Cordkillers 455 - Someone Should Write That (w/ Justin Robert Young)

The WGA indeed did strike. We take a look at what that might mean for streamers and which ones will be hit harder. More people than ever are cutting the cable cord, but they're not all going to Sling and YTTV. All that and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Justin Robert Young ( https://shows.acast.com/worlds-greatest-con ).

This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Succession (407), Silo (101-102), Ted Lasso (308)

Next week: Succession (408), Silo (103), Ted Lasso (309)

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CordKillers: Someone Should Write That
Recorded: May 8 2023
Guest: Justin Robert Young

Intro Video
Netflix's Young, Famous & African reality series

Primary Target
Hollywood writers are striking over low wages caused by streaming boom 
What Went Wrong? Writers & Studios Reveal What They Couldn’t (And Could) Agree On As Strike Is Set
Writers’ strike set to hit TV, movies hard: What you need to know
Data: Which TV and Streaming Companies Are Most Vulnerable in a Writers Strike?  
- The Writers Guild is going on strike and streaming is to blame. The Verge sums it up nicely “TV shows on streaming services having shorter seasons, residual payments being lower than those for broadcast TV, and the rise of “mini rooms” — small groups that quickly produce scripts — that make writers more disposable.” There’s some stuff in the new contract to safeguard against future use of AI but that’s not the reason for the strike. That’s more like “while we’re at it…” kind of stuff
- NOTE: “Writers rooms usually start to come together in May, and writing in earnest starts in June. And so that’s not going to happen, so basically fall is inevitably going to be delayed if this lasts more than a month,” Christine Bekcer, professor at Notre Dame
- WGA wanted - writers on staff must get at least three weeks per episode, up to a maximum of 52 weeks, of what is called “post-greenlight rooms”
- AMPTP rejected that. Some streamers get all scripts before green lighting. WGA also wanted minimum staff for post-green light "mini rooms"
- So let's talk about how this will affect the platforms - broadcasters and streamers and such, then how it might affect the shows.
- Variety ranked how affected different platforms would be by the strike.
- Amazon Medium (churn mitigated by Prime subscribers)
- Apple - High (relies heavily on scripted)
- Disney - High
- Fox - High
- NBCUniversal - Medium (no hits)
- Netflix - Medium - Global content unaffected
- Paramount - High
- Warner-Discovery - low-medium (scripted is only 7%)

Production on season 3 of Hacks has stopped down during the writer's strike, and will not resume until the strike ends. 
‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 to Continue Filming Amid Writers Strike, All Scripts Were Finished
- House of the Dragon Season 2 had all its scripts in so will continue production during the writers strike. But the Game of Thrones spinoff "The Hedge Knight" was still in the writer's room, so work has stopped on that.

Season 2 of Andor to continue production without writers due to strike
- Andor is continuing production since all scripts were written. Which puts producer/writer Tony Gilroy in the position of continuing work as producer but not being allowed to do any script tweaks.

How to Watch
Major Pay-TV Providers Lost About 5,900,000 Subscribers in 2022
- The latest data from Leichtman research shows 5.9 million people in the US canceled cable in 2022. That's more than the 4.7 million who canceled in 2021. Interestingly they didn't go to streaming versions of cable like SlingTV. Those services saw a rise of 370,000 in 2022.

What to Watch
‘Dune: Part Two’ Trailer: Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya Join Forces to Save the Universe
- The first trailer for Dune: Part 2 is out. Paul rides a worm and kisses Spider-man's girlfriend. Looks great. It comes to theaters November 3rd.

Gran Turismo’s first trailer makes it seem like the movie hates gamers 
- The first trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s Gran Turismo is out. It talks a lot about how different games and real racing are. Which seems odd for a movie based on a. game. Gran Turismo hits theaters August 11th.

‘Dancing With the Stars’ to Return to ABC for Season 32 After Year at Disney+
- Dancing with the Stars left broadcast TV for Disney+ for a season but is now headed back to broadcast, airing on ABC for season 32. It will also stream on Disney+ though too.

Eyes On:
Justin: Succession
Brian: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Tom: 2 Days 1 Night, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
On the Lookout: Jury Duty

Front Lines
Amazon’s biggest TV shows could soon land on other streaming services 
Amazon debuts free, ad-supported streaming channels just for Fire TV
Amazon will juice its Freevee free streaming service with 100+ Amazon Originals in 2023
- Amazon announced it will start selling some of its Prime Video originals through Amazon MGM Distribution including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hunters, All the Old Knives,. This shows could start showing up on cable networks, FAST services and even other paid streaming competitors to Prime Video. Amazon did license its content before but setting it up with a devoted department staffed by MGM vets is a more serious commitment. Also, Amazon's own free ad-supported Freevee streaming service will add more than 100 Amazon Original series and movies from its Prime Video service over the course of the year. And Amazon began rolling out free ad-supported Fire TV Channels to its Fire TV devices.

Google TV Update Brings Performance Improvements and Storage Optimizations
- Google rolled out some improvements for devices using the GoogleTV interface for Android TV OS. Remotes should be more responsive, background apps will go into hibernation to save space in memory and storage. Google TV devices running Android TV 12 or newer will get them automatically.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming business set to become profitable in 2023
- Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav said its streaming business will turn a profit this year. In past statements the company said it expected profitability by 2025. Across HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+, Warner Brothers Discovery increased subscribers 1.5% on the quarter in Q1 to 97.6 million.

Paramount+ grows to 60M subs as it prepares to integrate with Showtime
- Paramount+ reported it added 4.1 million subscribers in Q1 for total of 60 million. That's without adding in Showtime which will integrate into Paramount+ sometime between July and September. Revenue from Paramount+ rose 65% on the year.

Conan O’Brien Sets Exclusive FAST Channel Launch On Samsung TV Plus
- Conan O'Brien is launching a FAST channel exclusive to Samsung TV Plus made up of 30 minute compilations and clips from his late night career.

Roku Leans Into Unscripted Amid Writers Strike: Renews ‘Great American Baking Show,’ Orders Charlie Puth Comedy
Yellowstone will end after its 5th season which returns in November. A sequel series has been ordered. 
Hulu's Live TV service is adding PBS and the Magnolia Network. 
The cast of King of the Hill is beginning table reads for the reboot coming to Hulu. 
A 10-episode Season 2 of The Bear returns to Hulu June 22nd. Bob Odenkirk will guest star, according to Variety. 

Dispatches from the front
Tom, Brian and Bryce,

On a recent episode you were talking through some fun evergreen questions.  One was about something that you would return to again.
I originally watched all of Babylon 5 on an old iPhone in around 2009; small screen and fairly low resolution.  It was just fine.  About a year ago I thought 'this is a really good story, maybe I will give it another look but on a proper TV this time'.  Have to say that it did not work out as planned!  While the story was good, seeing the sets and effects on a bigger screen made it almost unwatchable!  Maybe they will reboot or remake it like Battlestar Galactica someday.  Until then, I'm going to have to take a pass sadly!

Thanks for the great show!  Enjoy it every week!

- Russell

Surprise BABYLON 5 animated movie announced

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