Cordkillers 187 – Embarrassment of Riches (w/ Scott Johnson)

Cordkillers / September 19th, 2017

Hulu wins the Emmys, JJ Abrams is back on Star Wars, and what we think of the Apple TV 4K. With special guest Scott Johnson.

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CordKillers: 187 – Embarrassment of Riches
Recorded:  September 18 2017
Guest: Scott Johnson

Intro Video

Primary Target

How to Watch

  • New Apple TV 4K announced, launches September 22nd for $179
    – Apple introduced the Apple TV 4K with support for HDR10 and DolbyVision. The new Apple TV runs on an A10X processor with a new tvOS. And Major studios, exclusing Disney, will make 4K movies available in iTunes for the same price as HD and Apple will upgrade previous purchases. The TV app is coming to seven new countries starting with Canada and Australia. Apple is also adding live news and sports to the TV app. The new Apple TV is available with 32GB for $179 and 64 GB for $199 for pre-order September 15 shipping September 22.

What to Watch

What We’re Watching

Front Lines

  • Emmy winners 2017: the complete list
    – Netflix: Jon Lithgow (Crown) Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe (Master of None) Charlie Brooker writing (Black Mirror) San Junipero Television Movie (Black Mirror)
    Hulu: Bruce Miller writing (Handmaid’s Tale) Ann Dowd (Handmaid’s Tale) Reed Moranao directing (Handmaid’s Tale) Best Actress Elizabeth Moss (Handmaid’s Tale) Best series Handmaid’s Tale
  • WSJ: Discovery, AMC and Viacom try a sports-free streaming bundle
    – The Wall Street Journal reports that Discovery Communications, Viacom Inc., A+E Networks, AMC Networks, and Scripps Networks Interactive are teaming up to launch a sports-free streaming service. The expectation is it will cost $20 a month. College-oriented streaming service Philo will provide the technology for the platform.
  • Time’s streaming service gets rebranded as ‘PeopleTV,’ passes 100M views in year one
    – Time has rebranded the People/Entertainment Weekly Network free ad-supported streaming service PeopleTV. The network streamed from the Emmys red carpet and provided the stream on Twitter. Time says the service has received 100 million views since launching in September of last year.
  • YouTube TV is expanding to eight more cities
    – YouTube TV expanded to Albuquerque, Austin, Birmingham, Greenville, Norfolk, Portland, Raleigh, and Sacramento. YouTube TV now offers almost 50 networks and costs $35 a month.
  • Hulu reportedly plans to spend around $2.5 billion on programming this year
    – Variety reports that Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins told an audience in New York City that Hulu plans to spend $2.5 billion on content this year. That’s less than Netflix’s $6 billion and Amazon’s predicted $4.5 billion but more than Apple’s $1 billion. If you’re keeping track. Hulu has about 12 million subscribers next to Amazon’s 80 million and Netflix’s 100 million.
  • Sling TV is now giving away digital antennas to those who prepay for its service
    – Sling announced two new bundles. If you prepay for two months of service you get a free Winegard indoor antenna. Prepay for three months and pay an additional $70 and you get the antenna plus an adapter and Sling’s AirTV Player which integrates over-the-air channels into Sling TV. Sling will verify you live in an area that can get OTA channels.

Dispatches from the Front

Hi there, Brian, Tom and Bryce!

In May I recorded a show about film franchises and late sequels. …one of our guests who works doing PR for some film distribution companies mentioned that he already knows who is going to own the franchise for the upcoming sequels after Sony leaves.

This falls under the “people familiar with the matter” category. Long story short: the rights go to 20th Century Fox. They already have the distribution rights for home video (BD, DVD) since 2002 so that’s the main reason they are up front of everybody else in the race for The Bond, besides any extra deals that they have been negociating.

