Is Sling TV a success? Why ESPN is lying to you. The FCC wants to save the past. With special guest Owen JJ Stone.
It’s Spoilerin’ Time 108
The Expanse authors Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, Deadpool, 11.22.63 (101), Justified (105). With special guests Ty Franck, Daniel Abraham, and Veronica Belmont.
00:59 – Winter Movie Draft
01:42 – Interview with The Expanse authors Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham (James S. A. Corey) and Veronica Belmont
17:23 – Deadpool
25:06 – 11.22.63 (101)
33:58 – Justified (105)
Cordkillers 108 – DVRs, Still a Thing
Is 800,000 subscribers good enough for HBO? Dish Hopper settles again. CBS All Access gets Fuller. With special guest Veronica Belmont.
CordKillers: 108 – DVRs, Still a Thing
Recorded: February 15 2016
Guest: Veronica Belmont
Intro Video
Primary Target
- HBO Now Is… Just OK, with 800,000 Subscribers
– Time Warner announced it has signed up 800,000 subscribers for HBO Now.
An analyst asked on the earnings call why it was only 800k
– HBO head Richard Plepler said “I wouldn’t say only 800,000 subs. We’re just getting started. … I think we’re going to make a lot of progress.”
– Total HBO added 2.7 million customers last year, so about 1.9 million without HBO Now.
Signal Intelligence
- Bryan Fuller to produce new Star Trek series
– Bryan Fuller, Wrote for DS9 and VOY
– Created Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls and Hanibal
– Showrunner for American Gods miniseries on Starz
– Now named Showrunner for CBS new Star Trek coming to CBS All Access in 2017
– Generally well-received news by Trek fans
– Does this change the complaint about having to pay for another service?
Gear Up
- Dish to disable DVR ad-skip for 7 days after broadcast to resolve Fox suit
– Dish and Fox settled copyright dispute over Hopper DVR features
– Dish will disable AUTOHOP ad-skipping for 7 days after a program airs.
– Previously ABC got a three-day delay and CBS got a week
– Side note: PS Vue and Sling won’t allow any recording/skipping on some channels
Front Lines
- Star Wars: Episode VIII Begins Filming Mark Hamill’s Face and Adds New Cast Members
– Lucasfilm announced filming has begin for Star Wars: Episode VIII and released a short video of Mark Hamil and Daisy Ridley on set along with Director Rian Johnson. Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran have also been announced as official cast members. - Dr. Dre Filming Apple’s First Scripted Television Series
– The Hollywood Reporter says it has learned that Apple’s first scripted television series will star Dr. Dre who will also executive produce. The six half-hour episode series will be called Vital Signs and likely be distributed through Apple Music. Sam Rockwell and Mo McCrae are cast and music video director Paul Hunter is running it. Empire’s Robert Munic wrote the episodes. - NBC is launching a streaming service for the worst TV imaginable
– NBC Universal is launching another niche streaming service, this time for reality shows. The service is called Hayu. No launch date has been given but it will be available in the UK for £3.99, €4.99 in Ireland or in Australia for AU$5.99. - BitTorrent comes to Apple TV through a live news app
– OTT News has launched on iOS, tvOS and Android as a test case for live streaming using BitTorrent. Alicé Anil, James Reinl, and Doc Stodden have been using BitTorerent Live’s first mobile app to stream coverage. This is the actual BItTorrent COMPANY’s tech for live streaming without needing a CDN. - Hulu’s universal Windows 10 app features live tiles and Cortana
– And a few other things. Hulu now has an app specifically built for Windows 10, integrating with Cortana voice commands and Windows Live Tiles. Cinemax is now available on Sling TV for an extra $10 a month. And Amazon announced it is reneweing Mozart in the Jungle for a third season.
Under Surveillance
- DARK TOWER movie looking to cast Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey
– The Rolling Stone is saying Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey apparently the preferred choices for the roles of Roland of Deschain and the Man in Black. At least Stephen King says it is more likely than not. - Netflix’s Black Mirror Is Already Getting A-List Talent
– Deadline says Joe Wright (Pan) has signed up to direct an episode of Black Mirror starring Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World) and Alice Eve (ST Into Darkness). - Top Gear gets its cast as Clarkson begins filming for Amazon
– And the full new cast of Top Gear is pundit Eddie Jordan, Rory Reid (former CNET!!) driver Sabine Schmitz and journalist Chris Harris. They jin DJ Chris Evans and TV star Matt LeBlanc. Meanwhile Amazon is building around Clarkson and crew. - House of Cards’ S4 trailer is out. The news eason starts March 4.
