Cordkillers Ep. 35 – SPOOOOON!

Cordkillers / September 3rd, 2014

Why Amazon bought Twitch, and excitement for the return of The Tick!

 

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CordKillers: Ep. 35 – SPOOOOON!
Recorded: August 31, 2014
Guest:  Fraser Cain

Intro Video 

  • None

Primary Target

  • Amazon buys Twitch
  • Why Amazon Really Bought Twitch
  • Prime-time Twitch is bigger than CNN, MSNBC, and MTV
  • – Amazon buying Twitch ($97- million in cash, total of $1.1 billion)
    – one hour and 45 minutes on the site per day
    – 1.35 percent of all downstream traffic in the U.S. during peak times
    – Emmett Shear: “ We’re keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon’s support we’ll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch.”

Signal Intelligence

Gear Up

Under surveillance

  • Amazon is resurrecting ‘The Tick’ with Patrick Warburton for new pilot 
  • –Patrick Warburton made a deal with Sony Television to shoot a pilot for The Tick to try on Amazon.
    – Jeffrey Tambor’s “Transparent,” which will drop its entire 10-episode first season on Friday, Sept. 26.
  • Amazon greenlights yet another batch of original kids TV pilots 
  • -Five more kids pilots
    -Three animated
    – “The Stinky & Dirty Show” about a backhoe and a garbage truck that are best friends
    – “Buddy: Tech Detective” aimed at preschoolers
    – “Niko and the Sword of Light” about a young adventurer.
    -Two live action
    – “Table 58” about a motley lunch table of outcast kids
    – “Just Add Magic” about friends who find an old cookbook with magical recipes.
    -Previously announced Sara Solves It which makes 6 kids shows in this pilot season
    -Current children’s shows in the coming months: “Tumble Leaf” on September 5, “Creative Galaxy” on October 3, and “Annedroids” on October 30.

Front Lines

On Screen

Dispatches from the Front

  • Questions from the live audience

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box

ComeWatch Cordkillers Live this Sunday!

Cordkillers / August 26th, 2014

If you’re in Atlanta this weekend and headed to DragonCon you MUST join us in room A601-A602 of the Marriott at 11:30 PM (Eastern) on Sunday night August 31st. Why?

BECAUSE we’re doing a live Cordkillers y’all. Cords will not survive this and you can say youw ere there. Join us! And together we will rule the cord side– not cord side– you know what we mean. Better see you there!

Time: Sun Aug. 31, 11:30 pm Location: A601 – A602 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

Cordkillers Ep. 34 – My mother is part camel

Cordkillers / August 24th, 2014

Want to understand why HBO won’t go Internet only and Comcast will? We have a camel and fig metaphor for you.

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CordKillers: Ep. My mother is part camel
Recorded: August 24, 2014
Guests: Jeff Cannata, Anthony Carboni

Intro Video 

Primary Target

  • Wall Street Estimates for HBO Broadband-Only Revenue, Profits
  • – Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar.
    – HBO “windows” all of its new programming for digital-only subscribers. That is, you could stream “Game of Thrones” or “True Detective” on your iPad, but you’d have to wait for six months or a year to get the new seasons. Venkateshwar figures HBO could sell these wait-a-while subscriptions for $11 a month, a discount from the $15 a month the average cable TV subscriber pays for HBO.
    – Sell the real-deal version of HBO over the Web, but charge a premium for it, like $18 a month. The theory here is that there are several million people with broadband who don’t pay for TV right now, and it seems unlikely they ever will. So why not turn some of them into paying customers?
    – Could generate up to $600 million in new earnings, Venkateshwar estimates. 

Signal Intelligence

  • Comcast launches internet-delivered cable TV at MIT and several other schools
  • – Bridgewater College, Drexel University, Emerson College, Lasell College and the University of Delaware. T
    – Included with room and board and can only be used on campu (althoughh HBO Go Watch ESPN, etc.)
    – Comcast hopes to add other universities soon.
    – A company called Philo provides similar service to Harvard, Stanford and Yale. 

Gear Up

  • Will Roku bring smart TVs into the cool crowd?
  • Roku integration in TCL and HiSense TVs
    – TCL on preorder at Amazon and in retail in next few weeks
    – HiSense hit stores late September
    – 32-inch TCL set $229, $649 for 55-inch
    – NPD est. 2/3 of N. A. TVs are ‘dumb’

Under surveillance

Front Lines 2014

On Our Radar

On Screen

Dispatches from the Front

Hey Brian and Tom

i have been catching up on the show and was watching episode 32 “cord apathetics” when i heard Brian say something that finally made me disagree with him, as i usually see things from both host points of view. when Brian said we need to get rid of the over the air signals i was taken aback by this. my 86 year old grandmother wants to cut the comcast cord and only have phone service (she needs it for lifealert as much like r.l. stine she lives alone) and she told me that she only wants to get the local (35 miles away) Lansing stations. to make a long story short i am searching for an outdoor antenna as all the indoor ones can not penetrate the walls of her living room and she also refuses to get internet.

Thanks love the show
Greg 
 

 

Brian and Tom,

Just thought I’d mention something for the guy who was disappointed with the lack of content he wanted to watch on Netflix. Canistream.it is a great website that has a mobile web version and even mobile phone apps. It allows you to search for pretty much any TV show or movie and it will tell you what services it is available on for streaming or renting or digital purchase or even DVD rental/purchase. I use it all the time and it’s great for those us trying to cut the cord!

