Search Results for "october 29"

We now know the lifetime of a TiVo, Netflix comes to your hotel, a wireless antenna with fewer wires. With special guest Mulango Akpo-Esambe.

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CordKillers: Ep. 134 – Deeply Regret Button
Recorded:  August 22 2016
Guest: Mulango Akpo-Esambe

Intro Video

• DR K Live fra Koncertsalen: Serier, serier, serier

Primary Target

• TiVo is cutting off support for its original DVR in September
  – TiVo will deliver a last download of guide data for its 1999 model TiVos on September 15th. Customers will get a $75 Visa gift card. The boxes will continue to work but will not have any guide data after September 29th. TiVo says there are still 3,200 Series 1 TiVos in active use

Signal Intelligence

• Netflix is coming to more hotel rooms worldwide
  – Netflix partnering with Enseo (in-room entertainment for hotels)
  – Partnership expanded to any hotel under contract in a country with Netflix
  – Beyond pre-approved brands
  – Netflix app on TV or Netflix button on remote
  – Sign in with Netflix account, no Internet fees
  – Promises to wipe out login at checkout
  – Most-used channels in 19 hotel brands today (Marriott, Hilton La Quinta)
  – Hotels like it as a perk, and frees up wifi for other uses
  – Enseo’s system can also provide marketing messages

Gear Up

• This wireless antenna may make cord cutting easier
  – WatchAir antenna streams to Smart TV (WebOS, Tizen, Android TV, Vizio), smartphone, tablet (ios, Android), Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV
  – Sends OTA signal over WiFi then to apps
  – Has a TV guide and 5 hours of recording (25 with SD Card)
  – Kickstarter promotion $149
  – Hopes to ship in October for $249

Under Surveillance

• Mr. Robot gets renewed for a third season 
• Arrival, a movie based on Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” released its first trailer last week. It stars Amy Adams and opens November 11.
• Netflix grabs ‘Anne of Green Gables’ show
  – Netflix said Monday it will stream “Anne,” an eight-hour miniseries based on the 1908 classive novel “Anne of Green Gables,” in partnership with a Canadian broadcast of the new show by CBC next year.
• Marvel’s Runaways is becoming a series on Hulu
  – Gossip Girl creators Josh Scwartz and Stephanie Savage will bring Marvel’s The Runaways to Hulu. The comic Runaways was written by Brian K. Vaughan in 2003 with art by Adrian Alphona. It follows superpowered teenagers fighting their parents who are members of a crime syndicate.
• Brian: The Get Down 102, Justified, Mr. Robot, Mr. Show, Great Minds
• Tom: The Get Down (102) Justified, Mr. Robot, Olympics, Parks and Rec, Angie Tribeca
• Mulango: The Get Down, Parks and Rec, Hitler and the Nazis, Saving Private Ryan 
• On the Lookout: River

Front Lines

• Here’s TV Networks’ Latest Scheme to Limit ‘Cord-Cutting’
  – Reuters has a story about how more networks are doing what they call “stacking” by making all previous episodes of a series available on demand to cable subscribers. 54% of people in one survey said they would not start watching a show unless they could watch all previous episodes. Comcast will offer full-season stacks of 60% of original scripted series up from 41% two seasons ago. A source told Reuters one network saw a 3-11% rise in ratings after offering stacked shows. 
• How to see everything you’ve ever watched on Netflix and Amazon
  – Engadget’s Matt Brian has written up instructions for seeing your viewing history on Netflix and Amazon. Netflix history can be found in a section of Your Account called Viewing History. You can delete items to remove their impact on recommendations. Amazon buries it in Your Account under Personalization where you click Improve Your Recommendations and then choose Videos You’ve Watched. You can then rate shows to fine tune recommendations. 
• Univision buys Gawker Media for $135 million
  – Univision doesn’t just run the top spanish-language channel in the US it also owns The Onion and The Root. And it has provisionally acquired Gawker Media pending the decision of the bankruptcy court. Gawker runs Gizmodo, Lifehacker and io9 among other sites.
• Amazon brings free episodes of its Original Series to YouTube & Facebook
  – Amazon has begun posting pilot episodes from 10 of its shows on YouTube and Facebook Live. Shows include Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, Bosch, Red Oaks, and The Man in the High Castle.
• HDHomeRun’s DVR app is ready for the Xbox One
  – HDHomeRun’s DVR software is a big hit with people looking for a replacement for Windows Media Center. It can now help folks who wish their Xbox could act as a DVR. You’ll still need HDHomeRun on a PC, Android TV box or NAS, but there is now an app for HDHomeRun on the Xbox One. 

Dispatches from the Front
Hi Tom and Brian

Take a listen / look at this: https://www.dr.dk/tv/se/dr-k-live-fra-koncertsalen/dr-k-live-fra-koncertsalen-serier-serier-serier

It’s 80 min of TV themes performed by the Danish public service station’s classical band.

There is some Danish talking in between, but most series covered are ones I’ve heard you talk about on the show.

Maybe something for the cold open? Or as a link to the listeners.

BTW – this is why I’m happy that we in sunny Denmark have the license fee that everybody with a TV, radio or access to the internet has to pay!

Thanks for always great shows!
Your boss,
– Eric

 

 

Hi guys.

I’ve now watched Jon-Claude Van Johnson and The Tick.I will watch I love Dick after work tonight.

My frustration with these pilots is not the content or format.I just don’t recall Amazon ever asking in there survey on what are your favorite shows ever? Then ask why these pilots are greater or worse then your favorite shows.

It just seems this kind of questioning sets these pilots up for failure as each one I’ve seen is slightly worse then say Battlestar Galactica. But it’s really unfair compairing a 30 minute pilot to a 4.5 season show for example.

I’m hoping somebody can reply and let me know if Amazon has asked this kind of question before in there pilot survey?

Long time Patreon Boss:
– David from Fond Du Lac,Wisconsin asking

 

 

I was talking with a girl who works at Hulu.
She said they get to see the first preview of what they are doing for the Hulu Streaming Channel today.
She said that currently she knows it will have an online DVR, but doesn’t have the details yet as to if it will be any restrictions on what can be recorded or if time limits or such. But if it isn’t all easily integrated it would seem a non starter.

She was pretty open about this as there is so many press leaks…but just in case don’t mention my name if you say anything on the air. Not sure if she was speaking out of turn. 

 

 

Tom and Brian,

I am constantly scouring the net to find interesting tidbits on cord cutting and specifically OTT live streaming services. To compare the channels available I put the linked spreadsheet together. It needs a little more refining (cannot make out what networks some of SFN’s Faith based offerings are) but your viewers may find it useful. The link is public.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iqAW6FzYfSUyRMe6zTHTWnCSkVUVxVrm-zEL765UYFk/edit?usp=sharing

This is strictly a channel availability chart not a comparison of services

PlayStation Vue is still the best by nearly every metric I care about except mobility and the name (and lack of a desktop app). It is ridiculous they launched nationally with PlayStation in the name. Nearly everyone I speak too about it says “I might try it but I don’t have a PlayStation”. How about Sony Vue or just Vue? Or Sony Live Stream (SLS for short)? Or Sony Dream Stream? Anything without PlayStation in the name. Plus the integration into the PlayStation website makes it more confusing to the average user.

Very Respectfully,
– Gregory

 

 

Tom and Brian,
Comcast upped my rate again so it was time to go for the chicken challenge again. Long story short, I was successful but not in the way I imagined.
I started out calling Comcast and had no luck getting my deal back to what it was before. So, I did what any reasonable person would do in 2016… complain on Twitter about my bill going up. Imagine my surprise when the Comcast Cares account at replied me and asked I follow them so we could exchange DMs. Using an exchange of DMs I was able to get back to my previous deal and lock it in for 2 years. That included free HBO for another 2 years and then to top it off they added 2 years of Showtime for free as well.
Comcast justifiably gets a bad rap in regards to customer service at times, but their social media team was fantastic to work with. I just wanted to share another path for all your listeners to take to try and get a better deal via the Chicken Challenge. Twitter, who would have thought that would work so well?

– Chris

 

 

Hi,

When I decided to cut the cord, I called Cox cable and told them I was cancelling in favor of HBOGo and Hulu. They made me a deal in which I pay for a “starter pack” cable plus HBO and Starz, at $12/month, which made it cheaper for me to keep it than to have HBO alone.

The end result is that I never bothered to connect my cable box – by using mobile apps to stream the network shows (using my cable login), I get all of the current shows offered by Hulu and was able to cancel that as well.

Definitely worth the phone call. 
 

Links

www.patreon.com/cordkillers

2016 Summer Movie Draft
 

Hulu ends their free service, but gives it to Yahoo! And has Apple given up on providing a TV service?

