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| Hello again! Tough times for Sling TV, which can't seem to stop losing subscribers in dramatic fashion. The cable replacement streaming platform is down to around 5 million active users, its lowest subscription base on five years. Sling's less expensive than fellow "skinny bundles" like YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV, but it also features fewer streaming channels and content options than its competitors. Without high-profile original programming like Hulu or live sports add-ons like NFL Sunday Ticket (coming later this year to YouTube TV), it's only going to get harder and harder for Sling to keep pace. We're also getting ready to see Disney's most recent earnings report later on today. We'll be back with that and more tomorrow! Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | Disney completed its 2023-2024 upfront sales process. The company returned to 2022 revenue and volume levels, aided by strong buyer interest in upcoming live sporting events. More: - In the broadcast era, "upfronts" were a relatively simple process, in which networks presented sponsors with their new programming line-ups.
- The streaming era has added many layers of complexity to the process; while upfronts formerly concluded in May, they often now extend throughout the summer.
- 40% of Disney's total upfront commitments were for streaming and digital content.
- The company will release its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday.
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| 2 | | Cable replacement streamer Sling TV lost around 97,000 subscribers in Q2, according to parent company Dish. That's an improvement over the 234,000 subscribers the platform lost in Q1, but well above Q4 of 2022, when Sling dropped by just 77,000 subscribers. More: - Sling now has around 2 million subscribers, its lowest total number of users in five years.
- In 2015, Sling TV launched as one of the first streaming services that aimed to replace a cable subscription.
- Today, the service lags behind two more popular rivals: Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV; Sling has a cheaper price point, at $40 a month, but offers less content overall.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES: The mockumentary musical drama series is back for a fourth and final season, in which the East High Drama Club puts on a stage adaptation of the film "High School Musical 3: Senior Year." Joshua Bassett, Sofia Wylie, Julia Lester, Dara Reneé, and Kate Reinders co-star. Several original "High School Musical" cast members also make cameo appearances this year. [Disney+] STRANGE PLANET: Debut adult animated sci-fi comedy series, based on the comic strip and graphic novel by cartoonist Nathan W. Pyle. Set on a distant but Earth-like planet, the action follows small blue aliens who explore the absurdity of everyday life. Tunde Adebimpe, Lori Tan Chinn, Danny Pudi, and Hannah Einbinder co-star; Pyle co-created the series with "Community" vet Dan Harmon. [Apple TV+] LADIES FIRST: A STORY OF WOMEN IN HIP-HOP: Four-part music docuseries looking at the central role played by women throughout hip-hop history, featuring interviews with Queen Latifah, Sha-Rock, Roxanne Shante, Da Brat, Remy Ma, Rah Digga, Latto, and many others. [Netflix] SUPERFAN: Debut CBS game show in which contestants compete to demonstrate that they're the #1 superfan of a particular musical artist, with the winners getting an opportunity to meet with their idol face-to-face. Season 1 guest artists include LL Cool J, Gloria Estefan, Little Big Town, and Shania Twain; Nate Burleson hosts. [Paramount+] RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE: Season 15 of the iconic reality competition series aired earlier this year on MTV, and comes to Paramount+ in the US today. While TV episodes aired in a shortened 60-minute format, Paramount+ is getting the full 90-minute versions. RuPaul hosts and judges, along with Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews, and Ts Madison. [Paramount+] RUPAUL'S SECRET CELEBRITY DRAG RACE: The VH1 reality spinoff features celebrities competing in drag competitions on behalf of their favorite charities, after receiving lessons and mentorship from "Drag Race" veterans. Both seasons -- which aired in 2020 and 2022 -- hit Paramount+ today. [Paramount+] ENYS MEN: 2023 British experimental folk horror film from writer/director Mark Jenkin, shot in 16mm during the COVID lockdown. The action follows a lone wildlife volunteer (Mary Woodvine) struggling to distinguish between reality and fantasy while exploring a small island off the Cornish coast in 1973. Jenkin's previous feature, 2019's "Bait," also hits Hulu today in the US. [Hulu] MOVING: Debut action-fantasy series from Korea, based on comics by Kang Full. The story centers on three teenagers who discover that they have inherited superpowers from their parents, but do their best to keep them a secret. [Hulu] DOUBLING DOWN WITH THE DERRICOS: The TLC reality series follows the lives of Karen & Deon Derrico and their 14 children, including quintuplets, triplets, and two sets of twins. Season 4 debuted in May on cable and hits Max today. [Max] | | | |
| 4 | | HBO greenlit the half-hour comedy series "The Franchise," set among the cast and crew of a struggling superhero movie. Filmmaker Sam Mendes ("Skyfall") and "Veep" vet Armando Iannucci are executive producers on the series; Mendes also directed the pilot. More: - Himesh Patel ("Station Eleven") and Aya Cash ("The Boys") co-star; the cast also includes Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Richard E. Grant, and Daniel Brühl.
- "Veep" and "Succession" writer Jon Brown will serve as showrunner.
- Work on the show's pilot was completed prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike; production on Season 1 will begin after the strikes are resolved.
