BBC eyeing a revamp, ESPN+ has a date, and more Queer Eye on the way. All this and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Jason Howell ( twitter.com/jasonhowell )
CordKillers: Ep. 214 – BBC, Plant That Tree!
Recorded: April 2 2018
Guest: Jason Howell
Intro Video
- None
Primary Target
- The BBC says it’s being squeezed out by Netflix and Amazon
– The BBC released its second annual report since establishing its new charter, which states that the industry is “more and more dominated by a small number of US-based media giants with extraordinary creative and financial firepower” and that “Their business models and huge budgets mean we are increasingly being squeezed out of an ever more competitive environment. British creativity and British content are now under real threat.” The BBC laid out goals for its iPlayer platform to help keep younger audiences. The broadcaster says that for the first time, 15- to 34-year-olds in the UK are listening to streaming music services like Spotify and Apple Music more than they are BBC Radio.
How to Watch
- Tablo launches more affordable over-the-air DVR with cloud storage
–Tablo Dual Lite is a new version of the latest Tablo dual-tuner DVR that’s $140 instead of $220 because it doesn’t come with the 64GB of built-in storage, returning to Tablo’s roots as a bring your own storage device. However Tablo also introduced a Cloud DVR service with 40 GB of online storage in beta. It’s free during testing but will eventually be a paid service. - The CW goes live on Hulu with Live TV
– Hulu added the CW to its Live TV service in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Atlanta, Tampa, Detroit, Seattle, Sacramento, Pittsburgh with more markets to follow.
– CBS’s strategy with the CW has been interesting. It’s shows are available on YouTube TV but not on a live stream. It’s available in *some* markets on DirecTV Now. But mostly it’s digital strategy has been to drive people to its app that generally only keeps the last 5 episodes.
What to Watch
- Legion returning April 3.
- ESPN’s standalone sports streaming service launches April 12th
– ESPN announced its standalone sports streaming service, ESPN+ will launch April 12 for $5 a month. The service will include live sports not carried on ESPN’s main cable networks as well as access to ESPN originals. Sports will come from MLB, NHL, MLS, colleges sports, boxing, PGA golf, tennis and more. - Handmaid’s Tale returns April 25
- Westworld has a new trailer. The second season begins April 22 on HBO
- Frank Miller’s New Take on the Arthurian Legend Is Already Headed to Netflix
– Frank Miller and Thomas Wheeler have a book called Cursed about the Arthurian Legend from the Lady of the Lake’s perspective coming in 2019. They’ll simultaneously work on a show about that story for Netflix. - Amazon and Spielberg team up for mini-series on Mexico’s conqueror
– Steven Spielberg will create a four hour miniseries called Cortés for Amazon based on the life of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) will write it based on a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo. Javier Bardem will play Cortés. - Netflix has renewed Queer Eye along with Dope, Drug Lords, Nailed It! and The Toys That Made Us. Dope’s second season premieres April 20.
What We’re Watching
- Brian: Counterpart, Ready Player One (twice), The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling, Deadwood
- Tom: Counterpart, Deadpool, Ready Player One, The Wizard of Oz, Baseball, Atlanta, Timeless
- Jason: Ready Player One, Wild Wild Country (ep 2), Take Your Pills, Love, Black Mirror
- On the Lookout: The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
Front Lines
- Over-the-top-only U.S. households nearly tripled since 2013, impacting TV ad dollars
– A report from the Video Advertising Bureau is the latest to estimate the number of Over the Top only TV viewers, aka cordcutters. The number has tripled in the past five years to 14.1 million households, about 11% of the US. But that’s just people who live without cable. If you count everyone. 70% of OTT subscribers also have cable. VAB estimates the total number of over-the-top viewers will grow to 198.6 million this year. - MoviePass strikes a deal with Landmark for e-ticketing and other perks
– MoviePass announced a partnership with Landmark Theatres. Users can use the app for e-tickets, seat selection and advanced purchases. Expect Landmark showings to be promoted more in the app as well. - Amazon May Pay $1 Billion to Adapt the Hugo-Winning Chinese Novel The Three-Body Problem
– The Financial Times says Amazon is considering spending $1 billion on a three-season deal for Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy AKA Three Body Problem. - Hulu Has Passed on the Locke & Key Pilot, But It’s Being Shopped to Other Streaming Services
– Hulu has passed on the pilot for Locke & Key, which is kind of a cool thing to realize that streaming services now pass on pilots. Samantha Mathis said it’s getting shopped around to Amazon, Netflix, Apple and everyone now. - Google’s Play Movies app for Android now shows where you can stream everything
– Google updated its Play Movies and TV app for Android to show which apps are streaming movies or TV shows as an alternative to buying or renting through the Google Play store. Netflix is not included in the feature though. - EU confirms UK will lose Netflix ‘portability’ following Brexit
– The EU recently passed legislation requiring services like Netflix not region block citizens within the EU. In other words starting Monday, if you have a French account and travel to Germany you should be able to get your French version of the service. However the UK, which is leaving the European Union will lose that ability starting March 29, 2019.