- Watch the first trailer for Flaked, Will Arnett’s new Netflix comedy coming March 11
- Say Hello to The Punisher in the New Daredevil Season 2 Trailer – Returns March 18
- Watch the first Game of Thrones season six trailer. Returns April 24
- Netflix kids series ‘Beat Bugs’ features music of The Beatles sung by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Sia, and more coming in August.
- Thunderbirds coming to Amazon as CG later this year
- Brian: Justified, Deadpool, Starship Troopers, Dope, 11.22.63
- Tom: Flash, Scare PewDiePie, A Trip to Unicorn Island, Justified (105), Star Wars: Rebels, Deadpool, 11.22.63, Chef’s Table
- Veronica: The Walking Dead, Catastrophe, Broken Dreams
- On the Lookout: 11-22-63 (Hulu, Mondays) and LOVE (Netflix, upcoming)
Dispatches from the Front
Oh well after subscribing to Netflix for 4 years, 3 and half before they were officially launched in Australia they have finally lost me as a subscriber after blocking the VPN and blocking my Paypal payments to the VPN provider I use to access their Library in the US, as the Australian one has very few of the shows my Teenagers like to watch. I know i am not alone in this as 8 of the 10 people i know who have Netflix have also done the same, I know this is a very small sample, but i wonder what affect this would have on Netflix”s share price if a similar number of people in Australia and especially China ,who have an estimated 30 million users using VPN’s as Netflix isnt even officially available there yet, cancelled, what are your thoughts, why are Netflix doing the right thing after years of turning a blind eye? or is it a case of the studios finally leaving them no choice.
– Alan
have often found that there is nothing much to watch at Netflix. So I was curious – am I just being picky? Thought you might be interested in my scribblings on a paper napkin while getting coffee this AM….
Using the data at Flixed there are currently 5658 movies/TV at Netflix – all categories in US. There are none in the max number of rating stars. There are 122 in the next category down; 836 in the next; and 1621 in nex. So there are only 2 % in the top two rating categories.And 15% in the third category. The fourth category alone is 29%. That means 45% in top 4 rating categories.
So 55% of the movies (3644) in US are below the top 4 rating categories. [some rounding effects]
The chances of finding something good to watch are pretty low especially if one has already seen most of the top rated ones or if most of top rated ones are in categories not favored like anime, children’s or comedies.
– Judy
Hi Guys,
I wanted to let you know that I finally returned my Cablecard from my Tivo and cancelled my Comcast cable, upgraded my internet to 150/10 and saving $50 a month in the process.
To supplement my viewing appetite, I signed up for a trial of Xfinity Stream TV, a fairly new Internet based steaming package using their X1 software and it is available in Boston, Chicago and reportedly launching soon in Seattle. It includes live locals and HBO for $15 a month, available via web browser or their iOS and Android mobile apps, 20 hour cloud DVR, On demand access, and authentication access for the network specific apps including HBOGO.
It requires that you have Comcast Internet, but for the same price as HBO Now, I’m pretty happy with it, especially living in a market that still doesn’t have Playstation Vue packages. Thought you guys would like to hear about another option out there.
– Josh in NH
P.S. Finally signed up to be a patron
Links
It’s Spoilerin’ Time 107
F is for Family, The Expanse (109-110), Justified (104)
00:32 – Winter Movie Draft
04:38 – F is for Family (S1 Impressions)
11:41 – The Expanse (109-110)
18:43 – Justified (104)
Cordkillers 107 – WYWWYWOADDYW
The Super Bowl breaks records online and streams for free. The best Blu-Ray player might be the best streaming device for 4K.
CordKillers: 107 – WYWWYWOADDYW
Recorded: February 8 2016
Guest: None
Intro Video
Primary Target
- BBC’s first broadcast into space
- Astronaut Scott Kelly watched Super Bowl from space
– Saturday British astronaut Tim Peake and colleagues watched the BBC’s first ever space broadcast as it live-streamed Scotland v. England in the Six Nations Rugby tournament
– England won 15 – 9
– The BBC worked with the ESA to feed the game to the station
– Scott Kelly watched the Super Bowl. NASA gave him the day off
Signal Intelligence
- Super Bowl breaks streaming record
- CBS annoucnes numbers
– CBS says a record audience streamed the Super Bowl
– Streamers watched 315 million minutes of game coverage.