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CordKillers: Ep. 132 – No, That’s RedTube
Recorded: August 9 2016
Guest: None

Intro Video

• Improvised Rick and Morty episode

Primary Target

• Time Warner Acquires 10% Stake in Hulu for $583 Million
  – Time Warner announced it will invest $583 million in Hulu and receive a 10% stake in the company. It will not bring any additional content to the main Hulu service but its Turner networks will become part of Hulu’s forthcoming live streaming TV service set to launch next year. TimeWarner operates its own on-demand services like HBO Now, DramaFever and the yet-to-be-launched FilmStruck. 
  – Time Warner gets 10% stake in Hulu
  (Joins Disney and 21st Century Fox plus silent partner Comcast who all now own 30%)
  – Turner networks will come to Hulu streaming service in 2017
  – Time Warner paid $583 million in cash valuing Hulu at $6 billion
  – Time warner owns HBO Now and Drama Fever (subtitled programming from 12 non-English countries) as well, launching FilmStruck in fall (rotating collection of art house and indie films managed with Criterion collection)
  – Some content deals with current Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime
• Hulu ending free service
• Hulu is jettisoning their free tier to Yahoo View, a new free viewing site using Hulu player and ad sales team.
  – Yahoo View will launch distributing Hulu shows for free. 5 recent eps from ABC, NBC, Fox, 8 days after air, plus other network shows, clips and full seasons of anime and Korean drama

Signal Intelligence

• YouTube Kids rolls out an ad-free option
  – YouTube Kids is now bundled in with the YouTube Red program in Australia, New Zealand and the US. That means if you’re a YouTube Kids user you can upgrade to Red for $10 a month and remove ads from the Kids videos. You also get Red’s ability to save videos for offline viewing.

Gear Up

• Apple looking into digital program guide
  – ReCode reported sources say Apple is talking to TV programmers and other video companies about creating a digital TV guide.
  – The idea is to surface programming without opening an app and access it with one click
  – Single sign on announced at WWDC would aid this.
  – TV executives worry it would reduce their ability to promote shows.
  – It could also irk cable providers who monetize their own guides. 

Front Lines

• NBCUniversal gets exclusive TV rights to Harry Potter films until 2025
  – NBCUniversal signed a deal with Warner Bros. giving NBC networks exclusive on-air and digital rights to Wizarding World properties and cable TV rights to to the movies. The agreement runs from 2018 to 2025. It also gives Universal theme parks the rights to “exclusive content and events.”
• ABC and Lucasfilm Are in Talks to Potentially Make a Live-Action Star Wars TV Show
  – ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey was asked at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills Thursday whether she wants a primetime series based on Star Wars. She said she is a fan and would love to say yes, saying that they have we had conversations with Lucasfilm.
• Gwyneth Paltrow joins Apple’s reality TV show ‘Planet of the Apps’
  – Apple’s reality show about app developers, called Planet of the Apps, has signed on Gwyneth Paltrow as a mentor for contestants, joining Gary Vanerchuk and will.i.am. Paltrow is a mother of two, author of cookbooks and founder of a fashion-focused startup called Goop.com.
• Sky and Amazon team up for Roman Empire drama ‘Britannia’
  – UK’s Sky pay TV provider is teaming up with Amazon for a 10-part drama called Britannia written by Jez Butterworth of Spectre/Black Mass/Edge of Tomorrow fame. It will take place in 43 AD and air on Sky 1 in the UK and Ireland and Amazon Prime in the US.
• Sling TV will ALSO get the NFL Network and NFL Red Zone channels in time for the 2016 season. Sling did not announce pricing. 

Under Surveillance

• HBO will get a nightly news show in September, courtesy of Vice News
  – Beginning on September 26 at 7:30 PM ET.
• Jon Stewart’s new HBO show will be an animated parody of cable news and premiere sometime in September or October
• Tig Notaro’s semi-autobiographical show One Mississippi – September 9th
• BBC show Fleabag, based on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s play of the same name, arrives on September 16th.
• Transparent coming back September 23
• Woody Allen’s Amazon series Crisis in Six Scenes arrives September 30th
• Billy Bob Thornton in Goliath arrives on October 14th
• Good Girls Revolt arrives October 28th.
• Norway’s Slow TV is coming to Netflix. Get ready to watch a 7.5 hour train ride, 100 hours of chess or perhaps National Firewood Evening. 
• Brian: Mr. Robot (205), Justified (304), more Rick and Morty rewatchin
• Tom: Preacher (110) Mr. Robot (205), Justified (304), Angie Tribeca, Olympics
• On the Lookout: Last Chance U on Netflix. Doc series, 6 hour-long parts. 

Dispatches from the Front

Hey Tom and Brian,

Quick question for Tom since he’s the OTA veteran. When you record shows using a Romeo or OTA solutions, are you able to select closed captioning or audio description after recording a show or can you tell the device to record the secondary audio channel? I’m wondering about cutting the cord but i fear losing audio description for the visually impaired as it is the lazy man’s TV experience. I usually record shows like NCIS or Suits on USA. I may just be stuck with Time Warner Cable or dream of the old VCR.

By the way, the NBC coverage of the Olympics is offering “some” audio description, but it mostly seems to start in the prime time blcok of programming.

Thanks,

– Rodney
Raleigh, NC

 

• https://support.tivo.com/articles/Features_Use/How-to-Enable-SAP

 

 

After listening to your podcast for the last 3 months I’ve been trying to cut out AT&T U-verse television service. This weekend of the Olympics I finally did it.

I’m already a Netflix/Hulu+Showtime subscriber and I hooked up Digital Antennas for the three TVs in my home and use one fourth gen Apple TV in the main room where we watch TV. The other TVs I have two third gen Apple TVs connected as I only watch most tv in the main room.

The main room Apple TV has Sling TV installed and I’ve been enjoying the Orange channel selection works for me so far. I’m a disappointed about the sling interface and lack of pausing and on demand shows but I’m happy so far and I gained channels via digital antenna as I had only basic service for tv before.

All in all I’m much happier than before.

Thanks for you inspiration.

– Jason

 

 

With the Olympics starting, I have been watching via my Roku and NBC sports app. The streaming quality has been poor on my fast (150mbps) connection. I have heard rumors that some boxes (apple TV) have better streaming quality through the NBC app. Has anyone done a comparison of this one app between the Roku, apple tv and fire TV?

 

– Jason N. 

 

 

 

 

Hi Tom and Brian,

Do you think that more streaming services will (or should) offer yearly subscriptions at a small discount in addition to the standard pay-per-month option?

I think Netflix missed an opportunity to say “You want to keep the old monthly price? Fine, here’s a $100 per year (or $8.33/month) subscription.” It reduces the monthly temptation to evaluate whether it’s worth keeping it each month. As we get closer to “subscription fatigue” and with it taking so little time to cancel/renew, I think we’ll see more people choosing their months for each service.

The yearly subscription model seems particularly strong for services with a few major hits (e.g., House of Cards or Game of Thrones). People that want to subscribe for just those services would be more inclined to pay for only a few months and cancel, but if a discounted yearly rate is offered, might stick around to browse the rest of the catalog.

Amazon started with the yearly subscription and only recently added the monthly option, but for me their “major hit” is the 2-day shipping, for which I’m happy to pay a yearly subscription as opposed to month-by-month for just their video catalog.

Your happy boss,
– Tom

 

 

 

 

 

Again I would reiterate that Comcast got me back as a corded user when they offered a combined package of basic cable with Showtime or HBO and it cost less than my internet alone was (at least for 12 months). So I am essentially paying for internet and getting Showtime and Streampix for free and they get to tell their stock holders that they are not losing as many subscribers as some of their competitors. It is essentially, semantics or outright lying. I would at least consider myself a cord trimmer and relate more to a cord cutter that is enjoying a few perks from his ISP.

Very Respectfully,
– Gregory

 

 

Links

www.patreon.com/cordkillers

2016 Summer Movie Draft

Is YouTube Red genius or idiocy? Why Canada wins at Star Wars and how the old Apple TV scooped the new one. 

