| |
| Good morning/afternoon, Inside Streamers! It's important to take all reporting around the Hollywood strikes with a grain of salt. So much of what's put out there is meant for propaganda purposes, or to sway opinions one way or the other, so there's no real way to be sure what you're hearing is just news without additional spin. But I think there's still some cause for cautious optimism in the air this week, with the WGA and AMPTP issuing a joint statement, big Hollywood CEOs sitting down at the table themselves, and everyone returning to the negotiating table multiple days in a row. We're well past the point where the strikes are having a real, measurable economic impact, not just on the workers who rely on entertainment and media for paychecks, but the big companies as well that have stalled out content pipelines and no fall schedules to show off to advertisers. With Disney unable to get even a new season of "Dancing with the Stars" going, and Bill Maher angrily ranting to no one in his basement, things are getting dire. The studios in particular desperately need fresh content to fill out their cable TV line-ups and get everyone back into movie theaters. They can't afford to just wait forever. At some point, customers will start canceling their streaming subscriptions, and your local multiplex will go out of business. Hopefully things get resolved before we're at that point. Fingers crossed. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) are meeting again on Thursday, after renewing talks earlier this week. Following Wednesday's conference, the two groups issued the first joint statement of this entire negotiation cycle. More: - In its entirety, the statement read: "The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow."
- One studio source told The Hollywood Reporter that even something as minor as a joint statement should be taken as "a positive sign."
- A number of CEOs -- including Disney's Bob Iger, WBD's David Zaslav, Netflix's Ted Sarandos, and NBCU's Donna Langley -- sat in on the negotiations on Wednesday; all four are expected to return for Thursday's session.
- In light of the movement on negotiations, ABC will likely postpone the Season 32 premiere of "Dancing with the Stars," which had been scheduled for September 26; a number of participating celebrities, including "Veep" star Matt Walsh, are reportedly backing out due to the strikes.
|     | |
| 2 | | Amazon will introduce two new Fire TV Sticks at a device-themed event on Thursday. In anticipation of the event, Amazon confirmed a new Fire TV Stick 4K Max that doubles the storage space of the previous version, with 16 GB available. More: - The company also teased a suite of new features, including widgets that allow you to track the weather or news on your TV, and ambient experiences to play on screen when you're not watching content.
- All Fire TV Sticks are now compatible with Alexa AI, which allows viewers to browse and search for streaming content using voice commands.
- The new Fire TV Stick 4K costs $49.99; preorders go on sale today.
| | | |
| A message from our sponsor, Amplitude. |  | | Amplitude customers saw 217% ROI & more What's the ROI of understanding how customers use your products? See how Amplitude users achieved a 217% ROI in 3 years and recouped Amplitude costs in under 6 months. Conductued by Forrester Consulting in an August 2023 commissioned study, Amplitude's Total Economic Impact™ shows how customer journey insights drive data-driven decisions on engagement, conversion, and purchases. Testimonial: “Without Amplitude, we probably would have to spend another 20% to 25% on our analysis tooling budget.” - Chief product officer, entertainment company See why leading brands like Atlassian, Hubspot, Notion, PayPal, Capital One and Dropbox trust in Amplitude's digital analytics platform. Get your copy now 
| |
|
| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 AMERICAN HORROR STORY: DELICATE: The 12th season of FX's anthology horror series was inspired by Danielle Valentine's novel "Delicate Condition," and centers on a pregnant woman (Emma Roberts) who begins developing paranoid suspicions. Kim Kardashian, Cara Delevingne, and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez co-star. New episodes air Wednesdays on cable and hit Hulu on Thursdays; the season will be split into two halves. [Hulu] SANCTUARY: 2023 psychological thriller film from director Zachary Wigon ("The Heart Machine"). Christopher Abbott stars as a newly-promoted CEO who attempts to fire the dominitrix (Margaret Qualley) he's been seeing for years, only to find that she refuses to quietly exit his life. "Sanctuary" premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival before screening in select theaters. [Hulu] FORGED IN FIRE: In the History Channel competition series, four bladesmiths forge bladed weapons based on specific prompts and challenges, with the winner receiving a $10,000 prize. Grady Powell hosts. Season 9 aired in 2022 on cable and comes to Hulu today. [Hulu] SLEEPING WITH A KILLER: The Lifetime true-crime docuseries examines cases in which victims were murdered by a spouse or lover. Deborah Rayne narrates. Season 1 aired in 2022 and comes to Hulu today. [Hulu] SEX EDUCATION: The British comedy-drama series -- tracking the romantic lives of students at Moordale Secondary School -- returns on Thursday for a fourth and final season. Asa Butterfield, Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, Gillian Anderson, and Dan Levy co-star. [Netflix] KENGAN ASHURA: Japanese anime series based on the manga by Yabako Sandrovich and Daromeon, set in a world where corporate disputes are settled via brutal gladiator matches. Season 2 debuts today on Netflix in the US. [Netflix] SCISSOR SEVEN: Chinese animated series about a clumsy hairdresser who secretly moonlights as an assassin. Ronny Chieng voices the lead character, known as Seven, in the English-language dub. Season 4 hits Netflix in the US today. [Netflix] YOUNG LOVE: Debut animated comedy series from Sony Pictures Animation and creator Matthew A. Cherry, based on his Oscar-winning short, "Hair Love." The story centers on a young Black family juggling marriage, careers, and parenthood in the modern world. The voice cast features Kid Cudi, Issa Rae, Brooke Monroe Conaway, Harry Lennix, Tamar Braxton, Loretta Devine, and others. [Max] BLIPPI WONDERS: Animated educational series, spun off from the popular YouTube franchise for toddlers, in which Blippi and his animal and robot friends ask lots of curious questions about the world around them. Season 3 moves to Max today. [Max] LOVE & MURDER: ATLANTA PLAYBOY: Two-part true-crime drama feature starring Taye Diggs as a successful Atlanta businessman and notorious womanizer who's found dead in his own home, leading to an investigation involving multiple motivated suspects. The film is based on journalist Ron Stodghill's book "Redbone: Money, Malice, and Murder in Atlanta." [BET+] | | | |
| 4 | | Rupert Murdoch announced plans to step down as chairman of Fox and News Corp. in November. Murdoch's eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, will take over as sole chair of News Corp., while staying on in his current role as Executive Chair and CEO of Fox. More: - The 92-year-old Murdoch will be appointed Chairman Emeritus of both companies.
