| Hello and thanks for reading another edition of Inside Streaming. One of our "Quick Hits" stories today is about Netflix's adaptation of the Danish mystery books "Department Q," which have previously been adapted into a series of Nordic noir movies that I really enjoy. It's going to be a bit tough to see new actors playing these characters, who I've come to know over the course of four Danish movies, but they're great, weird mystery stories with lots of unexpected turns, and even occasional jet-black humor. I think Netflix has a big potential hit on their hands, if they do this one right. Enjoy today's issue! Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | In a blog post, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced that the YouTube TV service has reached 8 million subscribers. That makes YouTube TV the most popular cable replacement streaming subscription service in the US by a wide margin. More: - At the end of Q3 2023, Disney's Hulu + Live TV had around 4.6 million subscribers; rival services include Sling TV (with 2.1 million subs) and Fubo (with 1.5 million).
- While major cable services like Comcast's Xfinity TV still have more subscribers than YouTube TV, their audience is shrinking rather than growing; Xfinity had 14.1 million subscribers at the close of 2023, a year-over-year drop of around 2 million.
- YouTube TV last announced its subscriber count in mid-2022, when it reached 5 million sign-ups.
- This week, YouTube TV introduced support for "1080p Enhanced" picture quality on several channels.
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| 2 | | NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about streaming-exclusive football games during a pre-Super Bowl press conference. Goodell insisted that there will never be a streaming-exclusive Super Bowl during his tenure with the league. More: - When asked by CBS' Tracy Wolfson about the possibility of a streaming-only Super Bowl, Goodell responded "one of the secrets of our success is we are really committed to broadcast television."
- Speaking specifically about this year's playoff game between the Chiefs and Dolphins, which was only available to view on the Peacock service, Goodell noted that "23 million people" tuned in.
- Speaking about the decision to stream a game on Peacock, Goodell added "we have to fish where the fish are."
- This year's Super Bowl airs on CBS and also streams live on Paramount+.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6 #CYBERSLEUTHS: THE IDAHO MURDERS: Debut three-part true-crime docuseries examining the 2022 murders of four students at the University of Idaho, a mystery that became a national obsession. The series follows the investigation from the perspectives of four amateur sleuths who collaborate and share their findings on TikTok. [Paramount+] STRAYS: 2023 comedy from Universal about an abandoned dog (voiced by Will Ferrell) who teams up with his fellow strays to seek revenge on his former owner (Will Forte). Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park also provide voices; Josh Greenbaum ("Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar") directs. [Prime Video] SURROUNDED: 2023 Western drama starring Letitia Wright as a Civil War vet who ends up in a standoff with a legendary outlaw (Jamie Bell) after her stagecoach is ambushed. Michael K. Williams, and Jeffrey Donovan co-star; music video vet Anthony Mandler directed. [Prime Video] FINAL MOMENTS: The Oxygen network true-crime docuseries explores cases in which the investigation revolves around piecing together the victim's final moments and constructing a timeline. Season 2 aired earlier this year on cable and hits Peacock in its entirety today. [Peacock] THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER: MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON: Special from CNN, which originally aired in January, commemorating the 15th anniversary of US Airways Flight 1549 and its "miraculous" emergency landing in the Hudson River. Cooper sits down with the pilot, Ambassador C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger, and several passengers to reflect on the day's events and their lasting impact. [Max] CAMP HIDEOUT: 2023 coming-of-age comedy feature about a troubled teen (Ethan Drew) who steals from the wrong guys, then seeks refuge at a church summer camp. Corbin Bleu, Amanda Leighton, Tyler Kowalski, Zion Wyatt, and Christopher Lloyd co-star; Sean Olson directed. [Hulu] | | | |
| 4 | | Sunday night's Season 12 premiere of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" received about 1 million views across both cable and streaming. That's a 26% jump over the Season 11 premiere, which grabbed around 788,000 viewers on its first night. More: - "Curb" faced stiff competition from the 66th annual Grammy Awards, which were viewed by around 16.9 million people on CBS, according to Nielsen data.
- That marks the Grammy's largest TV audience since 2020, and a 34% increase over last year's ceremony.
- Creator and star Larry David insists that this will be the final season of "Curb."
