Eastern Time September 23rd, then goes to India, takes a break and comes back at 1 Pm Eastern from the US and Europe and finishing at midnight, technically September 25th, from Japan.
Netflix Estimates Ad-Supported Tier Will Reach 40 Million Viewers by Late 2023
- The Wall Street Journal saw a document shown to ad buyers saying that Netflix estimates its ad-supported version of the service would reach about 40 million viewers by Q3 2023. It holds some ad buyers that a launch will happen November 1st with full availability coming next year.
HBO Max Movie ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ Going Theatrical, Sets Winter 2023 Release
- Warner has reversed course on the movie "Magic Mike's Last Dance" which was originally headed straight to HBO Max. Instead the movie will now get a theatrical release on February 10th, Super Bowl weekend. And Showtime's Sinead O'Connor documentary "Nothing Compares" will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on September 23rd before premiering on Showtime on September 30th.
Disney Removes ‘Star Wars’ Spinoff ‘Rogue Squadron’ From Release Calendar, Sets Dates for ‘Snow White,’ ‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘Lion King’ Sequel
- Disney removed the movie Rogue Squadron from its calendar. That's the one to be directed by Patty Jenkins. It had been previously scheduled for December 22, 2023. It's hard to say what that means for the fate of the picture but it's probably not good. Meanwhile Disney is still developing feature films with Taika Waititi, Rian Johnson and Kevin Feige.
CW Sets Premiere Date for ‘A Waltons Thanksgiving’
Timothy Olyphant To Star In Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Full Circle’ HBO Max Limited Series
‘Rick And Morty’ Season 6 Premiere Draws More Than 1 Million Viewers in L+3
‘Babylon’ Trailer: Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie Party Like It’s 1920s Hollywood In Damien Chazelle Epic
HBO drops official trailer for Avenue 5’s second and final season
George Stephanopoulos Hopes Hulu ‘Power Trip’ Shakes Up Streaming News
- The CW will show "A Waltons Thanksgiving" on November 20th. This is a followup to last year's The Waltons Homecoming.
- Timothy Olyphant has been cast in an HBO Max series from Steven Soderbergh, called Full Circle. It will also star Cliare Danes and Zazzie Beets.
- Rick and Morty season 6 drew in more than 1 million viewers.
- There's a trailer out for "Babylon" a movie from Damien Chazelle, starring Brad Pitt, Margo Robbie and Diego Calva set in 1920s Los Angeles.
- HBO dropped a trailer for the second and final season of comedy SciFi show Avenue 5, which returns October 10th.
- And Hulu will launch a reality show called "Power Trip" wherein George Stephanopolous mentors seven reporters covering the 2022 US midterm elections. Launches September 25th.
Dispatches from the Front
I was watching Snowpiercer TV series on HBO Max (Currently was in the middle of season 2) and it was removed and isn't available for purchase either (Streaming) I guess will have to buy season 2 DVD/Blu Ray discs and hope the digital codes still work and if not buy a new Blu Ray player or PS5 (or PS3/4 used) if I can find one.. currently season 3 hasn't been released yet on DVD/Blu Ray and it will annoy me to no end if season 3 is never released...this seems like a lot of work just to complete watching a series...no clue why it was removed from HBO Max and canceled on TNT/TBS ???? I guess I was the only one watching the Snowpiercer series.
Checked all the services Amazon, Apple, Vudu, Google Play/YouTube
- Wayne
justwatch.com/us/tv-show/snowpiercer
I was watching the Emmys and saw an ad for the Quantum Leap reboot. And I remembered that you guys read my email on a show over a year ago. LOL I love it when I get something right.
Love the show.
- Matt
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue
World's Greatest Con
FreeTomNewsletter