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| Good afternoon and thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming brief. The news that Apple is likely to start putting ads on TV+ content made me take one big step back. It sort of raises a larger question: Why is Apple making original streaming content to begin with? I thought the idea was to entice people to buy more Apple devices. You used to get free access to TV+ for a few months every time you upgraded your laptop or iPhone, and consistently sweetening the pot with new shows and films, I had imagined, was intended to make Apple customers feel like members of an elite special group and encourage them to stick around and stay faithful to the company's costly but high-status devices and platforms. I guess they feel like they can accomplish this while also making some of their money back on producing all of this expensive original content? I just don't understand what Apple hopes to gain by becoming a regular old TV network and movie studio. You can earn a lot more money selling iPhones than making theatrical films. Hollywood is a glamorous business but if the margins were better there than in tech, Paramount would be getting into making phones and VR devices, not the other way around. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | According to Gizmodo, it appears likely that Apple TV+ will soon introduce an ad-supported tier. Business Insider reported on Monday that Apple has hired away advertising executive Joseph Cady from NBCUniversal, likely to spearhead this new effort. More: - According to BI, Cady will lead an advertising unit for Apple that includes other veteran TV and media executives from companies like NBC, DirecTV, and Peacock.
- At NBCU, Cady oversaw partnerships with tech companies including Amazon, Google, and TikTok.
- Apple has not formally announced plans to introduce ads to the main Apple TV+ service, but advertising already plays on some featured content, such as Major League Soccer matches.
- In the last few years, most of Apple's streaming rivals -- including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Max -- have introduced lower-cost ad-supported tiers.
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| 2 | | Netflix reached its first-ever agreement with the Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) for scripted live-action series. The deal was officially reached on February 1. More: - Under the terms of the deal, writers will receive a minimum script fee of £17,000 ($21,700) for a one-off 60-minute episode, and £15,000 for an episode of an ongoing series.
- Writers will also receive 5.6% of the gross receipts if the production is licensed or sold to another network or platform, following its Netflix run.
- According to Deadline, the payment structure is similar to the one BBC and Disney+ established last year with the "Doctor Who" writing staff.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR TUESDAY, MARCH 12 TURNING POINT: THE BOMB AND THE COLD WAR: Exhaustive nine-part docuseries from filmmaker Brian Knappenberger ("Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror"), tracing the history of the relationship between the United States, Russia, and the former Soviet Union from the mid-20th Century to the present, along with its global impact and consequences. The series features more than 100 interviews with historians and world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. [Netflix] STEVE TREVIÑO: SIMPLE MAN: The comedian's latest special was directed by his wife, Renae Treviño, and recorded at The Tobin Center in San Antonio, Texas. Topics include... living with his Type-A wife. [Netflix] BOAT STORY: Debut British crime thriller series, originally produced for the BBC, starring Daisy Haggard and Paterson Joseph as strangers who discover a large stash of cocaine on a shipwrecked boat, making them targets for both law enforcement and the criminal underground. "The Tourist" vets Harry and Jack Williams co-created. [Freevee] THE LIONHEART: Sports documentary from HBO profiling drivers Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon, whose father -- two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon -- was killed on the track in an infamous 2011 accident. Laura Brownson ("Untold") directs. [Max] WILDCARD KITCHEN: Debut culinary competition series from Food Network, in which three chefs play a cooking-based variation on poker, with the luck of the draw determining their ingredients and dishes, and $5,000 of their own money at stake. Eric Adjepong hosts. [Max] FIXER TO FABULOUS: ITALIANO: Six-episode series from HGTV, following "Fixer to Fabulous" vets Dave and Jenny Marrs as they travel to the Tuscan countryside and restore a 200-year-old villa. [Max] 7 LITTLE JOHNSTONS: The TLC reality series follows the lives of The Johnstons, a large family living with dwarfism. It's back this week for a 14th season. [Max] THE MANY LIVES OF MARTHA STEWART: Docuseries from CNN chronicling the life and career of Martha Stewart, a former Wall Street stockbroker and caterer who became a self-made billionaire, media mogul, and lifestyle guru, and also served time in prison for insider trading. The film features interviews with a number of Stewart's former colleagues, employees, friends, and fellow inmates. It aired in January on cable and hits Max today. [Max] NEVER SEEN AGAIN: True crime series from executive producer Tyler Perry, in which the family members and friends of missing persons relate stories about their lost loved ones and seek help and additional information from members of the viewing public. It's back for a fifth season. [Paramount+] MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3: 2023 romantic comedy from writer/director Nia Vardalos, the creator of the "Greek Wedding" franchise. After the passing of patriarch Gus, the Portokalos family travels to his hometown in Greece for a reunion. Vardalos stars alongside John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Joey Fatone, Lainie Kazan, and Andrea Martin. [Prime Video] | | | |
| 4 | | Max extended its deal with iconic Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. The Oscar-winning new film from legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki -- "The Boy and the Heron" -- will stream exclusively on Max in the US, starting later this year. More: - The Studio Ghibli library has streamed on Max since it first launched, as HBO Max, in 2020.
