It’s Spoilerin’ Time 95

Cordkillers / November 11th, 2015

Winter Movie Draft, The Walking Dead (601 & 602), Fargo (204), The Leftovers (206), The Shield (713)

01:19 – Winter Movie Draft

06:18 – The Walking Dead (601 & 602)

16:54 – Fargo (204)

25:17 – The Leftovers (206)

33:49 – The Shield (713)

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Cordkillers 95 – Too Much TV

Cordkillers / November 10th, 2015

Should TV networks hold back content from Netflix? Netflix says there’s not enough TV. Time Warner wants to reduce commercials.

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CordKillers: 95 – Too Much TV
Recorded: November 9, 2015
Guest: Lamarr Wilson

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • TV Studios Plan to Cut Back on Netflix, Digital Subscription Sales
  • Time Warner Says It Will Hold Back Shows From Netflix, Other SVOD
  • Time Warner plans to win back cord cutters by showing fewer ads
    – Peter Kafka at ReCode reports TV execs signaling they will stoff selling best stuff to digital services, netflix in particular
    – 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch September changing “business rules”
    – Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes: “[undercut] yourself by having somebody else pay a fraction of the cost and create a better inventory on the various shows you yourself invented.”
    — Also said may retain rights longer delay/forego licensing
    – Discovery CEO David Zaslav: “It’s just not rational that all of us in the content business sold our content to a distributor and have allowed that distributor to gain so much share and offer it without our brands.”
    — May make them ONLY available on cable VOD “Tv Everywhere”
    – Another reason CBS ALL Access got Star Trek
    – Netflix to shareholders last month: “Some studios will choose to license content to SVOD services like Hulu, Amazon – –  – Prime Instant Video and Netflix. Others may not,”
    – Netflix point out show’s creators/producers want to make sure the show has been maximizing money
    – Time Warner networks will cut down commercial inventory
    – HBO, movies and games all strong
    – Turner revenue declined
    – will reduce ad load starting with younger-skewing nets like TruTV
    – From 18-19 minutes all the way to 10-11 per hour
    – Said would have little to no impact on revenue

Signal Intelligence

  • Netflix CEO: Actually, There’s “Not Nearly Enough” TV
  • Netflix’s short episodes helps parents negotiate kids’ bedtime
  • Netflix will produce original Bollywood and anime programs
    – FX CEO John Landgraf over the summer: “simply too much television.”
    – At NYTImes DealBook conf last week Reed Hastings: “He’s wrong. There’s not nearly enough.”
    – Consumer spending on entertainment, which he said has been “growing faster than disposable income for decades.”
    – “We need to go beyond the normal spectrum to get quality,” he said. “I’m hopeful that over time we can make a great Bollywood show, that we can make a great anime show.”
    – Hastings said TV Everywhere that brings network content to multiple devices is what he’s always been “most scared of”
    “The big system has to figure out TV everywhere.”
    – Netflix Notes: Dinotrux 5 Minute Favorites series features three short episodes based on Dreamworks’ popular Netflix show, that give kids their final fix of TV for the day in a small dose before bed.

Gear Up

Front Lines

  • Sony’s PlayStation Vue picks up ESPN, Disney, and ABC in huge content deal
    – Disney announced a deal bringing ESPN, the Disney Channel, ABC, and ABC Family to the PlayStation Vue service. All ESPN-related channels will be included. Local ABC affiliates may opt in as well for live programming. No word on when or if it will add to the $50 a month price.
  • Fox Shows On Hulu Will Offer Reduced, Only 30-Second-Long Ad Option
    – Hulu subscribers on tiers that still see ads can choose to have an interactive ad that gets rid of ad breaks in exchange for interacting with one 30-second ad. The ad comes at the beginning but can also be chosen during the first ad break or when the user presses pause. These engagement ads are more expensive than traditional ads and will only be available on current season shows when an advertiser has bought one. They are launching on Web and mobile but will eventually be on all Hulu apps.
  • Vice’s cable channel, Viceland, will launch February 2016
    – Our emailer from last week was right. Vice and A&E announced they will launch the channel Viceland in February 2016. Spike Jonze oversees Gaycation with Ellen Page and Portraits with Marc Maron, as well as versions of its YouTube shows. No waiting period between Web and TV for shows either. It will replace H2 on lineups. 
  • NewsON Brings Your Local News Stations To iOS, Android And Roku
    – NewsOn has launched offering local news for subscribers on iOS, Android, and Roku. Backed by TV stations it will offer local news coverage from 118 stations in 90 markets which NewsON says is about 75% of the US.
  • Tidal has decided to get into original TV shows
    – Music service Tidal will now offer some original TV shows. No Small Talk is a half-hour stand-up comedy show, comprised of five episodes and hosted by Cipha Sounds which premiered November 3rd. And the second season of YouTube series Money & Violence, which is about a group of criminals living in Brooklyn, created by and starring Moise Verneau. That one is on Tidal for a week exclusvie before coming to YouTube.
  • Jon Stewart has signed a four-year contract with HBO
    – HBO announced that Jon Stewart has signed a four-year production deal to focus on short-form digital content meant for HBO Go and HBO Now, with the possibility of making other film and TV programs. Stewart’s job will be to “view current events through his unique prism.” 

