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| Thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming daily brief! Layoffs at Amazon's streaming services continue this week, with Twitch, Amazon Studios, and Prime Video all losing some staffers. Remember, advertising is coming to Prime Video later on this month, so the company is looking at a very promising new revenue stream even as it continues downscaling the size of its operations. Enjoy today's issue. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | Amazon announced the layoffs of several hundred employees, impacting a number of the company's streaming services. Amazon laid off around 25,000 staffers just one year ago; in the spring, Amazon Studios and Prime Video laid off around 100 employees. More: - Amazon's livestreaming platform Twitch will cut around 35% of its total staff, around 500 workers.
- An internal memo sent by SVP Mike Hopkins, and obtained by Deadline, suggests that the layoffs will allow Amazon to increase "investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact."
- Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022.
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| 2 | | At CES in Las Vegas, the X platform -- formerly known as Twitter -- announced new original streaming shows featuring a number of veteran TV hosts. X signed deals for exclusive content with former CNN anchor Don Lemon, former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and sports talk radio favorite Jim Rome. More: - Lemon posted that he feels "bigger, bolder, freer" under his new deal, and announced his project will be titled simply "The Don Lemon Show."
- Range Media Partners signed an overall deal to produce a number of new streaming shows for X; the company has pre-standing agreements with both Rome and Gabbard.
- X owner Elon Musk also introduced some new safety tools for brands at the CES event.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10 CRIMINAL RECORD: 8-part crime thriller series from the UK, starring Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo as very different but equally brilliant police detectives with conflicting theories about an old murder case. Dionne Brown, Stephen Campbell Moore, and Charlie Creed-Miles co-star; Paul Rutman ("Vera") created. [Apple TV+] BREAK POINT: The behind-the-scenes pro tennis docuseries returns for a 6-part second season, following a group of players through 2023 competitions, from the Australian Open to the US Open. Returning stars include Aryna Sabalenka, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Maria Sakkari, and Nick Kyrgios; newcomers this year include Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, Holger Rune, and Ben Shelton. [Netflix] THE TRUST: A GAME OF GREED: Debut reality competition series -- described as a cross between "The Traitors" and "Big Brother" -- in which 11 strangers are given a choice between splitting a $250,000 cash prize evenly or voting one another out in hopes of securing a larger share. CNN veteran Brooke Baldwin hosts. [Netflix] SEE NO EVIL: The true crime docuseries from Investigation Discovery looks back at cases in which surveillance cameras helped bring the perpetrators to justice. The second half of the show's ninth season aired last year on cable and hits Max today. [Max] HELP! I'M IN A SECRET RELATIONSHIP: The MTV reality series offers advice and insight for people who fear their significant others are purposefully keeping them hidden from their family and friends. Rahne Jones and Travis Mills co-host. The first two seasons both hit Paramount+ in the US today. [Paramount+] THE LOUD HOUSE: Season 6 of the animated Nickelodeon comedy series aired from 2022-2023, and comes to Paramount+ in its entirety today. Season 1 of the live-action spinoff series "The Really Loud House" also hits Paramount+ today. [Paramount+] HAMSTER & GRETEL: The animated Disney Channel series centers on a teenage boy who's constantly drawn into conflicts after his younger sister and her pet hamster develop superpowers. Meli Povenmire, Michael Cimino, Beck Bennett, and Joey King co-star. Three fresh Season 1 episodes hit D+ today. [Disney+] KIYA & THE KIMOJA HEROES: Disney Junior animated series for preschoolers about a 7-year-old African girl with a passion for ballet and martial arts who transforms into a superhero with help from a magical headband. 12 new Season 1 episodes come to Disney+ today. [Disney+] | | | |
| 4 | | At CES, Netflix dropped a new trailer for the sci-fi drama series "3 Body Problem," based on the novel by Cixin Liu. Season 1 premieres on March 21. More: - The show comes from "Game of Thrones" vets David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with newcomer Alexander Woo.
