Are CGI Apes fun? Why can’t Arwen chop down a tree? Is Vic Mackie getting soft?
Cordkillers Ep. 28 – Aereo’s Hail Mary
How Aereo could still change everything and Netflix Emmys it up.
CordKillers: Ep. Aereo’s Hail Mary
Recorded: July 13, 2014
Guest: Anthony Carboni
Intro Video
Primary Target
- Aereo: Hey, we’re a cable company after all!
- – US Supreme Court ruled Aereo has an “overhwelming likeness to the cable comanies”
– Aereo wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan Aereo would like to be allowed to pay the compulsory license fee set up for cable companies in Section 111 of the Copyright Act of 1976. – – Broadcasters told the court they found this request “astonishing,”
-The 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act provides the broadcasters the right to demand Retransmission consent which they can charge for.
-Most likely they could just charge Aereo more than it could afford and be done with them. However the broadcasters don’t want a precedent set that a cable company operating over the Internet is the same as one operating over traditional cables.
Signal Intelligence
- South Park to move behind Hulu’s paywall and end unlimited free streaming
- Sept. 24 South Park catalog moves to Hulu Plus under an exclusive multiyear agreement
– Day after episodes will remain free on Hulu and South Park’s site in addition to a ‘revolving selection of free episodes’
– Previously all episodes were free on South Park’s site.
Gear Up
- TiVo’s Summer 2014 update makes it even easier to find something to watch
- -TiVo Roamio updates
– New column under My Shows to browse by category (customizable but hide and order)
– On Demand and Web options coming to traditional guide
Under surveillance
- Netflix scores top Emmy nominations for ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Orange is The New Black’
- – Netflix gathered 30 nomintaions for Emmys (compared to 12 last year)10 for House of Cards, 10 for OITNB
– No nominations for Amazon or Hulu Originals
-Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is up for outstanding short-format nonfiction program, –
– Zach Galifianakis’ Between Two Ferns episode with President Obama has taken a nomination as well. - -Outstanding drama series for House of Cards
-Outstanding comedy series for Orange is the New Black. House of
-Kevin Spacey – outstanding lead actor in a drama series
-Robin Wright – outstanding lead actress in a drama series as well. Ricky Gervais lead comedy actor category for Derek,
-Taylor Schilling lead comedy actress category for Orange is the New Black.
Front Lines
- YouTube talking with Hollywood and indies about another round of premium content
- – $1-$3 million funding plus marketing support
– Shorter than 30 minutes
– YouTube needs higher quality content to boost what it can charge
-YouTube trying to boost organic creation (push from behind) vs. commission shows directly like Netflix and Amazon - Verizon created a page with many charts accusing Netflix of intentionally choosing a congested path to route its traffic to Netflix subscribers
- – Thus making it Netflix’s fault if its content buffers. That is true. Netflix says that Verizon won’t upgrade that connection or it would work fine. That’s also true. Both companies would like you to cheer for them in order to pressure the other side into saving them money. You will not see any of that money they save no matter which side you cheer for.
- abetterqueue.com/ helps you find movies you’ll like and add them to your Netflix queue
- -Set the filter to exclude movies rated under a certain amount on rotten tomatoes, select what years you want the search done in and then check boxes by genre. The site returns movies currently available for streaming on Netflix. Click the cover art to go to that title on Netflix.
- iTunes extras which mimics DVD extra features for desktop viewers of rented and purchased movies is now available to viewers on Apple TV.
- -It will be retroactively added to previously purchased movies.
- Parks Associates compiled sales data for streaming devices.
- -Worldwide Apple sold more than 20 million Apple TVs since its launch in 2007. Roku has sold 8 million devices although limited to US, Canada, UK and Ireland. Google sold 3.8 million Chromecasts in the half year after it launched in 2013, about equal to Roku’s total 2013 sales.
- Orphan Black has been renewed for a third season
2014 Summer Movie Draft
draft.diamondclub.tv
- Amtrekker: $576,340,707
- TMS: $547,539,188
- DTNS: $544,575,754
- Night Attack: $409,857,495
- GodsMoneybags: $328,852,309
- /Film: $200,938,015
On Screen
- Brian: Dawn of Planet of the Apes, The Leftovers, Orphan Black
- Tom: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Leftovers, The Shield (208)
- Anthony: The Leftovers
Dispatches from the Front
Hey Brian and Tom
I watched the first X-men movie tonight first time in years. I had a DVD copy of it years ago and from memory it looked perfectly fine. Tonight tho I watched it on Blu-ray for the first time and was kinda shocked at how the CGI visual effects just didn’t quite look right.Kinda low res and off colour.
