Netflix password rules / MLS Season Pass launch / Netflix Premium upgrades / Peacock drops Basic tier

Plus today's calendar, new DC Studios slate, YouTube TV drops MLB Network, "King of the Hill" returns, and more

Inside.com Part of   Network February 01, 2023

Netflix updated its "Help Center" in certain markets with new guidelines and regulations around password sharing. Based on these rules, Netflix accounts will remain shareable, but only among individuals living in the same household. More: Users attempting to log in to Netflix accounts remotely will be prompted to sign up for their own new account instead. Current subscribers will have the option to add outside households for an additional fee; account holders won't be automatically charged for any outside access. In order to remain connected to Netflix, accounts must sign in from their home Wi-Fi connection at least once every 31 days; once blocked, account holders will need to contact Netflix. THE STREAMABLE

Apple's Major League Soccer (MLS) streaming services launches this week. According to Bloomberg, rather than selling traditional TV-style advertising spots on an individual basis, the tech giant is asking sponsors to purchase season-long packages. More: Apple's MLS Season Pass is available starting on February 1, and represents the company's first major push into the American TV advertising market. Apple has declined to accept ads from sports betting companies for now, but will feature spots for credit cards, alcohol, and car rentals. Bloomberg reports that Apple's top sponsorship package is called "Gold"; it costs $4 million per season and includes playoff games and bonus integrations, such as a branded "Player of the Match" segment. "Silver" and "Bronze" packages will cost $3 million and $1.5 million per season, respectively. Apple's deal with MLS extends over the next 10 years and is valued at around $250 million annually. BLOOMBERG

DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER: This 2022 superhero film is the 30th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a direct sequel to 2018's "Black Panther." Following the death of King T'Challa, the leaders of the African nation of Wakanda band together to protect their home from a new threat. Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Martin Freeman, and Tenoch Huerta co-star. The film has been nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress (for Angela Bassett) and Best Original Song. [Disney+] THE PROUD FAMILY: LOUDER AND PROUDER: The Disney Channel animated comedy series -- a revival of the classic Disney Channel series "The Proud Family" -- returned to cable for a second season in January; new episodes hit Disney+ today. Kyla Pratt reprises her role as teenager Penny Proud, who lives with her extended family in the town of Smithville. [Disney+] THE CHORUS: SUCCESS, HERE I GO (O CORO: SUCESSO, AQUI VOU EU): Brazilian YA musical drama series about a group of aspiring actors and singers who've all reached the final round of auditions for a new theater company. [Disney+] GUNTHER'S MILLIONS: Four-part documentary looking into the daily life of German shepherd Gunther VI, the "world's richest dog," whose grandfather inherited an $80 million fortune from his eccentric late owner. The series investigates Gunther's bizarre but "true" story and features interviews with his human employees and caretakers. [Netflix] CASE CLOSED: THE CULPRIT HANZAWA: Anime series based on the manga by Mayuko Kanba, a spin-off and spoof of the "Detective Conan" series, about the ongoing adventures of the original's familiar black-silhouetted criminal mastermind. Season 1 premieres on Netflix in the US today. [Netflix] I WILL BE YOUR BLOOM: Musical comedy series from Japan starring Tsubasa Honda as a former high school teacher who takes a new job as a live-in manager and den mother for the seven members of a struggling boy band. [Netflix] GIRLFRIENDSHIP: 2022 Hallmark Channel movie about three friends who rediscover romance and purpose during a chaotic week-long vacation. Tamera Mowry-Housley, Krystal Joy Brown, and Lyndie Greenwood co-star. [Peacock] THE JOURNEY AHEAD: Comedy-drama feature from Hallmark starring Holly Robinson Peete as an arrogant Hollywood actress who's forced to embark on a cross-country drive with a free-spirited wilderness expert (Kaylee Bryant). [Peacock] TO HER, WITH LOVE: Another Hallmark original romantic drama, this one co-stars Skye P. Marshall and Tobias Truvillion as two teachers who fall for one another while working together to save their school's art program. [Peacock] UNTHINKABLY GOOD THINGS: Romantic drama from Hallmark about three women friends who re-examine their priorities and relationships while on vacation together in Tuscany. Karen Pittman, Erica Ash, Joyful Drake, Lance Gross, and Jermaine Love co-star. [Peacock] THE CULPO SISTERS: Reality series from TLC following former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo and her sisters, Aurora and Sophia, as they pursue their Hollywood dreams. Season 1 aired in 2022 on cable and hits HBO Max today. [HBO Max] PENS & PENCILS: 15-minute short film starring Dorée Seay as a middle school teacher searching for her mysteriously missing student (Tim Johnson Jr.), and haunted by fears about what might have become of him. [HBO Max] ANOTHER COUNTRY: 2022 scripted short film -- based on Natasha Threthewey's poetry collection "Native Guard" -- about an interracial couple (Taylour Paige and Mark Webber) raising their mixed-race child (Vada Parkyn) in 1956 Mississippi. LisaGay Hamilton narrates. [HBO Max] TAIWAN CRIME STORIES: Four-part Mandarin-language anthology crime drama series from Taiwan. Each episode relates a different story with an original cast of characters, loosely inspired by a real-life crime. [Hulu]

