Cordkillers 210 – Brian’s Fence Fort (w/ Daniel O’Brien)

MoviePass flexes its muscles, Apple buys potential, and War Games is back in a new way. With special guest Daniel O’Brien.

The Summer Movie Draft is coming up! We’re looking at drafting on March 20th on Night Attack. More info soon!

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CordKillers: Ep. 210 – Brian’s Fence Fort
Recorded: March 5 2018
Guest: Daniel O’Brien

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Apple scores another TV thriller, this time produced by M. Night Shyamalan
    – M. Night Shyamalan will executive produce a new psychological thriller series for Apple to be written by Tony Basgallop of 24 fame.
    – Apple lineup so far:
    – TV series from Damien Chazelle (La La Land director)
    – Amazing Stories Anthology series from Steven Spielberg
    – Space Drama from Ronald D. Moore (BSG)
    – Drama about a network morning show with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon
    – Futuristic Drama from Francis Lawrence (Director of last 3 Hunger Games movies)
    – Apple just hired Angelica Guerra, Sony Pictures Television’s production leader for Latin American and US Hispanic content
    – Apple already has former Sony presidents Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg and former Sony vice presidents Max Aronson, Kim Rozenfeld and Ali Woodruff

How to Watch

  • MoviePass won’t let its customers buy tickets to Red Sparrow in some markets 
    – Some MoviePass users could not use the service to buy tickets to Red Sparrow
    – Statement to SlashFilm: “We occasionally remove some films from our ticketing inventory in some markets for a limited time, similar to how we organically promote films in certain markets to better understand member behavior.”
    – Maybe trying to demonstrate not only the benefit of pluggin movies like I, Tonya or Death Wish but how it can negatively impact ticket sales as well.
    – Mitch Lowe, CEO of MoviePass was speaking to the Entertainment Finance Forum about how MoviePass monetizes data
    – “We watch how you drive from home to the movies. We watch where you go afterwards.”
    – The ToS say location is only used when selecting a theater and “only be used as a means to develop, improve, and personalize the service.”

What to Watch

What We’re Watching

Front Lines

Dispatches from the Front

Hello Cordkillers
After the recent news of movie pass not allowing certain movies in certain areas to be used with there service I cancelled it. No matter how much I disliked people using there service without seeing movies I found this far worse.
Now with happier news for the first time since I canceled Directv I didn’t have to sit in the kitchen to watch the Oscars. I used YouTube tv. I really enjoyed the interface.

– Kevin

 

 

Dear Tom & Brian,

First, I want to say that I support Brian’s right to be completely, totally, 100% WRONG about Black Panther. (That movie was awesome!)

The question of whether or not people actually save money by cutting the cord or just gain freedom & flexibility seems to come up rather frequently. I recently crunched the numbers and I thought I’d share.

Before cutting the cord, I had Dish Network for both internet & “cable.” It started out as a pretty good deal, but after they’d jacked the rates up several times, well, let me put it this way: I decided to cancel my Dish when they started running commercials about how DirecTV customers average $77/month, and I was paying $115/month!

My internet bill went from $60/month to $35/month for the exact same service
I added Sling @ $25/month
I added PBS Passport @ $7/month because I wanted to support them, even though I could get PBS OTA

So, I’m paying $25/month less for internet, and the two services I added to replace cable/satellite total $32/month. I’m saving $108/month! And, I can easily pause or cancel services whenever I want. I’ve actually cancelled Sling for now (between seasons of the shows I really want to watch), and I plan to switch to Philo as it offers all of the channels I want ($16/month).

Yes, I did buy a Roku, and I already had Netflix & Amazon Prime subscriptions, which I didn’t count in my totals, but they add up to a lot less than $108/month.

Thanks, guys! I couldn’t have done it without you!

Sincerely,
Uli Dig

P.S. I used some of the money I saved to support some of my favorite podcasts. I’m the boss of you now!

 

 

Hey Guys…
Thanks for all the entertainment.
Just dropping a note on how I budget some of my TV Viewing
I use the Gift Cards for Hulu, Netflix, iTunes and prepay an year ahead.
That way I can budget for all my streaming viewing and never have to
Worry about how much I am spending on my Cord Cutting fees.