A good practical special effect like the fight over the Death Star in Star Wars A New Hope tends to keep looking good forever. And the practical special effects on the new Blu-ray’s Star Trek The Next Gen look amazing. Do you think we will see movies with older CGI effects that looked fine on DVD start to look dated especially with the move to 4K coming down the pipe?
Nik
Hello Killers:
Listening to the last show I was confused with the comments about chromecast being too many steps to use.
Let’s say I want to watch Rifle Burs on YouTube. If my TV is on at all, I open the app on my phone. Search for the video, hit play and touch the cast button. The Chromecast automatically switches to the correct input for me.
I for one thought that was super convenient. I can have “cord” enabled dumb TV on, look for want I want to watch on the many different apps on my phone and when I find it, it will switch over. No dead air.
Love the show!
Not yet your boss.
Byron
Hey Guys,
I just started watching The Boss on Netflix and WOW! This is a really great show! I think it is even better than House of Cards. I was wondering if you have watched this show and what you thought.
It was originally done for Starz and according to the internet it was not picked up after the 2nd season….can’t imagine why. So is there a way to find out if someone else will pick it up like they did Community and others?
Thanks for your show…I rushed to support you on Patreon when you left TWIT tv.
Sandy
Could Areo come to my house, install a digital antenna on my roof and legally carry on like business as usual?
Ken
All of the people on your show who have tried to ditch cable have gone about it the wrong way. They CALLED the company to cancel. That gives the cable company the advantage. I did it the right way. I had Charter. I unplugged all the cable companies hardware, packed it in a bag and took it all back to the custom service desk at their service center. They didn’t even try to dupe me into anything. All I did was keep internet, and I’m saving $100/month.
Alan
Links
It’s Spoilerin’ Time: Episode 27 – Silicon Valley, The Leftovers, The Shield
Silicon Valley as a test case for spoilers, The Leftovers not TV, but also not HBO, and The Shield ruins waffles.
06:57 – Silicon Valley
17:04 – The Leftovers
23:10 – The Shield
Cordkillers Ep. 27 – Why do you hate ceiling fans?
YouTube names, but do they shame? Also what’s Twitch going to do with the studio they’re building in San Francisco?
It’s Spoilerin’ Time: Episode 26 – Orange is the New Black, Silicon Valley, The Shield (206)
Orange is the New Black sucks— Brian in! Silicon Valley gets more fun-ding, and The Shield turns against one of its own.
00:45 – OITNB
09:15 – Silicon Valley
16:00 – The Shield
Cordkillers Ep. 26 – Drone drunk
We walk through the Aereo decision and how it will slow down mainstream TV. Meanwhile Yahoo steals Community from NBC.
CordKillers: Ep. 26 – Drone drunk
Recorded: June 30, 2014
Guest: Darren Kitchen
Intro Video
Primary Target
- Supreme Court puts Aereo out of business
- Aereo Says That SCOTUS Ruling “Sends A Chilling Message To The Tech Industry”
- Why the Supreme Court just set TV innovation back a decade
- Why the Aereo Shutdown Will Be a Disaster for Broadcast TV
- The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Aereo is a public performance. The service which rented microantennas to users to watch over the air broadcasts on the Internet will have to wind up its operations in all regions. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion for the majority, arguing Aereo operated like a cable company and “Insofar as there are differences, those differences concern not the nature of the service that Aereo provides so much as the technological manner in which it provides the service.“ Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a dissent arguing that ignoring the technical aspect could hmean other services could suffer “guilt-by-resemblance.” Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia said the decision would cause a chilling effect but the company would continue to fight. However, part-owner Barry Diller told cnbc “it’s over now.” and a “a big loss for consumers.” Thanks to Hurmoth for submitting this on the subreddit.
Secondary Target
- Fox moves to use Aereo ruling against Dish streaming service
- – Fox vs. Dish in 9th circuit court of appeals (Pasadena) oral arguments July 7
– Fox has submitted Aereo vs. ABC in support of their case.
– Dish Anywhere service and Hopper DVR “sideloading” feature
– Dish Anywhere is slingbox. Watch your Live or recorded TV on mobile devices, laptops, desktops.
– Hopper’s “sideloading” lets you move recorded shows to an iPad
– Aereo was deemed to be a ‘public performance’ equipment irrelevant.