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

Hi guys,
Coming from a lifelong Trek fan, I understand why the internet exploded over CBS’s decision to bury the new series behind a paywall. I also see CBS’s side, they are taking a huge risk with what will likely be a cast of unknowns, a huge f/x budget and a hard sell to top advertisers.
No matter how good the pilot is, though, I won’t be subscribing to All Access. Not because CBS shouldn’t do what they did, they have every right, but because they don’t offer any other programming that interests me right now. I already own everything Star Trek that I like so I really have no need for the back catalog. I’m only moderately interested in Supergirl (which is also All Access only online) as it’s clearly targeted at a female audience and the whole Kryptonian on TV thing has been done to death.
I do want to watch the series, so I am going to take the Netflix approach. As Tom so eloquently stated, you can subscribe and unsubscribe to these services at will. When the first season is complete, I’ll join All Access for a month and binge watch the whole thing in a weekend. Problem solved and no internet cursing!
Of course, it will end up being really good, or during that month I’ll find something there that I’ll have to watch and I’ll end up subscribing long-term. Then all the CBS executives will hold their pinky up to their mouth and laugh that evil laugh. Those bastards.

– Paul

 

 

 

I’m a huge Star Trek fan. Not go to conventions and dress up huge, but otherwise yeah. I have no problem paying for CBS All Access to get Star Trek. And it would have be horrible past the second season for me to stop watching. Every Star Trek series is notorious for having a slow first couple of seasons (well except for TOS). Plus, if ST fans don’t show their support, we could lose out on future properties!

Live Long & Prosper
– Tom

 

 

 

New TV shows need to hit a critical mass before they attain true popularity.  Putting the first season of any TV show behind a paywall that hardly anyone is using yet, is a huge mistake.  Even a brand as big as Star Trek can flounder with such a definitive barrier. 

Yes, Trek fans will be happy to pay and CBS will gain subscribers, but will it be enough?  CBS has a track record of cancelling shows in their first or second season if the views are low.  Everything from the original Flash TV show to The Crazy Ones to Extant.  Will they give Star Trek a chance if too few subscribe?

What about those that decide to wait for the season to end, and binge watch the whole thing in one month and cancel?  Star Trek does not seem like a property that should be used as a test in this way – it has been off the air for too long and has too much to prove.

In the end I believe this experiment will fail even if the show is actually good, as we will once again have to wait another decade for more Star Trek on the small screen.  After all, it was the CBS acquisition of Paramount studios in 2005 that finally spelled the end for Enterprise.”

– Paul

 

 

 

Star Trek will have to be as good as Star Wars makes the audience feel. If SW doesn’t live up to the hype, there is no hope for ST. Because of the timeline, ST will be a television complement to the massive SW movies, sort of like a pacifier in between the bottle. At this point, we don’t know if the audience viewing ST will be on an intergalactic high or going through space fatigue.

On another note, Childhood’s End is coming up in December which is not soon enough me. I think it was Brian that mentioned how much he loved the book and that convinced me to read it. I loved it enough to seek out my own copy at a local free bookstore (1960 edition). Thanks!

And thank you both for all the hard work you do.

– Abry 

 

 

 

Hi guys,

I’ll put my vote in for not reading Preacher. I read it, and while I didn’t dislike it, it was hardly my favorite book. Not anywhere near my top 10 or even top 20.

