DirecTV opposes CNN plan / Disney antitrust suit / Max top-rated in survey / Paramount+ may not come to India

Plus today's calendar, Veeps All Access launch, "Ahsoka" Season 2 discussion, "The Buccaneers" first look, and more

Inside Streaming For October 04, 2023

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Good morning! It seems likely Paramount will back out of plans to launch Paramount+ in India, opting instead to make its content available via pre-existing local streamers. It's fascinating it took these companies so long to make this realization, that they don't necessarily need to OWN the streaming platforms, so long as they make lucrative deals to release their content via those platforms. Among the major pre-streaming studios and entertainment companies, only Sony seemingly figured this out to begin with (and they might have invested more heavily, too, if Crackle had been a more viable distribution channel at the outset). And now here we are, with all these streaming services having already launched and now having to downscale and cut costs to survive. Thanks for reading! Lon p/lon-harris

1 In a letter sent to Warner Bros. Discovery executives, DirecTV cautioned that streaming CNN content on the Max platform violates a pre-standing carriage agreement. CNN Max includes a number of shows that also air on the linear CNN cable network. More: WB Discovery declined to comment on the letter specifically, saying only that it "maintains strong and meaningful relationships" with partners. It's unclear if DirecTV will follow up the letter with any legal action. Many carriage agreements include the provision that certain programs must be exclusively granted to cable providers. WB Discovery can't just drop its pre-standing carriage agreements without losing out on important cable TV ad revenue. Mark Thompson will take over as CNN's new CEO this month, replacing Chris Licht.

2 A class-action antitrust suit against Disney can move forward, following a ruling from Judge Edward Davila of U.S. District Court in San Jose. Judge Davila also limited the lawsuit's scope, giving plaintiffs until October 16 to potentially refile. More: The suit was filed by a group of YouTube TV subscribers, claiming that Disney's deals with competitors have increased prices for cable replacement streaming services. Because Disney requires streamers such as YouTube TV and Sling TV to include the costly ESPN service in their baseline packages, the plaintiffs argue that their subscription costs have been artificially inflated. The suit also alleges that Disney violates antitrust laws by operating cable networks along with the Hulu and Hulu + Live TV streamers, presenting a barrier to entry into the market for other competitors. Judge Davila approved the "barrier to entry" portion of the suit only, and denied the pricing claims; he found that the plaintiffs had not presented a "cognizable injury."

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3 DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4 HAUNTED MANSION: 2023 supernatural horror-comedy based on the iconic Disney theme park rides. Rosario Dawson stars as a single mom from New York who hires an unlikely team to clear her newly-purchased New Orleans mansion of malevolent spirits. LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chase W. Dillon, and Jared Leto co-star; "Dear White People" vet Justin Simien directed. [Disney+] HAILEY'S ON IT! Animated comedy-adventure series from Disney Channel, about an anxious teen (Auli'i Cravalho) who must overcome her fears after being told by visitors from the future that she's destined to save the world. Manny Jacinto, Gary Anthony Williams, and Sarah Chalke co-star. Five fresh Season 1 episodes hit Disney+ today. [Disney+] THE VILLAINS OF VALLEY VIEW: Live-action Disney Channel comedy series about a family of supervillains on the run from the authorities who pose as a typical Texas suburban family. James Patrick Stuart, Lucy Davis, Isabella Pappas, Malachi Barton, Reed Horstmann, and Kayden Muller-Janssen co-star. Four fresh Season 2 episodes come to Disney+ today. [Disney+] SUPERKITTIES: Animated series from Disney Junior about four superhero kittens who work together to protect the citizens of Kittydale. Three new episodes from the show's first season hit Disney+ today. [Disney+] BECKHAM: Four-part docuseries looking back on the international soccer star's life and career from his own perspective. Along with Beckham, the series features interviews with his wife Victoria (aka Posh Spice) and parents, plus Gary Neville, Eric Cantona, Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand, Mel C (Sporty Spice), and others. Fisher Stevens ("Before the Flood") directed [Netflix[ KEYS TO THE HEART: Tagalog-language remake of the 2018 South Korean comedy-drama feature from the Philippines. It centers on a down-and-out boxer who, with nowhere else to turn, moves in with his estranged mother and autistic brother. Zanjoe Marudo, Elijah Canlas and "Triange of Sadness" vet Dolly de Leon co-star; Kerwin Go ("Mina-Anud") directed. [Netflix] RACE TO THE SUMMIT (DUELL AM ABGRUND): German-language sports documentary tracking the rivalry between alpine climbers Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold, as they attempt to set new speed records in the Swiss Alps. Nicholas de Taranto ("Narco Wars") and Götz Werner co-directed. [Netflix] LOUIS TOMLINSON: ALL OF THOSE VOICES: Intimate documentary profile of the former One Direction member, looking back at his life and career from his own perspective and following along as he recorded his second solo album, "Faith in the Future" in 2022. Charlie Lightning ("As It Was") directed. [Paramount+] SIESTA KEY: Season 5 of the MTV semi-scripted reality series moves the action to Miami and introduces a new subtitle, "Miami Moves." Juliette Porter, Brandon Gomes, Madisson Hausburg, and Chloe Trautman-Long co-star. These episodes aired in 2022 and early 2023 on cable. [Paramount+] BLAZE AND THE MONSTER MACHINES: Educational animated series from Nickelodeon, in which monster truck Blaze and his human driver, AJ, get into adventures around Axle City that teach kids about basic math and science concepts. Season 6 aired in 2022 on cable and hits Paramount+ today. [Paramount+] GHOST ADVENTURES: DEVIL ISLAND: Debut two-hour special from the "Ghost Adventures" team, produced for Discovery Channel, in which paranormal investigators Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Jay Wasley, and Billy Tolley search for supernatural activity on Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay. [Max] MYSTERIES OF THE ABANDONED: HIDDEN AMERICA: The Discovery Channel docuseries looks back at the history of abandoned and forgotten structures across the United States. Season 2 debuted on cable in September and his Max today. [Max] I'M GIVING THE DISGRACED NOBLE LADY I RESCUED A CRASH COURSE IN NAUGHTINESS: Debut anime series based on the light novels by Sametarō Fukada and Sakura Miwabe and their manga adaptation. The story centers on a powerful sorcerer who rescues an aristocratic girl from a neighboring kingdom, where she had been falsely accused of violent crimes. [Crunchyroll]