– Letter to court by lawyer Richard Stone: “Dish, which engages in virtually identical conduct when it streams Fox’s programming to Dish subscribers over the internet – albeit also in violation of an express contractual prohibition
– Has repeatedly raised the same defenses as Aereo which have now been rejected by the supreme court.”
-What’s at issue is not really whether the Supreme Court would have also found this illegal. It’s the break on innovation and the chilling effect this NOW HAS on innovation.”
Signal Intelligence
- Stevie, the MTV of social video curation, adds Chromecast support to its mobile apps
- Stevie – Video curation based on Facebook and Twitter (similar to Qplay)
– Integrated now with Chromecast
– Streams your social feed on screen while you watch.
Gear Up
- Google Introduces Android TV, Its New Platform For Smart TV Apps And Navigation
- Chromecast’s ultrasonic device pairing is much simpler than it sounds
- – Android TV announced: a software system that will be embedded into the smart TVs and other devices from third-party OEMs.
– create apps using the same Android toolset that they use for mobile phones and tablets.
– Chromecast support too.
– TVs from Sony, Sharp and TPVision, and will soon run on other set-top boxes that will become available later in the year from the likes of Asus
– Chromecast can now play ultrasonic signal through TV speakers to pair with devices not on same network
– USer has to enable setting to allow nearby devices
Under surveillance
- Community’ getting sixth season on Yahoo
- Yahoo will release a 6th season of Community with 13 episodes
– Dan Harmon: “I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online.”
– Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Ken Jeong, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Jim Rash will all return. (NO mention of Donald Glover)
Front Lines
- FilmOn announced a new service to pay to watch broadcast channels on computers and mobile devices.
- He claims FilmON is a cable company and he is willing to pay fair royalties for rebroadcasting channels. It ALSO uses “teleporter” technology to watch TV through a mini-computer screen in New York, no matter where they are in the world.
- LG has opened its smart TV platform to developers.
- LG has built their platform on WebOS which is open sourced and other TV manufacturers can use it. Will they? Do we even want that?
- More people watched the World Cup match between Germany and USA Thursday on WatchESPN than watched the SuperBowl.
- 1.7 million concurrent viewers in the second half. There were some authentication issues in the first half too.
- Knights of Sidonia come to Netflix July 4
- The series is based on Manga about genetically-altered mech pilots fighting shapeshifting aliens.
It originally aired in Japan earlier this year, but all 12 episodes of season one are set to hit Netflix everywhere. - AppleTV got a few new apps, PBS Kids, Willow TV, AOL On and ABC News.
- This gives AppleTV two sources of live news content between SkyNews and ABCNews.
- HBO is letting non-subscribers stream the first episode of “The Leftovers” through Yahoo Screen.
2014 Summer Movie Draft
draft.diamondclub.tv
- TMS: $513,382,797
- DTNS: $480,640,796
- Amtrekker: $472,024,132
- GodsMoneybags: $292,534,313
- Night Attack: $276,017,928
- /Film: $200,185,511
On Screen
- Brian: Orange is the New Black, Silicon Valley, The Brak Show, Legend of Korra, The Walking dead season 2 game
- Tom: The Shield 206 (Amazon), Orange is the New Black Ep. 4, 5, 6, 7 (Netflix) Silicon Valley Ep. 2, 3, 4 (HBOGo), Bob’s Burgers (Netflix) Rome (Amazon Prime)
- Darren: Team Blacksheep
Dispatches from the Front
Hi Brian and Tom,
I just finished reading the Aereo Supreme Court decision and wanted to give an opinion from a lawyer’s perspective.
I think Justice Scalia in his dissent correctly noted that we have some broad, unclear language in the Copyright Act. The majority bases it’s opinion in large part on the legislative history of the act (which is a matter of debate among lawyers. Some like Scalia look only at the language of the statute while others look to the intent of the legislature to guide interpretation). At the end, Scalia argues that the majority is interpreting the Act to reach the “right” result. Scalia acknowledges that he doesn’t think Aereo is necessarily above board, but essentially tips his hat to Aereo for coming up with a clever workaround. Scalia argues that the decision should have been based on the language of the statute, and if that result is unpopular the Congress should be the one to resolve it, not the Court.
I don’t know if the decision will have broad consequences because the majority focused closely on the impacts regarding TV licensing, so the cloud may be safe. Things like Dish and Slingbox… Not so much. We’ll have to wait and see, but this is definitely a step away from being able to watch what you want, where you want.
