Cordkillers 444 - That Poor Bottom-Line (w/ Merrill Barr)
Feige drops a Marvel news dump and the news is "slower." Plus, Netflix is decreasing prices in a couple of regions experiencing deflation. As MLS is about to go into season, we share the details we have on Apple's MLS Season Pass streaming service. All that and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Merrill Barr ( http://wordtetris.com/Archive ).
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: The Last of Us (106), Picard (301), Twenty-Five Twenty-One (115)
Next week: The Last of Us (107), Picard (302), Twenty-Five Twenty-One (116)
Download video http://archive.org/download/cordkillers-ep-444/CordkillersEp444.mp4
Download audio http://archive.org/download/cordkillers-ep-444/CordkillersEp444.mp3
CordKillers: 444 - That Poor Bottom-Line
Recorded: February 20 2023
Guest: Merrill Barr
Intro Video
Dance 100
Primary Target
Marvel top boss wants to space out show releases on Disney+
Kevin Feige Says ‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot Is “A Big Pillar Of The MCU Going Forward”
How Much Is Too Much Marvel and ‘Star Wars’? Disney Rethinks Franchise Output
Disney will slow and spread the releases of its Marvel series
‘The Marvels’ Zooms To November, ‘Haunted Mansion’ Going In Late July – Release Dates
- "Marvel's Kevin Feige gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly and dropped a few tidbits about what's coming in the MCU
- They're going to slow down the pace of releases for Disney+ shows as they enter phases 5 and 6. 7 shows for phase 5 vs. 8 for phase 4.
- “Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics.” "We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years." (Coming Feb. 14, 2025."
- And we got release date changes. The Marvels has moved from July 28 to November 10.
- Haunted Mansion will now come out July 28.
How to Watch
Netflix dropping prices in Ecuador
- You may have seen that Netflix has dropped prices in Ecuador. You hear me right, dropped. Gadgetvirtuoso posted a story about it in our subreddit, noting that Ecuador is one of the few countries experiencing deflation. And Goucham noted that price drops are happening in Jamaica where he is and there's a reddit thread reporting Netflix price drops in the Balkans as well.
Vancouver hospital patient loses Netflix access due to password crackdown
- The first "unintended consequence" story of Netflix's password sharing prevention scheme was reported by CTVNews. A man named Carlos Sallazzo has been waiting in a Vancouver hospital for a double lung transplant for five months. While he's in the hospital, his wife and two children are in the nearby town of Victoria. He heard the rule that he needed to check in with his device on the primary network every 30 days and called Netflix to say he can't really do that. It does not appear that Sallazzo's account has been restricted yet and Netflix has not responded publicly to the story.
What to Watch
‘Poker Face’ Scores Season 2 Renewal At Peacock
- NBC has renewed Rian Johnson's Poker Face for a second season on Peacock. So it must be a success. Yet *many* people have told me they haven't watched it because they "don't get Peacock." In a tone similar to what people used when they didn't get a cable channel on their service. As if there's nothing they can do about it. Do we need to relearn the system?
Ted Lasso released a teaser video and announced the third season will return to Apple TV+ on March 15th.
Apple's MLS Season Pass will stream games in 1080p
T-Mobile is offering a free year of MLS Season Pass on AppleTV+
- Next Saturday, Feb. 25, the 2023 US Major League Soccer season starts. This is significant for tech because it's Apple's biggest sports venture yet. If Apple wants to pivot to services, it needs TV to be successful and for TV to be successful it needs sports.
- To catch you up on what Apple is doing different
You get everything.
- There will be no blackouts. Subscribers get to watch every regular season game, the All Star Game and MLS Cup playoffs, as well as Leagues Cup and development teams.
- Game times don't jump around because of TV deals.
- Almost all games start at 7:30 PM local time on either Wednesday or Saturday. There are a handful of afternoon and Sunday games.
- It costs $15 a month or $99 for the whole season or $13 a month and $79 for Apple TV+ subscribers.
T-Mobile is offering a free year of MLS Season Pass on AppleTV+
-Though T-Mobile has partnered up to give access for free to its subscribers as one of its T-Mobile Tuesday deals next week.
DirecTV To Provide Major League Soccer Games to Bars, Hotels for 2023 Season
- One question some fans have had, is what about bars? Do they need to get an AppleTV or at least a Roku?
