Luke Cage (101-102), Westworld (101 and original movie), Justified (312). With special guest Fraser Cain.
01:19 – Luke Cage (101-102)
16:07 – Westworld (101 and movie)
39:17 – Justified (312)
Luke Cage (101-102), Westworld (101 and original movie), Justified (312). With special guest Fraser Cain.
01:19 – Luke Cage (101-102)
16:07 – Westworld (101 and movie)
39:17 – Justified (312)
Cord-cutting hurts cable bottom lie but helps yours, says businessman. Netflix has lost half its content but do we care?
Mr. Robot (212), Justified (311).
01:12 – Winter Movie Draft and fall TV series discussion
06:42 – Mr. Robot (212)
23:51 – Justified (311)
Why cord-cutting will save you money, CW aims at cord-cutters, and the new 4K Rokus are here! With special guest Hammond Chamberlain.
CordKillers: Ep. 138 – Can’t Beat That With a Roku Stick
Recorded: September 27 2016
Guest: Hammond Chamberlain
Intro Video
Primary Target
Signal Intelligence
Gear Up
Under Surveillance
Front Lines
Dispatches from the Front
The Canadian streaming service Shomi which was launched officially in 2015 by cable giants Rogers and Shaw will close down on November 30th and Rogers estimated a $100-140 million investment loss on their 3rd quarter earnings.
According to Toronto’s Solutions Research Group (SRG) the services of Shomi and Crave (Bell Media) had one seventh the subscribers of Netflix. As a Rogers Cable Internet customer it was added as part of my tier with no apparent price increases, so I’m sure many of the subscribers they had may not be actively contributing to revenue.
This was the service where I watched shows like Mr. Robot, Last Man on Earth, Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the original seasons of Black Mirror. Not sure if another provider will then pickup the streaming rights to these shows or I will have to look to iTunes for purchasing them.
Hi Tom and Brian,
A few months ago, I sent in my review about Playstation Vue service. I wasn’t thrilled with it at the time, especially the DVR functionality, so I cancelled it after the free trial.
A few weeks ago I decided to give it another shot. In Chicago we now have access to CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox and the DVR functionality has greatly improved and I am thrilled by the progress made in just a few months. Last week I unplugged all my cable boxes in preparation of the conversion and my family was on board.
Today, when cancelling my Comcast service I thought I would do a little research for your show and cancelled using their online chat service. It was easy, I didn’t have to deal with the retention department and it was actually a pleasant experience.
If listeners are looking for a non-stressful Comcast cancellation experience, the chat service is the way to go.
Love the show.
– John from Chicago
Hey guys, it’s your boss.
I got bored tonight and decided to do the chicken challenge with Directv. My bill had crept over $125/mo (TV only) and I had the family convinced that sling or PlayStation vue were viable. I managed to get $50 off my bill, so I stayed. However, in looking for negotiation leverage I peeked at the intro prices for the various packages and found that they were darn close to the full rates for ongoing customers.
Select $50 new —> $51.99 existing
Entertainment $55 new —> $61.99 existing
Choice $60 new —> $74.99 existing
Xtra $70 new —> $81.99 existing
Utlimate $75 new —> $91.99 existing
Premier $125 new —> $144.99 existing
I find it interesting that the bottom has such a small gap in the new subscriber’s and existing. I have two wild speculations about this: first, cord cutting has made the customers at that price point need ongoing low prices, so the difference has reduced – not the top tier is $20/mo more. Second, I believe that they make up a lot of the price difference in hardware. Part of my agreement was $30/mo off for hardware. So in 2 years, that bill jumps up because of the devices and not the service. This artificially makes all the plans look cheaper, because none of them are possible without the box.
Speaking of boxes, Directv isn’t offering the GenieGo anymore, and my rep said that it was because they were preparing a streaming-only service. He said a lot of things, though, so I would only use random service rep’s word as the basis for wild speculation.
Keep up the good work.
– Joe
For this fall seasons there are all of the CW shows that I love and I want to show support. I am a cord killer and let’s say I have a system to get TV. However for these shows I want to do the most that I can to show my support. Bryan since you have had a network TV show what things make a difference for TV execs?
– Martin
Links
Mr. Robot (211), Justified (309-310).