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CordKillers: 93 – Other Tubes Named Red
Recorded: October 27 2015
Guest: Jaime Ruiz-Avila

Intro Video

• Jessica Jones on Netflix

Primary Target

• YouTube Red
  – $9.99 launching Oct. 28
  – Removes ads from all YouTube vids, gives access to YouTube Music and Google Music
  – New YouTube Music app coming
  – Saving videos for offline playing
  – Exclusive YouTube Originals launching in 2016
  – 98% of creators signed up
  – Those who currently monetize and don’t agree to terms will see videos made private
  – ESPN has some contracts that forbid ad-free videos so ESPN is pulling out but not all of Disney
  – ESPN issue might have to do with offline viewing, or ‘subscription package’
• YouTube Originals
  – YouTube Originals
  – Scare PewDiePie. From Robert Kirkman’s Skybound and Maker Studios.
  – nNtitled CollegeHumor Project – anthology series
  – Sing It! – Fine Bros. satire of reality singing competitions
  – Lazer Team – Rooster Teeth and Fullscreen scifi small-town losers find alien ship
  – Doc of Lilly Singh’s global tour
  – Joey Graceffa murder mystery
  – 360 Project from MatPat of Game Theory – science behind video games w/ gamers experiencing real life versions
  – Fight of the Living Dead – YouTube stars trapped in realistic zombie scenarios
  – I am Tobuscus – Toby Turner scripted comedy about being a YouTube star
  – Single by 30 – WongFu romantic drama
• YouTube Will Completely Remove Videos Of Creators Who Don’t Sign Its Red Subscription Deal
• Ignore all the sensationalist hand-wringing about YouTube Red
• ESPN is disappearing from YouTube — here’s why

Signal Intelligence

• Canada Netflix will get Force Awakens first for streaming
  -Netflix in Canada will get Star Wars: The Force Awkens for streaming in 2016
  – In US, Starz has deal with movies that come out through end of 2015
  – In Canada Disney deal with Netflix starts with 2015 titles in US with 2016 titles

Gear Up

• The new Apple TV went on sale Monday morning
• Apple TV gets CBS, NBC and Fashion Channel
  – Fourth-Gen Apple TV went on sale in 80 countries Monday
  – 32GB ($149) and 64GB ($199)
  – Slower demand than an iPhone but shipping dates were slipping to Nov. 1 after an hour
  – CBS and NBC arrived on old Apple TV

Front Lines

• Time Warner Cable will test internet-only TV in NYC next week
  – Engadget’s sources say Time Warner Cable will start beta testing a version of its TV service for Internet-only subscribers in New York City. Participants will supposedly get a free Roku 3 and be offered a $10 starter pack an option with Showtime and Starz for $20 and a version with all that plus most f the usual cable channels for $50. No DVR functions but there is on demand the ability to stream on 4 devices at a time. Time Warner currently has apps for Xbox, Android, iOS, Fan TV, Kindle Fire and Samsung’s Smart TVs.
• Actually, TV viewership is quite stable
  – Pivotal Research Group found TV viewing is stable if you count all devices including game consoles and phones. TV viewing among 18-49s is up 0.3%. 2-17 down 0.2% and over 50 up 3%. Viewing on connected devices like Roku rose from 2% last year to 5% this year. They do NOT count Netflix as traditional TV. 18-49s with Netflix watched 5% less traditional TV while those without Netflix watched 11% more. 
• Yahoo Livestream of NFL Game Nets 15 Million Viewers — But Most of Them Didn’t Count by TV Metrics
  – Sunday Yahoo streamed an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. Yahoo got more than 33.6 million streams. Well if you narrow that down to unique users they got 15 million! Or if you want to know how many people were actually watching at any given moment they got 2.3 million! That’s compared to an average simultaneous viewing of a broadcast NFL game of about 10-20 million. 
• Why Yahoo wrote down $42 million for ‘Community’
  – More Yahoo news. During its earnings call last week, Yahoo said it would write down about $42 million in costs from its video division based largely on three shows including Community. Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman said Yahoo’s management “couldn’t see a way to make money over time.”
• Vice is launching a long-rumored cable TV network
  – Vice said Thursday it plans to launch a TV network in the US and a dozen across Europe. Vice will buy networks in some locations and partner in joint ventures in others. No word on which will happen where. The idea is to buy networks on the cheap then leverage content made there into mobile and online. 
• Vudu starts streaming 4K movies to the Roku 4
  – More 4K content headed your way as Vudu makes 12 movies in its catalog available for 4K viewing on Roku 4, with prices of $10 for a rental and $25 – $30 to purchase. The offerings should be coming to other platforms like the Vizio 4K TVs soon.

Under Surveillance

• Brian: Leftovers, Shield, Man in High Castle, Fargo
• Tom: Bob’s Burgers, Fargo (202), MLB , Clone Wars, Flash, Agents of SHIELD, Star Wars: Rebels, Arrow, The Man in the High Castle (ep. 2), Haven, The Shield (711), Doctor Who, The Leftovers (204), Walking Dead (603), Once Upon a Time, Last Man on Earth
• Jaime: Gotham
• Bryce: The Man in the High Castle ep 2 released. Full season 11/20

Dispatches from the Front
Tom mentioned his new chipped card’s number didn’t change, but the CVV code should have. When I activated my new card a few months ago, I couldn’t figure out for the next week why the card was working some of the time and other times it wasn’t. It didn’t click that the only time it wasn’t working was when I was paying online through saved information. Without updating that new CVV code from the back of the card, the Netflix plans wouldn’t renew even if the card number was unchanged.

–  hornakapopolis

 

 

 

 

“Hey Brian and Tom,

Last week’s show you all were talking about how close we are to the NFL running their own distribution and putting their games online. 

I’d love if this were true, but the economics might not pan out in the NFL’s favor. Currently the NFL is making roughly $6 BILLION a year from CBS, FOX, NBC ($3.1B), ESPN ($1.9B), DirecTV Sunday Ticket ($1B) for rights to games. 

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/15/business/la-fi-ct-nfl-deals-20111215

Also they’ve signed these deals to last till 2022.

If the networks decided not to renew deals when they’re up because the NFL wants to stream games online they’re gonna have a hard time making the same kind of money. 

20M subscribers paying $25/mo. = $6 Billion/yr 

or 

50M  subscribers paying $10/mo. = $6 Billion/yr

This doesn’t include infrastructure of network or cost to have others host. Not to mention marketing, customer service etc. 

The only way I see it could being possible sometime in the future is if they managed to get a deal similar to what the MLB has with the networks…still show games on TV (probably at a lower rate than the $3.1B now) while offering a “”premium”” service that’s over the top everywhere. This would of course take the rug from under the DirecTV so that would be more revenue to make up. Unfortunately I don’t think they can reach  beyond the most diehard fans if the price is anything over $15/mo. 

I think the NFL will eventually start chipping away, it’s inevitable. Maybe starting with an exclusive deal with Apple or Amazon to have a toe in the streaming box game without totally offending their currently partners. Whatever the case sports fan, particularly NFL fans will have to get by with over the air, Sling or Sunday Ticket. 

You guys keep being awesome!

Cheers,
– James
(I’m the guy who stopped you at Ralph’s Tom ☺)”

 

 

 

“Hey Guys, 

I wanted to point to you this weekend’s report on Box Office Mojo. The author notes how the latest Paranormal Activity movie had a weak opening, but is using a new strategy with Video on Demand. He notes that once the movie is playing on less than 300 theaters, it be available for VOD. In exchange, participating theaters will receive a portion of the VOD profits. This approach shortens the theatrical window significantly, and I’m curious how it will be accepted by studios, theaters, and viewers.

Thanks for a great show every week. 

Your boss,
– Mike

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4116&p=.htm”

 

 

 

1) horse racing and fantasy sports as I understand it are examples of parimutuel betting. The idea is the betting or house can’t influence the odds. (https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24n5vb/eli5_why_is_it_legal_to_bet_on_horse_races_but/)

technically Hearthstone, Poker, and Sports are not gambling in a way that can influence the game (as long as the teams aren’t involved in/make money on the bets) so it seems a bit arbitrary

2) NBA commissioner is pro betting (http://time.com/3584866/nba-adam-silver-legalize-pro-sports-betting/)

– Chris

 

 

 

Hey Tom and Brian,
Love the show been a fan since Framerate. I suggest Longmire to replace The Shield. It has 4 seasons with a fifth yet to be confirmed but most likely coming all on Netflix. The show is a modern day western and has deep and realistic characters with actions that are understandable and relevant. It is a loose police procedural about a Wyoming county sheriff solving a murder of the week, but there is a deeper, more consistent overall story that stretches season to season. The dichotomy between the characters, cultures (local Native Americans vs. white population, rich vs. poor), landscapes, and what’s ethically right vs what’s the law is so enriching but not so politically driven as other shows. Walt Longmire is just a great character as Walter White.

Also, can I make a suggestion on maybe letting us viewers and “bosses” know what you guys will spoil a week in advance (or few days via Twitter, etc). I get you guys are busy and can only watch a limited shows. But I like to follow along with Spoilern’ Time and sometimes you’ll start new shows or movies, like Beasts of No Nation, and some of weren’t aware and it’s hard to go back and listen. Anyway just my suggestion.

Thanks and keep up the phenomenal job.

Regards,

– Judson M.