- In a letter to employees, Murdoch said "the time is right for me to take on different roles," and praised his son's passionate and principled leadership.
- Murdoch steps down as Fox faces a number of legal challenges based on its reporting around the 2020 presidential election and potential voter fraud.
- A new book by former Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff about Fox's recent troubles -- "The Fall" -- is also about to hit shelves.
| | | |
| |
|
| 5 | | WWE signed a five-year domestic rights deal with NBCUniversal. The new agreement will bring the "Friday Night SmackDown" franchise from its current home on Fox to the USA Network in October of 2024. More: - Under the terms of the deal, WWE will also produce four specials per year for the main NBC network.
- The most-watched weekly WWE series, "Raw," already airs on USA Network and will not be impacted.
- Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- All WWE content in the US streams on Peacock, as part of an exclusive deal that runs through 2026.
- WWE recently joined forces with UFC as the TKO Group, which is majority-controlled by Endeavor.
| | | |
| 6 | | The limited series "Griselda," starring Sofia Vergara as infamous Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco, debuts on January 25, 2024. The six-episode series tracks Blanco's rise to power in 1970s and '80s Miami, becoming a cutthroat "queenpin" who was known locally as the "Godmother." More: - Though it has no formal connection to the prior franchise, a number of "Narcos" veterans collaborated on "Griselda," including co-showrunner Doug Miro, executive producer Eric Newman, and actors Alberto Guerra and Alberto Ammann.
- "Justified" vet Ingrid Escajeda also worked as a showrunner alongside Miro.
- The cast also includes Vanessa Ferlito, Christian Tappan, Diego Trujillo, Paulina Dávila, and Carolina Giraldo, better known as singer Karol G.
| | | |
| 7 | | Holiday comedy series "The Santa Clauses" returns to Disney+ for a second season on November 8. Tim Allen reprises his role from the "Santa Clause" films as Scott Calvin, whose plans to retire from the "job" of being Santa Claus were thwarted in Season 1. More: - Season 2 will focus on Scott training his son Cal (Austin Kane) to take over the Santa job.
- Season 2 will also star Elizabeth Mitchell, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, Devin Bright, Gabriel Iglesias, and Eric Stonestreet.
- "30 Rock" and "Modern Family" vet Jack Burditt serves as showrunner and executive producer.
- The first season of "The Santa Clauses" remains one of the Top 5 most popular series in Disney+ history, based on hours streamed.
| | | |
| 8 | | QUICK HITS - FinOps can be a game-changer for your organization. This guide shares expert tips on efficient cost management. Read now.*
- The spy comedy-drama series "Slow Horses" returns to Apple TV+ for a third season on December 1, with two new episodes; Season 3 revolves around a romantic liaison in Istanbul with dark implications for MI5.
- Hulu debuted a trailer for "Love in Fairhope," an unscripted series following five women at different stages of life in Fairhope, Alabama, as they seek out new partners; the series, narrated by Heather Graham, arrives next week.
- Netflix's animated series adaptation of the "Onimusha" video game franchise debuts on November 2; iconic Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike and "Dragon's Dogma" vet Shinya Sugai collaborated.
- Peacock's reality competition series "The Traitors" announced its Season 2 cast, including former "Bachelor" Peter Weber, "Real Housewives" vet Larsa Pippen, and former "Survivor" contestant Parvati Shallow; host Alan Cumming's dog Lala will also make guest appearances this season.
- YouTube announced some new features during its "Made on YouTube" live event, including a generative AI tool for Shorts called Dream Screen that can automatically create video or image backgrounds.
- The HBO documentary "AKA Mr. Chow" profiles noted Chinese-American restauranteur Michael Chow, looking back on his own life and career; the film debuts on Sunday, October 22 on Max.
- A "Strike Force Three" live podcasting event was canceled after co-host Jimmy Kimmel tested positive for COVID; the show had been scheduled for this weekend at the Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas.
- The Spanish sci-fi film "Awareness" hits Prime Video in the US on October 11; Carlos Scholz stars as a rebellious teen with the ability to manipulate other people's minds and present them with visual illusions.
- With the right process and tools, dev teams can ship gold every week. This guide breaks down a proven approach to product delivery*
*This is sponsored content | | | |
| Upcoming Events | | SEP
28 | | Join TruEra's Webinar on AI Observability with former CMU professor Anupam Datta. | | | | | | | OCT
4 | | Join this free online and onsite event in Amsterdam and you'll hear from industry experts at Meta, Opera, AdGuard, Mozilla, Google, and more. | | | | | | | OCT
16 | | Meet Our Fund 5, Building and Investing in AI | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
Term of the Day Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is typically measured through surveys or feedback forms that measure the customer's perception of a company's products. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation Today's Knowledge Hub Is Brought To You By Ready to take your career to the next level? Apply to join Sidebar, a highly-vetted and private community of small peer groups designed to support exceptional senior leaders in doing their best work. |
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 Lon Harris | |
| |
 | Amplitude customers saw 217% ROI in The Total Economic Impact™ of Amplitude. | |
|
| |
|
| |
Comments
Post a Comment