CBS uses Star Trek to sell subscriptions, Sling TV sees surprising behavior, and whether you should by Apple TV.
CordKillers: 94 – CBS = Cash Buys Star Trek
Recorded: November 2, 2015
Guest: Andrew Mayne
Intro Video
Primary Target
- New ‘Star Trek’ TV Series a Go at CBS All Access
- Holy Crap, They Are Officially Making a New Star Trek TV Series
– Star Trek returning to TV January 2017
– New characters, not related to feature film
– “Introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic – contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.”
– Produced by Alex Kurtzman (Fringe, Writer on movies)
– Preview episode on CBS, subsequent eps on CBS All Access ($6 a month)
– International distribution on TV and “multiple platforms”
Signal Intelligence
- Sling TV’s chief dishes on Apple, Chromecast and the future of online TV
– CNET interview with Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch
– Sling still adding Chromecast support, no word on when
– Roku, Fire TV, Nexus, Xbox One
– Lynch says more people adding Sling and keeping cable than he expected 5-10% of subscribers
– On Demand more pop. than expected. The more on demand added the more people watch
– “When we were first talking to programmers about what ultimately became Sling TV, we were selling them on the idea,” he said. “Now programmers who aren’t on Sling TV are selling us on the fact that they should be.”
– A Sling TV spokeswoman said the company is evaluating development of an app for Apple TV.
Gear Up
- Tom, Bryce (and Andrew?) share thoughts on new Apple TV
– Tom
– Siri great while in show
– Scrubbing SO much improved with touchpad
– Navigation and especially text entry is awkward with touchpad
– Logging into services is a PAIN
– Siri on home screen seems about 50-50
– Be careful where you put remote, activated it accidentally a lot. Accidentally changed channel from roku a couple times
– A few times I picked the remote up upside down and dodn’t notice at first.
– Interface feels like Nintendo to me
– Bryce
– Siri natural language hit-or-miss
– “What did they say” not turning on captions 🙁
– Siri skipping is great
– Touchpad /feels/ sensitive for someone like me who is used to resting thumb on cardinals
– Power on and IR volume control is magic on a non-CEC TV
– Only time it crashed was during Music playback. Music is still woefully wanting–no control overshuffle, repeat, Play Next
– Nice to see the official experiences for Hulu/Netflix/HBO, but pining for YouTube.
– Most apps don’t show info on pull-down menu–just audio/sub options.
– Crossy Road is great, Rayman has always befuddled me, Shadowmatic seems workable, but less tactile.
– Plex server wasn’t upgraded, couldn’t test official app
– Hoping Podcasts returns. - Early tvOS App Store sales charts show popularity of games, app prices substantially higher than iOS
– Developer Steve Troughton-Smith accessed some web chart data to find out that at the weekend games made the most downloaded paid apps on Apple TV
– Rayman and Crossy Road top free apps followed by HBO NOw, NAtGeo and FoxNow
– Netflix number 32???
– Jonas Boserup has live access with similar results
– Slide to PLay published its own list also similar - Apple TV App Store Tops 1,000 Apps: Games & Video Apps Dominate, But Discovery Is A Challenge
- BBC iPlayer app coming to Apple TV ‘in coming months’
- Siri will soon control Music on the new Apple TV
- Podcast app may yet come to Apple TV
Front Lines
- Neil Gaiman Is Getting His Own Television Series!
– UK’s Sky Arts TV channel is giving Neil Gaiman an anthology show called “Neil Gaiman’s Likely Stories.” The series will adapt four of Gaiman’s short stories. Production will begin at the end of November directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. - Netflix’s ‘Beasts of no Nation’ already has 3 million views
– Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos told Deadline that Beasts of No Nation has more than 3 million views after its first two weekends of availability. With an estimated average worldwide ticket price of $4.86 that would be equivalent to a worldwide gross of 14,580,000. As a comparison that’s better than “Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” - BFI focuses on movie classics with £5 streaming service
– The British Film Institute will supplement its purchase and rental service BFI player with a new subscription service for £5 per month. BFI Player + has 300 movies and will add more in future. The service will highlight curated classics and comtemporary films including a weekly pick from English film critic Mark Kermode. The service will be available for desktop tablet and phone. Not, TV.
Under Surveillance
- Documentary by Lesley Chilcott “CODEGIRL” available free on YouTube until Nov. 5th.
- Watch two sketches from David Cross and Bob Odenkirk’s Netflix show coming Nov. 13
- Believe It: Fox Confirms The Greatest American Hero Reboot
– Fox is picking up a reboot of “The Greatest American Hero” it’ll be written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa (Dope, Talk to Me) and Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the directing pair that was involved with the film version of 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie). Tawnia McKiernan, daughter of Stephen J. Cannell, creator of both Greatest American Hero and the original 21 Jump Street TV show is also on board. - Brian: Bob’s Burgers (last 5 eps), The Profit (best episode yet), Narcos, The Flash (ep 1-4), The Shield, Fargo, AND The Leftovers
- Tom: Agents of SHIELD, Fargo, Star Wars: Rebels, Clone Wars, Flash, Haven, Supergirl, Night at The Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Arrow, The Shield (712), Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Leftovers (205), The Walking Dead, Once Upon a Time, MLB
- Andrew: Adams Family
- Bryce: Project Greenlight
Dispatches from the Front
Hey Guys,
Your boss Dave in Cloudy Madison, WI
re: Football Stream on yahoo!
In response, to the uh oh regarding the numbers Yahoo reported keep in mind (full disclaimer that I’m a Packers fan):
– it was on early Sunday Morning when people are still sleeping off Saturday night
– It was the Jaguars vs. Bills. Not a big draw on a normal Sunday and probably a 3rd or fourth tier game
– It was from London. yawn.
– Multi tabs.. I opened a dedicated tab for this and then pulled it into a secondary monitor and maximized it. So while the browser may report other tabs open may be open, it doesn’t mean I’m not fully watching the game.
– it was auto launching on all Yahoo! Sports pages, e.g. open my fantasy football team, autolaunch even though it was already open
re: Justified
Tom, you need to watch this show! Just ask the TMS guys. IMO its not really a procedural cop show, its more of a modern Western. Having said that don’t forget the new Westworld is coming which you may want to do too.
Hope all is well,
– Dave
I just wanted to defend the numbers that Yahoo got for its first streaming event of an NFL game. First off the game came on at 6 AM Pacific time. This cuts out a significant portion of the audience as most people on the west coast aren’t up that early. Second, it was the Bills vs. Jaguars, two smaller market teams both of whom aren’t very good this year. Given these things I wouldn’t call Yahoo’s streaming numbers a failure, quite the opposite!
– Josh
Hi guys,
I listened to your latest episode and heard you talking about the box office deal Paranormal Activity is using for theaters and streaming.
I was amazed you didn’t know about the other thing that is happening with that movie. When we saw it over its opening weekend it had 3 ads for 1 movie in between every trailer they showed. Then as soon as the movie ended and the credits started rolling they played a longer ad. That’s right, there is an ad for a movie INSIDE of this movie! I was furious.
Love the show,
– Justin from Dallas
I wonder if part of the reason that Community failed on Yahoo was the Yahoo video app its self. It’s gotten better but it’s always been pretty bad. When community first started, I think the app was still annoyingly auto-playing video when you started it and made it really hard to find what you wanted.
I’m a huge fan of Community and consider it one of my top 5 favorite sitcoms of the last decade. But being on Yahoo kind of killed it for me. If it were still on TV or had gone to Netflix I would have watched it because it would have been in front of my eyeballs already
– Matt, Sterling VA
Hi, Brian and Tom!
In episode 93 you discussed the story about Vice buying TV stations overseas and partnering with current content providers here in the States. Over the summer, I attended a book signing/Q&A with Brad Meltzer here in N. VA. During the session the question about when to expect new episodes of “Lost History”.
He said (and I’m paraphrasing) that he’s recently met with History and they were working something out. One of the issues was that H2 was going away and going to become Vice TV. History and H2 are owned by A&E which back in August 2014 struck a deal with Vice. After hearing this, I found these articles from April 2015 from The Hollywood Reporter and the New York Times confirming it, which made me sad because I like “Lost History”.
Hug and Kisses!
– Mike aka gadgetchaser
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