Hopefully this might help others to budget as well.

One of your many bosses

Blair

 

 

 

Hi. I thought this worth sharing that I am now a paying customer of YouTube TV.I relied on the DVR feature to record the 90th Oscar’s apparently not many bothered to watch.Picture quality was good and I was happy YouTube was smart enough to extend the recording time without any input from me that allowed me to see the whole event.I thought for sure it would stop at the 3hr mark and I’d have to Google the best picture winner.But it worked great.

I was happy to see Shape of Water win best picture.And I’m glad I drove over 45 miles one way to see it in a theater before the Oscar’s to know it is a great film.

Have a great episode tonight.

David

 

 

The Expanse is now in UHD on Amazon Prime Video. Might be better to wait than watch on syfy.

– Jommel

Links
patreon.com/cordkillers

Cordkillers 209 – Watch Something Prescient (w/ Anthony Lemos)

Reboots galore, Legion’s coming back, and a Fox News superfan channel. With special guest Anthony Lemos ( ritualmisery.com )

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CordKillers: Ep. 209 – Watch Something Prescient
Recorded: February 26 2018
Guest: Anthony Lemos

Intro Video

Primary Target

How to Watch

  • Fox News to launch an over-the-top streaming service, Fox Nation
    – Fox News is starting its over the top streaming service in Q4
    – Designed for Fox News Superfan.
    – “Fox Nation” will have live exclusive daily programming
    – access to exclusive events, library of 20 years fo Fox News programming
    – No pricing set yet. Will be paid unlike CBS News.
    – Fox is describing it as “supplemental” to Fox News Channel and refers to it as as an “over-the-top opinion platform” in its announcement.
  • CBS launches a 24/7 streaming sports news network, CBS Sports HQ
    – CBS launched CBS Sports HQ, a 24 hour streaming sports news channel. It’s available for free on most platforms in the CBS Sports app. Viewers will be able to watch previously streamed segments.

What to Watch

What We’re Watching

Front Lines

  • Disney loses in Redbox copyright row
    – Last December Disney filed a lawsuit over Redbox selling digital download codes for Disney films separate from the DVDs the codes came in. The Hollywood Reporter says a California federal judge rejected Disney’s request for an injunction to stop the practice, saying the wording on the box was not an enforceable contract and that Disney was misusing copyright law in trying to prevent the sales. Redbox has distribution deals with other studios like Warner Bros., which allows it to buy physical DVDs and Blu-rays and then offer them as rentals at its kiosks. But with Disney, Redbox buys retail copies of the films and rents those discs, and also sells the digital download codes from the physical copies at a fraction of the price.
  • Sling TV now has 2.2M subscribers, making it the largest internet-based live TV service
    – Dish announced Sling TV now has 2.2 million subscribers putting it ahead of DirecTV Now which last announced 1.2 million. PS Vue is estimated to have 670,000. Sling also announced the NBA League Pass service which costs $29 a month is available as an add-on.
  • OnePlus 5/5T update enables Netflix playback in HD, but you have to mail the phone in
    – The OnePlus 5 and 5T cannot play Netflix video in HD because it shipped without Google’s Level 1 Widevine DRM. OnePlus can now update the handsets but only with a physical connection from an authenticated PC, meaning users would have to ship their device to OnePlus in order to get the update that would allow them to watch Netflix in HD. OnePlus will pay for courier costs and promises to turn the phones back around in less than 5 working days.
  • Apple will disconnect ‘obsolete’ first-gen Apple TV from iTunes in May
    – Apple is making security updates to its iTunes service that will mean it won’t work with older devices. Among the now obsolete devices are the 11-year-old original Apple TV as well devices running Windows XP and Windows Vista. The update will cut off the devices starting May 25th.
  • FilmStruck Expands its Movie Library to Offer Iconic Hollywood Classics Through a New Partnership with Warner Bros. Digital Networks
    – Turner’s FilmStruck is partnering with its corporate sister Warner Bros. Digital Networks to add more old films to the Filmstruck library. That includes some big names like Citizaen Kane, Rebel without a Cause and Casablanca. FilmStruck is $7 a month or $11 a month to add the Criterion Collection.