It feels oddly dated. When I read it, I assumed it was made in the 80’s because of the art style, but was surprised to find that it came out from 95-00. I guess my other problem is that it’s a Garth Ennis book, and while I don’t mind violence he seems to relish in it and write for it. He seems to like the shock value.

Anyway, there’s more I could say, but it’s not really worth it. I say skip it and read something by Brian K Vaughn instead. Can’t ever go wrong with that 🙂

– Matt

 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

Cordkillers 94 – CBS = Cash Buys Star Trek

Cordkillers / November 3rd, 2015

CBS uses Star Trek to sell subscriptions, Sling TV sees surprising behavior, and whether you should by Apple TV. 

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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

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

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

 

It’s Spoilerin’ Time 93

Cordkillers / November 2nd, 2015

Winter Movie Draft, Triage, The Man in the High Castle (102), Fargo (202), The Leftovers (204), The Shield (711)

01:36 – Winter Movie Draft

07:19 – Triage (no spoilers)

10:55 – The Man in the High Castle (102)

17:09 – Fargo (202)

22:57 – The Leftovers (204)

28:58 – The Shield (711)

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Cordkillers 93 – Other Tubes Named Red

Cordkillers / October 26th, 2015

Is YouTube Red genius or idiocy? Why Canada wins at Star Wars and how the old Apple TV scooped the new one. 

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CordKillers: 93 – Other Tubes Named Red
Recorded: October 27 2015
Guest: Jaime Ruiz-Avila

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • YouTube Red
    – $9.99 launching Oct. 28
    – Removes ads from all YouTube vids, gives access to YouTube Music and Google Music
    – New YouTube Music app coming
    – Saving videos for offline playing
    – Exclusive YouTube Originals launching in 2016
    – 98% of creators signed up
    – Those who currently monetize and don’t agree to terms will see videos made private
    – ESPN has some contracts that forbid ad-free videos so ESPN is pulling out but not all of Disney
    – ESPN issue might have to do with offline viewing, or ‘subscription package’
  • YouTube Originals
    – YouTube Originals
    – Scare PewDiePie. From Robert Kirkman’s Skybound and Maker Studios.
    – nNtitled CollegeHumor Project – anthology series
    – Sing It! – Fine Bros. satire of reality singing competitions
    – Lazer Team – Rooster Teeth and Fullscreen scifi small-town losers find alien ship
    – Doc of Lilly Singh’s global tour
    – Joey Graceffa murder mystery
    – 360 Project from MatPat of Game Theory – science behind video games w/ gamers experiencing real life versions
    – Fight of the Living Dead – YouTube stars trapped in realistic zombie scenarios
    – I am Tobuscus – Toby Turner scripted comedy about being a YouTube star
    – Single by 30 – WongFu romantic drama
  • YouTube Will Completely Remove Videos Of Creators Who Don’t Sign Its Red Subscription Deal
  • Ignore all the sensationalist hand-wringing about YouTube Red
  • ESPN is disappearing from YouTube — here’s why

Signal Intelligence

  • Canada Netflix will get Force Awakens first for streaming
    -Netflix in Canada will get Star Wars: The Force Awkens for streaming in 2016
    – In US, Starz has deal with movies that come out through end of 2015
    – In Canada Disney deal with Netflix starts with 2015 titles in US with 2016 titles

