Cordkillers 605: Roku and Roll
Fox makes a huge leap into streaming hardware and ad-supported TV with a planned Roku acquisition, Doctor Who may be headed for a long regeneration, and sports streaming still has a multi-view problem.
This week on The FULL Experience: Murder, She Wrote (1224 - "Death by Demographics")
Next week: V (Part I)
YouTube: https://youtu.be/xXGtQsjSmYs
Supply Run
Fox has agreed to acquire Roku in a deal reported between $22 billion and $25 billion, combining Fox’s live news and sports business with one of the biggest connected-TV and streaming platforms. Fox says Tubi and The Roku Channel will continue operating separately after the merger, with Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood staying on and joining the board. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
Search Party
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 has a new trailer ahead of its July 23 premiere on Paramount+.
The Social Reckoning has released a trailer for its October 9 theatrical release.
The BBC announced major changes for Doctor Who, including canceling the Christmas special, ending Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf’s current run on the series, and opening Season 16 to a competitive tender process. The show may not return until 2028.
Matt Damon told Parade he remains open to another Bourne movie, saying people involved with the franchise are always looking for the right story.
Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie reboot premieres July 9, and a new trailer was released this week.
Peacock launched Shop What Happens, a five-episode series of ten-minute Bravo celebrity conversations that also displays QR codes for viewers to buy featured items from Target.
Netflix renewed The Four Seasons for a third season.
Netflix is expanding its video podcast partnership with iHeartMedia, adding shows including Sibling Revelry with Kate and Oliver Hudson, Suite 305 with Lele Pons, and The Martha Stewart Podcast.
Anya Taylor-Joy has joined The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum as Seren, a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and an agent of King Thranduil.
BBC Studios Kids & Family, Wheel in Motion, and Kadokawa are developing a live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service TV series, planned as ten half-hour episodes based primarily on the first novel in Eiko Kadono’s book series.
Buried Treasure
Brian: World Cup and The 99-Year-Old Man.
Tom: World Cups.
Got something we should be on the lookout for? Email cordkillers@gmail.com
Scanning the Horizon
Paramount is rebuilding its streaming tech stack to unify Paramount+, Pluto TV, and BET+ ahead of its expected merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The new platform is intended to bring together content discovery, user data, recommendations, and ad technology.
Gemini-enabled TCL TVs can now use Google’s chatbot to adjust audio and video settings, troubleshoot picture and sound issues, and more.
Netflix uses variable bitrate streaming, which means picture quality can be downgraded when the app thinks bandwidth or device performance may be limited. Engadget has a guide to checking Netflix app settings to see what might be causing quality drops.
Chatter
Daniel in Minneapolis wrote in about trying to watch the Stanley Cup Final and a World Cup match at the same time across ESPN Unlimited and Fox One. Since MLB.tv can integrate into ESPN for multi-view, Daniel wondered whether future sports bundles might let subscribers choose which app to use for games across services.
Matt Orth noted that Rhett and Link already handle summer breaks with Good Mythical Summer, reducing their daily schedule to three episodes a week so they can bank episodes and release them at a slower pace.
Tim wrote in about the Murder, She Wrote spin-off novels credited to Jessica Fletcher or J.D. Fletcher, many of which were written by Donald Bain. Bain also ghostwrote extensively, including Washington mystery thrillers attributed to Margaret Truman, and wrote Coffee, Tea or Me? under the fictionalized names Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones.
Listeners pointed out that For All Mankind is not dead yet. Season 5 returned March 27, Apple TV approved a sixth and final season, and the Star City spinoff debuted May 29.
Bill near Athens wrote about long gaps between TV seasons, asking what the U.K. calls a full show if individual seasons are called series. He noted that long gaps can make it difficult to remember what happened, citing Westworld, Game of Thrones, and For All Mankind.
Scott from Houston also pushed back on the idea that long delays between seasons help shows, saying long breaks often make him forget the story and delay returning until much later, unless the show is especially strong.
Sean Finnerty wrote in after finishing Season 2 of Friends and Neighbors, saying he enjoyed the “how will Jon Hamm get out of this?” energy but felt the show may have pushed its suspension of disbelief too far for another season.