Dispatches from the Front

Hi Brian and Tom,

I live in a region where Netflix carries a fair bit of periodically released content. Sometimes there is a delay of only a day after broadcast in the home market (Star Trek Discovery on CBS All Access), sometimes a week (Black Lightning on The CW) and in the case of David Letterman’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” on Netflix, an entire month.

I used to use “My List” to remind me when such shows were available but the notification algorithm has gotten to the point where it lets me know when a new episode is available, without ever having to manually tag a show as something I’d be interested in watching again.

My notifications are generally a mix of returning shows and new shows I might like. Even if I get 3 notifications for the week, they never feel ‘spammy’.

I suspect the system works well for me because of my usage patterns (Netflix is used several times a week.) Your mileage may vary 😉

Thanks,

Graham 

 

 

B&T

Something very strange happened to me in the night on Feb 23. I was watching Netflix with my fiance and between episodes it signed me out and asked for my credit card info to resubscribe… I knew this must have been a mistake or a glitch on my ps4 so I tried to load Netflix on a few other devises. All the same. None of my credit card info has changed and the card is active.

After resubscibing with the same card it logged in just fine, but I think I was given new options for tiers… A $15 ultra HD 4 logins at once and a $10(I think) for us and 2 logins at once.

I’m curious if anyone else has had the same thing happen, I googled it but didn’t find anything.

Gaspare

 

 

 

Hi Brian and Tom

I have not yet finished watching the first season of Star Trek Discovery but I have discovered how I will be watching it and wanted to share in case other were waiting for the whole season to become available.

The … thing that turned me off to CBS All Access was the complete lack of Dolby 5.1 or any other kind of surround sound. This is a huge let down!…

Last night I was browsing for shows on Amazon Prime Video on my Shield TV and noticed they were advertising an addon CBS All Access subscription. I clicked on the .. page and they had a 5.1 icon listed with each episode. I thought it might be a mistake, but thought I might as well try …. and was offered a week long free trial, turned on an episode of Discovery and was happy to see my receiver switch over to DD+ 5.1 audio!

Now we have a week of commercial free CBS All Access at no cost if we cancel before the first bill. More than enough time to watch all episodes of Star Trek Discovery and we get to enjoy it with 5.1 surround sound in our home theater!

If other listeners have been waiting for the season to be complete before signing up for CBS AA, I recommend going through Amazon Prime Video if they have it. Watch the whole season for free if you watch it in less than a week.

Thanks for the show!
(I’m a few episodes behind on CordKillers, sorry if you guys already talked about this)

 

 

 

Hey Killers,

My Dad got Sling TV Blue a little less than a year ago, and I realized that the streaming video quality from Sling TV is probably the worst that I’ve seen out of online video streaming. Of course, OTA is going to have higher quality than streaming video, but it hit me last night when my Dad was watching college basketball on FS1. I walked by and was struck by how good the video quality was. The frame rate was really good, the color was vibrant, and it didn’t seem to have as much noise as usual. I casually said to him “Hey, that looks really good for Sling TV.” However, he replied “Sling TV? No, this is Fox Sports Go.” I had not expected such a noticeable difference between Fox Sports Go and Sling TV.
You guys have tested probably all of the live streaming services; what has your experience been with the other services’ video quality when compared to cable, OTA, and TV Anywhere apps?

Sincerely in Christ,
Amar

Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
 

Cordkillers 208 – Red is the New YouTube

Hulu’s gonna make money (promise!), Netflix gets chatty, and Twitter’s going local. 

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CordKillers: Ep. 208 – Red is the New YouTube
Recorded:  February 19 2018
Guest: None

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Hulu is going to be big and profitable, according to Disney’s chief strategy officer
    – Hulu loses close to $1 billion a year
    – Disney’s chief strategy officer, Kevin Mayer said “It takes an investment for sure, and we’re happy to undertake that. There’s going to be a big, profitable service.”
    – Lots of pundits seem to think Comcast will yank licensing rights from Hulu if Disney takes over Fox’s share of the service.
    – But Mayer talked about selling shows directly to consumers.