Netflix added some upgrades to its $20/month Premium plan. Premium subscribers will be able to stream around 700 titles with Spatial Audio, including "Stranger Things," "The Watcher," "Wednesday," and "Glass Onion." More: Premium subscribers will also be allowed to stream concurrently or download content to six devices, an increase from four. Premium subscriptions are Netflix's most expensive; the Standard tier, which costs $15.49/month, is the most popular plan in the US and Canada. Spatial Audio, already featured on a number of streaming music services, includes dynamic head tracking, for a surround sound experience similar to a movie theater. DEADLINE

Peacock's "Poker Face" Peacock will no longer allow new subscribers to sign up for its free Basic tier. Only the NBCUniversal-owned service's $5 and $10-per-month plans are currently offered on its registration page. More: Current registered users still have access to the Basic tier, which offers a limited selection of Peacock content with ads. After launching in the Spring of 2020 with emphasis on the free tier, Peacock has been slowly re-focusing on paid subscriptions; the service recently hit 20 million paid subscribers. Comcast executives expect Peacock to lose $3 billion in 2023, representing a low point for the platform before costs dip and earnings gradually improve. DEADLINE

"Creature Commandos" New DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran revealed their first slate of original TV shows and films on Tuesday. A writers' room was formed to devise an overall storyline for a connected DC Universe (DCU); the first rebooted DCU films will debut in 2025. More: For now, all DC Studios original TV series will debut on the HBO Max platform. Phase 1 of the interconnected DCU has been titled "Gods and Monsters," and will launch with a new Superman film, written by Gunn. Gunn also scripted "Creature Commandos," a seven-episode animated series based on a classic team of comic book monsters who fought Nazis. "Waller," a spin-off of Gunn's "Peacemaker" series, will star Viola Davis as the head of a ruthless and covert government agency. Comic book favorite Booster Gold, a regular guy from the future who uses advanced technology to pose as a superhero, will also get his own HBO Max series. Greg Berlanti's long-gestating Green Lantern-themed series has been scrapped in favor of a brand new concept that Safran compared to "True Detective." Epic fantasy series "Paradise Lost" is set on Wonder Woman's home island of Themyscira; Gunn and Safran compared the concept to "Game of Thrones." Film projects also include the team-up film "The Authority," Robert Pattinson's "The Batman 2," a Batman spinoff called "The Brave and the Bold" that won't feature Pattinson, a horror film centered around "Swamp Thing," and "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

YouTube TV dropped the MLB Network on Wednesday with only one day's warning to current subscribers. Any cloud DVR recordings of MLB Network content also disappeared along with the channel on February 1. More: In a statement to Deadline, MLB Network declared that YouTube TV has been "unwilling to negotiate a fair carriage agreement." Both sides have vowed to continue negotiating a new deal. A few years ago, YouTube TV had a similar dispute with Sinclair, dropping a number of the company's regional sports networks for a time. THE VERGE

Hulu ordered a new season of the animated comedy series "King of the Hill." Original co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels will both return, along with the majority of the show's voice cast. More: Judge will reprise the lead role of Hank Hill in the new episodes; Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon, Johnny Hardwick, and Lauren Tom are also returning. Judge and Daniels started working on a "King of the Hill" revival following a cast reunion at the 2017 San Francisco Sketchfest. "The Wonder Years" vet Saladin Patterson will take over as the new showrunner. Two notable members of the cast -- Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty, who voiced Luanne and Lucky respectively -- have passed away since the show's finale; no word yet on whether the characters will be recast. The series orignially ran on Fox for 13 seasons, from 1997 to 2010; reruns remain popular on Hulu to this day. DEADLINE

Amazon posted a teaser for the upcoming Prime Video fantasy drama series "The Power." The show is based on a Naomi Alderman book, and takes place in a world where a number of young women simultaneously develop the abililty to manipulate and control electricity. More: The series takes an international view of the situation, with sequences set among various characters in London, Seattle, Nigeria, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The cast includes Toni Collette, Toheeb Jimoh, John Leguizamo, Auli'i Cravalho, Josh Charles, Eddie Marsan, and others. The series arrives on March 31. VULTURE

QUICK HITS This year, try a resolution that sticks - going to therapy with BetterHelp. Save 25% off your first month.* NBC renewed the sci-fi drama series "La Brea" for an abbreviated six-episode third season that will likely wrap up the storyline; Deadline suggests the plans may be an attempt to work around potential strikes by actors, writers, and directors. The sci-fi thriller "The Mill" -- from actor/producer Lil Rel Howery ("Get Out") -- wrapped up production in New Jersey and will debut on Hulu in the US later on this year; Howery stars as a father-to-be who wakes up in a mysterious open-air prison cell in which he's forced to operate an old grist mill. CBS ordered pilots for "The Good Wife" spinoff "Elsbeth," centering on Carrie Preston's attorney character, Elsbeth Tascioni, and a reboot of the classic legal drama "Matlock" featuring Kathy Bates. The live-streaming Twitch channel "Nothing, Forever" is a "Seinfeld" parody generated almost entirely by algorithms, including dialogue, direction, and editing. Automation is your finance team's best productivity strategy. See five finance tasks you should be automating today.* *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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