– An average of 1.4 million people streamed the game per minute.
– NBC had 800K avg viewers per minute and 1.3 million current users last year
– Some Apple TV users had problems with the stream (Tom didn’t)
Gear Up
- First Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray player goes on sale
– Samsung UBD-K8500 was on sale in a store in Santa Monica and will now ship Feb. 10th acc. to Best Buy
– Ultra HD 4K
– Was not supposed to ship until March
– The Martian and Kingsmen still preorder only
– Can do Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon , M-Go and YuppTV
Front Lines
- Louis C.K. drops future ‘Horace and Pete’ episodes to $3
– Louis C.K. has reduced the price for episode2 of of Horace and Pete from $5 to $2 and $3 for episodes that come out after that. He wrote eloqeuntly about how expensive the show is to produce by way of explanation. - Apple TV’s universal search now works with Fox, FX, and National Geographic
– Apple has added Fox, FXNow and NatGeo TV to universal search on the latest Apple TV. That is in addition to iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime , PBS and PBS Kids. Also Apple released Apple tvOS 9.2 beta 3 to developers today. Today’s update added dictation for text entry and app store search by Siri. - Matt LeBlanc joins Chris Evans as co-host for BBC ‘Top Gear’ revamp
– Joey from Friends AKA Matt Leblanc has been cast to host the BBC’s Top Gear along with radio veteran Chris Evans when it returns in May. Additional cast members will be announced shortly. - ESPN Says Skinny Bundles Are Big. Comcast Says They’re Not. The Future of TV Is Confused.
– Comcast added 89,000 subscribers in Q4 but not enough to overcome a net loss of 36,000 on the year. The company added 460,000 Internet subscribers in the quarter. Comcast’s Neil Smit said skinny bundles were a very small part of the TV subscribership with 75% of the company’s growth coming from higher-end packages. - Amazon brings its Alexa assistant to first-gen Fire TVs
– The original Fire TV got an update that adds in voice assistant Alexa. Fire TV boxes will get it first followed by Fire TV sticks. - The Fine Bros abandon attempt to license reaction videos after barrage of criticism
– By the way moments after we finished Cordkillers, the Fine Brothers posted to Medium Monday night that they have rescinded all trademarks and applications for brands related to reaction videos. They also discontinued a planned program to license their reaction video format to other people.
Under Surveillance
- YouTube Will Premiere Its First Original Series And Movies Next Week, Including A New PewDiePie Show
- Brian: F is for Family (full season), Bob’s Burgers, Justified, The Expanse, The Shining (Netflix)
- Tom: Downton Abbey, The Expanse, The Magicians, The Flash, Justified, Venture Brothers, Super Bowl, Late Show w/ Stephen Colbert, Finished Clone Wars
- On the Lookout: Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon Prime, 2 seasons, 30m)
Dispatches from the Front
“CBS’ Super Bowl telecast averaged 111.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s fast nationals, and peaked at 115.5 million between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. The total is off from last year’s record 114.4 million on NBC. That featured the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks in a game that went down to the wire. CBS called the 2016 telecast, during which the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers in a relatively humdrum game, the third-most watched program in TV history. The live stream drew 3.96 million unique viewers across a variety of screens.“
Super Bowl Averages 111.9 Million Viewers
Doing some quick math means that 3.5% of viewers watched via the internet.
– Jay
Hi Cord Killers
I downloaded this app from Yahoo called Yahoo Video Guide.
Is possible you guys featured it on the who already but if not here it is.
The app detects which streaming services you have installed on your device (Netflix, Amazon Video, HBO Now..etc)
Then is shows you what new movies and shows are available, also breaks down by categories and in which services are available. I’d like for this to be included within the Apple TV or other boxes.
Thanks
– Alex from NYC
Hi Guys,
I have a suggestion. Since Man In The High Castle seems to have taken a bit of a backseat I would suggest this. Just watch the last episode and you will be fine. Much of what has happened up to where you are has been a set up for the last episode. I don’t think you will be disappointed and will understand why I keep harping on it after you have watched it.
– Stan
Hey guys,
Undateable on NBC has been live all this season and is great to see current events and the actors personal lives intrude on the show, plus the screw ups are usually really fun and the cast is great, check it out.
Also, Grease Live was great, the scope of the moving sets, both indoor and outdoor plus the cast was amazing to watch even in the rain.
