How the FCC helped cablecos explain why they resist innovation, Apple might make its own original TV shows, HBO NOW FINALLY gets popular.
CordKillers: Ep. 118 – Steam’s Stream Dream
Recorded: April 25 2016
Guest: Jaime Ruiz-Avila
Intro Video
Primary Target
- Comcast will bring its Xfinity app to Roku and Samsung Smart TVs this year
– Comcast announced its HTML5 Xfinity app is coming to Samsung Smart TVs
– A custom app is coming to Roku.
– Subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity cable service can access the channel guide, cloud DVR, and live and on -demand TV.
Comcast believes this shows the FCC does not need to mandate set-top box compatibility.
– The FCC told the Verge the new app does not “integrate or search across Comcast content as well as other content consumers subscribe to.” - Disney, CBS, Viacom worry FCC cable box proposal would do to TV what iTunes did to music
– Several companies inl. Disney, CBS, Fox, A&E, Time Warner, Scripps and Viacom filed feedback to the FCC’s proposed rules to require MVNOs to support third-party cable boxes
– Companies object that they would lose revenue if they can no longer control the order in which channels appear
– particularly concerned that these new set-top boxes will offer up shows individually, instead of presenting entire channels as cable boxes
– Worry about “commitments to secure and protect content”
– Comcast made a separate filing
– Added arguments are technical burdens to support the new boxes, might require more bandwidth
– “In any event, at a minimum, the [FCC’s proposal] vastly understates the level of work, and associated costs, that would be necessary to implement its Set-Top Box Mandate,” it writes.
Signal Intelligence
- Apple talking original content
– Feature by Nicole Laporte on Fast Company
– Apple held a private dinner at Sundance and heard pitches in LA in the weeks that followed.
– Fast Company says it would be for an “exclusives” app on Apple TV
– Two “lanes”
– 1. Beats-driven programming meant to promote music
– 2. Multiple original series.
– Alibaba Pictures set up in Pasadena.
– Run by Zhang Wei, former talk show host and Harvard MBA
Gear Up
- HBO Now comes to the Xbox One
- New HBO Now users are bugged and can’t get their ‘Game of Thrones’ fix
- HBO NOW surges in poularity despite complaints
– HBO Now comes to Xbox One and Samsung Smart TVs
– Samsung’s been getting a lot of apps.
– Is Xbox now a complete replacement in the US?
Front Lines
- Comedy Central, BET, MTV, and more are coming to Sling TV
– Viacom and Dish settled their negotiations not only by avoiding an outage but also agreeing to add channels to Sling TV. Comedy Central, BET, Spike, MTV and Nick Jr. will be among the new networks , but NOT Nickelodeon. They’ll show up in the coming months. - Comcast to Launch Sony’s Crackle on Xfinity On Demand
– Meanwhile Crackle is now available through Comcast’s Xfinity on demand offering both on TV and Comcast’s app. Select titles are available at launch with additional programming added over the coming months. - 12 Netflix Originals That Will Be Streaming With HDR Video
– 12 Netflix properties were officially announced as coming in HDR although not timeline was given. They are A Series of Unfortunate Events, Bloodline, Chef’s Table, Hibana, Knights of Sidonia, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Defenders, The Do-Over, and The Ridiculous Six. - Lionsgate Launches Distribution Through Steam, Includes ‘Hunger Games’
– Video game store Steam is now renting movies from Lionsgate. More than 100 films will be available including Hunger Games movies, Saw, Divergent and Twilight.
Under Surveillance
- The full cast list for Twin Peaks, which comes to Showtime in 2017, has been released: Eddie Vedder, Trent Reznor
- Peabody Awards Recognize Jessica Jones, Mr. Robot, and The Leftovers as Damn Good Shows
– Mr. Robot, The Leftovers and Jessica Jones won Peabodys for excellence in broadcasting.
– Jones “unpopular questions about power and consent, while constructing vivid and compelling characters”
– Leftovers – “challenging, deeply philosophical, boldly imagined drama.” - Redband Trailer for The Do-Over (sandler, Spade) coming May 27 to Netflix.
- New trailer for season 2 of Chef’s Table coming May 27.
- Mr. Robot’s second season is coming July 13th (Sam Esmail directing all 10 episodes)
- Stephen King’s It comes to theaters Sep. 18, 2017
- Game of Thrones renewed for seventh season to air in 2017
- Brian: Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, Justified 202
- Tom: Better Call Saul, Lemonade on HBO, Orphan Black, Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Justified (202)
- Jaime: Better Call Saul, Silicon Valley, Game of Thrones, Outlander season 2, Legends of Tomorrow Space 1999 Story of Maths on Netflix
- On the Lookout: Deadbeat, Thunderbirds
Dispatches from the Front
Hey guys,
Just listened to last week’s show and was wondering if either of you have tried the Xbox One for its media options.
I am not sure how common this set up is for everybody but an Xbox with kinect, HDMI pass through for a cable box and a harmony remote let’s me easily access anything I want using the Xbox – One Guide.
The One Guide lays out suggestions for movies to rent or purchase, what is popular in most video apps like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube or if you chose to look at your cable provider’s channel guide will list categories such as live TV shows trending on Twitter.
What has really surprised me is that I recently realized how easy it is to be able to say “”””Xbox on”””” which will wake it up and turn on the TV and follow it with “”””watch ESPN”””” and it just finds the channel for me. (No need to memorize #s) Or I can use a remote, a game pad or cell phone to control everything.
I know one of the features (that admittedly might bother some) is that the kinect will recognize when I’m sitting in front of the TV and have favorites/suggestions loaded based on my profile and the same based on my wife’s profile if she is watching TV.
If you guys have tried it out would love to hear your thoughts.
Cheers!
– Byron
Hi Brian, Tom, Bryce and guest,
I know they are several months away but I was thinking about how I was going to be able to watch this summer’s Olympics. Since I cut the cord I have found ways to get some of the live TV I was missing but sports has been the hardest to find. This will be the first Olympics since ditching cable TV so I was wondering if you know if NBC makes the Olympics available to those of us without a cable box.
Thank you for making my commute enjoyable and educational. I’m happy to say I am one of your bosses.
– Jennifer, Stuck in traffic on the Mass Pike
Hey gentlemen got to say something……. YOU JJEERRRRKKKKKSSSSS. You guys just had to say Animaniacs was on Netflix didn’t ya. I was dumb enough to watch the first episode AND NOW I CANT GET THE DAM ANIMANIACS THEME OUT OF MY HEAD AND WANT TO BINGE ON EVERY EPISODE phffft 😛 Jerks 😉 . Even after all these years I remembered the theme word for word, I missed that show. Keep up the awesome work
– Robert E from Oklahoma
The love affair is over. The sling streaming beta blacked out the blues Blackhawks game. I had to prove where I lived to get the channel. Sling is saying they are subject to the same blackout rules as everyone else. This is a lie since local dish and cable subscribers can watch. I got to watch the game earlier this week on Fox sports Midwest without issue. Maybe Playstation view is right for me.
– Sean
Bryce asked about netflix country availability:
That will do more than what you want, but it will do what you were talking about.
– Kurt