Eyes On:
Merrill: Animal Control
Brian: GE AC Unit Model AHC12LYW1, Poker Face, Cars
Tom: Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
On the Lookout: Aggretsuko Season 5
Front Lines
Roku promises cost cuts, sees robust first-quarter revenue; shares jump
AMC Networks Adds 700,000 Streaming Subscribers as ‘The Walking Dead’ Passes Baton to Anne Rice
Paramount+ reaches 56M subs, raises prices as it combines with Showtime
- Time for some numbers.
- Roku reported in Q4 its ad-supported Roku channel reached 100 million people in the US, up 25% on the year. It increased active accounts by 7% on the quarter to 70 million, with streaming hours up 9% on the quarter to 23.9 billion.
- AMC Networks ended 2022 with 11.8 million streaming subscribers across AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK and HIDIVE. That's a rise of 700,000 over Q3.
- Paramount+ added 9.9 million subscribers in Q4, bringing its total to 56 million. Paramount+, Showtime, BET+ and Noggin combined added 10.8 million direct-to-consumer subscribers, now at 77 million total. Price increases are coming too - Paramount+'s Premium tier including Showtime will climb $2 to $11.99 a month and its Essential tier will increase $1 to $5.99 a month. "
Tubi reaches 64M monthly active users as ad-supported streaming grows
- Fox announced that Tubi now has 64 million monthly active users. Up from 51 million last May. Tubi claims to have the largest free streaming content catalog, with over 50,000 titles and more than 200 live TV channels. Fox predicts that its ad-supported streaming will rise between 9 and 24% this year while it's paid streaming will stay flat.
Disney Will Animate ESPN Coverage for Disney Channel to Get Kids Into Hockey
- The NHL will animate a live game on March 14th, between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers, called the "NHL Big City Greens Classic."
- The game will feature characters from the TV show Big City Greens alongside animated versions of actual hockey players, using the NHL Edge system to track the players and the puck. It’ll also feature commentators reacting to some of the action from the Big City Greens characters.
- While the unaltered game will broadcast on ESPN, you can watch the animated version on Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney+.
- The NHL’s SVP of business development David Lehanski said this is just a test, but that data from NHL Edge could make it possible to do customized game broadcasts in Roblox or Minecraft.
Starz To Launch Bundle With MGM+ On Prime Video in the U.S.
- And Stars is partnering with Amazon to bundle its movies service with Amazon's MGM+. Both services can be combined for $11.99 a month, a savings of 20%. Liongate and Starz are in the process of separating, with plans to announce details in March and split off the studio business in September.
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Dominates BAFTA Awards With Record-Breaking Seven Wins
Warner Bros, Discovery to Serve up U.S. Tennis in 45 European Territories – Global Bulletin
‘Queen Charlotte’: ‘Bridgerton’ Prequel Sets Premiere Date; Drops Teaser Trailer & New Photos
Netflix Orders Anime Series Based On Japanese Manga ‘Pluto’, Sets Voice Cast
‘You’ Season 4, Part 2 Trailer Teases the Return of a Familiar Face
Netflix Releases ‘Shadow and Bone’ Season 2 Trailer; Catherine O’Hara Set for USC Honor
Every actor on our ruined planet will star in Apple TV+'s 'Extrapolations'
See Baby Yoda Snatch a Space M&M in New 'Mandalorian' Preview
The Little Mermaid’ Trailer Teases First Look at Melissa McCarthy’s Cackling Ursula
Disney’s XFL Launch Won’t Just Bring New Football to ESPN
‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3′ Gets Fall 2023 Release Date
Apple TV+ unveils trailer and release date for ‘Tetris’ movie
‘Silicon Valley’ And ‘True Blood’ Edited Reruns To Air On TBS And TNT In Warner Bros. Discovery Experiment
Dispatches from the front
I don’t think I’d pay less if I had to look at a banner, but I kind of do this solution already. We like to hop services but we hate paying for services that we aren’t using, so whenever we sign up for a service, I cancel it the next day. We get to use it until the month runs out and then we resubscribe when we want to use it again. Brian often talks about canceling all your services and then resubscribing when you need it. I suppose we’re taking it to an extreme level, but it’s very budget friendly!
- Ben
Greetings Tom, Brian, and Bryce,
After playing the new Hogwarts Legacy game I wanted to revisit the Harry Potter movies. I paid the $4.99 to get Peacock for a month, Pokerface didn't hurt. The Harry Potter films had strange abrupt cuts/scene transitions. Peacock is showing TV edited versions that remove content to get to a TV pg rating. What the heck? Do rights agreements including altering the content in material ways? Does this happen elsewhere?
Thank you,
- Sean
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue
World's Greatest Con
FreeTomNewsletter