Dispatches from the Front
Hello all,
I started watching The Expanse last week and was thinking: “I wonder what Brian and Tom thought of it?” and then wondered how the Patreon reward level to break up the spoilering time shows for individual shows was going? I didn’t see anything on your Patreon page but maybe I missed it.
Any update?
– Norm
Hey killers!
Boss Brian here and I just wanted to let you in on an informative site I’ve come across recently for cord cutters (or the cord cutting curious). It’s https://streambuzz.net/streaming-services-comparison/ and it compares the main (and a few secondary) streaming services with each other, including: Channel line up, devices available, and local channel availability by market. (This is the reason I found this site). They update almost daily with the help of comments/community.
So for those still thinking about making the jump this could be a helpful updated resource to see if it works with their set up or even what they will need to make the jump. Hope this helps.
Keep up the good work fellas.
– Brian
Hey Brian, Tom, and Bryce:
Enjoying the AfterTalk audio extra very much! Keep them coming. Love the extra commentary about the Movie Draft and movies in general.
– Michael
I have an odd cable story that I want to share with you and hopefully get some advice on.
So I live with my mother in an apartment complex in central New York (yes I’m 20 years old and live with my mother, it’s not weird!) and we currently are getting our cable and internet through Verizon. It’s working pretty well for us so far and we have no reason to switch.
However, we recently found a flyer taped to our door announcing that Spectrum would become the official cable and internet service provider for the entire complex effective in April upon request or in the next lease renewal (which for us is in August). This left us a bit confused and we’ve also had bad experiences with Spectrum when it was Time Warner, so we called the office to see if it was possible to opt out and the answer is… we technically don’t have to have it installed, but we’re still gonna have to pay for it either way via our rent which will be increased to reflect the inclusion of Spectrum!
For some extra context, we currently have a 2 year contract with Verizon that we can get out of if we move to an area without Verizon, but Verizon is still available here so we’re stuck with it! This means we would essentially be paying for TWO CABLE SERVICES! We tried to see if we can be grandfathered in to a Spectrum-less rent package given that we’ve lived her since I started high school (about six or seven years ago) and we do plan on moving next year when my mother retires from her current teaching position, but management has not yet responded as I’m writing this. Seems like a bit of a shady forced switch to me!
My question to you guys is… Is this in any way normal and how should me and my mother proceed?
Sorry for the long email, I honestly tried to cut it down as much as possible without leaving out essential information. Love the show, continues to be one of my favorite podcasts!
– Thomas
At the beginning of April I am going back to my hometown and my grandpa has asked me to help him setup and install a streaming box and get an OTT service. We have already gone to Suppose.tv and figured out that for the channels that he wants Youtube T is going to be the best option for him. My question is should I get him the a Roku Ultra (I have 2) or is Apple TV easy enough for a beginner (most likely I will have to do some support and have never had one)?
Your Boss,
– Alex
Movie passes 9 month cancellation won’t stop people from signing up just for the summer or award season. Summer blockbusters focus mostly on May, June and July leaving you 9 months until next season. Also awards season can be enjoyed in late February. I love the show.
-Kevin
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