Gear Up

Front Lines

  • Time Warner Cable will test internet-only TV in NYC next week
    – Engadget’s sources say Time Warner Cable will start beta testing a version of its TV service for Internet-only subscribers in New York City. Participants will supposedly get a free Roku 3 and be offered a $10 starter pack an option with Showtime and Starz for $20 and a version with all that plus most f the usual cable channels for $50. No DVR functions but there is on demand the ability to stream on 4 devices at a time. Time Warner currently has apps for Xbox, Android, iOS, Fan TV, Kindle Fire and Samsung’s Smart TVs.
  • Actually, TV viewership is quite stable
    – Pivotal Research Group found TV viewing is stable if you count all devices including game consoles and phones. TV viewing among 18-49s is up 0.3%. 2-17 down 0.2% and over 50 up 3%. Viewing on connected devices like Roku rose from 2% last year to 5% this year. They do NOT count Netflix as traditional TV. 18-49s with Netflix watched 5% less traditional TV while those without Netflix watched 11% more. 
  • Yahoo Livestream of NFL Game Nets 15 Million Viewers — But Most of Them Didn’t Count by TV Metrics
    – Sunday Yahoo streamed an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. Yahoo got more than 33.6 million streams. Well if you narrow that down to unique users they got 15 million! Or if you want to know how many people were actually watching at any given moment they got 2.3 million! That’s compared to an average simultaneous viewing of a broadcast NFL game of about 10-20 million. 
  • Why Yahoo wrote down $42 million for ‘Community’
    – More Yahoo news. During its earnings call last week, Yahoo said it would write down about $42 million in costs from its video division based largely on three shows including Community. Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman said Yahoo’s management “couldn’t see a way to make money over time.”
  • Vice is launching a long-rumored cable TV network
    – Vice said Thursday it plans to launch a TV network in the US and a dozen across Europe. Vice will buy networks in some locations and partner in joint ventures in others. No word on which will happen where. The idea is to buy networks on the cheap then leverage content made there into mobile and online. 
  • Vudu starts streaming 4K movies to the Roku 4
    – More 4K content headed your way as Vudu makes 12 movies in its catalog available for 4K viewing on Roku 4, with prices of $10 for a rental and $25 – $30 to purchase. The offerings should be coming to other platforms like the Vizio 4K TVs soon.

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front
Tom mentioned his new chipped card’s number didn’t change, but the CVV code should have. When I activated my new card a few months ago, I couldn’t figure out for the next week why the card was working some of the time and other times it wasn’t. It didn’t click that the only time it wasn’t working was when I was paying online through saved information. Without updating that new CVV code from the back of the card, the Netflix plans wouldn’t renew even if the card number was unchanged.

–  hornakapopolis

 

 

 

 

“Hey Brian and Tom,

Last week’s show you all were talking about how close we are to the NFL running their own distribution and putting their games online. 

I’d love if this were true, but the economics might not pan out in the NFL’s favor. Currently the NFL is making roughly $6 BILLION a year from CBS, FOX, NBC ($3.1B), ESPN ($1.9B), DirecTV Sunday Ticket ($1B) for rights to games. 

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/15/business/la-fi-ct-nfl-deals-20111215

Also they’ve signed these deals to last till 2022.

If the networks decided not to renew deals when they’re up because the NFL wants to stream games online they’re gonna have a hard time making the same kind of money. 

20M subscribers paying $25/mo. = $6 Billion/yr 

or 

50M  subscribers paying $10/mo. = $6 Billion/yr

This doesn’t include infrastructure of network or cost to have others host. Not to mention marketing, customer service etc. 

The only way I see it could being possible sometime in the future is if they managed to get a deal similar to what the MLB has with the networks…still show games on TV (probably at a lower rate than the $3.1B now) while offering a “”premium”” service that’s over the top everywhere. This would of course take the rug from under the DirecTV so that would be more revenue to make up. Unfortunately I don’t think they can reach  beyond the most diehard fans if the price is anything over $15/mo. 

I think the NFL will eventually start chipping away, it’s inevitable. Maybe starting with an exclusive deal with Apple or Amazon to have a toe in the streaming box game without totally offending their currently partners. Whatever the case sports fan, particularly NFL fans will have to get by with over the air, Sling or Sunday Ticket. 

You guys keep being awesome!

Cheers,
– James
(I’m the guy who stopped you at Ralph’s Tom ☺)”

 

 

 

“Hey Guys, 

I wanted to point to you this weekend’s report on Box Office Mojo. The author notes how the latest Paranormal Activity movie had a weak opening, but is using a new strategy with Video on Demand. He notes that once the movie is playing on less than 300 theaters, it be available for VOD. In exchange, participating theaters will receive a portion of the VOD profits. This approach shortens the theatrical window significantly, and I’m curious how it will be accepted by studios, theaters, and viewers.

Thanks for a great show every week. 