 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

 

 

Netflix blames chip cards for subscriber decline, China’s Xiaomi revolutionizes set-top box, why fantasy sports gambling could fund the cord-cutting sports future. 

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CordKillers:  92 – Netflix and Chips
Recorded: October 19, 2015
Guest: Eklund

Intro Video

• WITH BOB AND DAVIDDDDDDDDD!

Primary Target

• NY Times: Cash Drops and Keystrokes: The Dark Reality of Sports Betting and Daily Fantasy Games
• Nevada Banning Fantasy Sports: After DraftKings, FanDuel Scandal, Daily Fantasy Gambling Must Cease And Desist In Nevada
• NHL bans reporters from using live-streaming app Periscope

Signal Intelligence

• Netflix keeps winning fans around the world. In the US, not so much
• Netflix says its price hike is all about acquiring more content
• Netflix blames weak U.S subscriber adds on new chip-based cards
• Netflix says it wants to get into the news business, but how?
• Netflix Says Chip Credit Cards Stunted Subscriber Growth
• Netflix’s Excuse for Its Slow Growth Is a Head-Scratcher
  – US Subs rose 880K to 43.18 million short of expected 1.15 mm
  – Int’l increased 2.74 mm to 25.99 mm better than 2.5 mm expected
  – US growth no. attributed in part to “involuntary chrun” blamed on new credit cards
  – “It’s just the dumbest thing I’ve heard,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said.
  – Still thinks it can 1.65 million customers in Q4/ 3.5 mm worldwide
  – Netflix original programming budget estimated to grow to $5 billion next year
  – Ted Sarandos said likelihood “probably high” to compete in news and info documentaries like Vice (NOT looking at sports)
  – Star Wars Episode VII will not be a part of its agreement with Disney, which kicks in during Q4 next year.

Gear Up

• Xiaomi will let you replace the brains in its new smart TV
  – Xiaomi 60-inch 4K MITV 3 – RMB 4,999 (roughly $786).
  – COMES WITH
  – Mi TV Bar with speakers
  – 2GB RAM, 8GB flash storage
  – Runs Xiaomi’s Android variant MIUI TV
  – Can buy MiTV bar separately and use with any TV (RMB 999 ($157))
  – China only

Front Lines

• YouTube Will Make You Pay to See Some of Its New Videos
  – ReCode has sources who say YouTube will announce some original programming at an event Wednesday at YouTubeSpace LA where Tom’s wife works. The sources say say the content will be available as part of a subscription program that also removes ads. this is DIFFERENT than YouTube Gaming’s ‘sponsorships’ that they just launched which lets you support gamers for $3.99 a month and get access to exclusive chat perks but does NOT remove ads. 
• Forbes lists the top-earning YouTube stars for 2014 to 2015
  – But where does that YouTube money go? Sure some is used to pay the salary of Tom’s wife. But Forbes ranks the YouTube stars that earned the most money for the year ending June. 1. Pewdiepie earned $12 million.Gamer KSI made $4.5 million. Smosh and the Fine Brothers made $8.5 million each. Musician Lyndsey Sterling took in $6 million and Fashion vlogger Michelle Phan earned $3 million. The amounts are for all income not just YouTube revenue.
• NBCU Debuts “SeeSo,” A New Subscription Streaming Service For Comedy Fans
  – NBC Universal announced a video service called SeeSo last week in the US. For $3.99 a month you can watch Old US and British comedies, episodes of NBC’s late night shows, current episodes of NBC comedies and more than 20 original series. One of the originals is HarmonQuest combining live action and animation. 10-15% of the content will be available for free. It launches in beta in December and in full in January. You can sign up to be notified at beta.seeso.com
• BBC begins blocking VPN access to iPlayer
  – Let the game of whack-a-mole begin. The BBC told TorrentFreak it is beginning to actively block IP addresses from known VPN services in order to combat out of country viewing by non subjects of the realme. While the BBC says it is not blocking VPNs of school and corporate users, it will block the legitimate home user who happens to use the wrong VPN for security. 
• Your next Comcast bill may be priced per gigabyte
  – Comcast has begun enforcing its long unenforced 300 GB cap that still exists in a few of its markets mostly in the central and southern states of the US. People who hit the cap will be offered the choice to pay $10 a month to get 50 additional GB or $30 for unlimited data use. For reference a 75Mbps plan in Florida costs $80 a month with a 300 GB cap. A Triple play bundle including TV and phone costs $99 a month. 
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Trailer to Debut on ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’
  – By the time you hear this you likely will have already seen the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer that aired during Monday Night Football on ESPN. Tickets are schedule to go on sale as soon as the trailer airs.

Under Surveillance

• Bill Murray Gathers His Celeb Friends for Very Murray Christmas
  – A new teaser came out for Netflix’s “A Very Murray Christmas” a Christmas Variety show hosted by Bill Murray, featuring Miley Cyrus, George Clooney, Michael Cera, Amy Poehler, Paul Shaffer, Jason Schwartzman, Miley Cyrus, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, David Johansen, Dimitri Dimitrov, Julie White, Jenny Lewis, Frederic Moulin, Rashida Jones, and more
• Brian: Beasts of No Nation, The Leftovers, The Shield, Fargo
• Tom: Agents of Shield, MLB Playoffs, Bob’s Burgers, Fargo (201), Haven, Flash, Muppets, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Wars: Rebels, Empire, Arrow, Rugby World Cup, Beasts of No Nation, The Shield (710), Doctor Who, The Walking Dead (602), The Leftovers (203), Once Upon a Time, The Last Man on Earth
• Eklund: Red Oaks, Hamilton, Muppets, Droid Tales, Steven Colbert, Hockey, Hockey, Hockey
• Bryce: Please Like Me

Dispatches from the Front

Hey Tom and Brian.

Here’s a little insight into the Australian pay TV industry I got from my Uncle who is a major advertising executive. Foxtel, which is the only major nationwide traditional Pay TV operator left solvent that has cable and satellite infrastructure has after 20 years of operation a marketshare of around 30% of households in the country. Netflix on the other hand has managed to sign up 9% of all households since it’s launch earlier this year. Stan, Presto and Quickflix the three local Netflix clones are struggling however with less than 3% of households combined.

Since Foxtel took the drastic measure last year of dropping it’s minimum subscription fee per month to $25 in order to fight off the at the time un-launched $12 a month Netflix I’ll be interested to see if they can hold onto their marketshare longer than the much more expensive US cable and satellite companies.

– Nik

 

Netflix reaches 1.89 million Australians. Foxtel loses share (but not size) as Netflix expands pay and subscription TV market

 

 

Just a quick note. The newest version of Playon and Playlater deserve some air time from you gentlemen. The UI has been completely changed and turned into a DVR style interface. The system has a set it and forget it record style that will record new episodes when available and notification when available for new shows. Only just start messing with it but extremely promising.

– William
 

 

 

Tom and Brian,
This week, my wife Eileen and I moved in to our new home. While setting up our entertainment center, she was confused as to why I was upset at all the cords I had to connect and hide throughout the living room. She asked, “aren’t you a cord killer. Why do you need all these cords?” I explained ‘cord cutting’ was about not using cable anymore and she responded, “well the show should be called ‘Cable Cutters’ or ‘Coax Killers’ then! CORD Killers is misleading!”

It was an awesome conversation!

Your boss in beautiful Norfolk, VA,
– Jeromy
 

 

All this talk about Hulu and VR is interesting. Don’t get me wrong…my enjoyment with Hulu is back since the no-commercials plan, but how can they figure out VR when they can’t even send 5.1 surround audio. Come on Hulu. Netflix does it, Amazon does its, Itunes store has it, Vudu has it. Everyone has 5.1 or better surround sound encoded with their streaming content, except Hulu. Still Stereo. Like an old black and white movie. Guess it’s too technically complicated?

– Jon

 

 

Hey Brian & Tom,

Since cutting the cord four years ago I’ve kept my old Directv dish laying around just knowing I’d come up with a new use for it. Yesterday was the day. I stripped everything off of it, bolted it to the old front brake rotors I just took off my car and slapped an old grate from a rusted out gas grill on it. I painted everything with high-temp grill paint and now I have a new deck fire pit for the price of free. I’ll likely get much more enjoyment out of the dish this way than I ever did when it was hooked up to directv.
–Eric

(P.S. – I’ll put it on some stone pavers before using it to avoid the deck going up in flames. Also, the cover is from the old fire pit which I bent to match the oval shape of the dish.)
 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

 

 

Cable companies want control of their boxes, do you care? Hulu’s going VR and Roku dominates many things including 4K.

