Disney bans password sharing / Bajaria on Netflix movies / House hearing on sports rights / Canal+'s MultiChoice offer

Plus today's calendar, Sky layoffs, YouTube TV upgrades multiview, "Squid Game 2" tease, Lance Reddick tribute, and more

Inside Streaming For February 01, 2024

Hello again and thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming. Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria confirms to Deadline what anyone perceptive already noticed: they want you to watch movies on Netflix, not in movie theaters. She takes the diplomatic approach, saying stuff like "that's not our business" and "Netflix subscribers love watching movies on Netflix!" But the reality is, Netflix has no desire to prop up the struggling movie theater business. It benefits them if big theater chains like AMC and Regal go under. Those are direct competitors for your time and entertainment dollar. PLUS, a lot of Netflix's most notable competitors, like Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBCUniversal, still rely on movie theaters as a major component of their annual revenue. Killing theaters hurts them but leaves Netflix untouched. Win-win, baby! Enjoy today's issue. See you back here tomorrow for the weekend edition. Lon p/lon-harris

1 According to CNN, Disney plans to follow Netflix's lead and ban password sharing across its entire suite of streaming services. Hulu sent an email to subscribers on Wednesday, limiting password sharing exclusively to members of the same household. More: The user agreements for Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ already block users from using anyone else's username and password; these agreements were last updated on January 25 of this year. Based on the terms of service, violators of the policy could have their accounts limited or terminated, though it's unclear what steps Disney plans to actually take in terms of enforcement. In August of 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger indicated that the company would address the password sharing issue at some point.

2 Netflix's Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria spoke with Deadline about the company's filmmaking business, and its continued dedication to at-home viewing. Bajaria suggests that Netflix has no interest in expanding its theatrical release schedule, and intends for its films to be streamed, not screened. More: Bajaria told Deadline "We're the only real pure play streamer and our members love films and they want to see films on Netflix." Speaking about theatrical film distribution, she added "It's just not our business." Netflix has released a few films for limited engagements in theaters, including 2022's "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" and this summer's "Beverly Hills Cop" sequel, "Axel F." Scott Stuber, Netflix's departing Chairman who oversaw the film division, is a former Universal executive who was instrumental in building ties between the streamer and Hollywood filmmakers; he's exiting the company in March.

3 DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1 FEUD: CAPOTE VS. THE SWANS: Mega-producer Ryan Murphy's "Feud" anthology drama series returns for a second season, examining author Truman Capote's tumultuous friendships with a group of New York socialites, who served as the inspiration for his novel "Answered Prayers." The series is based on Laurence Leamer's book "Capote's Women" and stars Tom Hollander, Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, and Molly Ringwald. New episodes air Wednesday nights on FX and hit Hulu on Thursdays. [Hulu] KINGS FROM QUEENS: THE RUN DMC STORY: Three-part musical docuseries looking back on the trailblazing New York hip-hop group, including new interviews with co-founders Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, recounting their story in their own words. (The third member of the trio, Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizelli, passed away in 2002.) Other interview subjects include Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Questlove, Beastie Boys, Ice-T, and Chuck D. [Peacock] CLONE HIGH: Max's reboot of the cult animated comedy series returns this week for a second season. It's set in a world in which the government produced experimental clones of famous historical figures, who now attend a high school together. The voice cast includes Will Forte, Nicole Sullivan, Mitra Jouhari, Christopher Miller, and Ayo Edebiri. Original creators Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence all returned for the new episodes. [Max] ROLLING ALONG: BILL BRADLEY: Recording of a 2021 New York stage performance by the former NBA player and US Senator, in which he looks back on his life, career, and experiences. "Last Dance" vet Mike Tollin directed; Spike Lee and Frank Oz executive produced. "Rolling Along" premiered at last year's Tribeca Film Festival. [Max] CHASING FLAVOR: Debut food and travel series from HBO, in which celebrity chef Carla Hall traces the global origins of distinctly American foods, including chicken pot pie, shrimp and grits, and ice cream. [Max] YOUNG SHELDON: The CBS coming-of-age sitcom -- a spinoff of "The Big Bang Theory" -- centers on Sheldon (Iain Armitage) as a precocious prodigy. Season 6 aired last year on TV and hits Netflix today; the show will end after its upcoming seventh season, but more spinoffs are likely. [Netflix] FAME AFTER FAME (SÁLVESE QUIEN PUEDA!): Reality series from Spain in which eight former cast members of the wildly popular TV series "Sálvame" journey throughout the US and Mexico seeking new career opportunities. The cast includes Victor Sandoval, Belén Esteban, María Patiño, Chelo García Cortés, and Kiko Hernández. [Netflix] THREE LITTLE BIRDS: British period drama series from writer/creator Lenny Henry, based on his mother's stories about immigrating to the UK in the 1950s. Rochelle Neil, Yazmin Belo, and Saffron Coomber co-star as a trio of Jamaican friends and siblings who embark on a new life in England. [BritBox] AFRICA RISING WITH AFUA HIRSCH: Docuseries from the UK in which journalist Hirsch meets with creatives and artists from three African countries, exploring the rapidly changing society and culture in Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco. [BritBox] A BLOODY LUCKY DAY: Debut psychological thriller series from Korea, based on the digital comic of the same name by Aporia. Lee Sung-min stars as a taxi driver who accepts a long-distance fare, only to discover that his passenger is a serial killer. Yoo Yeon-seok and Lee Jung-eun co-star. [Paramount+]