Your boss,
– Mike

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4116&p=.htm”

 

 

 

1) horse racing and fantasy sports as I understand it are examples of parimutuel betting. The idea is the betting or house can’t influence the odds. (https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24n5vb/eli5_why_is_it_legal_to_bet_on_horse_races_but/)

technically Hearthstone, Poker, and Sports are not gambling in a way that can influence the game (as long as the teams aren’t involved in/make money on the bets) so it seems a bit arbitrary

2) NBA commissioner is pro betting (http://time.com/3584866/nba-adam-silver-legalize-pro-sports-betting/)

– Chris

 

 

 

Hey Tom and Brian,
Love the show been a fan since Framerate. I suggest Longmire to replace The Shield. It has 4 seasons with a fifth yet to be confirmed but most likely coming all on Netflix. The show is a modern day western and has deep and realistic characters with actions that are understandable and relevant. It is a loose police procedural about a Wyoming county sheriff solving a murder of the week, but there is a deeper, more consistent overall story that stretches season to season. The dichotomy between the characters, cultures (local Native Americans vs. white population, rich vs. poor), landscapes, and what’s ethically right vs what’s the law is so enriching but not so politically driven as other shows. Walt Longmire is just a great character as Walter White.

Also, can I make a suggestion on maybe letting us viewers and “bosses” know what you guys will spoil a week in advance (or few days via Twitter, etc). I get you guys are busy and can only watch a limited shows. But I like to follow along with Spoilern’ Time and sometimes you’ll start new shows or movies, like Beasts of No Nation, and some of weren’t aware and it’s hard to go back and listen. Anyway just my suggestion.

Thanks and keep up the phenomenal job.

Regards,

– Judson M.

 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

 

 

It’s Spoilerin’ Time 92

Cordkillers / October 21st, 2015

Winter Movie Draft, Beasts Of No Nation, The Leftovers (203), Fargo (201) The Walking Dead (602), The Shield (710)

00:48 – Winter Movie Draft

03:14 – Triage

06:08 – Beasts Of No Nation

15:29 – The Leftovers (203)

20:46 – Fargo (201)

24:17 – The Walking Dead (602)

25:49 – The Shield (710)

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Cordkillers 92 – Netflix and Chips

Cordkillers / October 20th, 2015

Netflix blames chip cards for subscriber decline, China’s Xiaomi revolutionizes set-top box, why fantasy sports gambling could fund the cord-cutting sports future. 

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CordKillers:  92 – Netflix and Chips
Recorded: October 19, 2015
Guest: Eklund

Intro Video

Primary Target

Signal Intelligence

Gear Up

  • Xiaomi will let you replace the brains in its new smart TV
    – Xiaomi 60-inch 4K MITV 3 – RMB 4,999 (roughly $786).
    – COMES WITH
    – Mi TV Bar with speakers
    – 2GB RAM, 8GB flash storage
    – Runs Xiaomi’s Android variant MIUI TV
    – Can buy MiTV bar separately and use with any TV (RMB 999 ($157))
    – China only

Front Lines

  • YouTube Will Make You Pay to See Some of Its New Videos
    – ReCode has sources who say YouTube will announce some original programming at an event Wednesday at YouTubeSpace LA where Tom’s wife works. The sources say say the content will be available as part of a subscription program that also removes ads. this is DIFFERENT than YouTube Gaming’s ‘sponsorships’ that they just launched which lets you support gamers for $3.99 a month and get access to exclusive chat perks but does NOT remove ads. 
  • Forbes lists the top-earning YouTube stars for 2014 to 2015
    – But where does that YouTube money go? Sure some is used to pay the salary of Tom’s wife. But Forbes ranks the YouTube stars that earned the most money for the year ending June. 1. Pewdiepie earned $12 million.Gamer KSI made $4.5 million. Smosh and the Fine Brothers made $8.5 million each. Musician Lyndsey Sterling took in $6 million and Fashion vlogger Michelle Phan earned $3 million. The amounts are for all income not just YouTube revenue.
  • NBCU Debuts “SeeSo,” A New Subscription Streaming Service For Comedy Fans
    – NBC Universal announced a video service called SeeSo last week in the US. For $3.99 a month you can watch Old US and British comedies, episodes of NBC’s late night shows, current episodes of NBC comedies and more than 20 original series. One of the originals is HarmonQuest combining live action and animation. 10-15% of the content will be available for free. It launches in beta in December and in full in January. You can sign up to be notified at beta.seeso.com
  • BBC begins blocking VPN access to iPlayer
    – Let the game of whack-a-mole begin. The BBC told TorrentFreak it is beginning to actively block IP addresses from known VPN services in order to combat out of country viewing by non subjects of the realme. While the BBC says it is not blocking VPNs of school and corporate users, it will block the legitimate home user who happens to use the wrong VPN for security. 
  • Your next Comcast bill may be priced per gigabyte
    – Comcast has begun enforcing its long unenforced 300 GB cap that still exists in a few of its markets mostly in the central and southern states of the US. People who hit the cap will be offered the choice to pay $10 a month to get 50 additional GB or $30 for unlimited data use. For reference a 75Mbps plan in Florida costs $80 a month with a 300 GB cap. A Triple play bundle including TV and phone costs $99 a month. 
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Trailer to Debut on ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’
    – By the time you hear this you likely will have already seen the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer that aired during Monday Night Football on ESPN. Tickets are schedule to go on sale as soon as the trailer airs.

