| Good morning, Inside Streamers! On Kara Swisher's podcast, Barry Diller said what I think a lot of people around Hollywood have been thinking for a while now. IAs the strikes drag on, it doesn't really make a ton of sense for legacy entertainment companies like Warner Bros., Sony, or Disney to be on the same side with Netflix and Amazon in these labor negotiations. They're not really in the same business, and their ultimate goals are pretty far apart. Netflix has no legacy cable, theatrical, or advertising businesses to protect, and their international pipeline of content means that they can afford to hold out a lot longer in a strike situation than, say, Paramount, which desperately needs to release new cable TV shows and theatrical films next year, no matter what. The major players are obviously aware of these issues behind the scenes, and the big studio and streamer CEOs are reportedly meeting this week in closed-door sessions to refine their strategies. So it's possible Diller is just signaling the inevitable and we'll see real movement here soon. But it's increasingly clear that no meaningful negotiations with the WGA or SAG-AFTRA can proceed until the membership of the AMPTP itself gets on the same page. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | A trade group representing several NFL broadcasters has asked Nielsen not to go ahead with a plan to incorporate viewership data from Amazon into its own national averages for live sports streams. Amazon and Nielsen signed a first-of-its-kind deal last year to provide joint ratings data for Prime Video "Thursday Night Football" streams. More: - Currently, both Nielsen and Amazon publish independent data reflecting the viewership on "Thursday Night Football" games; as expected, Amazon's numbers are often considerably higher than Nielsen's.
- Nielsen has announced a plan to integrate first-party streaming data from companies like Amazon into its national averages
- The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), a frequent Nielsen critic that represents other networks and streamers broadcasting sports content, sent a letter to Nielsen asking them to cancel these plans; they argue that the changes will "greatly benefit one Nielsen client" while negatively impacting many others.
- Nielsen responded that it's open to data contributions from other NFL broadcasters than Amazon, which would then put the streamer at no particular advantage; Nielsen singled out CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC as networks that could theoretically provide their own internal numbers.
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| 2 | | In a new podcast interview with Kara Swisher, IAC chairperson and former studio executive Barry Diller suggests that Hollywood studios should exit the AMPTP and make their own deals with writers and actors. Diller argues that Netflix is the true opponent of legacy entertainment companies, while creatives are their colleagues and natural allies. More: - Diller dismisses Amazon and Apple as "in a completely different business," and suggests that Hollywood studios and executives don't "belong in the same room" with tech companies that run streaming platforms.
- Diller further argues that Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Disney should "reorient" themselves away from competitive streaming services, and find a way to bring back the bundled cable TV experience; he expressed pessimism that they could achieve this goal in time.
- In July, Diller also made headlines for suggesting that top executives and actors should take a 25% pay cut.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 31 ONE PIECE: Debut live-action fantasy adventure series, based on the Japanese manga by Eiichiro Oda and its anime adaptation. The series tracks the adventures Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his crew of Straw Hat Pirates as they scour the oceans for the fabled treasure known as the "One Piece." Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson, Taz Skylar, Vincent Regan, and Morgan Davies co-star. [Netflix] CHOOSE LOVE: Interactive romantic comedy feature in which viewers help to control the story. Laura Marano stars as recording engineer Cami Conway, who suddenly finds herself forced to decide between an array of potential suitors, including British rock star Rex Galier (Avan Jogia), her first crush Jack (Jordi Webber), or her reliable current boyfriend, Paul (Scott Michael Foster). "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" vet Stuart McDonald directs. [Netflix] KARATE SHEEP: Animated dialogue-free comedy series from France about two clever sheep who employ high-tech gadgets and other unconventional strategies to protect their flock from wolves. Season 2 comes to Netflix in the US today. [Netflix] ARCHER: The animated action-comedy series returns this week for a 14th and final season; new episodes air Wednesday nights on FX, and come to Hulu on Thursdays. H. Jon Benjamin stars as Sterling Archer, the self-proclaimed world's greatest spy; Aisha Tyler, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, and Lucky Yates co-star. [Hulu] SPELLBOUND: Debut YA fantasy drama series serving as a spiritual follow-up to the prior series "Find Me In Paris," though their stories aren't directly connected. Hailey Romain stars as an American teen who moves to Paris to study ballet, only to discover she's been unknowingly suppressing her innate magical abilities. [Hulu] FINNICK: Animated family comedy from Russia, which has been dubbed into English for US audiences. It centers on a young Finn, a magical furry creature tasked with making human homes more cozy and inviting, who prefers playing pranks to his assigned duties. [Hulu] ADVENTURE TIME: FIONNA & CAKE: Debut animated series, spun off from Cartoon Network's "Adventure Time," and set in an alternate version of the Land of Ooo in which Jake the Dog and Finn the Human are now Cake the Cat (Roz Ryan) and Fionna (Madeleine Martin). [Max] | | | |
| 4 | | A new study from Science Advances suggests that YouTube no longer has a "rabbit hole" problem, gradually exposing unwitting users to increasingly radical or extremist content. The research was performed by Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan, whose team monitored the YouTube activity of more than 1,000 subjects for several months at the end of 2020. More: - The Dartmouth study found that only 6% of participants viewed any videos considered "extremist," and of those people, the majority had deliberately subscribed to at least one "extremist" channel.