4 Warner Bros. Discovery's Max service received the highest marks for customer satisfaction in a new Whip Media survey. Max -- still known as "HBO Max" -- also topped the Whip Media Streaming Satisfaction Report last year. More: Max still fell six points from its 2022 total, slipping down to an 88% approval rate. Disney's Hulu came in second place, followed by Disney+ in third. Netflix dropped to sixth place in satisfaction this year but remains the service the most respondants ranked as "indispensable," meaning they'd keep Netflix if they could only afford one streaming subscription. In general, Whip's survey indicates that satisfaction among the top-tier streamers is in decline, while customers are more enthusiastic about mid-tier services like Peacock, Apple TV+, and Paramount+.

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5 According to Bloomberg, Paramount may shut down plans to launch its Parmaount+ streaming service in India later this year. Instead, the company may pursue an alternate distribution strategy for its content in India through existing partners. More: The report indicates that Paramount executives could sell content to the Indian streaming platform JioCinema, rather than launching their own standalone service. Paramount already owns a 13% stake in JioCinema through its investment in Viacom18. The move is part of a larger effort across the streaming industry to scale back ambition and cut costs.

6 The Live Nation-backed music streaming service Veeps will add a subscription video component, called Veeps All Access. Paid subscribers will get access to live and on-demand streams by various musical artists. More: Veeps was founded by brothers and Good Charlotte members Benji and Joel Madden. While Veeps had offered some livestreams on a pay-per-view basis, Veeps All Access will charge $11.99 for a monthly subscription, or $120 for an annual pass. The service kicks off with the premiere of The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie's recent, sold-out show at the AZ Financial Theater; upcoming streams include Run the Jewels, Macklemore, A R I Z O N A, Darius Rucker, and Jason Aldean. Subscribers will also get access to original programming, including Joel Madden's chat series "Artist Friendly."

7 Though no official announcement has been made, it seems likely that Disney+'s "Star Wars" series "Ahsoka" will return for a second season. Creator Dave Filoni is also reportedly working on a feature film that will conclude Ahsoka Tano's story. More: The "Ahsoka" Season 1 finale debuted this week on Disney+. Deadline suggests that there is a strong likelihood that the show will return for more episodes, and that plans are already in the works. The next live action "Star Wars" series will be "Skeleton Crew"; another season of "Andor" is also reportedly in the works.

8 QUICK HITS It's been 150 years since the last great leap in engine technology. Invest in LiquidPiston to be part of the next one.* Apple released a trailer for "The Buccaneers," a period drama series based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel about American heiresses searching for English husbands; the series premieres on November 8. ABC's "The Golden Bachelor" has helped to revive interest in the reality franchise; the series premiere hit 7.7 million viewers across all platforms in its first three days, the best performance of any "Bachelor" show since 2020. The next Roku OS update will add support for Google Photos and introduce a new sports hub, allowing viewers to pre-select teams they wish to follow. According to Deadline, Amazon plans to produce a new installment of its international "LOL: Last One Laughing" unscripted franchise for the UK; new installments featuring hosts Graham Norton and Trevor Noah are already in development in Ireland and South Africa, respectively. Apple will once again make the classic "Peanuts" animated holiday specials available to stream for free this year, along with a few TV+ originals for kids, such as "The Velveteen Rabbit," "Frog and Toad," and a "Shape Island" special. According to UK research group Barb, the final season of "Sex Education" had Netflix's most-watched series premiere of the year to date; 2.75 million British viewers tuned in to the show on the week of September 24. The Australian series "The Artful Dodger," an irreverent sequel to Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" featuring the character's adventures as an adult, premieres on November 29 on Hulu in the US. A half-hour animated LEGO special retelling the story of the classic film "Jurassic Park" hits Peacock next week. Netflix dropped a trailer for "Pluto," a new murder-mystery anime series set in the world of the classic manga "Astro Boy"; the eight-episode series premieres on October 27. Even the best engineers can run into challenges. Straight from the cloud experts at DoiT, here are 5 core strategies for cloud innovation.* *This is sponsored content

Upcoming Events OCT 12 Panel discussion on cybersecurity insights for financial services companies* Virtual Register here. OCT 16 Meet Our Fund 5, Building and Investing in AI San Mateo, California Save Your Seat * This is a sponsored event

Knowledge Hub Term of the Day January Effect: The January Effect is a seasonal increase in stock prices that tends to happen in January. Read More Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation

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Lon Harris 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

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