Cordkillers 459 - Crumbflix
Netflix squeezed more blood out of their stones with the new account sharing crackdown. WSJ says Amazon Prime will get an ad-supported plan. Plus, a look ahead at Good Omens, Ahsoka, and The Witcher. All that and more on Cordkillers!
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: I Think You Should Leave (Season 3), Silo (107), Miami Vice (407, "Missing Hours")
Next week: The Righteous Gemstones (301-302), Silo (108), Miami Vice (408, "Like a Hurricane")
Download video http://archive.org/download/cordkillers-ep-459/CordkillersEp459.mp4
Download audio http://archive.org/download/cordkillers-ep-459/CordkillersEp459.mp3
CordKillers: 459 - Crumbflix
Recorded: June 12 2023
Guest: None
Intro Video
Skull Island
Primary Target
Netflix Subscriptions Jump as U.S. Password-Sharing Crackdown Begins
- On May 23rd, Netflix announced the details of its new "account sharing" policy enforcement, aka the password crackdown.
- So independent streaming analytics company Antenna was understandably excited to publish the results of its measurements. Antenna estimates Netflix has more new subscribers between May 25 and May 28 than in any other four day period since it began tracking streaming subscriptions in 2019.
- US policy charges $7.99 for each out of household account user. $2 less than basic. $1 more than ad supported
- Antenna gathers its data from third-party services that consumers share info with like receipts, bills and banking records.
How to Watch
Amazon Prime Video is reportedly planning an ad-supported tier
- The Wall Street Journal's sources say Amazon is in talks to start an ad-supported tier for Amazon prime Video. To be clear this wouldn't necessarily be a free version. Amazon has FreeVee for that. This would most likely be cheaper than the $8.99 you pay for Prime Video if you don't get it as part of Amazon Prime. Although it might decide to put ads on the existing service and ask you to pay extra for an ad free version. Along with this Amazon is in talks with Warner and Paramount about offering their ad-supported versions of Max and Paramount Plus as ad-supported add-ons channels to Prime Video.
What to Watch
‘Good Omens’ Season 2 Trailer Brings Heaven and Hell to Earth With Michael Sheen, David Tennant and Jon Hamm
The Star Wars series Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson, is set to stream on Disney+ on August 23rd.
‘The Witcher’ Season 3 Vol. 1 Trailer: Henry Cavill Kills Plenty of Monsters and Men as He Prepares to Exit Series
Eyes On:
Brian: Dr. Jordan Breeding
Tom: Sailor Moon Crystal, 12 Hour Shift
On the Lookout: The Good Nurse, Capturing the Killer Nurse
Front Lines
Disney Gets Big Write-Off After Pulling Its Streaming Shows
- An SEC filing by Disney indicates that the company plans to write off $1.5 billion in expenses related to the removal of content like Willow and Marvel's Runaways from its streaming platforms. Disney says int he filing that it is “continuing its review and currently anticipates additional produced content will be removed," with a potential for $400 million in tax savings. The write-off comes as an "impairment charge..to adjust the carrying value of these content assets to fair value." Maybe the tax pros in the audience can explain it better. But however it works it means removing content from streaming in some cases saves you money.
Disney+ Hotstar to Give Free Access to Cricket Tournaments
- In an effort to woo back some viewers in India, Disney+. Hotstar will make the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournaments later this year available for free to Hotstar mobile users. These are different than the IPL, which Disney lost the digital rights to last year.
TV’s streaming model is broken. It’s also not going away. For Hollywood, figuring that out will be a horror show
- Vulture's Josef Adalian and Lane Brown wrote a piece that has the headline "TV’s streaming model is broken. It’s also not going away. For Hollywood, figuring that out will be a horror show." It appears to lament the passing of the money-printing cable TV carriage model. There's also this quote “We’ve invited all these fancy artists into the medium, and they look at it like art, not a job.” And there's some legitimate discussion of how the flat fee model of streaming doesn't compensate writers and producers for hits, and hits don't directly translate into revenue for platforms. In the end the one solid takeaway seems to be that peak TV is over. The massive spending by multiple platforms to stake out their ground in the battle is over and the consolidation is about to begin.
Apple TVs will have native VPN support in tvOS 17
- Apple's tvOS17 will include native support for VPN (something Android based boxes like the Shield TV and Fire TV already have). This would mean VPN providers could create apps for the Apple TV the way they do for iPhone and Mac.
Golden Globes Acquired By Dick Clark Productions & Eldridge; HFPA To Wind Down
- The Hollywood Foreign Press is winding Down. It has sold the Golden Globes to Dick Clark Productions, and holding company Eldridge. The two new owners will create the Golden Globe foundation or the purpose of carrying on the awards and the HFPA's charitable operations. The next Golden Globes Awards are expected to take place January 7th. NBC is in talks to broadcast them.
Dispatches from the front
Good Morning Killers,
I realize you guys make fun of Miami Vice, probably justified, but in the 80’s it was pretty cool. I would like to recommend an episode back in season 2, episode 3 “ Out where the buses don’t run”. Stars Bruce McGill and David Strathairn, and a cameo by Little Richard. It introduced Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers in Arms” to me and was well done,
thanks
- Steve
Hey there Brian/Tom/Brice,
We are just about to the stage where he has to make the dreaded decision to couple ourselves with DirecTV/Dish for the 29 (twenty nine!!!!) TVs we have..
I’ve been following this show for many many years, and I’ve heard some brief conversations about the commercial side of the streaming world. I have tried to contact all the usual suspects who stream sports balls and no one wants to talk to me about commercial options. Please help me not have to have DirecTV…I would prefer they just have that service die rather than prolonging it’s long, slow death march another several years.
- Josh
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue
World's Greatest Con
FreeTomNewsletter