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| Thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming brief. Filings from a class action antitrust suit against Facebook suggest that the company may have sandbagged its own Facebook Watch streaming platform in order to salvage its relationship with Netflix, an important advertiser. Obviously, I have no way of knowing if this is actually true, but it would help to explain the company's somewhat confused approach to the Watch platform. Between 2017 and 2019, the platform started debuting slick, big-budget studio content featuring marketable stars like Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Olsen, and then just as quickly, FB changed course and moved away from these kinds of Hollywood productions. At the time, we all chalked it up to that kind of content being expensive to produce, and the streaming world suddenly getting very crowded with new platforms and services. But maybe it really was an intentional attempt to get out of Netflix's way. We'll stay tuned for more insight. Lon
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| 1 | | Disney formally merged the Disney+ and Hulu services in the US. Though Hulu remains available as a standalone app, its content has now been fully integrated into Disney+ for subscribers to both services. More: - Hulu now has its own hub on the Disney+ homepage, alongside brands like Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic.
- Users who are signed up for both services will have them seamlessly integrated together in Disney+.
- Non-Hulu subscribers will be prompted to sign up if they attempt to watch Hulu content.
- Disney has been beta-testing the addition of Hulu content to Disney+ for a few months now; the company has also worked behind-the-scenes to integrate the teams working on both streamers, and combine metadata from both services.
- Disney reached a deal with Comcast to acquire its 33% stake in the Hulu service last year.
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| 2 | | Peacock's next exclusive NFL game will stream on Friday, September 6. The Philadelphia Eagles will square off against an unnamed opponent live from São Paulo, Brazil. More: - This will be the NFL's first-ever regular-season game to be played in Brazil, and the third game to stream exclusively on the Peacock service.
- Last year, Peacock's presentation of the NFL's AFC Wild Game was the most-streamed live event in US history, with an average audience of around 23 million viewers.
- Peacock will feature more NFL games in the 2024-2025 season, including the kickoff game on September 5 and a Sunday Night Football match on September 8th, but they'll also air on the NBC network.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27 BEHIND THE MUSIC: Paramount's revival of the classic VH1 musical docuseries -- exploring the rise (and sometimes the fall) of popular musical artists and groups -- is back for a second season. The first episode delves into the story of R&B duo Milli Vanilli and the lip sync scandal that ended their careers. [Paramount+] LL COOL J PRESENTS: THE ROCK THE BELLS FESTIVAL - CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF HIP-HOP: One-hour MTV concert special, recorded at the 2023 Rock the Bells Music Festival in Queens' Forest Hills Stadium. Host LL Cool J performs alongside Big Daddy Kane, Method Man, Redman, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, and Swizz Beatz. [Paramount+] TEN STEPS TO DISASTER: The historical docuseries from Smithsonian Channel looks back at various disasters from throughout US history, and questions whether or not they could have potentially been prevented. Season 2 aired last year on cable and hits Paramount+ today. [Paramount+] TESTAMENT: THE STORY OF MOSES: Three-part docuseries exploring the Biblical story of Moses and the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, utilizing a combination of documentary-style interviews and scripted re-enactments. [Netflix] THE CONNERS: The ABC sitcom -- a spinoff of "Roseanne" -- follows the daily lives of the Conner family of Lanford, Illinois. The first five seasons hit Netflix in the US today. Season 6 is currently airing on TV. [Netflix] THE BELIEVERS: Debut crime thriller series from Thailand, about three cash-strapped young entrepreneurs whose latest business idea involves skimming from donations made to Buddhist temples. James Teeradon Supapunpinyo, Ally Achiraya Nitibhon, and Peach Pachara Chirathivat co-star. [Netflix] REST IN PEACE (DESCANSAR EN PAZ): Spanish-language thriller film from Argentinian co-writer/director Sebastián Borensztein. Joaquín Furriel stars as a family man who vanishes and changes his identity to escape his debts, then develops an obsession with finding out what became of his friends and family. [Netflix] NO PRESSURE (NIC NA SIŁE): 2024 romantic comedy feature from Poland, starring Anna Szymanczyk as a chef who travels to the countryside to save her grandmother's property, then falls for a local farmer (Mateusz Janicki). Bartosz Prokopowicz ("Rafi") directs. [Netflix] LIFE BELOW ZERO: NEXT GENERATION: The National Geographic reality series -- a spinoff of the original "Life Below Zero" -- follows a new group of hardy individuals struggling to survive in the harsh remote Alaskan wilderness. 7 new episodes from the show's seventh season hit both Hulu and Disney+ in the US today. [Hulu and Disney+] THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO: Dark fantasy anime, based on the light novel series by Aneko Yusagi. It centers on an everyday Japanese teen who's summoned to a parallel world and enlisted to fight interdimensional monsters as a "Cardinal Hero." Season 3 debuted last year in Japan; the dubbed version hits Hulu in the US today via Crunchyroll. [Hulu] | | | |
| 4 | | A defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the producers of the limited series "Inventing Anna" can proceed following a judge's ruling. A former friend of fraudster Anna Sorokin, Rachel DeLoache Williams, claims that the show unfairly portrays her as "unethical" and "greedy" while turning Sorokin into an anti-hero. More: - Williams, a former Vanity Fair staffer who wrote extensively about her experiences with Sorokin, claims she was personally defrauded out of around $62,000.
