SAG, studios forge tentative deal / Disney+ hits 150M subs / YouTube TV's quick growth / "Masters of the Air" trailer

Plus today's calendar, Costner may not return to "Yellowstone," G-League heads to Tubi, Chuck Lorre's "Bookie" first look, and more

Inside Streaming For November 09, 2023

Hey, thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming daily brief. It's a glorious day in Los Angeles, as the actors and writers strikes have (tentatively) come to a close at last. We're still waiting on SAG-AFTRA members to approve their new contract, of course, but things are looking pretty positive out there, and everyone seems extremely eager to get back to work, near as I can tell.  With Hollywood just around one month away from when it would normally shut down prior to the holiday season, we're likely about to get a FLOOD of casting news and development/production updates over the next few weeks, as everyone scrambles to get their 2024 and 2025 release schedules sorted out and finalized at last. So keep it here for what's sure to be a whirlwind time for streaming news updates! And as always, thanks for reading! Lon p/lon-harris

1 SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance for Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached a tentative deal for a new contract on Wednesday, bringing to a close one of the longest labor actions in Hollywood history. Actors have been on strike since July; the Writers Guild went on strike in May, and reached an agreement with studios and streamers on September 27. More: The SAG-AFTRA strike lasted a total of 118 days, making it the longest in the guild's history. SAG-AFTRA made a number of proposals regarding streaming revenue share which were ultimately rejected; instead, the AMPTP offered a new residual based on hitting certain streaming performance metrics, which the guild accepted. Further details about the new contract will be released after the union's national board meets on Friday. In a post to Instagram, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher called the agreement "historic."

2 Disney reported its fiscal fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, and revealed that Disney+ has topped 150 million global subscribers. That's an increase from 146.7 million at the close of the previous quarter. More: Core Disney+ subscriptions are at 112.6 million, with Disney+ Hotstar in India providing 37.6 million additional households. Overall, Disney's streaming division lost $387 million in Q4, an improvement over its $1.4 billion in losses in Q4 2022. On a call with investors, CEO Bob Iger said that the company will start licensing some of its programs to Netflix, but not content featuring "core brands" such as Marvel or Star Wars. According to Iger, a merged Disney+ and Hulu app will start beta testing for subscribers of both services next month. The most-streamed programs on Disney+ in Q4 were Pixar's "Elemental," the Marvel film "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," and the live-action adaptation of "The Little Mermaid."

3 DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9 RAP SH!T: The musical comedy series from creator Issa Rae is back for a second season. Aida Osman and KaMillion co-star as childhood friends from Miami who meet back up as adults and form a rap duo. Jonica Booth, Devon Terrell, and RJ Cyler co-star; real-life hip-hop duo City Girls serve as producers and consultants. [Max] SESAME STREET: The iconic educational kids series returns for a 54th season, featuring new Muppet characters TJ, Lalo, and Yasmine, and a roster of celebrity guests including Quinta Brunson, Brandi Carlile, Eugene Cordero, Ariana DeBose, Dan Levy, and Kal Penn. [Max] THE 57th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS: The annual ceremony honors the best in country music; it aired live Wednesday night on ABC from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and hits Hulu on Thursday. Performers include Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Cody Johnson, Luke Bryan, Jelly Roll, Tanya Tucker, Lainey Wilson, and Little Big Town; Bryan co-hosts with Peyton Manning. [Hulu] THE LEAGUE: Documentary looking back at the history, legacy, and impact of the Negro Baseball League, featuring a bevy of rare archival footage and commentary from Maya Angelou, Paul Robeson Jr., Jakkar Thompson, Donovan Price, Amiri Baraka Jr., Mark Cuban, and many others. Sam Pollard ("Mr. Soul!," "MLK/FBI") directs and makes appearances. [Hulu] THE CROODS: FAMILY TREE: Animated comedy series from DreamWorks, spun off from the film franchise, about two very different prehistoric families occupying the same treehouse home. Season 8, featuring 7 new episodes, comes to both Hulu and Peacock today. [Hulu and Peacock] DARK SIDE OF THE RING: The docuseries from Vice Studios relates controversial, shocking, and troubling behind-the-scenes stories from the world of professional wrestling. Season 4 aired over the summer on cable and hits Hulu in the US today. [Hulu] MAVKA: THE FOREST SONG: Animated family fantasy adventure film, produced in Ukraine but dubbed into English for US audiences. It's based on the 1918 play "The Forest Song," which draws inspiration from Ukrainian and Slavic folk tales, and centers on a forest spirit who falls in love with a human musician. [Hulu] TEMPLE OF FILM: 100 YEARS OF THE EGYPTIAN THEATRE: Documentary looking back at the history and legacy of Hollywood's historic Egyptian Theatre, which has recently been purchased and restored by Netflix. The film features commentary from directors Guillermo del Toro and Rian Johnson, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, restoration architect Peyton Hall, and many others. [Netflix] AKUMA KUN: Debut anime series, inspired by the classic manga by Shigeru Mizuki, about a boy raised by demons who works as a paranormal investigator. The new series serves as a sequel to the 1989 "Akuma Kun" anime. [Netflix] COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS: Debut comedy series from Australia, co-starring real-life husband and wife duo Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer (who also co-created and wrote the scripts). The story centers on two strangers from Sydney who meet following a car accident and agree to mutually care for an injured dog they name Colin. Australia's "Binge" streaming service has renewed the show for a second season. [Paramount+] BTS: YET TO COME: Concert film featuring the globally popular K-pop group performing in a 2022 show in Busan, ahead of their two-year hiatus for required army service. The film was released theatrically earlier this year. [Amazon]

