Max launch details / Google TV adds channels / "Night Agent" hits Netflix's Top 10 / Peacock in the Metaverse

Plus today's calendar, Hovey joins The CW, Netflix-Lacoste partnership, "The Continental" Peacock trailer, and more

Inside.com Part of   Network April 12, 2023

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It's official: HBO Max will soon change its name to simply "Max." Warner Bros. Discovery's new flagship streamer will combine content from the HBO Max and Discovery+ services. More: The company announced the name change at a media event on Wednesday; the new Max launches on May 23 in the US. According to WBD executives, Max will get an average of 40 new movies and TV shows each month. The subscription costs will remain the same: $9.99/month with ads, or $15.99 for an ad-free experience. The new services will be available on the web at the domain "max.com." Discovery+ will remain available as a standalone service. VARIETY

Google plans to add more than 800 free streaming channels to its Google TV hub. Google TV is available on Chromecast streaming devices and on some Smart TVs released by Sony, CL, Hisense, and Philips. More: Google TV will now integrate content directly from free streaming channels such as Tubi, Plex, Pluto TV, and Haystack News. News feeds from NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox will also be available. Android TV devices will get the update and new channels later on this year. Roku, Apple, and Amazon also have free ad-supported streaming options available on their streaming devices. The free channels will be integrated into Google TV's "Live" tab. TECHCRUNCH

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DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12 RENNERVATIONS: Debut reality series featuring actor Jeremy Renner, his celebrity pals, and his hard-working team as they reimagine decommissioned vehicles from the inside out to help communities in need. Special guests include Anthony Mackie, Vanessa Hudgens, Anil Kapoor, and Sebastián Yatra. [Disney+] AMERICAN MANHUNT: THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING: Three-part true-crime docuseries looking back on the terrorist bombing at the marathon's finish line -- and the manhunt for brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev that ensued -- on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. Floyd Russ ("Malice at the Palace") directed. [Netflix] CELESTE BARBER: FINE, THANKS: The Australian comedian's latest hour-long special was recorded at the Sydney Opera House, and features material about celebrity sex toys, why hot girls can't dance, and getting invited to Coachella on the one year that it's canceled. [Netflix] KHUFIYA: Hindi-language spy thriller film from India, based on the novel "Escape to Nowhere" by Amar Bhushan. Tabu stars as a government operative tasked with tracking down a mole selling away vital military secrets. Ali Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi, and Ashish Vidyarthi co-star; Vishal Bhardadwaj co-wrote and directed. [Netflix] SMOTHER-IN-LAW (A SOGRA QUE TE PARIU): Comedy series from Brazil starring comedian Rodrigo Sant'anna as Dona Isadir, a meddling busybody who moves in with her son (Rafael Zulu) and his family during the pandemic. It's back for a second season. [Netflix] OPERATION: NATION (KRYPTONIM: POLSKA): 2022 satirical comedy feature from Poland, about a young member of a right-wing nationalist group (Maciej Musialowski) who embarks on a forbidden romance with a passionate left-wing activist (Magdalena Mascianica). Piotr Kumik directed. [Netflix] 34th ANNUAL GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS: The awards recognize the best in media representation of the LGBTQ community from the past year. This year's ceremony was held on March 30 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Margaret Cho hosts. [Hulu] AMERICA IN BLACK: Debut news magazine series from BET exploring modern issues of particular interest to Black Americans, including education, music, politics, and race. Presenters include Gayle King, Jim Brown, Marc Lamont Hill, Ed Gordon, and Roy Wood Jr. The first three episodes come to Paramount+ today. [Paramount+] JEFF DUNHAM: ME THE PEOPLE: The comedian and ventriloquist's 11th stand-up special debuted in 2022 on Comedy Central and comes to Paramount+ today. It includes appearances from Dunham's familiar line-up of puppets, including Walter, Bubba J, Peanut, and Url. [Paramount+]

Spy thriller series "The Night Agent" now ranks among Netflix's most popular series of all time. The show has been viewed for over 515 million hours since its March 23 debut, putting it at #9 on Netflix's all-time most-viewed list. More: "The Night Agent" has now surpassed "Inventing Anna" in overall viewership. At its current rate, the series could theoretically hit Netflix's Top 5 before it's done. "The Night Agent" remains Netflix's most-viewed show week-to-week; this past week, newcomer "Beef" -- starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun -- also made the list at #3. DEADLINE