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| 5 | | According to Vizio, viewership of its WatchFree+ streaming platform doubled over the course of 2023. The smart TV manufacturer also announced a number of new channels headed to the platform. More: - New content is headed to WatchFree+ thanks to new licensing deals with Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate, and others.
- The service also features 10 genre-based channels, such as "Comedy Club" and "Valor."
- Vizio also announced that it has updated the WatchFree+ menu categories, to make content easier to find.
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| 6 | | Apple continued releasing early looks at its 2024 release slate. The historical true-crime series "Manhunt," chronicling the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and its immediate aftermath, arrives on March 15. More: - "Manhunt" is based on the non-fiction book by James L. Swanson, and stars Hamish Linklater as Lincoln and Tobias Menzies as former US Attorney General Edwin Stanton; the cast also includes Anthony Boyle, Lovie Simone, Brandon Flynn, Glenn Morshower, Patton Oswalt, and Matt Walsh.
- The limited scripted series "Palm Royale" is based on Juliet McDaniel's 2018 novel "Mr. and Mrs. American Pie."
- Kristen Wigg stars as an outsider working her way into Palm Beach high society in the late 1960s; the cast also includes Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Leslie Bibb, Ricky Martin, and Carol Burnett.
- The first three episodes of "Palm Royale" debut on March 20 on Apple TV+.
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| 7 | | Netflix announced its 2024 slate of shows and films from Korea, including new seasons of hit series "Squid Game," "Physical 100," "Geongseong Creature," "Hellbound," and "Zombieverse." The streamer also unveiled "Uprising," a new period drama series from "Oldboy" director Park Chan-wook. More: - No release date has been set for new episodes of "Squid Game," Netflix's most popular international series to date.
- Period drama "Uprising," previously titled "War and Revolt," stars Gang Dong-won and Park Jeong-min as childhood friends turned adversaries; it will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- Debut 2024 Korean reality shows include "Super Rich in Korea," "The Influencer," and "Unknown Chefs."
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- This week's episode of HBO and Max's "True Detective: Night Country" will air and stream on Friday night, rather than Sunday, to avoid competing directly with Super Bowl LVIII; the season finale debuts the following week, on Sunday, February 18.
- Don Cheadle is the latest actor to join the expansive ensemble of Peacock's true-crime drama series "Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist"; the cast also includes Kevin Hart (who's also executive producing), Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard, and many others.
- According to The Washington Post, reception for Netflix's "Griselda" -- a crime drama series starring Sofia Vergara as notorious drug trafficker Griselda Blanco -- has been muted in her native Colombia, where residents are eager to move beyond "narco-terrorist" stereotypes.
- CNN will change up its morning programming line-up under new CEO Mark Thompson, relaunching "CNN This Morning" and bumping "CNN News Central" up by two hours.
- Netflix announced its first-ever global advertising partnership with Expedia Group; the collaborative campaign kicks off later this month in Japan, and will extend to the US, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and Brazil.
- Free VOD streaming service Zeam -- a collaboration between Gray Television, the National Association of Broadcasters, and others -- offers news and sports content from 300 local TV stations, covering around 80% of US markets.
- Netflix announced the cast for its upcoming mystery drama series "Department Q," based on a series of novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen; Matthew Goode will star in the series as traumatized police detective Carl Morck, who's placed in charge of a newly-opened cold case unit.
- The anime-focused Crunchyroll service now has a standalone app for Samsung Smart TVs; the Sony-owned streamer is already available for most other major US platforms.
- Production is underway on Starz's "Outlander" prequel series, "Blood of My Blood"; Harriet Slater, Jamie Roy, Hermione Corfield, and Jeremy Irvine have been cast as the parents of lead characters Claire and Jamie.
- "American Horror Story" vet Leslie Grossman signed on for Season 2 of Netflix and producer Ryan Murphy's "Monster" anthology; she'll portray Judalon Smyth, a key figure in the eventual arrests of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the subjects of the new episodes.
- Julian Kostov joined the cast of "The White Lotus" ahead of Season 3, taking over for Serbian-Russian actor Miloš Biković; the Ukrainian government had criticized Biković's casting, due to his past comments in support of Russia's occupation of Crimea, prompting him to exit the project.
- The entire "Dragon Ball" franchise of anime series will stream on the Crunchyroll service in the UK, starting in March; this marks the very first time the original "Dragon Ball" series will be available to stream there.
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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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