- The viewing pattern indicated that concerns about the "rabbit hole" were now unfounded; according to Nyhan, the only participants seeing this content came into the study "with very high levels of gender and racial resentment."
- Most previous studies into the YouTube algorithm used bots to simulate the experience of navigating the site; this was among the first studies to monitor real human behavior.
- Though YouTube consistently denied the rabbit hole was a major algorithmic problem, a 2019 update included tweaks to the recommendation system to limit the promotion of "harmful content" and "borderline content"; it's unclear whether or not the rabbit hole issue was always overblown, or if this update solved the problem.
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| 5 | | Starz lowered the cost of an annual subscription from $74.99 down to $69.99. The change comes as the network's flagship series, the time-jumping romantic drama "Outlander," heads into its final season. More: - Starz president of domestic networks Alison Hoffman told IndieWire that the network wanted to reward "our most valuable customers," and could afford to because the network is profitable.
- In the most recent quarter, Starz owner Lionsgate reported that the network earned a $31.9 million profit.
- Starz currently has around 26.6 million total subscribers across cable TV and streaming.
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| 6 | | Hulu canceled the historical comedy-drama series "The Great" after three seasons. The show featured a heavily-fictionalized depiction of the relationship between Russian monarch Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) and her husband, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult). More: - Hulu did not explain the reasoning behind the abrupt cancelation.
- Over the course of three seasons, "The Great" won critical acclaim, particularly for Fanning and Hoult's performances, and earned seven Emmy nominations; the show's costumes won the Emmy last year.
- Hoult and Fanning previously co-starred in the 2014 sci-fi film "Young Ones," and have teased the possibility of doing future projects together.
- The third and final season of "The Great" debuted on May 12.
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| 7 | | The pirate comedy series "Our Flag Means Death" returns to Max for a second season in October. The show will have a staggered release that allows for limited binging; the first three Season 2 episodes will arrive simultaneously on October 5, with two more dropping each week, leading up to an October 26 season finale. More: - The series is very loosely based on the real historical adventures of "gentleman pirate" Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), and focuses on his complex relationship with fellow pirate Blackbeard (Taika Waititi).
- Waititi is also an executive producer on the series and directs some episodes.
- Samson Kayo, Vico Ortiz, Ewen Bremner, Joel Fry, Con O'Neill, Nat Faxon, and Leslie Jones will all reprise their roles from Season 1.
- Season 2 will also introduce a large ensemble of new actors, including Minnie Driver, Bronson Pinchot, Ruibo Qian, and Anapela Polataivao.
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- Netflix made a rare appearance on Barb's chart of the highest-rated TV shows in the UK, thanks to the reality series "At Home with the Furys"; the series centers around boxer Tyson Fury and his family, and was the country's 36th most-watched show during the week of August 20.
- Apple dropped trailers for "The Pigeon Tunnel," a new documentary feature from Errol Morris profiling author and former spy John le Carré, and the sci-fi drama "Fingernails," starring Jessie Buckley, Jeremy Allen White, and Riz Ahmed.
- On the debut episode of the "Strike Force Five" podcast, Jimmy Kimmel revealed that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon offered to pay his show's striking writing staff for two weeks out of their own pockets.
- In a new interview, "Star Trek: Prodigy" executive producer Aaron Waltke confirms that "talks are ongoing" about finding the show a new home following its cancellation by Paramount+.
- While promoting his new film, "Ferrari," at the Venice Film Festival, Adam Driver confirmed that he "stands in solidarity" with striking actors and writers, and condemned Amazon and Netflix for being unwilling "to support the people they collaborate with"; "Ferrari" was independently financed, and Driver has received approval from SAG-AFTRA to promote it in Venice.
- Season 35 of CBS' "The Amazing Race" makes some tweaks to the reality competition series' formula, expanding the competitors to 13 teams, and getting rid of all non-elimination legs of the course; CBS has two additional seasons of "Amazing Race" already produced and ready to air and stream.
- Amazon debuted "Comedy Island" this week, its first original series from Thailand; the reality series sends six celebrities to a remote island, where they help make the local residents more cheerful.
- Sarah Jessica Parker adopted her "And Just Like That" character Carrie Bradshaw's TV cat, Shoe, in real life; the cat's name is now "Lotus."
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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 Eduardo Garcia | |
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