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

Hey Tom and Brian.

Here’s a little insight into the Australian pay TV industry I got from my Uncle who is a major advertising executive. Foxtel, which is the only major nationwide traditional Pay TV operator left solvent that has cable and satellite infrastructure has after 20 years of operation a marketshare of around 30% of households in the country. Netflix on the other hand has managed to sign up 9% of all households since it’s launch earlier this year. Stan, Presto and Quickflix the three local Netflix clones are struggling however with less than 3% of households combined.

Since Foxtel took the drastic measure last year of dropping it’s minimum subscription fee per month to $25 in order to fight off the at the time un-launched $12 a month Netflix I’ll be interested to see if they can hold onto their marketshare longer than the much more expensive US cable and satellite companies.

– Nik

 

Netflix reaches 1.89 million Australians. Foxtel loses share (but not size) as Netflix expands pay and subscription TV market

 

 

Just a quick note. The newest version of Playon and Playlater deserve some air time from you gentlemen. The UI has been completely changed and turned into a DVR style interface. The system has a set it and forget it record style that will record new episodes when available and notification when available for new shows. Only just start messing with it but extremely promising.

– William
 

 

 

Tom and Brian,
This week, my wife Eileen and I moved in to our new home. While setting up our entertainment center, she was confused as to why I was upset at all the cords I had to connect and hide throughout the living room. She asked, “aren’t you a cord killer. Why do you need all these cords?” I explained ‘cord cutting’ was about not using cable anymore and she responded, “well the show should be called ‘Cable Cutters’ or ‘Coax Killers’ then! CORD Killers is misleading!”

It was an awesome conversation!

Your boss in beautiful Norfolk, VA,
– Jeromy
 

 

All this talk about Hulu and VR is interesting. Don’t get me wrong…my enjoyment with Hulu is back since the no-commercials plan, but how can they figure out VR when they can’t even send 5.1 surround audio. Come on Hulu. Netflix does it, Amazon does its, Itunes store has it, Vudu has it. Everyone has 5.1 or better surround sound encoded with their streaming content, except Hulu. Still Stereo. Like an old black and white movie. Guess it’s too technically complicated?

– Jon

 

 

Hey Brian & Tom,

Since cutting the cord four years ago I’ve kept my old Directv dish laying around just knowing I’d come up with a new use for it. Yesterday was the day. I stripped everything off of it, bolted it to the old front brake rotors I just took off my car and slapped an old grate from a rusted out gas grill on it. I painted everything with high-temp grill paint and now I have a new deck fire pit for the price of free. I’ll likely get much more enjoyment out of the dish this way than I ever did when it was hooked up to directv.
–Eric

(P.S. – I’ll put it on some stone pavers before using it to avoid the deck going up in flames. Also, the cover is from the old fire pit which I bent to match the oval shape of the dish.)
 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

 

 

Cordkillers 91 – 4 Kurious

Cordkillers / October 12th, 2015

Cable companies want control of their boxes, do you care? Hulu’s going VR and Roku dominates many things including 4K.