Love the show!
Geoff from Maryland
Hi Tom and Brian,
I was listening to episode 25 (it seems like such a low number for how long I’ve been listening to you guys) and your conversation about Netflix(?) picking up a Live-ish show, and the suggestion that they could recommend clips from a show based on what your tastes are.
What I got from that conversation was this crazy idea: What if Netflix is using their recommendation engine to figure out what original programming to produce. It would likely require some additional research, but I am suddenly in love with the idea of Netflix taking recommendations up a level by not only suggesting you should watch in their catalog, or what they should buy, but also generating original content based on what a size-able portion of their customers would be interested in watching.
For instance: “Hey, it looks like lots of people really like Sci-Fi horror, and that same segment ties into romantic comedy: We can make a romantic comedy sci-fi horror show!” (This is undoubtedly how Orphan Black was conceived – pun intended) So that’s not a great example, but hopefully you’ll get the idea. A large enough sample, with enough defining data could provide the keys to make a show for your audience, instead of hoping an audience will find your show.
Anyway
Thanks for the great show!
Aaron
As a cordkiller of the last year, thanks to you guys. I want to watch your shows (watch what I want) on my Roku3 (and any device I want). Any plans for a Diamondclub.TV app on the Roku? That might make me a patron supporter if you did.
Eric
Links
It’s Spoilerin’ Time: Episode 25 – Orange is the New Black, Silicon Valley, The Shield (205)
Cordkillers Ep. 25 – Dongle fatigue
Netflix is getting into late night talk shows. On demand at all times. Also who wants another dongle even if it is from Firefox?
It’s Spoilerin’ Time: Episode 24 – Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, The Shield (204)
Piper down Brian, Where do whores go? And dirty cops.
01:20 – Orange Is The New Black
04:54 – Game of Thrones
49:07 – The Shield
Cordkillers Ep. 24 – I don’t give a Ratchet’s Ass
Sony promises an Internet-only streaming service, so does Dish, but Sony’s got the machines to deliver it. Will that end up working against them?
CordKillers: Ep. 24 I don’t give a Ratchet’s Ass
Recorded: June 15, 2014
Guest: Justin Robert Young
Intro Video
Primary Target
- It’s Complicated, but Sony’s Pay TV Service Is Still “On Track”
- Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Shawn Layden tells Re/code
- – Internet-carried service on track coming to US later this year.
- – We probably wouldn’t throw the switch on all devices on Day One, simply because client management is tricky.
Secondary Target
- Dish’s upcoming internet TV service to target cord cutters and “cord haters”
- GM of Interactive and Advanced TV Adam Lowy at the TV of Tomorrow Show in San Francisco
- – “Cord cutters, cord nevers and what we call cord haters” will be the target audience of the new service
- – Fox Network SVP of Distribution Strategy and Development Sherry Brennan said that her company would like to sell its networks through all and any of these new services
Signal Intelligence
- Netflix receives new logo and subtle website makeover
- Netflix website got redesign
- – Includes a slightly transparent top bar and a palette of white and light greys.
- – Logo changed to simpler version the updated emblem uses flat, red text with minimal embellishment.
Gear Up
- Sony’s PlayStation TV Has the Makings of a Hit
- PlayStation TV Coming To US And Canada This Fall For $99
- – PlayStation TV game console (known as the PlayStation Vita TV abroad) is coming to the United States and Canada this fall.
- – $99 ($139 bundle with dual shock controller, memory card and Lego Movie video game)
- – Vita Games, PlayStation Now
- – Not playing up streaming video options, but Japanese version has several.
- – PS Vita already supports Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Crackle and Redbox Instant
Under surveillance
- Sony formally announces PlayStation original sci-fi series ‘Powers’
- Sony will create an original show for the PlayStation called “Powers”
- – Adaptation of graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis
- – Elements of police procedurals, sci-fi, and fantasy, and follows a pair of detectives investigating people with superhero-like powers.
- – Free first episode to all (with registration) PlayStation Plus get access to whole series.
- – Ratchet&Clank scheduled for movie release to PlayStation in 2015
- – More to come
Front Lines
- AT&T said if it gets to buy DirecTV it will help create a strong national competitor
- -Can bundle broadband and video in ways it could not without the transaction. It also said there might be ‘upward pressure’ on standalone service. Do we want more bundling?
- Comcast will test a video distribution platform through its X1 cable set-top boxes.