 

Chris

 

Hey Tom & Brian,

Love the show, yada yada yada. Regarding the Movie Draft at Box Office Draft.com. What, who or where is the source for the movie listings for the next draft ? When would it be coming out ? And will the spreadsheet template be available to copy and paste into the league I would like to create ? Need some nitty and gritty on this, as I would like our family who it spread out over much of the country to join in on the fun.

Thanks,

Dave

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers 
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box

Cordkillers Ep. 32 – Cord Apathetics

Cordkillers / August 10th, 2014

Subscriber numbers are declining less quickly for cable TV, which has some people declaring cord-cutting is dead. Is it?

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CordKillers: Ep. 32 – Cord Apathetics
Recorded: August 10, 2014
Guests: Scott Johnson, Lamarr Wilson

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • What Happened to the Cord Cutters? 
  • MoffettNathanson compiled cpmany reports of online/cable
    – Pay TV lost 300,000 subs in Q2, about flat yoy
    – Slowing housing market may be primary cause of decline
    – “It appears that cord cutting slowed to an annualized rate of 400k homes, a meaningful deceleration and well below the peak (but still modest) rates of cord cutting seen in 2012.”
    – Revenue growing due to rate increases.

Signal Intelligence

  • Twitch cracks down on unlicensed music ahead of rumored $1 billion YouTube buyout
  • Important: Changes To Audio In VODS
  • – Scanning archived video for copyrighted music
    – Entire 30 minute chunks muted if such music is found. (Audible Magic)
    – Elizabeth Baker’s post: “This includes in-game and ambient music.” italicized
    – But on Subreddit Shear says: “We have absolutely no intention of flagging songs due to original in-game music. If that’s happening (and it appears it is), it’s a problem and we will investigate and try to fix it.“
    – Again Shear on SubReddit: “We have absolutely no intention of running any audio recognition against live video, period.” and “Even if we could run this on live this second, we absolutely would not.”
    – Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said on Reddit Twitch has no intention of flagging songs due to original in-game music and will try to fix the problem
    – Deploying an “appeal” button for VODs that have been flagged for copyrighted music
    – Archived videos go from 3 days or forever to 14 days (or 60 days for partners/Turbo subs)
    – Highlights can now be any length (not limited to 2 hours), saved indefinitely as well as exported to YouTube.

Gear Up

  • Microsoft to Launch Xbox One Digital TV Tuner in Europe
  • – Digital tuner in Europe only
    – Attaches to HDMI in on XBox One for passthrough
    – DVB-T, DVB-T2 and DVB-C television channels
    – UK for for ₤24.99, and France, Italy, Germany and Spain for €29.99, starting in late October.

Under surveillance

  • Babylon 5 reboot likely to become big-budget film
  • – J. Michael Straczynski will shortly begin work on Babylon 5 movie
    – New script will be targeted at a 2016 theatrical release
    – Will be a reboot of the series rather than a continuation.
    – Will try to work surviving cast in
    – Prepared to fund the movie through his own production company if necessary

Front Lines

2014 Summer Movie Draft 
draft.diamondclub.tv

  1. Amtrekker: $720,700,355
  2. TMS: $644,787,673
  3. DTNS: $611,379,215
  4. Night Attack: $518,924,868
  5. /Film: $511,335,483
  6. GodsMoneybags: $450,860,429

On Screen

Dispatches from the Front

 As a newer listener, can you explain the Summer Movie Draft? I’m coming in during the middle of this, so it just feels confusing and irrelevant to me. I’m not sure I get what box office numbers for movies in the theatre have to do with Cordkillers. Isn’t seeing movies in the theatre the antithesis of watching “whatever you want, whenever you want”, since you have only a couple locations per town (at best) and a very limited set of times when you can watch? I feel like I’ve missed something with this whole segment.

Tim

 

I just wanted to point out that while Apple TV does not allow folders for the apps/channels, you can hide and reposition the icons. To hide channels that you do not use or want to see, head into settings and click on Main Menu. There you can choose Show/Hide for each of the app/channels installed. To reorder the apps/channels, hold down the remote’s select button on a particular app until the icons jiggle (like on iPhone/iPad). Then you can mover the icon to a position that you prefer.

Love the show!
Ken

 

 

I am moving soon to Raleigh, NC to start a my first full time job. Since I will be living on my own for the first time at the age of 22, I opted to go for the all internet no cable tv approach to my expenses. So I was wondering what kind of antenna should I get for my apartment to watch stuff over the air? I did a little research and found the Mohu Leaf, it looks cool but I would like your guy’s opinions first.

Thanks,
Ed 

 

Long time listener and Patron, I was wondering if you could do a show or segment for those us with cable, yet still want to watch what we want, when we want , where we want on whatever device we want . . . at least in the limits that cable companies will allow us to.

I cut the cord last summer, but realized in the fall that being a sports fan that truly limited my options, especially for in market teams. So I’m back on the cord but still trying to live with the Cordkiller spirit. So could you have a show or have a guest on to talk about what options are available for people on the cord. Options like, Tivo, WMC, Plex, the hardware that is needed, the limitations of DRM, or even the various cable or satellite company solutions. I think that would be extremely helpful to those of us trying to this the right way.

Love the show!!

Cyril

 

Links 
patreon.com/cordkillers 
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box