– Mike from Bastrop TX
Hey guys, just to check in why I pay for cable. I watch probably 40 shows a week more or less and only some are on Hulu timely and don’t come to Netflix or Amazon Prime until the season is over making talking with co-workers impossible on current shows.
Buying them individually would be way more than paying for cable at this point in time and I am too far from Austin to use an antenna without planting a pole and using a huge aerial.
Thanks for your time,
– Michael
Links
It’s Spoilerin’ Time 106
Mad Dogs (104-105), The Expanse (108), Justified (103)
01:23 – Winter Movie Draft
04:42 – Triage
08:03 – Mad Dogs (104-105)
14:38 – The Expanse (108)
21:29 – Justified (103)
Cordkillers 106 – Cordkillers React
Time Warner Cable numbers rise, The FCC tries to save cable companies from themselves and The Fine Bros. piss off the Internet. With special guest Iyaz Akhtar.
CordKillers: 106 – Cordkillers React
Recorded: February 1 2016
Guest: Iyaz Akhtar
Intro Video
Primary Target
- Fine Brothers react when backlash over ‘React’ videos licensing gets heated
- The Verge story on Fine Brothers backlash
- Trademark filing
- Hank Green on trademarking React
- Trademark Law Does Not Require Companies To Tirelessly Censor the Internet | Electronic Frontier Foundation
- The Fine Bros. address the ‘confusion’ and backlash around React World
- Introduction to How Trademarks Work – How Trademarks Work
- Trademark Basics
- Can you trademark common words and phrases?
- BBC coverage of Fine Bros.
- Media Law Resource Center
- FINE BROTHERS RESPONSE: Retracting Trademark
- Content ID complaints biting bigger channels
-Complaints from Douglas Walker at Channel Awesome (370,456) , Eli the Computer Guy (634,706 subscribers), Alternate History Hub (509,114 subscribers), and I Hate Everything (379,838 subscribers) over “strikes” copyright or community.
– Complaint is consistently about communications and the appeals process.
– Tom’s theory: Content ID is a nightmare but YT needed it to defend itself legally. It has tried to damp down problems by proactively helping its biggest stars and responding quickly when smaller ones get loud.
Signal Intelligence
- Time Warner Cable is getting new TV subscribers for the first time since 2006
– Time Warner Cable had a net addition of 54,000 subscribers in Q4
– That made a net 32,000 growth in subs for the year,last time that happened was 2006.
– BY comparison Internet subs grew 281,000 - Verizon is allowing TV subscribers to turn premium channel free previews once a year for 48 hours. HBO, Showtime, Starz, EPIX and Cinemax
Gear Up
- The FCC is going to war over set-top boxes
- Actual proposal
– FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposes requiring multichannel video programming distributors, like cable TV companies, to allow subscribers to use any set top box to access service in the following ways
– What programming is available (channel listing, on-demand offerings)
– Entitlements – can you record the programming, transfer it to mobile etc.
– Content delivery
– Companies could use any published transparent format to do so.
Front Lines
- Time Warner Loves Hulu, But Also Wants To Ruin It
– The Wall Street Journal reports that Time Warner (NOT the cable part but the part that owns HBO and Turner) is in talks to buy a stake in Hulu. At the same time Time Warner would like Hulu to stop showing current season episodes of TV shows. - Apple could pull a Netflix, start creating original TV shows
– Sources told TheStreet.com that Apple’s Eddy Cue, chief entertainment architect, and Robert Kondrk, VP of iTunes content, has been talking with TV producers about creating original programs to offer exclusively in the iTunes store. - Time spent online ‘overtakes TV’ among youngsters
– Childwise has been tracking children’s media usage in the UK since the mid-1990s. For the first time their latest survey said children 5-16 in the UK spent an average of 3 hours a day online and 2.1 hours a day watching television. Netflix was the most popular TV service of any kind followed by ITV1 and BBC1. - Sundance champ ‘Birth of a Nation’ chose Fox over Netflix
– Birth of a Nation from Nate Parker won the Sundance film festival Grand Jury and Audience prizes for drama. Netflix sidles up and offered $20 million according to Hollywood Reporter. But Turner took a lower bid of $17.5 million from Fox Searchlight in order to insure a wider theatrical release, as well as showings in high schools and colleges. - Sky’s Now TV Smart Box looks a lot like a Roku 4
– Sky and Roku have introduced the Now TV Smart Box which combines pay TV content and 60 free-to-air channels along with streaming services. It looks very similar to the Ultra HD Roku 4. The box will be available to Sky subscribers later this year.