- -It will allow content creators to upload videos viewable on a dedicated app. SVP of video Matt Strauss said the focus won’t be on user-generated video, but target audiences that see high value in certain types of niche content.
- Sonic the Hedgehog will become a movie thanks to Sony,
- -22 Jump Street Producer NEal Moritz and Marza Animation Planet. The Hollywood Reporter says we’ll see the return of Sonic’s long-time antagonist Dr. Eggman (née Robotnik). Anybody want to see Sonic on a big screen?
- Netflix will release 26 episodes of a revival of 1990s childrens show “The Magic School Bus 360” beginning in 2016.
- -Old episodes rank as one of the most popular educational programs in the company’s catalog. Does Netflix risk becoming the reboot factory?
- Zatz Not Funny discovered a new Slingbox model called M1 that looks like a typical video streaming box and has WiFi built in.
- -Could we be looking at a cheaper Slingbox with Roku-like functionality?
- Anime distributor Crunchyroll acquired video startup Redux
- -Redux does video discovery and will help Crunchyroll to improve discovery on its apps.
2014 Summer Movie Draft
draft.diamondclub.tv/
- DTNS: $462,591,077
- TMS: $420,381,999
- Amtrekker: $397,100,217
- GodsMoneybags: $213,120,477
- /Film: $198,386,221
- Night Attack: $97,389,035
On Screen
- Brian: How to Train Your Dragon 2, Orange is the New Black, E3, Thunderf00t youtube channel, Game of Thrones
- Tom: The Shield 204 (Amazon) Orange is the New Black (Netflix) World Cup, E3, MASH the movie (Netflix) Game of Thrones (HBO Go)
- Justin: Game of Thrones, WWE Network , Orange is the New Black
Dispatches from the Front
First of all, love the show, really makes me wish that I had listened to Framerate. I have a small request: from a recent episode of Spoilerin’ Time, I learned that you use the lower third in the video version to identify the show or movie that you’re discussing. But as an audio-listener, I am not privy to this information. I have not yet watched Cosmos or The Shield, so I would prefer to skip those spoilers. But I am a big Game of Thrones fan. I find myself having to spend sometimes several minutes seeking through the episode to find the beginning of the game of thrones discussion, in the process hearing some of the other chatter that I would prefer to postpone. If it is too much effort, I understand, but if there is any way that you can jot down the time when you begin discussing a particular show, and add it to the podcast episode description field, I would be overjoyed.
Keep it up.
Joe
Hey guys! It’d be great if you made use of podcast chapters in the shows; in the main show it’d help with those faux-“”spoilers”” about Star Wars that people whine about, and in Spoilerin’ Time it’d help people to listen and just skip the sections they’re not caught up with yet.
Love the show!
Caleb
Hey Tom and Brian,
As I am getting ready for the 24hr LeMans, trying to find a place to stream it a week or so before the race. I am completely delighted to find that the good people at LeMans are not only streaming the entire race but also chromecast-able directly from their website. I would like to applaud the LeMans group for their forward thinking of live sport’s on the Internet. Thanks for all both of you do.
Cord cutter since 2007
Jason
Ft Myers Florida
As I was watching the Sony E3 press release, I was noticing how they were nudging people in the same direction, although in a much more subtle way than Microsoft. Tom has always been saying that both console manufacturers want these things in the long term.
In particular, the PlayStation feature that lets your friends play in your multi-player game even if they don’t own it seems an awful lot like MS’s library-sharing feature. Every one assumes that it’s going to use Sony’s new streaming service. While that’s probably true, I can also see a time where they use a specific kind of DRM in order to be able to download the game locally to improve performance and decrease load on the servers.
And PlayStation TV is digital only, without fanfare, mainly because it’s only a $100 box. But it plays most Vita games. I’m not sure what “most” means, but based on reviews Vita games seem to be much closer to full console games than phone games. And you can use your PS3 controller so the cost to try it out is small for PS3 owners that haven’t made the jump to PS4 yet.
It’s interesting how this worked out. To me, this seems a lot like Sony learning from its PS3 launch. I remember when PS3 launched, Sony was pushing it as an entertainment center. (Anyone remember PlayStation X?) Xbox was pushing games, especially Halo, of course. That, combined with an earlier release gave the 360 a lead that PS3 could never catch up to. But this time around, the situation seems reversed. And while the release-date lead for PS4 was negligible, the lead in terms of units sold seems to be significant.
Alan
Links
www.patreon.com/cordkillers
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box