Peacock officially launched on Wednesday in the metaverse. The NBCUniversal streaming app is now available to Meta Quest 2 and Quest Pro VR headset users. More: Peacock subscribers who already own a Quest 2 or Quest Pro can upgrade to Peacock Premium for three months at no extra charge. As an added icnentive, anyone buying a new Quest 2 or Quest Pro will get 12 months of Peacock Premium at no additional cost. Peacock currently has around 20 million subscribers, according to NBCU's internal figures; similarly, Meta has sold around 20 million Quest headsets to date. The Peacock collaboration is part of a larger partnership between NBCUniversal and Meta; the deal also brings NBCU IP, including "The Office" and Universal's classic horror film collection, to Meta's Horizon Worlds and Avatar stores. DEADLINE

The CW hired on former Roku executive Ashley Hovey as its first-ever chief digital officer. Hovey will oversee day-to-day strategy and operations for the network's digital and streaming business, including the CW app. More: Nexstar Media Group acquired a majority stake in The CW last year. The free ad-supported CW app has around 92 million downloads to date, and features the full line-up of CW primetime programming. At Roku, Hovey oversaw the ad-supported Roku Channel business. She'll report directly to CW president Dennis Miller. VARIETY

Netflix teamed with clothing manufacturer Lacoste on a new fashion line inspired by its most popular shows. Featured items in the collection reference the Netflix series "Stranger Things," "Bridgerton," "Lupin," "Money Heist," "The Witcher," "Sex Education," "Shadow & Bone," and "Elite." More: The collection leans toward shows with a wide international appeal or primarily younger viewers. Many of the items feature references to the iconic Lacoste alligator logo, including a "Stranger Things" sweatshirt that converts the animal into one of the show's demogorgon monsters. Items run between $30 and $210 and will be available at both Lacoste stores and Netflix.shop. INSIDER

The three-part "John Wick" spinoff series "The Continental" comes to Peacock this September. The NBCUniversal-owned streamer released a brief teaser for the action-crime series, which is set in 1970s New York. More: "The Continental" serves as a prequel to the main "Wick" franchise.  Colin Woodell stars as a young version of Winston Scott, the character played by Ian McShane in the films. The series relates the story of how Winston came to manage the titular New York hotel, which serves as a vital hub and meeting place for the city's criminal underworld. Mel Gibson, Katie McGrath, Mishel Prada, Ben Robson, and Hubert Point Du-Jour co-star. "The Continental" was originally developed for Starz before moving over to Peacock. TV LINE

QUICK HITS They’re “realigning” the $19.4B joint surgery market…with robotics. Invest in Monogram ahead of their planned Nasdaq listing.* The murder mystery-comedy series "The Afterparty" returns to Apple TV+ for a second season on July 12; leads Tiffany Haddish, Zoe Chao, and Sam Richardson return, along with an all-new ensemble and whodunnit to solve. Harvey Keitel joined the cast of the upcoming Sky and Peacock series adaptation of Heather Morris' novel "The Tattooist of Auschwitz"; the story, about a love affair that begins in the Nazi concentration camp, was inspired by actual events. Historical comedy series "The Great" -- starring Elle Fanning as Russian monarch Catherine the Great -- returns to Hulu on May 12 for a third season. Neo-Western crime drama series "Joe Pickett," which debuted as a Spectrum cable exclusive, moves over to Paramount+ for its upcoming second season. Netflix dropped a trailer for "Mulligan," a debut animated sci-fi comedy from "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" vets Sam Means and Robert Carlock; Nat Faxon stars as an average guy who's tasked with rebuilding the Earth following an alien invasion. Apple canceled the family comedy series "Amber Brown" -- based on the books by Paula Danziger -- after a single season. Netflix is developing a docudrama series about Alexander the Great, in the style of past series "The Last Czars" and "African Queens." Showrunner Eric Kripke posted to Twitter that Amazon's "The Boys" wrapped production on its fourth season; the episodes will likely debut in the summer or fall. Netflix submitted the A24 dark comedy "Beef" -- starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun as strangers who develop a deep hatred for one another -- for Emmy consideration as a limited or anthology series. Tickets are now on sale for The Golden Girls Kitchen, a fast-casual pop-up restaurant themed after the classic sitcom that's coming soon to Chicago. Put your data where your compute is - close to your users. Turso brings the SQLite database experience to the Edge. Get Started Free.* *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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