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| Thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming brief! It's official... Amazon Prime Video is now displaying pre-roll ads for all subscribers, unless you specifically opt-out and agree to pay $3 more per month. Personally, I ponied up the extra $36 per year. I'll go out for one less annual meal to breeze through "Reacher" without pausing occasionally for sponsored messages. That's probably worth it to me. But Amazon's certainly HOPING most consumers don't agree and just leave the ads in-place. Increasingly, streamers have decided that this balanced model -- earning income from both subscribers and advertising -- works out better for them than subscriptions alone. Enjoy today's edition! We'll see you back here tomorrow. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | Amazon Prime Video started showing advertisements to all adult subscribers on Monday. For an additional $2.99 per month, Prime subscribers can opt out of seeing commercials. More: - Most of the major US streaming services now offer a lower-cost, ad-supported subscription, with the exception of Apple TV+.
- According to Amazon, the company will use the additional revenue to fund Prime Video content, including costly visual effects-heavy series such as "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" and "The Wheel of Time."
- For now, Amazon does not plan to show ads on content for children or on children's profiles; Netflix employs a similar policy.
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| 2 | | According to Nielsen's year-end wrap up report, the USA Network legal drama "Suits" was streamed for 57.7 billion total minutes in the US in 2023. That sets a new record for the most viewership of a single program in a year. More: - The previous record holder was the NBC comedy "The Office," which was streamed for 57.1 billion minutes in 2020.
- "Suits" has longer episodes than "The Office," and thus more hours of total content, which puts it at a bit of an advantage in a head-to-head matchup: "Suits" runs for 83 hours, while the full run of "The Office" is just 73 hours.
- "The Office" and "Suits" received the lion's share of their viewership on Netflix; both shows are also now available on Peacock.
- The most-viewed streaming original series in 2023 was Apple's "Ted Lasso," with 16.9 million total minutes of viewership; this is particularly noteworthy, as Apple TV+ has far fewer subscribers than most of its rivals.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR MONDAY, JANUARY 29 NEXT LEVEL CHEF: The Fox culinary competition series pits chefs against one another in a series of challenges, prepared in a set of three kitchens with very different amenities and upgrades. Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais serve as mentors along with host Gordan Ramsay. Season 3 debuted Sunday night on Fox; new episodes hit Hulu on Mondays. [Hulu] THE GREATEST NIGHT IN POP: Music documentary about the recording of the 1985 charity single "We Are the World," which brought together dozens of popular musicians to raise funds for African famine relief, including Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Sheila E., Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Bruce Springsteen, and many others. Bao Nguyen ("Live from New York!") directed. [Netflix] BADLAND HUNTERS: Dystopian action film from Korea, following up on the 2023 film "Concrete Utopia," and set in a lawless post-apocalyptic Seoul. Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) stars as a skilled hunter and scavenger who embarks on a rescue mission after a resident of his village is kidnapped. Lee Hee-joon, Lee Jun-young, and Roh Jeong-eui co-star. [Netflix] MIGHTY BHEEM'S PLAYTIME: Animated series for young kids, following up on the prior series "Mighty Little Bheem," in which the mischievous and powerful toddler explores his village and attends school for the first time. [Netflix] THE CLAREMONT MURDERS: Scripted Australian true-crime drama, about the investigation into a string of disappearances and murders in the tony Perth suburb of Claremont in the mid-1990s. Ryan Johnson stars as perpetrator Bradley Robert Edwards; Catherine Van-Davies, Aaron Glenane, Laura Gordon, and Tasma Walton co-star. [Acorn TV] SUITABLE FLESH: 2023 horror film from director Joe Lynch ("Mayhem"), based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story "The Thing on the Doorstep." Heather Graham stars as a psychiatrist who becomes ensnared in an ancient curse while trying to help a troubled young patient (Judah Lewis). Bruce Davison, Johnathon Schaech, and Barbara Crampton co-star. [Shudder] | | | |
| 4 | | Amanda Seyfried took the lead role in Peacock's upcoming limited thriller series "Long Bright River." The series is based on the novel of the same name by author Liz Moore, and comes from both Sony Pictures Television and Universal's UCP division. More: - Seyfried stars as a Philadelphia police officer who suspects she may have a personal connection to a string of murders in the neighborhood she patrols.