- The story centers on a group of scientists who join forces with a detective to investigate sudden, inexplicable changes to the laws of nature.
- The large ensemble cast includes Benedict Wong, Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jonathan Pryce, and many others.
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| 5 | | AMC posted the first trailer for "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live," the zombie drama's latest spinoff. The new series debuts February 25 on AMC and AMC+. More: - The series features Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira reprising their lead "Walking Dead" roles as Rick and Michonne.
- The show is set several years after the close of the main "Walking Dead" series, and finds the pair searching for one another amid a human "war against the dead."
- In addition to Lincoln and Gurira, Pollyanna McIntosh reprises her "Walking Dead" role as Jadis; "Lost" vet Terry O'Quinn co-stars as a new character, Beale.
- "Walking Dead" franchise creative chief Scott Gimple will serve as showrunner on "The Ones Who Live."
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| 6 | | Tina Fey will star in a Netflix series based on the 1981 comedy film "The Four Seasons." Fey co-created the series along with her former "30 Rock" collaborators Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield. More: - The film centers on three married couples whose frequent vacations together are interrupted when one of the husbands leaves his wife for a much younger woman.
- The original film starred Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, and Sandy Dennis; it was previously adapted into a 1984 TV series for CBS.
- Fey previously co-created the Netflix series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," but this will be her first starring role for the streamer.
- Netflix will also stream the upcoming third season of "Girls5Eva," which Fey executive produces.
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| 7 | | Netflix will release the first season of its breakout coming-of-age comedy series "Wednesday" on DVD and Blu-Ray. The discs are now available for pre-order and hit stores on March 26. More: - Netflix only puts its original releases on physical media when demand is particularly high; "The Witcher" and "Stranger Things" have also been released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
- So far, it's unknown if the discs will have any special features or bonus content.
- "Wednesday" is now Netflix's most-watched English-language series of all time, with roughly 252.1 million views, according to the streamer's internal metrics.
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- 2024 SAG Award nominations were announced; Apple's "Killers of the Flower Moon" earned three nods, including best cast, while HBO's "Succession" leads all TV programs with 5 nominations.
- "Gilded Age" star Carrie Coon joined the cast of "The White Lotus" ahead of the anthology comedy-drama's third season; she'll join Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, and returning star Natasha Rothwell in the new episodes.
- Max canceled the pirate comedy series "Our Flag Means Death" after two seasons.
- Dave Chappelle's latest Netflix stand-up special, "The Dreamer," received 10.2 million views in its first week on Netflix, good enough for the #2 spot for the week, behind only the mystery series "Fool Me Once."
- Popular YouTuber Matthew Patrick (aka "MatPat") announced his retirement from the platform; he plans to hand off the "Theorist" channels to other hosts and collaborators.
- NBC released a trailer for the "Law & Order" franchise, featuring new clips from the revived original series, "Special Victims Unit," and "Organized Crime"; all three shows return on January 18.
- A UK government document filed by Sony Pictures Television confirms that Left Bank Pictures -- the producers of "The Crown" -- received a £10 million ($13 million) bonus last year, roughly lining up with the end of filming on the show's final season.
- Actors Denis Leary and O-T Fagbenle joined the cast of Netflix's dark comedy series "No Good Deed"; the show centers on three families competing to purchase the same 1920s Spanish-style villa, and also features Ray Romano, Linda Cardinelli, Luke Wilson, Abbi Jacobson, and Poppy Liu.
- According to NBCUniversal's internal data, the dramatic Season 4 finale of "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" was seen by over 2 million viewers in its first three days across all platforms; that makes it the show's most-watched episode since its series premiere.
- Disney+ added the Marvel Studios shows produced for Netflix -- including "Daredevil," "Punisher," and "Jessica Jones" -- to its MCU Timeline, officially making the series part of MCU canon for the first time.
- On an episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show" this week, the host performed a jazzy duet of "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs" -- the theme song from "Frasier" -- along with star Kelsey Grammer.
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 | 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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