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CordKillers: 91 – 4 Kurious
Recorded: October 12, 2015
Guest: Roberto Villegas

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Does the Future of Television Belong to the Device or the App?
    – Congress directed the FCC to evaluate new standards for downloadable security on set-top boxes.
    – Last protocols established in the mid-1990s allowing for TiVo and the like to offer competing cable box devices
    – Cable industry and Hollywood proposal
    – Allow content operators (cablecos) to provide own apps and interfaces
    – Third-party devices could only display software designed and controlled by MVPDs.
    – Tech companies “virtual head-end” proposal
    – Programming forced into simple format
    – Device-makers create user interfaces and implement features
    – Could disrupt contracts dictating channel placement
    – Could allow app services like HBO to unbundle

Signal Intelligence

  • Hulu’s virtual reality app is set for its close-up next month
  • Hulu poised to see bigger growth than Amazon and Netflix over the next four years.
    – Hulu VR experience ready for November when Gear VR goes on sale
    – Hulu head of distribution Tom Connolly said Friday its considering original VR series.
    – Freddie Wong making VR short film “The Big One” alongside Hulu original series
    – Typical virtual environment for watching normal content. Sit in Jerry’s apartment to watch Seinfeld.
    – 70% of Hulu viewing on a TV. Roku the most popular.
    – Live programming in ‘if’ mode. As in not sure if they’ll do it.
    – Emarketer forecasts Hulu will have bigger growth than Amazon and Netflix over next 4 years
    – Next year, Hulu will see 11.8 percent growth in subscribers, compared to 11.1 percent for Netflix and 12.3 percent for Amazon.
    – Later this year: miniseries “11/22/63” will debut, starring James Franco.
    – This year 63 percent of OTT users subscribe to Netflix, compared to 36 percent for Amazon and 33. 1 percent for Hulu.
    – By 2019, that will rise to 71.7 percent for Netflix, 44.4 percent for Amazon, and 41.2 percent for Hulu.

Gear Up

  • Roku finally gets into 4K with new streaming box, updated software
    – Roku 4 streaming player
    – Supports 4K content playback 60fps (better framerate than Apple or Amazon, same as TiVo Bolt)
    – Auto-adapt to quality of streaming video
    – 802.11ac
    – Button on box makes remote make sounds (buzz or ring)
    – New 4K row in channel store, as well as 4K spotlight app
    – Send photos from phone to 4K screen
    – Pre-order now shipping Oct. 21 $129.99
  • HBO Now comes to Roku
    – HBO Now available in Roku Channel store now. Sign up through Roku and get a 30-day free trial.
    – Roku 7.0 os
    – Will come to Roku 3, 4 and streamign stick
    – cleaner UI
    – universal search displays results in descending order by price
    – search for actors, dorectors as well as specific ttitle
    – Track all that using Feed. Can alert when new content available
    – App can now browse content, add things to feed, add channels
    – Later this year will allow app to work w/o being on same network as device.

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

I found it interesting that Tom suggests that TiVo look to Roku for inspiration on how to proceed going forward. Given that Roku was started by ReplayTV founder Anthony Wood, there’s probably some institutional bias against adopting Roku’s model for, well, anything.

Keep up the good work,

– Mike

 

 

Hey Brian and Tom!

A few episodes ago, you had on the guy who runs pluto.tv, and after checking it out, I’ve fallen in love. It’s great to be able to “flip through the channels” again. They also have a lot of great programming.

Thanks for bringing this great site to our attention!

Love the show

– Drew

 

 

Hey guys. You’ve had several people say why they want the ability to download streaming video for later playback, but my situation hasn’t been mentioned yet. I have satellite internet service that has a low monthly bandwidth cap – except for a few hours in the middle of the night when I can download anything without a cap. If a service allows downloads, I can grab shows I’d like to watch during the “free” times, and watch them later without worrying about quickly blowing through my cap. In fact, because Amazon just added the download feature, I finally got Amazon Prime. If Netflix ever adds this feature, I would order Netflix, too.”

– Micah

 

 

“How many people have speakers with headphone-sized jacks on them.  My home speakers are all wired up with speaker wire.
 
Am I missing something with this Chromecast speaker thing?
 
– Walt

 

 

 

“I did it! I cut the cable cord, but i did go Dish with there 2 year price lock (50/mo), and I have to tell you.. Dish doesn’t get enough credit. Great tech, great price, and a free year of Netflix, that works on the Hopper Sling box.. all included in that 50/mo price tag. And I have been traveling a lot in the past 2 months, the Sling capabilities have made it nice and easy to get my Dr. Who/Mr. Robot fix without the torrents. 

If it wasn’t for my pesky kids (it’s really their technophobe grandmother) ;), I would have completely cut the cord long ago, but this option is the best deal i found if you have to keep some ‘normal tv’ around. Thought i would chime in. Keep it up!

– Joe from LA 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft