Big Ten media deals / HBO Max pulls more shows / Streaming tops cable viewership / Wall St. looking at ARPUs

Plus today's calendar, "Top Gun" on PVOD, Amazon's "The English" first look, "Great American Bake Off," and more

Inside.com Part of   Network August 18, 2022

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The Big Ten athletic conference signed new media partnership deals with CBS, NBC, and Fox to air and stream football games through the 2029-2030 season. The new deals are collectively valued at around $8 billion. More: Games will air on these broadcast networks, along with FS1 and the Big Ten Network. CBS will also stream games on Paramount+ while NBC will make some available via Peacock. The Big Ten championship game will jump between the three networks for different years. The announcement comes just a few weeks after USC and UCLA announced plans to depart the Pac-12 Conference and join the Big Ten; the addition of the lucrative Southern California TV market significantly expanded the new agreements. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

HBO Max announced 36 additional titles leaving the service as early as this week. Over the past few weeks, the streamer has started to pull HBO shows and Warner Bros. films from the service, including the series "Camping," "Vinyl," and "Mrs. Fletcher." More: Newly announced titles being removed from the platform include the animated series "Summer Camp Island" and "Infinity Train," the "Sesame Street" spinoff "The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo," and the teen drama "Generation." It's unclear whether or not WB Discovery plans to release any of these shows or films on alternate services or on physical media; many of them may become publicly unavailable. Removing the shows and films will save WB Discovery money on residual payouts to the stars and creators. TV Line also reports that the DC Comics animated series "Young Justice" will not return for a fifth season. VARIETY

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DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW: The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) spin-off series is a legal comedy, starring Tatiana Maslany as lawyer Jennifer Walters, who begins transforming into She-Hulk after being accidentally cross-contaminated by her cousin Bruce Banner's (Mark Ruffalo) blood. Now, she specializes in cases involving superpowered individuals. Ginger Gonzaga, Jameela Jamil, and Renée Elise Goldsberry co-star; Tim Roth, Benedict Wong, and Charlie Cox reprise their MCU roles as well. [Disney+] THE UNDECLARED WAR: 6-episode techno-thriller series, set in the year 2024, in which a team of British analysts race to fight off a foreign cyberattack that could potentially impact national elections. Simon Pegg, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Hannah Khalique-Brown, Adrian Lester, and Mark Rylance co-star; Peter Kosminsky ("The State") created the series and wrote and directed the pilot. [Peacock] DRAGONS: THE NINE REALMS: Season 3 of the animated fantasy-adventure series -- spun off from DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon" franchise -- debuts on both Hulu and Peacock today. The story is set in the modern world, among a group of misfit kids who uncover the hidden world of dragons. [Hulu and Peacock] SELENA + CHEF: The cooking series, in which Selena Gomez prepares dishes with assistance from world-renowned chefs, returns for a fouth season. (The first three episodes debut today.) The action moves from Gomez's home to a Malibu beach house that was once the setting for TV's "Hannah Montana"; Season 4 guests include Gordon Ramsay, Ludo Lefebvre, Matty Matheson, Priya Krishna, Rachael Ray, and others. [HBO Max] THE DIANA INVESTIGATIONS: Four-part docuseries revisiting the investigation into the car accident that claimed the lives of Princess Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul. The series features new interviews with both the British and French lead investigators in the case, and also examines the media coverage of the incident. [Discovery+] INSIDE THE MIND OF A CAT: Documentary feature in which a variety of cat lovers, experts, and scientists discuss and examine the animals' true capabilities, their historical relationship with humans, and their inner lives. [Netflix] HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: The animated series, a reimagining of the classic Mattel toy line and cartoon show, returns for a third season. (NOTE: This is NOT connected to the Kevin Smith-produced series "Masters of the Universe: Revelation" and its follow-ups.) [Netflix] TEKKEN: BLOODLINE: Debut anime series, inspired by the iconic Namco fighting games. The story follows Jin Kazama's entry in the King of Iron Fist Tournament, in the hopes of avenging the death of his mother and defeating his ruthless grandfather, Heihachi Mishima. [Netflix] GLORIOUS: Cosmic horror film starring Ryan Kwanten as guy named Wes who finds himself locked in a rest stop bathroom along with a mysterious stranger (JK Simmons) who claims to be a god and makes a horrifying request. [Shudder] FLAG DAY: 2021 drama feature from writer, director, and co-star Sean Penn, based on Jennifer Vogel's memoir "Flim-Flam Man: A True Family History." Penn's daughter, Dylan Penn, stars as Vogel, the daughter of a notorious con artist and thief who's coming to terms with her dad's legacy. Katheryn Winnick, Josh Brolin, Hopper Penn, and Regina King co-star. [Paramount+] WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT (DÍAS MEJORES): Drama series from Spain following the lives of members of a therapy group for grieving parents. The series streams on Amazon Prime in Spain and Paramount+ in the US. [Paramount+] BLINDED (FARTBLINDA): Swedish thriller series starring Julia Ragnarsson as an economics reporter who gets a tip that her bank director boyfriend (Matias Varela) is involved in a financial conspiracy. Season 2 debuts on Sundance Now in the US today. [Sundance Now]

"Stranger Things" In Nielsen's July 2022 US viewership data, streaming platforms have overtaken cable networks for the first time. For American households in the month of July, streaming represented 34.8% of total TV consumption, vs. 34.4% for cable and 21.6% for broadcast TV. More: Streaming usage regularly surpasses broadcast TV viewership in Nielsen's rankings, but this marks the first month it has also beat out cable. Netflix held the largest audience share of all streaming platforms with 8%, driven largely by the popularity of "Stranger Things" Season 4. Hulu set a new record, claiming a 3.6% share of the US audience, buoyed by breakout hits "Only Murders in the Building" and "The Bear." Overall streaming usage increased by 3.2% in July over June. VARIETY

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, institutional investors are starting to look at a new streaming metric: average revenue per user, or ARPU. For now, Netflix outpaces its chief rivals in terms of ARPU by charging more on average for subscriptions. More: Netflix's ARPU is around $12 globally and $16 in North America; the streamer is expected to make around $1 billion in profit this year. One way for Netflix to continue growing its ARPU would be to cut down on password sharing. Disney+ brings in about $4.35 per user globally, and $6.27 in North America, while WB Discovery's platforms combine for a $7.66 global ARPU, and $10.54 at home. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Advance rentals for "Top Gun: Maverick" -- which hits premium video on demand services (PVOD) next week -- have already propelled the film to the #4 spot on the iTunes charts. Vudu also reported that the film had the biggest presale of any 2022 release on the platform. More: "Top Gun: Maverick" is the top-grossing film in North America of the year to date, with around $676 million at the box office so far. The film will have an exclusive window on PVOD services before eventually streaming on Paramount+; no release date has yet been set. WB Discovery will use the same release strategy for "Elvis," which is now streaming on PVOD services but does not yet have an HBO Max release date. INDIEWIRE

The Western drama limited series "The English," a joint production of Amazon Studios and the BBC, debuts on Prime Video in the US in November. Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer co-star as an aristocratic English woman and a Pawnee scout -- respectively -- who pair up for a violent and dangerous journey across the American Midwest in the year 1890. More: The cast also includes Stephen Rea, Valerie Pachner, Rafe Spall, Tom Hughes, Toby Jones, and Ciarán Hinds. Hugo Blick ("The Honorable Woman") wrote and directed all six episodes. Though it's entirely set in the US, and was partly produced there, segments of the series were also recorded in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and multiple Nordic countries. The series will air on BBC Two in the UK and stream on the BBC iPlayer. THE PLAYLIST

"Obi-Wan Kenobi" A new report from analytics firm Samba TV notes that hotly-anticipated new series and films receive most of their viewership within the first two weeks. Overall, according to Samba, about three in four viewers watch top shows within their first two weeks online. More: "Obi-Wan Kenobi," for example, was viewed by 2.1 million households within its first four days on Disney+, and 3.1 million by Day 15. Samba therefore recommends that services with both subscription-based and ad-supported tiers should stagger their releases, to drive more paid sign-ups. Disney+'s new ad-supported tier will cost $7.99/month; ad-free subscriptions will cost $10.99/month. Netflix also has plans to release an ad-supported tier but has not yet announced a pricing model. DEADLINE

Roku ordered a first season for "The Great American Baking Show," a US remake of "The Great British Bake Off" debuting exclusively on Roku Channel in 2023. Ellie Kemper ("Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt") and Zach Cherry ("Severance") will co-host the reality competition series; original UK judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood are also on board. More: Season 1 will feature six 60-minute episodes; production is already underway in the UK. In Britain, the original series has a number of spinoffs, including "The Great Celebrity Bake Off" and "The Great Junior Bake Off." DEADLINE

QUICK HITS Over 12 million balls trust MANSCAPED™ precision tools for their family jewels. Click here to activate 20% off + free shipping sitewide.* According to iOS developer and tech blogger Steve Moser, text in the latest version of the Netflix app indicates that the streamer's low-cost ad-supported tier will not allow users to download content for offline viewing. HBO Max offered a new 30% discount for new or returning subscribers who pre-pay for a yearly subscription. Breakout comedy series "Abbott Elementary" returns to ABC for a second season on September 21; new episodes hit Hulu the day after their TV premieres. Food Network and HGTV will each produce two scripted holiday features specifically for the Discovery+ platform; the features include cameos from Food Network and HGTV personalities, including Ben and Erin Napier, Hilary Farr, Bobby Flay, and Duff Goldman. Apple posted a trailer for the fact-based Vietnam war film "The Greatest Beer Run Ever," based on the book by John "Chickie" Donohue and Joanna Molloy; the film hits theaters and Apple TV+ on September 30. Luxury real estate agent Christine Quinn will exit the Netflix reality series "Selling Sunset" ahead of the upcoming sixth and seventh seasons. Peacock dropped a trailer for the true-crime scripted series "A Friend of the Family," from "Candy" and "The Act" vet Nick Antosca; Anna Paquin and Colin Hanks star in the series, which arrives on October 6. Kirby Howell-Baptiste joined the cast of the Apple TV+ series "Sugar," opposite Colin Farrell; though plot details are scarce, it's apparently a private detective story set in Los Angeles. Peacock released a new trailer for its series adaptation of "Vampire Academy," based on the YA books by Richelle Mead; the series debuts on September 15. "Under the Banner of Heaven" vet Rory Culkin will star in an upcoming episode of the anthology sci-fi series "Black Mirror," debuting as part of the show's sixth season. Patrick Delany, the CEO of Australia's Foxtel Group, apologized for referring to "Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke as a "dumpy-looking girl" in comments made before the Sydney premiere of HBO's "House of the Dragon." Trying to deliver on big expectations with a small team or budget? Use this worksheet to learn how you can do more with less.* *This is sponsored content

Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." Editor Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade.

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