01:08 – Mr. Robot (211)
25:51 – Justified (309-310)
Does Netflix have too much influence? Is Twitter’s NFL gambit working? And guest Dan Trachtenberg talks about his upcoming episode of Dark Mirror and why TV may come to theaters.
Summer Movie Draft, Mr. Robot (209-210), Justified (308).
00:41 – Summer Movie Draft
03:48 – Mr. Robot (209-210)
25:27 – Justified (308)
Netflix asks FCC to crack down on data caps, CBS All Access adds a commercial free tier, and do you still care about a new TiVo model? With special guest Dan Benjamin.
CordKillers: Ep. 136 – Netflerks
Recorded: September 12 2016
Guest: Dan Benjamin
Intro Video
Primary Target
Signal Intelligence
Gear Up
Under Surveillance
Front Lines
Dispatches from the Front
Hey guys,
Just listened to this past week’s show and wanted to add some points about your experiences with NBCs coverage of the Olympics.
Admittingly, I tend to live in the NBCSN app for most of the year because they have exclusive rights to English Premier League soccer, but I found that the NBCSN app did most of the things you were saying they should for the Olympics.
The app on my phone updated and added the Olympic rings in the icon. When I opened it, it gave me the chance to select Olympic events, athletes and/or countries I wanted to track.
Then I would receive live notifications each day telling me when an important event was about to start and give me the option to just click on it to go to the live stream and watch.
I would get what seemed like at least a dozen notifications a day that included my preferences and other random events it considered note worthy (so for example “Watch the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt run in the 200m semi.” And so on)
One complaint though is that most events tended to be a raw feed. If it made the primetime broadcast, that would be when you would get the actual commentary or special athlete profile segments. During the day, if it was not something broadcast on live TV it was just the event with sounds from the venue.
Aside from the Olympic stuff…wanted to offer a tip for Premier League fans. All games are broadcast on TV, but depending on the cable company some games are in SD. However in the app, all games are HD. There is also a RedZone like, app only channel called Goal Rush. This shows the game of the day live and cuts to big plays and goals in all of the games. Definitely great if you have a fantasy team.
Cheers!
– Byron NYC
Hey Tom and Brian,
Wanted to throw a quick comment (non-advertising related) regarding your discussion on The Departed. The movie, despite being often as “original” or a “masterpiece”, is not original. The movie itself is a remake of the 2002 award-winning film “Infernal Affairs” from Hong Kong (the true “original” has a prequel and sequel as well, of which portions were incorporated in the American remake). I don’t believe it’s on Netflix though it’s available for rent and purchase on Amazon.
Best,
– Derrick
Hey Cord Killers,
What would be the best way to watch The CW without cable? I’ve used the Xbox app but it’s not that great, & the app has adds. Would you recommend buying an HD antenna, or buying season passes for the DC TV shows on Amazon?
If antenna is the better route, what brand would you recommend?
Thanks,
– Zach
Hey guys,
You keep saying that Netflix has the new star trek discovery show for everywhere but the US…well you forgot about Canada. Bell Media outbid Netflix, will air the premiere on CTV and then the rest on the SPACE channel. Which you need cable for!!
They say it may be available “later” for streaming. Space also got the entire star trek back catalogue that will just air…on cable…not streaming
Man…Bell sucks.
– Joel
Hey Brian and Tom,
On your recent discussion of how to retain your in country Netflix experience while traveling, my solution has been to use a VPN tied to my home router. I run Tomato on my Asus router (because I’m a geek) but I’m wondering if the router vendors are starting to include VPN software as well. I had no issues traveling to Europe or South America and keeping my home version of Netflix.
Granted, roll your own VPN is probably more complicated than most are interested messing with, but the router vendors might have an opportunity to differentiate their product for the globetrotting public.
– Bryan
Links
Summer Movie Draft, Mr. Robot (208), Justified (307). With special guest Justin Robert Young.
00:59 – Summer Movie Draft
04:04 – Mr. Robot (208)
16:35 – Justified (307)
Tom shares his tips for cordcutting direct from Japan, Neilson says more people are watching TV, and a bunch of new apps! With special guest Justin Robert Young.
