Cordkillers 596: Is Netflix a Podcast?
Netflix is testing whether podcasts belong on the biggest screen in the house, while YouTube keeps building toward a more interactive TV future.
This week on The FULL Experience: Magnum P.I. (101 - "Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii")
Next week: Magnum P.I. (301 - "Did You See the Sunrise?")
YouTube: https://youtu.be/poma3NHUSt4
Supply Run
Netflix may have found an unexpected hit by putting podcast-style video on TV, raising the question of whether a podcast is still a podcast once it lives inside a streaming app. Early Samba TV data suggests the audience is real, even if the definition is fuzzy.
Search Party
AMC+ dropped the premiere of its Silicon Valley satire The Audacity in 21 TikTok-sized pieces, because apparently even prestige TV now scrolls vertically.
Netflix released the first teaser for its new Little House on the Prairie series and set the reboot to arrive July 9.
Banana Ball is heading to Roku, with the Savannah Bananas and the rest of the Banana Ball Championship League getting streamed games, starting April 26 from Yankee Stadium.
Fubo added more mobile sports highlights and made it easier to jump straight into live games from the app’s carousel.
Netflix has officially greenlit Extraction 3, bringing back director Sam Hargrave along with Chris Hemsworth and Idris Elba.
FX renewed Welcome to Wrexham for three more seasons ahead of its Season 5 premiere on May 14.
His & Hers has climbed into Netflix’s all-time Top 10 TV list, edging past the first season of The Night Agent with 98.2 million views since release.
Buried Treasure
Brian is highlighting Jomo and the Possum Posse live shows. Tom is pointing people toward Coachella on YouTube.
Scanning the Horizon
A wave of YouTube job listings suggests the company is going even harder after the living room, with roles tied to live interactivity, Shorts on TV, subscription features, and second-screen controls.
Tubi says its search experience now works inside ChatGPT, as the company leans on AI to better understand what viewers actually want to watch.
YouTube is raising Premium, Premium Lite, and Music prices, but it is also trying to soften the blow by holding back livestream ads during peak chat moments and viewer support spikes.
Netflix is adding Jackbox Party Essentials to its Party Games lineup, giving subscribers access to Fibbage 4, Quiplash 3, and Drawful 2.
Comcast expanded its StreamSaver bundles with Hulu-Disney+ and HBO Max, while Peacock and Apple TV+ launched their own bundle that can also be added through Prime Video.
Opposition is growing around Paramount’s proposed Warner Bros. acquisition, with Hollywood creatives signing an open letter and UK regulators preparing a competition probe.
Chatter
David J. Gulick writes in to say YouTube’s idea of creator-programmed live channels feels like the natural evolution of playlists, and even recalls similar “public access channel” ideas from Ready Player One. The big appeal is passive viewing: sometimes people do not want to choose the next video, they just want to tune in and let the channel roll.