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CordKillers: 91 – 4 Kurious
Recorded: October 12, 2015
Guest: Roberto Villegas

Intro Video

• Nobody in New York recognizes Chris Pratt

Primary Target

• Does the Future of Television Belong to the Device or the App?
  – Congress directed the FCC to evaluate new standards for downloadable security on set-top boxes.
  – Last protocols established in the mid-1990s allowing for TiVo and the like to offer competing cable box devices
  – Cable industry and Hollywood proposal
  – Allow content operators (cablecos) to provide own apps and interfaces
  – Third-party devices could only display software designed and controlled by MVPDs.
  – Tech companies “virtual head-end” proposal
  – Programming forced into simple format
  – Device-makers create user interfaces and implement features
  – Could disrupt contracts dictating channel placement
  – Could allow app services like HBO to unbundle

Signal Intelligence

• Hulu’s virtual reality app is set for its close-up next month
• Hulu poised to see bigger growth than Amazon and Netflix over the next four years.
  – Hulu VR experience ready for November when Gear VR goes on sale
  – Hulu head of distribution Tom Connolly said Friday its considering original VR series.
  – Freddie Wong making VR short film “The Big One” alongside Hulu original series
  – Typical virtual environment for watching normal content. Sit in Jerry’s apartment to watch Seinfeld.
  – 70% of Hulu viewing on a TV. Roku the most popular.
  – Live programming in ‘if’ mode. As in not sure if they’ll do it.
  – Emarketer forecasts Hulu will have bigger growth than Amazon and Netflix over next 4 years
  – Next year, Hulu will see 11.8 percent growth in subscribers, compared to 11.1 percent for Netflix and 12.3 percent for Amazon.
  – Later this year: miniseries “11/22/63” will debut, starring James Franco.
  – This year 63 percent of OTT users subscribe to Netflix, compared to 36 percent for Amazon and 33. 1 percent for Hulu.
  – By 2019, that will rise to 71.7 percent for Netflix, 44.4 percent for Amazon, and 41.2 percent for Hulu.

Gear Up

• Roku finally gets into 4K with new streaming box, updated software
  – Roku 4 streaming player
  – Supports 4K content playback 60fps (better framerate than Apple or Amazon, same as TiVo Bolt)
  – Auto-adapt to quality of streaming video
  – 802.11ac
  – Button on box makes remote make sounds (buzz or ring)
  – New 4K row in channel store, as well as 4K spotlight app
  – Send photos from phone to 4K screen
  – Pre-order now shipping Oct. 21 $129.99
• HBO Now comes to Roku
  – HBO Now available in Roku Channel store now. Sign up through Roku and get a 30-day free trial.
  – Roku 7.0 os
  – Will come to Roku 3, 4 and streamign stick
  – cleaner UI
  – universal search displays results in descending order by price
  – search for actors, dorectors as well as specific ttitle
  – Track all that using Feed. Can alert when new content available
  – App can now browse content, add things to feed, add channels
  – Later this year will allow app to work w/o being on same network as device.

Front Lines

• Netflix’s most popular streaming plan now costs $10 a month for new customers
  – For the first time since May 2014, Netflix is raising prices for new customers. Standard two-streams plan goes from $8.99 to $9.99 a month in the US. Current customers will stay at their current rate. Login to your account to see how long that rate is guaranteed.
• Sony will launch a $30 PS4 remote for Netflix and Blu-ray later this month
  – Sony will launch a universal remote for the PS4 in North America later this month for $30. The remote will control the interface and a range of apps as well as three additional devices. 
• TV’s Looming Threat: ‘Cord-Nevers’
  – A Forrester Research study surveyed 32,000 adults in the US and found 18% of them have never paid for traditional TV. 7 of that 18 percent represent people aged 18-31. The survey found that 6% of the US are cord-cutters and estimates by 2025 half of 18-32 year-olds will not pay for TV in the current model. 76% of US Adults are “cord-havers”
• Paramount has started a YouTube channel called Paramount Vault that features free full-length movies and clips.
  – Paramount is owned by Viacom which sued YouTube over unauthorized free movies and TV shows uploaded to the platform.
• Vudu finally delivers 1080p HDX movies on Android devices
  – Vudu updated their android app to make it easier to use and add HD playback at 720p and 1080p. Something the iOS app can’t do yet. Oddly the feature isn’t available yet for Android TV. 
• Amazon Said to Weigh Creating a Online Pay-TV Service
  – Bloomberg says its sources say Amazon is talking to CBS and NBC about a linear TV service. The sources say deliberations are preliminary. 

Under Surveillance

• Vimeo Launches Slate of 3 Originals, Including Drag Queen Bianca Del Rio Standup Special
  – Vimeo unveiled its funding three new originals. A new 6-episode season of relationship drama The Outs in Q1 2016. And two comedy specials, “Bianca Del Rio’s Rolodex of Hate Comedy Special: Live from Austin” in December and Darby Forever a short film from SNL cast member Aidy Bryant in Q1 2016.
• I don’t know what vvatch is, but I can’t stop watching
  – vvatch.tv is a stream of curated YouTube clips, often cut from a longer video. It’s supposedly a preview of a curated streaming service. 
• Netflix released the final trailer for its film Beasts of No Nation, releasing this Friday on Netflix and in select theatres. 
• Brian: The leftovers 201 & 202, The shield 709, The Beginner’s Guide (90 min game, practically a show though)
• Tom: The Flash, The Muppets, Arrow, Empire, The Shield (709), Doctor Who, Star Trek: Voyager, MLB Playoffs, Rugby World Cup, Steve Jobs, The Walking Dead (601) Once Upon a Time, The Leftovers (201), The Last Man on Earth
• Roberto:   Muppets, Bones
• Bryce: Casual (Hulu). Recently-divorced mother and daughter move in with bachelor brother. Exploration of dating culture. New episodes Wednesdays on Hulu.

Dispatches from the Front

I found it interesting that Tom suggests that TiVo look to Roku for inspiration on how to proceed going forward. Given that Roku was started by ReplayTV founder Anthony Wood, there’s probably some institutional bias against adopting Roku’s model for, well, anything.

Keep up the good work,

– Mike

 

 

Hey Brian and Tom!

A few episodes ago, you had on the guy who runs pluto.tv, and after checking it out, I’ve fallen in love. It’s great to be able to “flip through the channels” again. They also have a lot of great programming.

Thanks for bringing this great site to our attention!

Love the show

– Drew

 

 

Hey guys. You’ve had several people say why they want the ability to download streaming video for later playback, but my situation hasn’t been mentioned yet. I have satellite internet service that has a low monthly bandwidth cap – except for a few hours in the middle of the night when I can download anything without a cap. If a service allows downloads, I can grab shows I’d like to watch during the “free” times, and watch them later without worrying about quickly blowing through my cap. In fact, because Amazon just added the download feature, I finally got Amazon Prime. If Netflix ever adds this feature, I would order Netflix, too.”

– Micah

 

 

“How many people have speakers with headphone-sized jacks on them.  My home speakers are all wired up with speaker wire.
 
Am I missing something with this Chromecast speaker thing?
 
– Walt

 

 

 

“I did it! I cut the cable cord, but i did go Dish with there 2 year price lock (50/mo), and I have to tell you.. Dish doesn’t get enough credit. Great tech, great price, and a free year of Netflix, that works on the Hopper Sling box.. all included in that 50/mo price tag. And I have been traveling a lot in the past 2 months, the Sling capabilities have made it nice and easy to get my Dr. Who/Mr. Robot fix without the torrents. 

If it wasn’t for my pesky kids (it’s really their technophobe grandmother) ;), I would have completely cut the cord long ago, but this option is the best deal i found if you have to keep some ‘normal tv’ around. Thought i would chime in. Keep it up!

– Joe from LA 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

 

We interview Pluto.TV co-founder Ilya Pozin about the best cord-cutter service for the lazy and bored. Plus: Amazon bans Chromecast and Apple TV, Verizon goes nowhere, and the new Chromecast proves to be well designed.

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CordKillers: When You Don’t Know What You Want
Recorded:  October 5, 2015
Guest: Lauren Perry

Intro Video

• Weird Simpsons VHS

Primary Target

• Amazon kicks Chromecast and Apple TV out of store
  – Amazon sent email to marketplace sellers
  – No new listings for Chromecast or Apple TV
  – Existing inventory will be removed Oct. 29
  – “It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.”
  – Developer emailed DTNS pointing out that Chromecast SDK requires Google Play Services on Android, meaning no FireOS device works
  – And an Amazon rep told David in email “… we’ll expand Amazon Video to the upcoming Apple TV 4th Gen in the near future.”