- Netflix has argued that the show is constitutionally protected free speech, and reflects an opinion about Williams that's not presented as necessarily factual.
- Sorokin, who claimed to be a European heiress named Anna Delvey, served nearly four years in custody for larceny and related crimes; she's currently on house arrest, fighting legal attempts to deport her to Germany.
- "Inventing Anna" was produced by "Grey's Anatomy" and "Bridgerton" vet Shonda Rhimes, who is also named in the suit.
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| 5 | | Apple greenlit a series adaptation of the Araminta Hall novel "Imperfect Women," from "Physical" vet Annie Weisman. Elisabeth Moss and Kerry Washington have been tapped to star in the series. More: - The story centers on two women delving into the dark secrets of their recently-deceased friend, a wife and mother who led a seemingly charmed life.
- Moss and Washington will also executive produce the series; Weisman will write the adaptation.
- Moss also stars in the FX/Hulu spy thriller series "The Veil," debuting next month.
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| 6 | | Newly-released documents suggest that Facebook killed its own streaming service in order to protect the company's relationship with Netflix. The documents were released as part of a class action antitrust case against Facebook owner Meta, which argues that the company has an anti-competitive monopoly on the social media space. More: - The filings suggest that, while Facebook Watch was growing and developing relationships with celebrities and major content producers in 2017 and 2018, the company purposefully pivoted away from the streaming space soon after to avoid butting heads with Netflix.
- The plaintiffs in the case point out that Netflix's then-CEO Reed Hastings sat on the Facebook board, and had close personal relationships with top Meta executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg.
- They argue that Facebook dismantled its own streaming business in order to continue selling Netflix ads; while Zuckerberg defunded the Watch platform in 2018, Netflix increased its Facebook ad spent to $150 million per year.
- A spokesperson for Meta called the class action complaint "meritless."
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| 7 | | The anime series "Kaiju No. 8" will debut simultaneously on Japanese TV and global streaming services. The first episodes premiere on April 13 at 7 am PT in Japan and more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. More: - The anime streams on Sony's Crunchyroll service in the US.
- The series, from studio Production I.G., is based on a manga by Naoya Matsumoto; it's about an everyday man who develops the ability to transform into a massive city-destroying kaiju monster.
- The series will also be available to watch on VOD following its live streaming premiere.
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| 8 | | QUICK HITS - Pattern released a 30-page insights report for beauty brands selling on Amazon.*
- A surprise fifth episode of the Investigation Discovery docuseries "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" arrives on April 7; journalist Soledad O'Brien will speak to a number of former Nickelodeon child actors about their experiences and how the industry can raise standards moving forward.
- Tubi acquired the full run of the Max coming-of-age comedy series "Gordita Chronicles," and will serve as the show's exclusive free ad-supported streaming home; all 10 episodes come to Tubi on March 29.
- Filmmaker Martin Scorsese will produce and host the Fox Nation educational docuseries "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints"; the show relates the stories of eight historical saints, including Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, and Thomas Becket.
- Netflix's animated reboot of the classic Norman Lear sitcom "Good Times" debuts on April 12; the voice cast includes J.B. Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jay Pharoah, and Marsai Martin.
- Roku released a full trailer for its series adaptation of the YA fantasy books "The Spiderwick Chronicles"; the series premieres on Friday, April 19.
- "Shrinking" co-creator Brett Goldstein will make an on-screen guest appearance during the Apple TV+ comedy-drama's second season.
- Netflix's "3 Body Problem" series has led to a spike in sales for the Liu Cixin novels on which it's based and Rachel Carson's landmark 1962 environmental science book "Silent Spring."
- Starz renewed the "Power" spinoff "Power Book III: Raising Kanan" for a fifth season; Season 4 is currently in production in New York.
- The BBC beat out Netflix in a bidding war for the four-part sports drama series "Dear England," based on James Graham's play; Joseph Fiennes, who starred in the stage production as pro football manager Gareth Southgate, will reprise the role for the series.
- Alexander Ludwig will star in a series adaptation of the George R. Stewart sci-fi novel "Earth Abides" for MGM+; the story is set among a small group of survivors after a plague wipes out most of humanity.
- Vincent Cassel will star in an untitled French comedy thriller film for Netflix; the movie, about an aging DJ who's recruited for espionage work by an intelligence agency, is the feature debut of music video director So Me.
- Ready to get your AWS cloud spend under control? Learn how to effectively audit and reduce AWS costs today.*
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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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