- Moore will script the adaptation herself along with "The Offer" and "Hunters" vet Nikki Toscano, who also serves as showrunner.
- The project was first rumored after Moore and Seyfried were spotted together last week, doing a ride-along with Philadelphia police.
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| 5 | | Amazon Prime Video's limited series "Expats" is largely set in Hong Kong, but won't be available to stream in the Chinese territory. The series comes from Chinese-American filmmaker Lulu Wang, and debuted its first two episodes globally last week. More: - Prime Video subscribers in Hong Kong attempting to access the series receive a message indicating that it's "unavailable to watch in your location"; neither Amazon nor the Hong Kong government provided a comment on the situation.
- The series is based on a 2012 novel by Janice Y.K. Lee, and centers on three American women living in Hong Kong in 2014.
- NBC News suggests that a few episodes depict 2014's large-scale pro-democracy protests, which could be the reason behind the ban.
- In 2021, Hong Kong's legislature passed new regulations blocking the release of films that "endanger national security"; this law does not directly apply to streaming services.
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| 6 | | Many Netflix viewers have reacted to the true-crime documentary "American Nightmare" by leaving negative messages on the Vallejo Police Department's social media accounts. The documentary examines the case of a couple from Mare Island, off California's coast, who suffered a brutal attack and sexual assault, only to face a skeptical response from law enforcement. More: - When victim Aaron Quinn reported the attack to Vallejo police, they suspected a hoax, and spoke dismissively about the case in a press conference.
- Disbarred attorney Matthew Muller ultimately pleaded guilty to the bizarre crime; he's serving a 40-year prison sentence.
- Quinn and his girlfriend, Denise Huskins, sued the Vallejo Police Department over their handling of the case in 2016; they reached a $2.5 million settlement in 2018.
- Much of the vitriol on social media has been aimed at former Vallejo detective Mat Mustard, who is seen in the documentary harshly questioning Quinn and Huskins' mother, Jane Remmele.
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| 7 | | Netflix acquired the documentary "Skywalkers: A Love Story" following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The doc profiles daredevil Moscow couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, who travel the globe and climb the world's tallest buildings together. More: - The film follows the couple as they ascend a "super-skyscraper" and perform a daring stunt on its spire.
- Jeff Zimbalist ("Super League: The War for Football") co-directed the film with producer Maria Bukhonina; it's been in production for around seven years.
- The film premiered at Sundance on January 18 and received largely positive reviews.
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- According to Amazon's internal figures, the adult animated musical comedy series "Hazbin Hotel" -- inspired by an independently released YouTube pilot -- had the largest global debut for any animated series in Prime Video history.
- Apple's sci-fi drama "Severance" resumed production on its second season for the first time since May, when it was postponed by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.
- UK public broadcaster Channel 4 announced 200 layoffs, along with a plan to shift into a "digital-first streamer" by 2030.
- Comedian and podcaster Bert Kreischer signed a new deal with Netflix to produce two additional comedy specials; his most recent special, "Razzle Dazzle," hit the platform in 2023.
- Disney+ will release a 50-minute behind-the-scenes making-of documentary about its "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series on January 30, to coincide with the Season 1 finale.
- The family of comedian George Carlin filed a lawsuit against Dudesy, the media company behind the fake "George Carlin comedy special" produced with generative AI.
- BET and CBS News renewed the primetime newsmagazine series "America in Black" for a second season; the series streams on both Paramount+ and the CBS News app.
- Four actors joined the cast of Taylor Sheridan's upcoming Paramount+ series "Landman," including Kayla Wallace, Mark Collie, Paulina Chávez, and "Yellowstone" vet James Jordan; the series is based on the "Boomtown" podcast, and follows an ensemble of characters affiliated with West Texas oil rigs, from roughnecks to billionaire owners.
- Tubi grabbed the North American rights for the BBC comedy-drama series "Boarders"; the show follows five Black teens from inner-city London who receive scholarships to attend a prestigious boarding school.
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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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