Signal Intelligence

• Verizon Go launches
  – Verizon Go90 launched for iOS and Android
  – Various shows from traditional nets and MCNs
  – Daily Show and 30 for 30 alongside HuffPost Live, Michelle Phan
  – VZN wireless subscribers get some exclusives
  – Live NCAA football, basketball, and international soccer.
  – Go90 will launch with 8,000 titles and over 35 exclusive original series, which will nearly double by year’s end
  – 15 of the 30 most viewed network shows and 9 of 15 most viewed web shows
  – Social network aspect to follow celebrities and join crews
• Comcast, Verizon Launch New Video Services Watchable, Go90
  – Watchable from Comcast
  – Free on Web, iOS and Comcast X1 set-top box
  – Web videos from Buzzfeed, Maker, Vice, Vox, etc

Gear Up

• Google Announces Chromecast 2 And Chromecast Audio To Bring Intelligence To Your Living Room
• Chromecast adds video from Showtime, Sling TV, NBA and more
  – Chromecast
  – Showtime today and Sling TV in next few weeks
  – NBA NHL coming
  Chromecast
  – circle with integrated HDMI cable (Black, lemonade and coral) 5GHz wifi 802.11ac, new adaptive antenna system
  – New Chromecast app collects cast-enabled apps/content from your phone
  – Universal voice search across services
  – App update within next weeks
  – Fast Play 80% reduction in app loading
  – Multiplayer gaming
  – New feeds getty images, FB and Flickr
  – Available today in 17 countries for $35
  – Chromecast Audio
  – Plugs into existing home speaker
  – Same shape but with minijack (RCA and optical as well)
  – Works with any device on network as well as ‘guest mode’
  – Spotify now supports chromecast
  – Can mirror audio from Chrome or Android
  – Supports multi-room sync
  – Avail. today in 17 countries. $35 in US
• TiVo Unveils BOLT, A Modern, 4K-Ready DVR Designed For The Streaming Era
• TiVo exec explains Bolt strategy, Fire TV app and new Pro next year
  – TiVo Bolt on sale at Best Buy and Amazon.
  -4K support, can handle cablecard and Over the Air signals and has a bent design to help with cooling and make it look cool.
  – QuickMode which plays back content 30% faster with pitch-corrected audio
  – SkipMode which lets you skip past commercial breaks on 20 channels for programming that airs 4PM to Midnight.
  -500GB model costs $299 and a 1TB model runs $399. Both models get a year of service for free after which it’s $15 a month or $150 a year.
  – TiVo Chief Marketing Officer Ira Bahr on company forums to TiVo enthusiasts: “we already have a roadmap plan to bring you something you’ll like way better in 2016 (more on this shortly).”

Front Lines

• Apple TV will have an open API for universal search
  – Tim Cook told BuzzFeed there will be an open API for Apple TV’s search so it can expand beyond the launch apps of iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Showtime and HBO. 
• YouTube Kids streams content on Chromecast, Apple TV and more
  – YouTube Kids is now available on Chromecast and AppleTV. Also new curated playlists from the likes of National Geographic Kids and tools for parents that help you learn the app and tweak the password.
• Virgin America will offer free Wi-Fi for Netflix content on select flights
  – On Virgin America flights now, Netflix is offering free in-flight WiFi and access to its full catalog of movies. You just have to be on a plane with ViaSat WiFi. The promotion ends March 2nd of next year.
• HBO Now and Showtime apps arrive on Android TV
  – HBO Now, Showtime and CBS All Access are all three now available for Android TV users. The console also gets Disney Movies Anywhere’s store, Epix, WWE and UFC.

Under Surveillance

• Brian: The Martian, The Shield, rewatched 2 Utopias (bonnie is out), Rick and Morty Finale (wow)
• Tom: Agents of Shield, Clone Wars, Voyager, Empire, The Martian, The Shield (708), Doctor Who, Ferrell Takes The Field, The Last Man on Earth, Leftovers (half ep. 1), Rick and Morty (210)
• Bryce:  Hand of God. New Amazon Original series. 10x1hr episodes out now. Starring Ron Perlman.

Dispatches from the Front

Dear Tom,

It’s October which means our beloved Redbirds are once again in the hunt for a World Series title. As a cordkiller I’d like to know the best way to see the action.

It is a confusing process to know where to watch the team with or without cable. I have a Roku and am willing to pay to watch the games. I don’t believe MLB At Bat has playoff coverage.

How are we going watch, Tom?

– Michael (Great) Daehn

 

 

 

Dear Tom and Brian,

I continue to enjoy your show and appreciate all your hard work.

I want to make a suggestion that I think will help everyone: you should recommend that your bosses switch their payment method in their Patreon accounts to PayPal. Here’s why:
PayPal will notify users when their card is about to expire, so they can fix it before it actually starts being declined. This will help Cordkillers get their money on time.
Merchants don’t see PayPal users’ card numbers, so there’s less risk when a database is hacked (you probably already knew that, but it’s timely information considering recent events).
See how everyone wins?
PayPal wasn’t available on Patreon when I first signed up, soon after you started Cordkillers. So some of your bosses who signed up in the beginning might not be aware they even have this option. Tom should tell DTNS listeners, too.
Love the show!

– Beelissa

 

 

 

 

Hey Brian and Tom,
I like the idea of using VR for virtual theaters and be able to sit back on my comfy couch with nice headphones and get a real theater experience minus the seat kicking.

Brian’s comment about being able to look around the virtual theater and see the shocked expressions of the people around you reminded me of a DTNS story about the software that is able to read emotions.

If down the road our VR gear is able to do that, then it would be possible to have our virtual avatar display the same surprise, shock, disgust, etc, that we’re feeling as we watch the movies.

This would be good for that community feeling if the theater is full of our friends, or even a selection of strangers that also happen to be watching the movie at the same time.

It would also be useful for film makers and studios to see the data that is fed back so they can make better movies.

– Andy from Michigan

 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

Hulu goes commercial free-ish, Voice search comes to Apple TV, why Netflix won’t let you watch offline. 

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CordKillers: Show Us What You Got
Recorded: September 14, 2015
Guests: Kristi Kates, Mulango Akpo-Esambe 

Intro Video

• Show me what you got!

Primary Target

• Hulu Starts a Commercial-Free Option to Rival Netflix and Amazon
  – Hulu launched a commercial free tier for $12 a month
  – Exceptions are shows that Hulu hasn’t got the license to show commercial free
  – Those shows will have a commercial before and after each episode.
  – Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon A Time, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Scandal, Grimm, New Girl, and How To Get Away With Murder.
  – Shows only available because you authenticated through a cable service will still have commercials

Signal Intelligence

• Netflix Exec: No Offline Downloads Because Too Much Choice Is Bad
• Rakuten’s Wuaki.tv Beats Netflix To Offline Downloads, Starting First With Mobile Devices
  – Amazon and Wuaki now offer the ability to download certain shows fro offline viewing.
  – Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt told Gizmodo that offering offline video options is too much choice
  – “One of the things I’ve learned is that every time you offer a choice, you paralyze some people who can’t decide if that’s what they want to do or not. Now, that sounds really stupid and self-serving, but it is in fact true.”
  – He said tests have shown adding an addition step in the decision-making process can stop people from watching anything at all
  – Netflix would rather make the existing service work in more places like planes, trains and hotels

Gear Up

• Apple Unveils A More Powerful Apple TV, Shipping In October
• It’s hard to build Apple TV apps and that’s good for users
• Plex will bring its media streaming to Apple TV
  – 4th gen Apple TV (Eddy Cue senior vice president of Internet Software and Services)
  – “The future of TV is apps”
  – “Over 60% of pay TV streaming video is consumed on an Apple device.”
  – Remote – touchpad, airplay button, voice control “siri” button,
  – Searches across multiple apps: iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime
  – Plays screen savers that are daypart appropriate
  – movies/tv shows/app store/photos/music
  – FF, rewind, with thumb on touchpad “what did she say?” skip back
  – Can use phone or tablet as a controller
  – Can ask Siri for weather and sports scores
  – Runs TVOS
  – App store including games and shopping and even Zillow?
  – 64-bit A8 chip, Bluetooth 4, 802.11ac MIMO, IR
  – 32GB for $149, $199 for 64GB, late October
  – SDK Available for devs today, no webkit, so no browser

Front Lines

• Microsoft, Amazon video to join Disney’s cloud movie service
  – Disney announced Amazon and Microsoft has joined Disney Movies Anywhere. That means Disney movies purchased from Amazon or through Xbox will also be available on any other Disney Movies Anywhere Service, and vicer versa. Vudu, Google and Apple are already part of the system. 
• U.S. Consumers Now Spend More Time In Apps Than Watching TV
  – A Flurry App Analytics report says the average US consumer spends 198 minutes a day in apps v. 168 minutes watching TV. And that doesn’t count the browser as a an app. TV minutes have remained steady while app minutes have been growing year over year.
• TiVo revenue beats estimates on subscriptions rise
  – TiVo subscriptions rose 26% in Q2, though we don’t know how much is from cable and satellite customers and how much from OTA. The company says it expects continued growth from cable and retail. Also Android users can now download TiVo recordings for offline viewing if they have a TiVo Stream or a box with Stream built into it.   
• Binge watching clock
  – Want to know if you have time to binge all the episodes of DragonballZ/ Well if you have 5.2 days available you can. We know this thanks to bingeclock.com. The service can caluclate how much to binge on shows with commercials, without commercials and skipping credits.
• Hey South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong! Netflix says its launching in your countries in early 2016. 

Under Surveillance

• Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror to become a Netflix show
  – Radio Times says Netflix has struck a deal with Charlie Brooker to fund additional episodes of Black Mirror. Channel 4 which aired the first two runs of episodes is said to have a first look deal on new episodes.  
• Marvel’s Jessica Jones will premiere on Netflix on November 20th
  – Marvel’s Jessica Jones is coming to Netflix November 20th. An enigmatic teaser trailer is out. Kyrsten Ritter is Jessica Jones, Mike Coler is Luke Cage and David Tennant is the Purple Man. 
• A trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s next TV series Red Oaks is up. It comes to Amazon October 9. 
• If you have something capable of displaying 4K video, you can watch space stuff on a new 4K NASA channel launching November 1st. 
• Brian: The Shield (705), Rick and Morty, Bojack Horseman season 2, Mr. Robot finale (twice!), couple more episodes of rebels
• Tom: The Shield (705) Late Show w/ Stephen Colbert, Star Trek: Voyager, US Open, Rick & Morty (207), Mr. Robot finale
• Mulango: Mr Robot finale, Doctor Who, Clone Wars because of rebels,  Rick and Morty
• Kristi: Agents of Shield, Astronaut Wives Club, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Bryce: Update (Knights of Sidonia, Hotwives), Narcos
• Narcos has been renewed a mere week after its premiere. 

Dispatches from the Front

With Hulu going commercial free (Hey Tom, take $4 of my dollars I send you and get a month commercial free and then go back to the commercial version and then tell me if you don’t really notice the commercials on Hulu 😉
Also Sling TV giving me access to Rugby (and my dad is waiting for Apple TV to have sling on it so he can start watching Tennis. He worked in TV for years and only does OTA for his tv viewing)
I am so close to being totally Cord Free but I have horrible reception here in West Hollywood so I still have a TiVo with local cable channel service. We use the Tivo for recording live events like award shows. Is there a service out there that allows me to record / view these shows for later or live viewing? Or is it just a matter of time to wait for it to happen. (AKA Apple TV live streaming coming early 2016/2017/2018….)
Thanks in advance and keep up the good work.

– Blair in West HollyWeird

 

 

I’m ready to kill my cord. I love my Fios, but I’m done giving that much money to Verizon every month.

I love with 2 teenagers who are mostly cord-free anyway, but I do have 3 TVs I need to drive OTA signals to. I know about the Channelmaster for OTA DVR action but I really need the potential to run all 3 TVs simultaneously live for local sportball. Is there a solution for this that only involves 1 antenna shared somehow? I’m in a remote suburb and need to get my antenna in the attic or on the roof and don’t want to have to do it x3.

– Rob Damascus, MD

 

 

 

Hey Tom and Brian,

Today marked week one of NCAA Football. Over the last few years conferences have created their own networks; SEC network, Big 10 network, ect. These can usually be found in cable sports packages. While a lot of the networks are aligned with ESPN, they require their own authentication. SLING to the rescue. I added the sports package to my Sling subscription today and was off to the gridiron. The authentication on the ESPN website is pretty flawless. To activate the app on my Amazon Fire TV stick I had to enter a code on another connected device.

I have noticed some streaming issues, I have Optimum 100MBPS (down) internet, but the picture goes form 480 up to HD and back regularly. The audio also drops out sometimes while the video continues in the ESPN app. On the sling app, I would get total black screens with no audio then everything would come back.

While it is not as nice as cable was to watch sports, it was so much easier to add the sports pack and will be easier to remove it. I am just starting my post cord cutting experience. Moving 1/3rd of the way across the country was a great motivator. I am still getting all my devices unpacked and hooked up, but it feels nice to be saving effectively $80/month and getting more content I am interested in.

Your boss,

– Sean

 

 

 

Amazon has acquired video technology company Elemental – Full disclosure, I was employee #12 at elemental six years ago. …

Companies like these three are very much infrastructure companies – they’re features are the guts of the video workflow….

Think about one of Amazon’s other big recent purchases – twitch. Twitch is the eyeballs, Elemental is the efficiency of delivery on that service (and improved quality i imagine). Between just Amazon Instant Video and Twitch, there should be a pretty big value in having elemental onboard.

Here’s one last piece and then i’ll shut up. Elemental has a lot of big broadcast customers – the Olympics, BBC, ESPN, Disney, and even google and Microsoft. Imagine how interesting license rights negations get when your talking to the platform that delivers the content AND the company encoding your content.

– Andy Beach

 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

Is the pay TV mountain about to crumble, why MLB paying NHL is revolutionary for cord-cutters, and Xbox One gets a DVR.

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CordKillers: 83 – The Last Stage of Denial
Recorded: August 10, 2015
Guest: None

Intro Video

• So this just happened!!

Primary Target

• Chart Shows Pay TV Subscribers Shrinking
• Cord-Cutting Weighs on Pay TV
• Sanford C. Bernstein report confirms TV networks are increasing ad stuffing
• Cablevision stems subscriber loss at a cost
• No cord-cutting landslide yet according to Cablevision CEO
  – 1. If you want more Interent choices Pay TV has to see you as worth pursuing
  – 2. To see you as worth pursuing the traditional Pay TV subscriber business has to be seen as no longer 100% secure
  – Last week investors sold off big media companies erasing $50 billion in value
  – A chart from MoffettNathanson shows the decline of subscriber growth in pay TV dramatically. No positive growth since Q3 2012
  – PAY TV companies can no longer count on steadily rising subscriber fees
  – For June through mid-July, the top 30 cable networks were down more than 10% in viewers in prime time and 20% among adults 18-49 compared with the same period a year ago (although ad loads have risen as much as 10% yoy)
  – Networks (Disney, Turner, Discovery) all denying this will affect them and projecting no problems in subscriber fee growth. Sound familiar?
  – Content producers (CBS, Warner Bros. Disney) have MORE outlets paying them to make shows with the rise of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu so they’re prefeectly happy

Signal Intelligence

• MLBAM gets NHL deal
  -MLBAM will PAY the NHL $100 million for a six-year deal with rights to digital subscription products and cable TV property
  – First time MLBAM pays to run a service. Will sell ads against games.
  – Pending board approval this week, will engage bankers at Evercore and Goldman Sachs to market MLBAM to investors with the intention of spinning out by end of year under name BAM Tech 

Gear Up

• Xbox One DVR doesn’t work without external hard drive
• Xbox will get a DVR feature next year
  -XBox One will get a DVR feature in a future update in 2016
  – Schedule recordings from OneGuide
  – Schedule recordings from mobile, download shows and play them on Windows 10 devices
  – Need digital TV tuner and an external hard drive to take advantage

Front Lines

• Netflix’s newest original series is a dystopian thriller in Brazil
  -Netflix ordered a new series called 3% Produced by Brazilian studio Boutique Filmes and directed by Cesar Charlone (City of God). Everyone has one chance to jump from poverty to decadence but only 3% of applicants succeed. It’s Netflix’s first entirely Brazilian series.
• Ultra HD Blu-ray will have 4K discs here in time for the holidays
  –The Blu-ray Disc Association announced it will start licensing Ultra HD Blu-ray technology in time for the 2015 holiday season. The standard is 4K with support for 3840 x 2160 video as well as HDR and HFR and a ‘digital bridge’ feature to allow digital copies to be stored on authorized drives. 
• HBO NOW Adds Support For Google’s Chromecast
  -HBO Now added support for Chromecast to its Android and iOS devices. The Travel Channel, Food Newtwork and Pokemon TV apps also added Chromecast support. 
• Sky News livestream of Republican debate shut down by Fox News copyright claim
  –Fox News held and broadcast debates among selected Republican US Presidential candidates last week. Fox News streamed the debate online but only if you logged in with your cable credentials. Sky News which is a UK network owned by the same company that owns Fox News, was streaming the debate worldwide without requiring a login. At least they were until a content ID claim appeared against Sky News’s stream originating from Fox News blocking it. Sky News started a new stream at a new URL and that one stayed up.
• Samsung kills Boxee’s secret tablet remote project, lays off staff
  -RIP Boxee. Samsung, which bought Boxee two years ago, canceled the group’s next generation remote control project and has laid off much of the team. The project called PX, for perfect experience, would have been a guide to all programming available on a tablet-like device.
• PlayStation’s streaming TV service rolls out to Dallas and Miami
  –And two quick notes. The PlayStation Vue TV service is now available in the Dallas and Miami areas and Netflix will launch in Japan September 2nd.