- North American distribution of Studio Ghibli content is overseen by the GKIDS brand.
- Currently, 22 Studio Ghibli films are available to stream exclusively on Max in the US, including notable classics like "My Neighbor Totoro," "Princess Mononoke," and Miyazaki's previous Oscar winner, "Spirited Away."
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| 5 | | Roku reported that hackers have gained access to login and credit card information from over 15,000 accounts. According to the device maker and streamer, in some cases, the offenders have attempted to use the compromised accounts to purchase streaming subscriptions. More: - Roku suggests that the current hackers likely obtained account information that was exposed during previous data breaches of third-party services, as the same logins and passwords often work across multiple sites and platforms.
- Once the hackers access a Roku account, they change the logins and passwords to lock out the actual authentic users.
- According to a follow-up from Bleeping Computer, stolen Roku account logins are available for sale at 50 cents each on a "hacking marketplace."
- Roku says it has secured its service from "further unauthorized access."
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| 6 | | Hulu released a trailer for the scripted true-crime drama "Under the Bridge." The series was inspired by the 1997 disappearance of 14-year-old Canadian Reena Virk, who was bullied -- and eventually beaten and killed -- by fellow teenagers in a case that earned significant media attention. More: - The series is based on Rebecca Godfrey's 2005 book about the case, also titled "Under the Bridge."
- Vritika Gupta plays Virk, while "Killers of the Flower Moon" Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone appears as the local police officer investigating her disappearance; Riley Keough, Izzy G, Archie Panjabi, Javon Walton, and Anoop Desai co-star.
- Quinn Shepard ("Not Okay") created the series and serves as showrunner.
- "Under the Bridge" hits Hulu on April 17.
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| 7 | | The Japanese anime series "Dan Da Dan" will stream on both Netflix and Sony's Crunchyroll in the US. The series is based on a manga by Yukinobu Tatsu. More: - The series comes from animation studio Science SARU, the same company behind "Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!," "Devilman Crybaby," and the recent Netflix hit "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off."
- The story centers on two high school friends who develop special abilities while investigating the existence of both ghosts and UFOs.
- Both Netflix and Crunchyroll will stream the series internationally, outside of Asia; the Asian distribution rights went to Taiwan-based distributor Muse.
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- Season 3 "Abbott Elementary" guest stars will include Lana Condor, Keegan-Michael Key, Cree Summer, Tatyana Ali, and Karan Soni; Bradley Cooper already made a surprise cameo during the ABC comedy's post-Oscars episode.
- "Leaving Neverland" vet Dan Reed's new documentary on the rise and fall of pundit and commentator Alex Jones hits HBO and Max on March 26.
- Disney revealed a first look at star Daniel Brühl in character from the upcoming French-produced series "Becoming Karl Lagerfeld"; the series, following the famed designer's rise to the top of the fashion world, premieres at the Canneseries TV festival in April ahead of its international Disney+/Hulu launch in June.
- The CW, Roku, and the Australian streamer Stan have all teamed for the crime comedy procedural series "Good Cop/Bad Cop"; Leighton Meester and Luke Cook co-star as a brother-sister detective team in the Pacific Northwest whose father (Clancy Brown) is the local police chief.
- A trailer for the upcoming Hulu and Onyx docuseries chronicling the "Black Twitter" phenomenon was received with scorn and ridicule on the actual social media platform; "Black Twitter: A People's History," inspired by a 2021WIRED series, premiered this week at SXSW and hits Hulu on May 9.
- Amazon greenlit the British psychological thriller series "Fear," starring "Vigil" duo Anjli Mohindra and Martin Compston; they play a couple who move from London to Glasgow, where they feel threatened and unnerved by a new neighbor.
- According to Tubi's annual "The Stream" report, younger viewers are more interested in original content than remakes and franchise installments; 74% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents told The Harris Poll and Tubi that they're mostly interested in original stories, while 71% said they'd like to see more independently produced shows and films from lesser-known creators.
- Veteran TV actor Oh Dal Su joined the cast of Netflix's "Squid Game" ahead of its second season in an undisclosed role; in 2018 and 2019, he was embroiled in a "MeToo" controversy, but no formal charges were ever brought.
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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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