How to Watch

What to Watch

What We’re Watching

Front Lines

Dispatches from the Front
Hey guys,

I don’t have a TV, and watch broadcasts via Youtube TV. The interface is great for me, and I love watching on various other devices (i.e. cell phone).

My girlfriend cut the DISH cord and was trying PS Vue with a Roku. She found the interface/experience frustrating. So when Roku added Youtube TV, I convinced her to try it out… and we have a winner!

Two thumbs up for Youtube TV.

Thanks, your 1/2000 boss,

Steve

 

 

 

Hi Tom/Bryan – With T-Mobile’s impending launch of yet another streaming service with their purchase of Layer 3, here is one way they can differentiate themselves. Provide a box that runs on their LTE and is not data capped. The one main reason I haven’t been able to move to streaming only is because we regularly hit our Comcast 1TB limit even with Cable. So if there is way I can stream and not hit my data limit I will be extremely swayed.

Looking for your thoughts on this.

Thanks,
Josh

 

 

 

Tom and Brian,

Day one supporter love the show. Thought I would share a funny story, that shows just how far we still have to go.

I got engaged two years ago, and my fiance could not get on board with just having internet. She needed cable.

So the Cox bill was $250 a month, 3 tvs, DVR, internet, HBO, Showtime, Starz.

We also have a 1TB cap, and $50 of my bill was to add an additional 500GB. (3 teenage boys will blow through a cap pretty quickly.)

After living with me for the past two years, she finally realized that, in fact, she never used the cable box anymore, and agreed that we could cut the cord. Success!!!

So I called COX and told them I just wanted an unlimited internet plan. NO GO. The best they could do was $180 a month for JUST Internet, which included me paying the extra $50 to get a 1.5 TB cap.

And that was all they could do. Sorry, take it or leave it. So, $180 + about another $80 for Hulu with Live TV, and Premium Channels and I would be back where I started.

So I called AT&T.

And here is where it gets nuts.

Internet alone is $70. I can live with that, but it has a 1TB cap, and their price for overages are nuts.

BUT, if I added Direct TV, they had a bundle that gave me UNLIMITED Internet and DirectTV for $72 a month for the first year. Going to $112 the second year. I could live with this. And I wouldn’t need the Hulu Live TV option.

I said great, but we can skip the dish install, and I would just like to get DirectTV NOW.

NO GO.

I had to get the dish and cable box.

So, they sent a guy out who spent 8 hours installing the dish, wiring the house, etc. INSANE.

End of the day, I am all in is $72 for unlimited Internet and DirectTV, and about $40 for all the premium channels (I decided to get them through AMAZON, as you can now tell Alexa to pretty much do everything on a FireTV and it now has deep integration into channels. “Alexa, play This Is Us” “Getting This is Us on Hulu”, but that integration is an entirely different email.)

So I’m all in at $112 for the first year and $162 for the second. Total savings of $2712 over the next two years.

Keep up the good work.

Your Boss,

BrettFM

 

 

 

I am hoping the Game of Thrones creators will take the Star Wars universe in a different direction in the same way Deadpool took the Marvel movies in a different direction. What are the chances that they will bring the nudity, sex and graphic violence of Game of Thrones to a rated R Star Wars movie?

– Ken

 

 

 

Re: Ep. 207 – ViaCon
In episode 207 your guest mentioned how the kids in Disney show give no respect to their parents. This really struck a cord with me. I noticed this 10 years ago with my daughter. That was the catalyst to get me to finally cut the cord and we have not looked back since.

George

Links
patreon.com/cordkillers

It’s Spoilerin’ Time 207 – Black Mirror wrap-up, Altered Carbon, Counterpart

Brian’s got words about Altered Carbon, Counterpart gets a heart, and we round out the back-half of the new Black Mirror season.

00:58 – Altered Carbon (101-102, Brian’s take)
03:49 – Black Mirror (404 – Hang the DJ)
07:19 – Black Mirror (405 – Metalhead)
09:16 – Black Mirror (406 – Black Museum)
12:41 – Countertpart (104)
21:29 – Deadwood (108)

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