Under Surveillance

• Watch HBO’s chilling teaser for the 2016 sci-fi western ‘Westworld’
  -HBO released a teaser for the Westworld series coming in 2016. The TV series will the same story as the 1973 film, but from the point of view of the robots. Written and Driected by Jonathan Nolan. 
• Netflix is reviving Mr. Peabody and Sherman for a new series this October
  -Netflix will have the New Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show with Chris Parnell as the voice of Mr. Peabody hosting a latenight comedy show broadcast . 13 episodes Coming October 9. 
• Sony Dropped a Ton of News About Dark Tower, Spider-Man, Jumanji, More
  -Sony announced: The Dark Tower movie is coming January 13, 2017. The new Jumanji arrives December 25, 2016. New live-action Spider-man July 28, 2017, Animated Spider-man July 20, 2018. New Ghostbusters moved yup to July 15.
• Brian: Star Wars (despecialized 5 and 6), Star Wars Rebels (6 episodes), Sneaky Pete, Wet Hot American Summer (2 eps), The Shield 701, Mr Robot 4/5, Hot Girls Wanted (netflix), Rick and Morty 203
• Tom: BoJack Horseman (210-212), Mr. Robot (6),  Clone Wars, Sneaky Pete, Wet Hot American Summer (Ep. 1) The Shield (701), Mission Impossible, True Detective, Rick and Morty (203)
• Bryce: Difficult People. Wednesdays to Hulu

Dispatches from the Front

Hey Tom and Bryan! My 7 year old daughter is obsessed with YouTube. I trust her well enough to watch videos on my YouTube account because the YouTube kids seems to be geared for too young of an audience for her. … My question is, why does my 7 year old see Budwiser and other adult themed ads in front of these videos? Is it because YouTube assumes I am watching the video because I am logged in? This seems like of short cited of YouTube with all their data they should be able to recognize that those videos are geared for kids and should only show kid appropriate ads. I wish Google would supply more customization for letting children use YouTube other than “kids” which seems for very young children, or all out using your adult account with adult ads.

– Kyle from Jacksonville

 

 

 

Hello Tom, Brian and Bryce –

Its been great to listen to the talk about whether or not to buy physical media or invest in digital media and some of the comments from other cordkillers.

Last year my brother made some terrible, stupid life choices and had to tighten his budget. One of the first bills to go was his internet and TV. Since he had heavily invested in digital content like Steam games and TV/Movies from Amazon, all of that was now of no use to him. …Yes, he could have downloaded the Amazon files and saved them or put Steam in offline mode, but that would only work for so long.

Watching this happen has made me stick with physical media in all aspects. You never know what’s going to happen in your life and I want to be sure that if I make some dumb choices I’m not stuck watching the only a single channel that comes in on my antenna.

Thanks for the great show!

– Dominic

 

 

Quick money saving tip if you pay for Showtime and/or HBO through Apple. We buy $100 gift cards at Costco or Sam’s Club for $80 on sale. Load those up into iTunes Store and save 20%. Over a year if you subscribe to both you’d save about $60. Enough to buy some other shows or support Cordkillers on Patreon!

– Rob
 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

Hulu may contemplate an ad-free tier, Judge gives Internet TV hope, Slingbox giveth and taketh away.

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CordKillers: Ep. 80 – Sit or Get Off the Pot, Hulu
Recorded: July 20, 2015
Guest: Andrew Mayne , Eklund

Intro Video 

• Promo for Penn and Teller: Fool Us

Primary Target

• U.S. judge says Internet streaming service should be treated like cable
  – US District Judge George Wu in LA ruled FilmOn X entitled to compulsory license for streaming broadcast TV network
  – (Compulsory license allows small cost carriage of must carry sytations. Stations who opt for retrans consent no longer    must be carried but have to negotiate in “good faith” for retrans costs)
  – An immediate appeal to 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals was allowed
  – Injunction against FilmON left standing
  – Feb. 22, 2011 – District Judge Naomi Buchwald granted an injunction, shutting down most of the broadcast stations carried by Ivi
  – Same right Aereo was denied in Manhattan Federal Court October 2014
  – FCC launched comment period Dec. 18, 2014 on reclassifying OITT as MPVD
• Password Sharing: Are Netflix, HBO Missing $500 Million by Not Cracking Down?
  – A report from research firm Parks Associates estimates services like HBO Go will lose up to $500 million worldwide to people who share login information. 6% of US broadband households use a service paid for by someone outside the house. Services like HBO and Netflix responded to the survey with a collective “yeah we know.”

Signal Intelligence

• Hulu Explores Adding Ad-Free Option to Its Service 
  -WSJ sources say Hulu considering an ad-free tier for $12-$14 a month 

Gear Up

• Buying a Slingbox finally gets you free TV streaming apps
  – Slingbox $200 Slingbox M2 ‘bundle’ gives you the apps for free
  – Cost is $50 more than unbundled. Apps are usually around $15 or more
  – “Seamlessly integrated ads”
  – And yes there’s already a class action suit for the ads being introduced to the desktop app in March
• Slingbox class action

Front Lines

• HBO NOW Arrives Today On Amazon’s Appstore And Google Play, And Soon, Android And Fire TV Devices
  – Netflix said in its earnings call it has no plans to raise prices but will encourage customers to upgrade to more expensive plans with better quality streams. CEO Reed Hastings, while wearing a BoJack Horseman sweater, also expressed support for the Charter Time Warner Cable merger since Charter doesn’t charge Netflix for interconnections.
• Google’s YouTube Signs Up Everyone But TV for New Paid Service
  – YouTube says it has signed up partners accounting for 90% of its viewing to take part in a paid service that would remove ads, but sources say none of those partners include major broadcast and cable networks. 
• Sling TV’s new ads show children bullying adults into paying for cable and signing contracts.
• Local TV takes news to Web in fight for cord cutters
  – This autumn 112 US TV stations will begin streaming live newscasts through an app called NewsOn. Verizon is also in talks with 300 stations that want to send programming directly to consumers. 

Under Surveillance

• Narcos series premieres on August 28th on Netflix
• Amazon’s First Original Film Is Spike Lee’s “Chi-Raq,” Expected In Theaters This Year
  – Spike Lee’s “Chi-Raq” film will be first Amazon original gang violence in inner-city Chicago.
  – Expectation is that the film is due to open in December in order to qualify for participation this year’s Oscars race.
  – Movies would reach Amazon Prime Instant Video in just 4 to 8 weeks after they hit the big screen.
  – (Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson)
• Brian:  Sense8, True Detective, Ant Man, BoJack Horseman
• Tom: Clone Wars, Mr. Robot (3-4), Wayward Pines (9), True Detective (Ep. 205) The Shield (608), Ant Man
• Andrew: Ray Donovan, True Detective, Ballers
• Bryce: BoJack Horseman

Dispatches from the Front

Hey Tom and Brian. I am still a few weeks behind so I don’t know if you have mentioned this or not yet.

The people of sideclick have re launched their product. They are only $13,000 away form their $80,000 goal, and they have 27 days left at the time of writing this.

Thanks,

– Savo in silly Schenectady NY. 

 

 

Guys,
Please understand that live TV is essential to a sports fan! I know you two are not. With, basketball, hockey, soccer, golf and football, the major broadcasters like NBC, ABC, CBS & ESPN, make billions, not to mention billions more for teams and players. Then add in endorsements,etc. You are happily ignoring a huge segment of your own potential market.

Please get someone on your podcast who is tech savvy and is a sports lover.
 

– Don

 

 

Hey guys, it’s your boss here. Last week you asked for an “anti-Plex opinion” … I am not that “anti-Plex opinion”, but I’m going to share my insights, anyway. 🙂

In my opinion, Plex is really good at one thing: managing libraries of locally-stored, non-DRM’d content. …

What Plex does not do is Live TV or PVR functionality, or any streaming service or web site. Yes, there are “Plex Channels” that will give you content from the web, but in my experience they are very glitchy and rarely work, probably because they’re almost all scraping web content, making them very prone to breaking. When they do work, figuring out what content is actually available on the channel is worse than figuring out what’s available on Free Hulu, and the experience will make Brian’s Grandmother a very sad panda!

TL;DR – If you have a large library of local media, Plex is awesome. For everything else, Plex is pain.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for making my favorite podcast every week! Keep up the good work!

– Stealth Dave

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers
2015 Winter Movie Draft