CordKillers: Ep. 135 – Gideon’s HDMI
Recorded: August 29 2016
Guest: Justin Robert Young
Intro Video
Primary Target
Signal Intelligence
Under Surveillance
Front Lines
Dispatches from the Front
Hello Cordkillers,
I’m an idiot. I plunked down $99 for NFL Game Pass. I cut the cord this month. I got rid of Dish network since they were still fighting with Scripps which would affect my ability to record/watch the Hawks. I decided to sign up for PlayStation Vue (saving about $100 a month). That got me all the cable channels I wanted and most of the network shows on demand. The missing piece was how I was going to watch my beloved Seattle Seahawks. So I signed up for the 7 day trial of NFL Game Pass. I used it to listen to the last half of last weeks Vikings game on my phone. I read all the fine print and a few reddit threads and thought I understood what I was getting. So tonight I got home after date night with my wife, ready to watch the Cowboys game. Booted up my brand new PS4 which I got so I could run the NFL app and get better performance with PS View than I had on my PS3. I open up the NFL app and pull up the game. I can’t watch the 30 min cut version due to “broadcast restrictions” (hey it’s 10:30 PM and I just wanted to get the highlights before bed).I pull up the full game and I have no choice of broadcast team like I did when I listened to the radio via the phone app. So now I have to watch the opposing team’s commentators. I’m going to have to call to see if this is the way its going to be during the regular season. I can’t even fast forward through the stupid “We’ll be right back after this commercial break” nonsense that stays on the screen for what would have been the entire live commercial break.. I’m so disappointed.
I know NFL Network will be coming to PS View but I don’t think that will give me access to all the full games, just the Thursday night games and the RedZone highlight versions of each weeks games. If any of the Cordkillers can give me any advice that isn’t “go to a sports bar” or “watch it live over the air” I’d love to hear it. I’ve actually backed the antenna/DVR project you discussed in the last episode but that won’t be out in time for the season.
Pity me,
– Keith in Kent
Brian and Tom,
I like to live in the past.
I didn’t see a single Olympic event without a spoiler and I’m rocking a 5 year old phone with no alerts. I check the news every so often though and that’s my downfall. Is there hope for people like me? Do I need to buy a bunker from that guy selling seeds?
Here’s an idea for anyone in the media distribution industry – how about news without sports? Bit like ESPN in reverse.
I know lots of people couldn’t care less about stick and ball. How are sports spoilers any different than CNN announcing “New Star Wars out this week: Han Solo died. You’ll never guess what comes next”?
– Edward
Tom, Brian, and Bryce
I would like to add an idea to the reason for the name change of the new Anne series. In part it might be to distance the new movie from the Sullivan Entertainment versions.
There are two different fandoms those that love the books and those that love the Sullivan produced TV. Sullivan TV has controlled the visual media of the Intellectual Property since 1985. After the first mini-series he paid less attention to the original work than Michael Landon did to the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. At least Landon kept the story in the same time period, even if he did call Plum Creek the Prairie. Sullivan time traveled Anne and Gilbert from the early 1900’s to 1940’s and had Gilbert serving in WWII. In “reality” Anne and Gilbert’s sons (like LM Montgomery’s sons) served in WWI as very very young men. This very much irritated fans of the books. I can watch the first miniseries with pleasure but three sequels make me want to throw things at the screen. Many book fans refer to the last three mini-series/movies as really horrible fan fiction. The character and place names stayed the same (except when they go off to WWII), but the heart was hollow and contained nothing of the original.
I think in a way the Sullivan series sanitized drama that was considered too adult like Anne’s daughter being stillborn, parents having to send children off to war and those children dying, very young by today’s standards teens getting married or engaged because the boy was going off to war, for the more acceptable hero goes to fight the Nazi’s story they told. There is also a character in Rilla of Ingleside (WWI book) that stands on the back stoop and repeatedly calls Americans especially President Wilson cowards who are letting other people fight and die for them. I’m guessing that might not go over so well with some people. Anne of Green Gables is often on the banned book list because of its how adoption is shown in the book. Adoption in that time period was about getting cheap labor (room/board no money maybe allowed to go to school) for a farm or house not forever families. The story of the abuse Anne suffered before Marilla and Matthew and the story of other abused orphans is horrible it is also based on real stories of that time.
I’m looking forward to the new movie. I hope it is more true to the source material.
– Kimberly
(Texas Teacher)
Links