However (and this is very interesting) since both Amazon and Apple are apparently on the race for the rights of the franchise, I wonder if the original plans have changed with a better offering. Video Streaming and Digital Sales have a stronger arm with any of those companies. Way stronger than Fox. This makes me think that perhaps they could acquire the rights if they make the right proposal to Barbara Broccoli, but since they already have a stablished bond (pun intended) with Fox, I doubt it.

You can see the video with the interview here and the comment from Jaime is at the 1:42:00 timecode. It’s all in Spanish and unfortunatelly there are no subtitles available. That’s the video for our Patreons so if you want to link it, please use the Patreon Post instead.

– Dan

 

 

Howdy Brian, Tom, Bryce, and Roberto:
Enjoyed the discussion in Cordkillers #186 about the Multi-cultural approach of Netflix.

I am a big fan of Japanese Anime as I watch Crunchyroll and Funimation and more. Been a fan of Anime since the 70s. Unfortunately, Anime still suffers from prejudice which is not deserved because many people still associate Anime with sexy fanservice and violence. Many Anime contain parody and often reference other anime even with cross-overs with characters in other anime animation. So the new title “Neo Yokio” seems to be a typical style for Anime. Parody is very common in Japanese Anime.

…

I am very happy that Netflix is expanding it’s Anime offerings and even producing original Anime titles. It may not appeal to some people, but there are many Anime fans out there like me.

Love Cordkillers! Keep up the Great Work!

– Michael

 

 

 

Tom and Brian,
I think you’re underestimating the number of people who use Kodie on a Fire TV Stick. This topic comes up all the time on our neighborhood Facebook page and based on the number of people who brag about owning one I would say about 10% of my neighbors have one (so about 50 to 100 households).
I don’t think they realize it’s pirating or at least they have convinced themselves it’s not becuase they agure that since they bought it from a vendor it must be legal (with that agruement all the pot I bought and smoked in high school must have been legal too).
They talk about how nice it was to watch the fight or big game for free but I don’t think they realize it’s piracy since they are using an app and stream, like Popcorn Time, and not going to some shady site to download something.

You rock!

– Charles

 

 

Hey Tom and Brian,

I really do have a friend who has the Fire Stick with all the “free” stuff, and he’s actually made fun of me for being a cord cutter without one. He bought the Stick from Amazon and sent it to a guy who loaded Kody and all the extensions onto it. Bottom line, it’s crap. Live streams were incredibly low quality (like RealPlayer in 2002 low quality) and they kept buffering even over our other friend’s gigabit Comcast, and movies were mostly guerrilla-cam or Blu-Ray rips with GIANT Korean subtitles. I stated my “it’s crap” opinion to him, and his response was “Who cares? It’s free!” – which comes from a guy who makes six figures. Personally, I would rather spend my money on better quality legal versions of content, whether it’s a subscribing to a service or renting/buying a digital copy of a show or movie. Anyway, love the show.

– Joel

 

 

 

I know it’s not exactly related to the conversation, but I’ve found a fairly comfortable setup for over-the-air TV in my house.

-I have a cheap HTPC hooked up to my TV
-I have this USB TV dual-tuner ($70): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015IL0FIW/
-I use this antenna which picks up pretty every station in Seattle ($26): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FUB4ZG8/
-I use NextPVR for all my scheduling and TV viewing (Free): http://www.nextpvr.com/
-I subscribe to Schedules Direct for the TV listings that NextPVR uses ($25/year): http://www.schedulesdirect.org/

It wasn’t the most user friendly thing to set up initially, but after that initial setup it’s been working really well ever since.

– Jordan
 

Links

2017 Winter Movie Draft
patreon.com/cordkillers
 

Cordkillers 186 – I Like The Way I Said it Better (w/ Roberto Villegas)

Cordkillers / September 12th, 2017

Should Apple make James Bond, Plex gets easy with Kodi, and Netflix takes on an anime parody? Is it parody? With special guest Roberto Villegas.

The draft is next week! Here’s the movie list.

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CordKillers: Ep. 186 – I Like The Way I Said it Better
Recorded: September 11 2017
Guest: Roberto Villegas

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Apple, Amazon Join Race for James Bond Film Rights
    – Sony’s deal to make James Bond movies ended in 2015 and bids for the rights are being negotiated now. Hollywood Reporter has sources who say Apple and Amazon are in the running with Warner Brothers and Sony to buy the rights to make the movies for MGM. Former Sony executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht are leading the push for Apple.

How to Watch

What to Watch

What We’re Watching

Front Lines

  • Amazon’s new flagship Fire TV looks like a square Echo Dot
    – AFTVNews says it has sources who say Amazon will release two new Fire TV models later this year. One will be a square FireTV stick and the other a regular box that has Amazon Voice Service far-field microphones and speaker built in. Both will support 4K. and HDR.
  • Disney’s streaming service will exclusively get Marvel and Star Wars movies
    – Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Disney will make its Star Wars and Marvel movies exclusive to a new streaming service launching with Disney and Pixar content in late 2019.
  • Disney Movies Anywhere drops Microsoft as a partner
    – Disney Movies Anywhere sent out an email saying it no longer works with Microsoft’s Movies and TV Store. That applies to future purchases. Existing linked movies will remain available.
  • Roku files for $100M IPO
    – Roku filed paperwork for an IPO. The filing shows 15.1 million active accounts streaming 3.5 billion hours last quarter, up 60% on the year. Revenue per unit is up 35% on the year to $11.22 for a total annual revenue of $398 million. Advertising and platform subscriptions make up 81% of company profits, up 104% over the last six months, while profits from hardware fell 28% in the same span and represents 19% overall. Roku also launched its own channel for Roku users that streams free movies licnesed directly from studios by Roku and supported with advertising.
  • AT&T’s DirecTV Now is testing a cloud DVR with 100 hours of storage
    – TechCrunch confirmed a Cord Cutters News leak that DirecTV Now’s forthcoming DVR plan will have up to 100 hours of storage managed from a “My Library” feature. No word on the price.
  • Netflix and Hulu already won 21 Emmys ahead of the main event
    – The Creative Arts Emmy Awards were given out this weekend These are the ones they give away a week before the main awards broadcast, which is this coming Sunday September 17. Stranger Things took home 5 awards include sound and picture editing as well as main title. Netflix documentary 13th from Ava Duvernay got four awards. Handmaid’s Tale got three including production design and cinematography. Overall Netflix got 16 Hulu five and Amazon two.

Dispatches from the Front

Hey guys. Since becoming a cordcutter, I’ve been more attentive on how people get their media. This is only anecdotal, but one thing I’ve noticed over the past year is how widespread the knowledge and use of “Amazon fire sticks with access to everything free” has become. People come to my house and I show them how to watch stuff on my apple tvs and remind them that I don’t have cable. People from 14 year old cousins to 50 year old uncles will say “oh do you have the fire stick where it has everything free”? I tell them I don’t and then they tell me I should get one. I will admit I’ve done my fair share of pirating back in the day. However, I now consider myself a born again cordkiller that is mostly legit because there are actually easy legal options to access content these days which is what I thought everyone wanted. To me, it seems getting it free may still be a larger component to the equation for some people. I’ve never used a “special” fire stick , but if it’s as easy as ordering it and plugging it in to your tv , I don’t know how big media can compete with that if there truly is a growing population that doesn’t see any issues with it.

Your favorite boss

– Jerry

 

 

 

Hello Tom and Brian,
Do you know of a box or app that will allow me to use single sign and create playlists of the shows I watch in all of my steaming services (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon).
Thanks
– Chuck

 

 

 

Hello fellow cord cutters,
The best website I found for comparing and choosing a streaming service is suppose.tv. You can set your location and choose local channels and cable channels to filter by and determine which service they are available on. You can even compare costs and filter by streaming device. This is the tool you are looking for.

– Zach

Links

2017 Winter Movie Draft

patreon.com/cordkillers

It’s Spoilerin’ Time 185

Cordkillers / August 30th, 2017

Rick and Morty (306), Game of Thrones (707), Firefly (Our Mrs. Reynolds), Summer Movie Draft. 

01:03 – Summer Movie Draft
03:57 – Triage (Your emails to cordkillers@gmail.com)
05:49 – Rick and Morty (306)
11:44 – Game of Thrones (707)
25:56 – Firefly (Our Mrs. Reynolds)

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Cordkillers 185 – Both of Them and Charles Dickens are Wrong

Cordkillers / August 29th, 2017

Why Roku is still number one, Hulu Live TV gets better, and Ozark is the best. 

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CordKillers: Ep. 185 – Both of Them and Charles Dickens are Wrong
Recorded: August 28 2017
Guest: None

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Roku is the top streaming device in the US and growing
    – Parks Associates market share by number of installed devices.
    -37% of streaming devices in US are ROKU, up from 30% from last year
    – Only Fire TV increased to 24% up 16%
    – Chromecast fell to third at 18% Apple TV fourth at 15%
    – Previously mentioned emarketer stats based connected TV use
  • Apple Is Planning a 4K Upgrade for Its TV Box
    – Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans to unveil an updated Apple TV with 4K streaming support and a focus on live television at their September 12th announcement. The updated Apple TV will reportedly support HDR video.

How to Watch

What to Watch

What We’re Watching

Front Lines

Dispatches from the Front

Brian,

So I used Movie Pass back when it was $45-$50 a month for those in the LA area and I enjoyed it for the time I had it, got lots of bonus reward points from theaters however it has changed since then for the better. Back then there was no online ordering with it, you had to be at the theater to activate the account to make a purchase so it was a gas cost. It also included a 6 month cool down period if you cancelled. (So you can’ just use it for winter blockbuster season and then start up at the next summer blockbuster season) At the $10 a month I don’t see a reason to let it lapse though. Data signal can be an issue, so finding out what theaters have dead zones by the box office and activating the card in the parking lot is important however with online ordering I see this going to be a lesser issue. If you have a theater nearby with a rewards program it is a MUST HAVE. If you go to 1 movie a month it is a huge discount. If you go to two movies every 3 months (based on my local market( it’s still a deal.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, I’d be happy to answer

– Jeff

 

 

 

I signed up for the service the day after the price change. I was very excited about the service seeing how I typically see at least one movie a month. The first few days of the service the app was not working very well due to the influx of new users. I was told to buy a ticket and send them the receipt and they will refund the price, which I was fine with.

Now a week later I have found that the app is working pretty well and it is very convenient to just open the app, select my theater, reserve the seat, and have my ticket ready at the box office (this does only work if MP has a deal with that specific theater to do e-tickets). I also found that my movie going experience was much more enjoyable. You feel like such a bad ass just opening your phone and a few minutes later having reserved a seat and just walking in the theater. On top of that I have went to see movies that I would have never seen in theaters and if I did I would have been upset knowing that I spend $10-$12, but instead I can just relax and enjoy a movie I more than likely wouldn’t have every paid to see, and I don’t feel bad throwing the theater a couple bucks for a snack or drink.

Even if the current pricing only lasts 12-18 months I think it will be worth it in the long run and even give movie chains time to consider their own subscription service down the road.

Best Regards,
– Kyle 

 

 

 

Hey, I ran across a cool website for sports fans who are looking to cut the cord. Just type “wherecaniwatchmy.team” into your browser and you’ll be able to quickly find out which package is best for watching your favorite sportball team.

He’s only got NFL and NCAA football on there for now, but hopefully he’ll add more sports later.

Thought I’d pass along a cool new service that helps people navigate the proliferation of streaming services.

– Seth

 

Links

2017 Summer Movie Draft
patreon.com/cordkillers