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| Thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming! Personally, I'm a little shocked at "True Detective" creator Nic Pizzolatto's very vocal hate campaign toward the show's new season. Obviously, he's entitled to feel however he feels about the quality of the episodes, but the guy's still listed as an executive producer on the new season (along with Season 1 stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey). If you're drawing an actual HBO paycheck still, seems like it's just basic professionalism to keep your mouth shut, at least during the show's initial TV run. If Pizzolatto showed up on a podcast a few years from now and reflected on not liking the direction new showrunner Issa López took, that'd be one thing. But doing it in real-time as the show is airing feels extremely hostile and personal. I'm not sure what he hopes to even get out of this. It certainly doesn't make me feel better about the previous seasons or want to celebrate his work in any way. Very strange behavior. Enjoy today's issue! Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | Walmart announced plans to acquire the smart TV maker Vizio in a deal valued at around $2.3 billion. In a press release, Walmart executives explained that Vizio will help to grow their advertising business while also giving the company a presence in the in-home entertainment space. More: - Vizio TVs come with their own streaming platform, and access to the WatchFree+ ad-supported service.
- The acquisition thus makes Walmart a new entry in the streaming TV space, in direct competition with rivals like Roku, Samsung, Amazon, Google, and Apple.
- Roku and Comcast have recently entered the smart TV space as well.
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| 2 | | According to Nielsen, overall TV use in the US hit a nearly 4-year high in January, up 3.7% vs. December and 1.4% over the previous year. January 2024 had the most total TV viewership by Americans since the early pandemic months of 2020. More: - 36% of total viewership went to streaming platforms, followed by cable with 27.9% and broadcast TV with 24.2%.
- YouTube was the top streaming platform in the US for the 12th consecutive month, with 8.6% of total TV usage.
- January 13 saw the highest level of streaming TV viewership in history, boosted by the Kansas City Chiefs-Miami Dolphins playoff game, which was exclusive to the Peacock service.
- The top January streaming title was Netflix's "Fool Me Once," which had around 6.5 billion viewed minutes over the course of the month; this was the first time that a streaming original program held the #1 spot for an entire month since May 2023.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 OPERATION ARCTIC CURE: Debut docuseries from National Geographic following a group of combat veterans struggling with PTSD who embark on a transformative expedition to the Arctic together. The series debuted last night on cable; new episodes hit both Disney streamers on Tuesdays. [Hulu and Disney+] RENOVATION ALOHA: Debut home improvement reality series from HGTV, in which married renovation experts Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama transform homes across the Hawaiian island of Oahu. [Max] MIKE EPPS: READY TO SELL OUT: The actor and comedian's fourth comedy special for Netflix was recorded in Phoenix, Arizona, and features his reflections on his life, relationship troubles, and financial struggles. [Netflix] RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN: 2023 animated action-comedy feature from DreamWorks, about a 15-year-old named Ruby (Lana Condor) who discovers she's descended from a race of warlike sea creatures that protect the world from villainous mermaids. [Netflix] RISQUÉ BUSINESS: THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY: The unscripted Korean travel series features comedians and TV personalities Shin Dong-youp and Sung Si-kyung exploring the world of adult entertainment in different countries and cultures. After visits to Japan and Taiwan, they're heading to Europe for the first time for Season 3. [Netflix] A TASTE OF LOVE: Romantic comedy feature from Hallmark starring Erin Cahill as a TV chef at a crossroads who returns to her hometown and reconnects with an old flame (Jesse Kove). Martin Kove co-stars. [Peacock] | | | |
| 4 | | Pay TV distributors and cable companies are evaluating the likely impact of Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox's recently-announced joint streaming venture. It's currently unclear whether or not cable companies like Charter and Comcast, and satellite TV provider DirecTV, will be able to offer their customers the same collection of content featured on the still-untitled collaborative live sports-focused streamer. More: - The collaborative streamer will offer feeds from across the contributing companies' TV and cable networks, including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, and the Fox Sports family of channels.
- If Disney, Fox, and WBD decline to offer a "skinny bundle" of these networks, traditional pay TV distributors are concerned that this could lead to mass cable cancellations.
- This could lead to a potential conflict around future carriage agreements.
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| 5 | | While HBO formerly posted the main segment from "Last Week Tonight" to YouTube on Mondays, the day after it aired on cable, the network has decided to hold back the videos until Thursdays. Host John Oliver explained the shift on X, adding "I hope they change their mind." More: - An HBO spokesperson explained to Deadline that the network hopes to encourage more viewers to watch the show on Max, rather than waiting for a YouTube copy.
- In a statement, HBO explained that the policy of posting the extended segments on Monday started before "the convenience of watching on Max" existed.
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| 6 | | The final episode of "True Detective: Night Country" drew 3.2 million viewers across both HBO and Max on its premiere day. That's a 57% larger audience than watched the season premiere in January, and an 18% improvement over the third episode. More: - The previous week had a total of 5 million premiere viewers, but these views were spread across the entirety of Super Bowl weekend, not just a Sunday evening.
- The show averaged around 12.7 million viewers per episode across all platforms, making it the most-watched "True Detective" season to date.
- Original "True Detective" creator Nic Pizzolatto, who is still listed as an executive producer on "Night Country," was open about his dislike for the new season on social media; during the finale, Pizzolatto reposted messages on Instagram from viewers criticizing Season 4.
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| 7 | | According to Apple's internal figures, the WWII action-drama series "Masters of the Air" had the most-streamed debut weekend of any Apple TV+ original to date. The company did not release specific viewership numbers. More: - In the week after "Masters of the Air" debuted, viewership on Apple TV+ jumped by around 65% worldwide.
- The company also claims it saw "double-digit growth" in more than 100 countries and territories.
- The series -- produced by "Band of Brothers" vets Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman -- chronicles the exploits of the 100th Bomb Group, which performed dangerous precision bombing raids against key Nazi targets within Germany.
- "Masters of the Air" remains ongoing on Apple TV+; the finale debuts on March 15.
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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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