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| 5 | | Lionsgate's Worldwide Television Distribution Group grabbed the streaming rights to the ABC comedy series "The Conners," a spinoff of "Roseanne." Lionsgate will handle streaming deals for the show on subscription and free ad-supported platforms, while Debmar-Mercury will take broadcast distribution rights. More: - "The Conners" producers worked out their own deals because the show was developed by a third-party company, Werner Entertainment, for ABC.
- Current-season episodes of "The Conners" stream on Hulu, but that platform doesn't have an overall deal for the show's complete library.
- The deal covers the show's first five seasons, a total of 93 episodes, along with future seasons that may be produced.
- ABC has renewed "The Conners" for a sixth season, which will enter production after the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
- These kinds of syndication deals -- in which an independently produced series is sold off to multiple outlets -- were far more common prior to the rise of streaming platforms.
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| 6 | | Journalist and Gizmodo editor-in-chief Daniel Ackerman filed suit against Apple and the producers of the 2023 Apple TV+ film "Tetris." Ackerman claims that film copied "the exact same feel, tone, approach" and even specific scenes from his 2016 book, "The Tetris Effect." More: - Ackerman's lawsuit includes several years of correspondence between the writer and The Tetris Company, demonstrating that they were not only aware of his work, but attempted to stop him from pursuing film and TV deals.
- "Tetris" stars Taron Egerton as video game designer and entrepreneur Henk Rogers, who was instrumental in introducing "Tetris" to Western players in the late 1980s.
- Ackerman further claims that some of the details in the film -- such as the involvement of a Russian guide who turns out to be an undercover KGB agent -- were based on his own speculation from the book.
- Neither Apple nor The Tetris Company have publicly responded to the lawsuit.
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| 7 | | Peacock dropped a trailer for the "John Wick" spinoff series "The Continental." The three-part limited series debuts on September 22. More: - Colin Woodell stars as a young version of Winston Scott, the hotel manager portrayed by Ian McShane in the "Wick" films.
- The series, set in 1970s New York, finds Scott taking on The Continental's former manager, Cormac (Mel Gibson).
- Ayomide Adegun co-stars as a young version of Charon, the conceirge character played by the late Lance Reddick in the "Wick" movies.
- "Wayne" vets Greg Coolidge and Kirk Ward co-created the series along with Shawn Simmons and serve as writers and showrunners.
- Filmmaker Albert Hughes directed the first and final installments.
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| 8 | | QUICK HITS - Wiz partnered with Wiley to create the AWS Security Foundations Guide For Dummies. This free 46-page guide includes techniques for securing AWS resources.*
- Max added a special memorial message dedicated to late actor Angus Cloud in front of the pilot and Season 2 premiere episodes of "Euphoria"; the actor, who played fan-favorite character Fezco on the HBO drama series, died suddenly last week at age 25.
- Gal Gadot co-stars with "Netflix's Chief Action Officer" Arnold Schwarzenegger in a new "Heart of Stone" promo clip; the spy thriller film, starring Gadot as international operative Rachel Stone, debuts this Friday.
- Netflix plans to reopen New York's famed Paris Theater with an upgraded Dolby Atmos sound system and all the equipment required to screen films in 70mm.
- "FBI: Most Wanted" series regular Alexa Davalos, who portrays Special Agent Kristin Gaines on the CBS procedural, departed the show ahead of its fifth season; Deadline suggests the Davalos' exit came at the prompting of producers, but was "amicable."
- Indie streamer Dropout -- the home of shows including "Game Changer," "Um, Actually," and "Dimension 20" -- will resume producing original content during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes; CEO Sam Reich explained on social media that he originally believed the company's New Media contracts prevented them from working during the strike, but he has since learned this is not the case.
- The Washington Post has some tips to avoid seeing the same handful of ads over and over again on streaming platforms such as YouTube.
- A film adaptation of Audrey Shulman's 2015 novel "Sitting in Bars with Cake" -- starring Yara Shahidi and Odessa A'zion as lifelong pals whose lives are upended by a surprising medical diagnosis -- hits Prime Video on September 8.
- Season 2 of Netflix's "Heartstopper" debuted at #2 on its Top TV LIst for the week of July 31-August 6, with 6.1 million total views; Season 2 of "The Lincoln Lawyer" remained in the top spot.
- Liev Schreiber, the "voice of God" who narrates HBO's "Hard Knocks" franchise, stopped by Jets training camp to meet quarterback Aaron Rodgers in person on the show's season premiere.
- German broadcaster RTL Deutschland launched an "all-in-one" streaming service, RTL+, bundling access to video (including live sports), music, podcasts, audiobooks, and digital magazines into a single monthly subscription package.
- Join over 5000 fast-growing companies around the world that trust Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Inside readers get $1,000 off.*
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Term of the Day Internal rate of return: VC firms use internal rate of return (IRR) to analyze a fund’s performance and give the annualized percentage returns earned by the fund. Question of the Week Do you think the 9-to-5 workday still relevant in today's modern workplace? Join the conversation |
INSIDE STREAMING LEADERBOARD (ALL-TIME) |
 | Writer | | 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." | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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