Cordkillers 473 - We Won, But at What Cost? (w/ Kristi Kates)
The Reckoning is upon us and there's still more cords to kill! WGA and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement and only the actors' guild is without a contract. Plus, Max badges their upcoming sports add-on with Bleacher Report and Amazon Prime Video is adding ads to your plan. All that and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Kristi Kates ( https://www.twitch.tv/kristikates ).
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Miami Vice (501, "Hostile Takeover")
Next week: Miami Vice (502, "Redemption in Blood")
Download video http://archive.org/download/cordkillers-ep-473/CordkillersEp473.mp4
Download audio http://archive.org/download/cordkillers-ep-473/CordkillersEp473.mp3
CordKillers: 473 - We Won, But at What Cost?
Recorded: September 25 2023
Guest: Kristi Kates
Intro Video
Teaser for Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge
Supply Run
- The war is over, now begins the reckoning.
- Cordkillers is now focused on figuring out where all the good stuff is.
- We'll concentrate less on the "milestones" on the way to cord cutting, and more on "ok what are these over the top services giving us? Which ones should we get for what? Where do we find what we want to watch?
- How to watch has become simpler. Use a TV and the internet. So while we'll still talk about interesting hardware and services, we're focusing more on the what than the how
- The metaphor: We won, but at what cost? How do we navigate this new post-apocalyptic landscape?
WGA and the studios reach tentative deal to end writers’ strike
- AND JUST IN TIME - The writer's have reached a tentative deal to end their strike and one assumes the actors shouldn't be far behind. By next episode, we'll know more about the post-strike plans which is going to make it even MORE complicated to find out what's good to watch. And we will be here to guide you through this post-apocalyptic landscape.
- strike lasted 146 days (the WGA’s longest ever work stoppage lasted for 154 days in 1988)
- three-year contract, still needs to be ratified but pretty positive.
- boost pay rates and residual payments for streaming shows and impose new rules surrounding the use of AI "
Search Party
Max Adding Live Sports Tier; $10 Monthly Service Will Be Included At No Charge For Existing Subscribers Through Next February
- Max will launch a live sports add-on October 5th under the Bleacher Report brand. Existing Max subscribers will get it at no additional charge until February 29th. After that, they will pay $10 a month to include it. In addition to studio shows like Inside the NBA, the Bleacher Report add-on will have live games from the NBA, NHL, MLB, men's college basketball, cycling races and soccer. All live games on cable or broadcast will be included.
Amazon Plans Commercial Breaks for Prime Video
- Ads are coming to Amazon Prime Video unless you pay extra. Starting in early 2024, Prime Video subscribers in Canada, Germany, the UK and US will see ""limited advertisements."" Australia, France, Italy, Mexico and Spain will get them later in the year. In the US you'll be able to pay $2.99 extra a month to go back to being ad-free. No prices were announced yet for the other regions. Variety says the company plans to run fewer ads than broadcast TV or other streamers. And Variety estimated the lowest ad load right now at about 4 minutes per hour.
There's a new trailer for Amazon's third season of Upload, coming October 20.
‘Rick and Morty’ Season 7 Trailer Debuts Fired Creator Justin Roiland’s Voice Replacements
- Adult Swim released a trailer for season 7 of Rick and Morty with new voices for Rick and Morty. Adult Swim still hasn't named who the replacement voices are. Season 7 returns October 15th.
‘Doctor Who’ Unveils 60th Anniversary Specials Trailer With Neil Patrick Harris
- The BBC released a new trailer for three Doctor Who specials starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate, reprising their roles from earlier in the series. At the end of this three-episode 60th anniversary special coming in November (on Disney+ ioutside the UK and Ireland) , Ncuti Gatwa will take over the role of the Doctor for a new series of episodes beginning next year.
The Office Reboot In The Works, Original US Showrunner Returning
- Puck's sources say Greg Daniels is helping develop a reboot of The US version of The Office. Daniels has said previously he would set a reboot in the same universe but not necessarily with the same characters, though there's no info on whether that's the case here. John Krasinski and Mindy Kaling have both said they'd be open to reprising their roles.
Usher To Headline Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show In Las Vegas.
Buried Treasure
Kristi: Rewatching Loki, rewatching World on Fire
Brian: Hudsucker Proxy. Fiona and Cake
Tom: What We Do in the Shadows, Star Trek: Lower Decks
On the Lookout: Less Than Kind
Scanning the Horizon
Rupert Murdoch steps down as Fox and News Corp chairman in favour of son Lachlan
- Real-life Succession has ended differently. Rupert Murdoch announced he is stepping down as chairman of both News Corp. and Fox. His son Kendall... sorry I mean Lachlan Murdoch will take over. Rupert Murdoch will become Chairman Emeritus. He said he will continue to be involved in the "contest of ideas" and Lachlan Murdoch said his father "will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies".
Amazon has launched an immersive website to go with GenV, its spinoff of The Boys.
- Not only can you take a virtual tour of the campus, but you can also visit its campus shop. And actually buy the stuff in there through Amazon.
Amazon announces faster, smarter streaming sticks and new Fire TV Soundbar
- A new FireTV 4K stick with WiFi 6 for $50. The Fire TV Max streaming stick has WiFi6E, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+, and Dolby Atmos Audio. For $60. And a $120 Fire TV Soundbar that works with FireTV devices without setup for $120. All Fire TVs and Echo Show also get ambient art, which you can alter with voice commands, again using some generative AI.
Linear TV Viewership Sees Boost In August But Still Down Year-Over-Year; Peacock & Paramount+ Mark Their Territory In Streaming
- Broadcast and Cable bounced back to bring their combined total back above 50% for the time being. But year on year broadcast is down 5.5% and cable down 10.6%. Streaming is still the largest share of TV viewing at 38.3%. Of streamers, peacock had the largest increase at 8.3%. YouTube is still number one 1ith 9.1% of viewing, followed by Netflix at 8.2%.
Your iPhone can now restore your Apple TV if the streaming box has problems
- With the release of iOS 17 for the Apple iPhone and tvOS 17 for the Apple TV, you can now reset an Apple TV 4K from your iPhone. With older Apple TV's you could plug them into a laptop by USB. But Apple TV 4K doesn't have that port anymore. So now you can just hold the phone near the Apple TV and it will wirelessly reset the software.
Chatter
Hello, The Artists Formerly Known As Cordkillers!,
On last week’s show, Tom asked whether Aquaman 2 was the end of the old DC regime before James Gunn’s slate takes over. There’s been a fair amount of confusion from across the Internet in general on this so I wanted to take the time to clarify things as I understand it.
While Aquaman 2 is the end of the DCEU (the old shared universe), it is not the last thing produced under the old regime. As far as we know, that is The Penguin series on Max which is a spinoff of Matt Reeves’s The Batman and (strikes permitting) will launch in early 2024. After that, James Gunn’s name should start showing up on DC productions both canon and non canon.
In late 2024, his first Elseworlds (non canon) film, Joker: Folie a Deux debuts in theaters and the first DCU (new shared universe) series, Creature Commandos, debuts on Max (again, strikes permitting).
Finally the big moment we’re all anticipating, the first DCU movie, Superman: Legacy debuts in 2025. That is written and directed by Gunn as well as produced by him. (We’re also allegedly getting The Batman Part II that year but I personally have my doubts about it making that date.)
I’m over simplyfying the slate as there are other smaller projects in the works between now and then (Superman & Lois, Harley Quinn universe, Caped Crusader, etc…), but those are the tentpoles as it stands now.
Sorry for the long email, turns out major Hollywood transitions are complicated! Who knew?
Excited for the new iteration of the show!
-Thomas
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