Under Surveillance
- Louis C.K. surprises fans with new show Horace and Pete, co-starring Steve Buscemi
– Louis C K is selling a new video series starring himself and Steve Buscemi, called Horace and Pete for $5 an episode. It’s centered around an Irish Bar and Alan Alda, Nick DiPaolo, Aidy Bryant, Edie Falco, Kurt Metzger, and Steven Wright all make appearances. - Netflix is bringing ‘House of Cards’ back for S5 in 2017 without creator and writer Beau Willimon
- Netflix is officially bringing back Gilmore Girls
- The Wertzone: AMERICAN GODS names its lead, British actor Ricky Whittle will play the role of Shadow
- Watchup, like Haystack is like a Pandora for news clip, now available on the new Apple TV app store.
- The New York Times made a nine-minute VR video called The Contender that follows four of our current presidential candidates through their campaign rallies
- Deadline says the Blade Runner sequel starts filmming in July ( Denis Villeneuve directing, starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling)
- Brian: The Expanse, Mad Dogs (through 105), Justified, SO MUCH Bob’s Burgers and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Tom: The Magicians (102), X-Files (2) The Expanse, Agent Carter, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Star Wars: Rebels, Mad Dogs (104-105), Justified (103), Grease Live, Clone Wars
- Iyaz: The Flash, “Wrestling with Wregret” (on YouTube), “Mr. Sunday Movies” (on YouTube), way too much WWE Network and “My Crazy Ex” on Lifetime
- On the Lookout: Chelsea Does
Dispatches from the Front
Hi fellow Cordkiller dudes! A longtime fan, (aka MaxxAmmo) with a possible story or lead. Seems Amazon has taken Star Wars Rebels S2 Ep11 and called it Season 3 Ep 1!! Can you say “”Money grab?”” As a cordkiller and someone who has bought the Season Pass, I was outraged! Many season pass holders were furious and left harsh comments on the episode 11 page demanding Amazon fix this obvious problem. The comments have since mysteriously disappeared overnite. As an Amazon Prime member and long time loyal Amazon customer I called and expressed my outrage, the only resolution offered was a full refund of my Season 2 pass and the price of Episode 11 in HD credited to my account. I was told this is being investigated by Amazon and no clear answer why (S2 Ep. 11) is called Season 3 Ep. 1 was offered at this time. Link to Amazon’s Star Wars Rebels Season 3 page here.
– Kevin
Netflix/Hulu blocking VPN
Another use case of why you’d need to use a VPN legally is our phones.
With the presence of Free Wifi everywhere, including my employer, I don’t want anyone watching my phone’s web traffic just because I don’t want to chew through cellular data so I run an always on VPN on my phone.
Because of this when these conditions are present
– I’m at home
– the VPN is still on
– I’m in the US
– I’m connecting to a US VPN endpoint
The end result is Hulu and Netflix are blocked. 🙁
– Dave
Hello Tom and Brian,
On last week’s episode you guys were talking about how Netflix had no real reason to release viewership numbers, that made me wonder how the show creators and production houses felt about this. Wouldn’t it hurt their ability to negotiate with other networks or services when shopping around other shows they make? Seems like that could backfire in the long run. Anyways love the show, keep up the awesome work.
Your boss,
– Juan
Links
It’s Spoilerin’ Time 105
Mad Dogs (102-103), The Expanse (101-107), The Magicians (101), Justified (102)
00:36 – Winter Movie Draft
02:18 – Mad Dogs (102-103) with Romany Malco!
24:09 – The Expanse (101-107)
33:39 – The Magicians (101)
42:35 – Justified (102)
46:32 – Triage
Cordkillers 105 – Sportskillers
Would you pay $8 for ESPN standalone? $20? $36? Can ESPN subscribe in a cord-cutting world? Also, the fallout from Netflix’s International expansion and Apple TV gets a podcasts app again. With special guest Justin Robert Young.
It’s Spoilerin’ Time 104
The Expanse (102-105), Master of None (106-110), Justified (101)
00:55 – Winter Movie Draft
04:43 – Triage (No spoilers)
07:32 – The Expanse (102-105)
17:07 – Master of None (106-110)
20:11 – Justified (101)