4 According to leaked internal numbers reviewed by Insider, YouTube TV grew around 48% between October 2022 and October 2023. That makes it Google's overall fastest-growing product. More: The numbers come from an internal Google system known as "Magic Eye" which tracks product sales and growth. Magic Eye also indicates that YouTube TV has the highest engagement rate and retention rate of any Google product; 52% of YouTube TV subscribers are considered "frequent" users. YouTube TV is a paid subscription, which Magic Eye is also comparing to free products and services. YouTube TV got a major boost this year from NFL Sunday Ticket; according to Antenna, 1.3 million people have signed up for the live football package so far.

5 Apple TV+ released a trailer for the scripted WWII limited series "Masters of the Air." The nine-episode series is executive produced by the team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman, who previously developed the WWII-themed series "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" for HBO. More: The series tracks the experiences of airmen from the 8th Air Force throughout the war; it's based on Donald L. Miller's 2007 nonfiction book "Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the War Against Nazi Germany." Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan co-star; Cary Fukunaga ("No Time to Die") directed some episodes. The first two "Masters of the Air" episodes debut on January 26; new episodes will follow each Friday.

6 According to Matthew Belloni of Puck News, star Kevin Costner does not plan to return for any additional "Yellowstone" Season 5 episodes. The Western drama series will return to Paramount Network for the second half of its fifth and final season next year, with or without Costner as lead character John Dutton. More: The Hollywood Reporter previously indicated that Costner would have some ongoing involvement in "Yellowstone," but would no longer have a central role. On a recent episode of "The Town" podcast, however, Belloni countered that Costner has not scheduled any additional "Yellowstone" appearances. Costner's schedule and availability became a major issue for "Yellowstone" producers, even before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down Hollywood; following reported creative disputes, he hoped to exit the series and work on his two-part Western film "Horizon." Paramount plans to continue the "Yellowstone" universe without Costner via new spinoff series.

7 The NBA's developmental G-League signed a two-year deal with the Fox-owned streaming service Tubi. In addition to 75 live games throughout the season, Tubi's G-League Channel will also get new original programming featuring the league and its players. More: G-League content will make its Tubi debut this Friday, November 10. G-League games have previously been featured on ESPN's family of networks and NBA TV; this is the league's first streaming deal. Tubi has previously featured World Cup-related content from Fox Sports.

8 Max dropped a trailer for "Bookie," a new original dark comedy series co-created by "Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men" vet Chuck Lorre. Sebastian Maniscalco stars as Danny, a long-time Los Angeles bookmaker whose business is threatened by the legalization of sports gambling. More: "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen makes guest appearances as one of Danny's clients; this marks his first time working with Lorre since his dramatic exit from the sitcom 12 years ago. Omar J. Dorsey, Vanessa Ferlito, and Jorge Garcia round out the main cast. The series was developed, written, and produced by Lorre and Nick Bakay; the duo previously collaborated on the CBS sitcom "Mom." The first two "Bookie" episodes hit Max on November 30.

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Knowledge Hub Term of the Day Social democracy: Social democracy is a political ideology that seeks to promote economic and social justice through government intervention. Read More Question of the Week What perks would convince you to return to the office? Join the conversation

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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