Cordkillers 582: CES Makes Everything Rounder

CES brings smarter TVs, art-frame screens, and AI baked directly into streaming interfaces, while viewership data, theatrical stunts, and corporate shakeups show how fractured — and oddly resilient — modern TV has become.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/U25kgqxnlbY

Supply Run

Cordkillers at CES
The Cordkillers team is on site at CES tracking how TVs, streaming platforms, and entertainment tech are evolving heading into 2026.

RGB LED TVs
TV makers are showing off RGB LED televisions that use separate red, green, and blue LEDs instead of white backlights, promising improved brightness, color accuracy, and contrast.

Google TV Expands Gemini AI
Google is expanding Gemini inside the Google TV operating system, allowing users to search Google Photos, create slideshows, remix or generate photos and videos using Veo and Nano Banana, and adjust TV settings using natural language commands like “the screen is too dim.”
engadget.com

Fire TV Gets a Redesign and New Art TV
Amazon unveiled a redesigned Fire TV interface with rounder visuals, more spacing, and claimed 10–30% faster performance. The remote now emphasizes art, games, and ambient features, while a long press of Home brings up shortcuts. The Fire TV mobile app also gains the ability to browse, manage watchlists, and play content directly on TVs.
Amazon also announced the 4K Ember Artline TV, an art-style television with interchangeable bezels and more than 2,000 free digital artworks, arriving this spring in 55- and 65-inch sizes.
bloomberg.com

CES Partners With Cannes Marché du Film
CES is launching a new partnership with the Cannes Marché du Film, including a film-tech innovation award and expanded participation from studios like Netflix, Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal.
deadline.com

Search Party

Teaser: Avengers: Doomsday (Thor Edition)
Marvel teased Avengers: Doomsday, arriving December 18, 2026, featuring Thor and his daughter Love, played by Chris Hemsworth’s real-life daughter, India Hemsworth.

Trailer: Wonder Man
Marvel released the first trailer for Wonder Man, an eight-episode Disney+ miniseries premiering January 27. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stars as Simon Williams, an actor and stunt performer with real superpowers, alongside Ben Kingsley returning as Trevor Slattery.
arstechnica.com

Trailer: John Madden Biopic
Nicolas Cage stars as John Madden in an upcoming biopic for Amazon Prime Video, set to premiere Thanksgiving 2026.
deadline.com

Buried Treasure

Brian’s Pick: Zootopia 2
Tom’s Pick: Bluey

Zootopia 2 has surpassed Frozen 2 to become Disney’s highest-grossing animated film ever, earning roughly $1.46 billion worldwide, including more than $560 million in China following a strong Thanksgiving opening.
reuters.com

Scanning the Horizon

What Americans Are Watching
Bloomberg analysis of Nielsen data found NCIS narrowly beat Grey’s Anatomy as the most-watched TV show of the past five years. Bluey was the most-watched show of 2025, while Ozark led original streaming series over the same period. The Roku Channel is now the fastest-growing streaming service after YouTube, with Tubi close behind.
bloomberg.com

Stranger Things Goes Theatrical
The finale of Stranger Things generated an estimated $20–25 million at U.S. theaters. Due to residual agreements, tickets were free, but theaters required food and beverage vouchers costing between $11 and $20 depending on the chain.
latimes.com

New Year’s Eve Ratings Spike
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve drew 30 million viewers at midnight ET on ABC, a 35.1% increase year over year and a four-year high.
deadline.com

NFL Streaming Records
Netflix set a U.S. streaming record with 27.5 million viewers for its Christmas Day Vikings–Lions game, peaking above 30 million viewers. Amazon’s Broncos–Chiefs matchup averaged 21.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Thursday Night Football regular-season game ever on Prime Video.
variety.com

Versant Spins Out From Comcast
Comcast spinoff Versant officially began trading on NASDAQ, housing former NBC cable networks like MSNBC, CNBC, USA, E!, Syfy, and Oxygen, along with digital brands including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, and GolfNow.
cnbc.com

MTV’s Music Era Ends
MTV will shut down its remaining 24-hour music-only channels globally by the end of the year, effectively ending wall-to-wall music television after 44 years.
collider.com

Chatter

Listeners weighed in on Paramount’s tender offer framing for Warner Bros. Discovery, FanDuel Sports Network’s potential bankruptcy and rumored DAZN sale, binge-worthy Peacock series The Copenhagen Test, the pros and cons of subscribing directly to streaming apps versus channel add-ons, frustration with ads on Amazon versus Netflix, Peacock retention deals, Oscars advertising on YouTube, release timing fatigue, and ideas for new Killies categories.

Got something we should be on the lookout for?
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