4 The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology announced a hearing on the transition of sports media rights from broadcast TV to streaming services. The discussion will apparently revolve around the impact the transition has had on content availability and distribution, and how media rights deals have been structured. More: The hearing was announced just weeks after the NFL's first-ever streaming-exclusive playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs, which was only available on Peacock in most US markets. Currently, the NFL enjoys a decades-old anti-trust exemption, allowing the league to negotiate rights as a single unit, as opposed to a team-by-team basis. The lineup of witnesses does not include anyone from the NFL or any major TV networks, so the championship game specifically will likely not play a central role in the hearing.

5 French media company Canal+ Group made an offer to acquire African media and entertainment giant MultiChoice. Canal+ Group, which is owned by Vivendi, already holds a 31% stake in MultiChoice. More: Canal+ offered around $5.61 per share for MultiChoice, a 40% increase over its January 31 price on the market. The deal would require approval from South African media and financial regulators. Vivendi recently announced a plan to split its holdings into four separate businesses. MultiChoice owns the Showmax service, Africa's most popular regional streamer, with around 20 million subscribers across the continent.

6 Sky, the British TV provider owned by Comcast, announced plans to layoff 1,000 staffers. According to Deadline, the move is part of an overall shift away from the satellite TV business and toward a streaming model. More: The Financial Times reported that the cuts amount to around 4% of Sky's total UK staff. Most of the cuts will come from the engineering division, and will concern employees who worked with satellite dishes and hardware. Sky's business has been transitioning from satellite TV to streaming for several years now; its Sky Glass smart TVs are among the most popular models in the UK.

7 YouTube TV has upgraded its multiview feature with added customability. Multiview launched last year during March Madness, with a pre-set roster of games available to watch simultaneously. More: The new "Build a Multiview" option allows users to choose which streams they want to watch four-at-a-time. A Reddit user has apparently seen the feature in action, but it's still only available in a limited capacity. The list of available multiview games is still limited; most live sports streams will not be available for Build a Multiview selection.

8 QUICK HITS Skip the Valentine's Day lines but keep the love. James Allen offers hundreds of engagement ring and diamond jewelry options, all 25% off*, all at your fingertips.* On X, Netflix posted a very brief clip teasing the second season of "Squid Game," arriving at some point later this year.  The Season 1 finale of Disney+'s "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" is dedicated to actor Lance Reddick, who died in March of last year, shortly after production completed on the series. "True Detective: Night Country" creator Issa López responded to criticisms of the new season from original "True Detective" creator Nic Pizzolatto, telling Vulture "I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he's entitled to them." Producers Miguel Ruz and Jordi Roca, also known as "Rock & Ruz," are developing the Spanish-language horror film "Tooth Fairy" for Netflix; the duo are coming off the smash hit "Nowhere," the streamer's most-watched Spanish-language film of all time. Popular Twitch streamer Pokimane announced that she has exited the platform in favor of YouTube. Paramount+ ordered a second season for the Australian romantic comedy series "Colin From Accounts." According to co-creator John Hyams, Netflix has canceled the zombie drama "Black Summer" after two seasons; the show was a prequel to the Syfy series "Z Nation." Production on Season 6 of the BBC/HBO detective drama series "Strike" begins later this month; the series is based on novels written by "Harry Potter" vet J.K. Rowling, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Taraji P. Henson is the latest actor to join the ensemble cast of Peacock's limited crime drama series "Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist"; the series reunites Henson with star Kevin Hart, whom she's appeared with in several films. "Madu," a documentary profile of teenage Nigerian ballet dancer Anthony Madu, hits Disney+ on March 29, after screening as the opening night selection at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Netflix posted a collection of award-winning documentary shorts to its "Still Watching" YouTube channel, produced in collaboration with its Documentary Talent Fund in the UK and Ireland; the slate includes "Turn Up the Bass," a profile of deaf DJ Troi Lee, and "Two Mothers," about an Irish mother who helps her former surrogate escape war-torn Ukraine. The best brand experiences have a foundation of trust. Find out key elements needed for your Virtual Shopping Assistants.* *This is sponsored content

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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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