What Netflix needs to do to survive, why Apple hired Sony’s TV presidents, and whether Netflix should warn you about download limits. Brian says no! With special guest Kristi Kates.
CordKillers: Ep. 175 – Netflix Killers
Recorded: June 19 2017
Guest: Kristi Kates
Intro Video
Primary Target
- 80% Cut the Cord Because Cable TV is Simply Too Expensive
– A report from TiVo shows nearly half of pay TV subscribers are at least considering cutting the cord and that 80% of cord cutters made the change because pay TV was too expensive. After price the main reasons for cord-cutting were given as the availability of streaming services and the use of over the air antennas. Of those unsatisfied with their current Pay TV service 81.4% said it was the high price, 32.9% said it was poor customer service and 29.9% said it was the quality of the TV service. - Netflix has more American subscribers than cable TV
– Leichtman research estimates that as of the first three months of 2017, Netflix has 50.85 million US subscribers and all cable TV outlets combined have 48.61 million. That doesn’t include satellite TV service like Dish and DirecTV but still, Netflix can say they’re bigger than cable. As for Internet-only services Leichtman estimates Sling TV has 1.36 million subscribers and DirecTV Now has 375,000. YouTube TV and Hulu TV hadn’t launched yet in the time period covered.
How to Watch
- Apple has hired two well-regarded TV execs to ramp up its original video plans
– Apple has hired Sony TV joint Presidents Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg. The two men helped bring about shows like Breaking Bad, The Shield, Justified and Shark Tank. They’ll both report to Eddy Cue.
What to Watch
- Star Trek: Discovery Begins September 24
– Star Trek Discovery’s 15-episode first season will start September 24 with the first 8 episodes running until November 5th. The last seven will begin streaming in January. - Yes, The Dark Tower Movie Is a Sequel to the Books
– About the Dark Tower, Nick Arcel told IGN “It is, in fact, a continuation. It is a canon continuation. That’s exactly what we intended and what Stephen King has signed off on.” - Bill Nye Saves the World will be back for a second season
What We’re Watching
- Brian: Justified, Better Call Saul, Flight of the Conchords
- Tom: Justified, American Gods, Fargo, Better Call Saul, Twin Peaks, Orphan Black, Handmaid’s Tale
- Kristi: Star Trek Voyager, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Gravity is Just a Habit
- On the Lookout: Brown Girls
Front Lines
- Musical.ly debuts original mini-shows from NBC and MTV
– The lip-syncing social video app Musical.ly released its first original content to run along side user created videos, after inking deals with Viacom, NBCUniversal and Hearst Magazines Digital Media. The content is designed to be interactive, encouraging viewers to send in responses. The 2-4 minute episodes air weekly from the MTV, E! and Seventeen at launch, free to all users without ads. Shows will be featured in Musical.ly’s trending section for 24-hours after dropping. - Time Warner has signed a two-year deal with Snapchat for 10 original shows a year, including scripted drama and comedies.
- Amazon Prime video users who add Showtime, HBO, Cinemax and Starz will now be able to login to the services individual apps with their Amazon accounts.
- DirecTV Now’s latest attempt to draw new subscribers is a free Roku Premiere
– AT&T is offering two free Roku Premiere boxes for new DirecTV subscribers who pay for two months service up front. The Roku Premiere normally costs $70 and can handle 4K content, though DirecTV Now does not yet stream in 4K. - Netflix places limits on how many times you can download certain content
– Android Police noted that Netflix has limits on how many times you can download it’s shows for offline viewing. Combined with the fact that every download has an expiration date that requires a re-download, this could catch people who repeatedly run out of time to view a downloaded show or download to multiple devices. Netflix doesn’t tell you what the limit is, and Android Police says it seems to vary by show. - Sling TV rolls out a better DVR with an option to protect recordings, record from Fox
– Sling TV has added the ability to protect a recording from deletion on its $5 a month 50-hour cloud DVR service. Sling will also start showing the option to a record a show from the franchise screen, not just episode screens. And episodes from the same show will be grouped into folders now on Roku and eventually on other platforms as well. The DVR is now available on the Fire TV and Xbox platforms and finally Fox channels are now available to record.
Dispatches from the Front
Tom and Brian,
First time commenter long time listener!
I wanted to weigh in on the discussion around why Netflix content has such an memorable impact to the market. I believe Netflix’s secret sauce is its ease of access to its service.
If you recall, right out of the gate, Netflix’s streaming service was available on multiple platforms including smartphones, tablets, smart TV’s as well as DVD/Bluray players and gaming platforms (Xbox 360/One, PlayStation 3/4, Nintendo Wii/Wii U, xDS). Users both technically savvy and not could access Netflix’s content and have a very similar experience within their comfort zone. In my opinion, this helped Netflix leapfrog the competition and solidify itself in the space. Even now, Netflix continues to target ease of access by integrating Netflix into cord-keeping offerings like Comcast’s voice enabled x1 platform.
Love the show!
– Mike
Hi guys! Debbie from hot and sticky San Antonio here (oh wait, that’s a different show). I’m listening to you guys talk about Katy Perry’s livestreaming (show 174) and I feel the need to point out that Katy Perry’s livestream was the same basic format as that of CBS’s Big Brother. Fly On The Wall Productions, which is involved with Big Brother, produced Katy Perry’s five-day livestream. The Big Brother live feeds are on CBS All Access, and a new cast debuts later this month.
– Debbie
I wanted to update you guys on what Vidangel.com. They recently released a new service to filter video content over the top of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. Thanks for your podcast, I enjoy the up to date news on all things media-ish.
– Michael
FYI: In order to watch Scam School on the Science Channel when it airs, I found that I can sign up for a free 5 day trial of Playstation Vue. Unfortunately, this means I cannot confirm this will work until after Cordkillers airs. Why only 5 days?
– Brian
Hello Cordkillers,
Nicole Lee’s complaint about not being able to change the stop time on recordings is one of my biggest pet peeves with PlayStation Vue. When you start a “recorded” show it will ask you if you want to see the DVR version or the On Demand version. The DVR version lets you fast forward commercials. However, way too often the recorded version cuts off before the last few minutes of the show. This happens more often with certain shows (Doctor Who and Better Call Saul are two I can recall). Of course you can’t fast forward the on-demand version so you can’t jump to the end to see what you missed. As far as I can tell there is no setting to record X minutes longer. So frustrating.
– Keith
Tom and Brian,
Was curious if you’d ever done any review on the Select TV service or discussed their future SelectTV One set top box.
Their service looks like Just Watch on steroids for $2.99 a month.
Could their SelectTV One box be the ala carte solution Brian has longed for once ATSC 3.0 gets rolling?
Look forward to your next show…
– Armando
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