Fogbow

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:13 am Hubby introduced me to "Doc Martin" on Hulu. Cornwall village doctor is Sherlock Holmes type who has no social skills and, like Holmes, can diagnose some cases by just looking at someone. It's fun.

bill_g wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:54 am

RVInit wrote: ↑Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:24 pm The Power of the Dog on Netflix. Excellent. This is a Jane Campion movie. I loved it and highly recommend it. It moves kind of slowly, but it's really good.

Cumberbatch is able to pull off the cowboy role?

RVInit wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 12:38 pm Also watched Unforgiveable with Sandra Bullock. That was also very good.

orlylicious wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 2:14 pm Posted this in Media Moves but with the questions about streaming services thought it would be helpful here too also. Put it in spoiler so it's optional, it's about CNN+ (which today Chris Wallace announced he's leaving Faux to join CNN+).

► Show Spoiler

What is CNN+ and why would you pay for it?
The newest streaming service doesn’t make sense, but it’s happening now anyway.
By Peter Kafka Jul 19, 2021, 2:50pm EDT

What is CNN+, the cable news channel’s new streaming service? Let’s do the short answer first: CNN+ is not CNN. Think of it, for now, as CNN Jr. Slightly longer: If you want to watch Actual CNN, CNN+ is not for you. Actual CNN is still limited to people who pay for the news channel as part of a pay-TV bundle. So CNN+, which will launch next year for a yet-to-be-disclosed price, will be ... something else. That is, stuff that’s like CNN, but not on CNN (disclosure: Vox Media is producing a series with CNN Originals and I’m working on that project). Here’s the full story: CNN+, like lots of other attempts from big TV programmers to move into the streaming world, is an in-betweener: It wants to leverage the old TV channel’s brand to create a new revenue stream, without cannibalizing the thing that generates enormous revenue and profits. You can see why CNN and its owner — for now, that’s AT&T, which owns WarnerMedia but plans to dump it into a new company, which will combine WarnerMedia with Discovery Networks — want this to happen. Whether consumers will want it is another question. But since lots of other Big TV networks have tried similar “have your streaming and eat your TV, too” gambits, we at least know some of the options CNN+ is looking at:

Give your most hardcore fans more of what they already get. This is the Fox Nation strategy: If you like the cynical misinformation Tucker Carlson’s peddles on his nightly Fox News show, you might also want to watch Tucker Carlson Today, his streaming-only show. I like Discovery’s Guy Fieri, but not enough to subscribe to Discovery+ so I can also watch Guy: Hawaiian Style, which Discovery tells me will feature Fieri and family “rolling through the Hawaiian Islands for a deep dive into the tradition, the adventure and all types of great food.” You, on the other hand, may want to pay up. There’s a lid for every pot. Give hardcore fans something they want but aren’t getting already. You can’t watch college lacrosse on ESPN because college lacrosse doesn’t attract enough viewers to take up precious airtime on a linear TV channel. But on ESPN+, which has unlimited shelf space — you can watch college lacrosse and at the same time I can watch German soccer — it makes perfect sense, as analyst Ben Thompson laid out recently:

Very good @benthompson on ESPN/ESPN+ strat: One goes for biggest audience bc ads + cable fees, other goes for lots of niches bc direct subs. https://t.co/Shjhgd86sl pic.twitter.com/uLrM3BrjFV
— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) July 13, 2021

Other versions of this include Paramount+ running exclusive episodes of The Good Fight, a spinoff of the CBS series The Good Wife. It’s not for everyone, but if you liked the first show on regular TV, you might pay up to watch the streaming sequel. Give everyone almost everything, and spend a ton of money doing it. This is the Disney+ proposition: The company is streaming (just about) its entire film catalog, plus a roster of big-budget, high-profile streaming-only shows (The Mandalorian, Loki, etc). It’s an expensive bet — because it requires paying a lot of money for new stuff, as well as forgoing money you can get selling your stuff to other outlets — but so far it appears to have worked for Disney.

The problem for CNN/WarnerMedia executives is that CNN+ looks like it’s none of the above. And it may be that CNN’s product simply doesn’t work as a standalone streaming product: Maybe there are passionate Jake Tapper or Anderson Cooper fans willing to pay extra to see more of them, but it’s hard to believe there are a lot of them. Meanwhile, it is a very good bet that the Jake Tappers and Anderson Coopers of the world will continue to put most of their energy and focus on TV because that’s where the audience, fame, and money is. And while CNN does excellent work (again, see disclosure), it famously does best when there is breaking news and you need to know what’s happening now, in real time. The rest of the time, it is straining mightily to find something you’ll want to watch instead of news, while you are flipping through channels. And in an on-demand streaming world, if you’re looking for something to watch besides news, you have unlimited options. Even more worryingly, it may turn out that in an on-demand streaming world, when you do want to watch real-time news, you may have many other options.

The best-case scenario for CNN+ is one that officials are already hinting at: that it’s something you don’t pay for directly, but as part of another bundle. Record scratch here: Wasn’t the whole point of streaming TV to break up the cable TV bundle and replace it with a menu of networks and shows we could pick and choose from whenever we want? Well, yes. Except the people who make and sell entertainment like the bundle — and they think you will like it, too. That’s why Disney lets you buy Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ together at a discount, and that’s why HBO Max exists at all — because WarnerMedia thinks you’re more likely to buy HBO if it comes with a lot of other stuff as well as HBO. (You can credibly argue that Netflix, meanwhile, is its own bundle.) In this case, there’s a good chance CNN+ gets folded into HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s “HBO + some other stuff” service, which is already likely to envelop Discovery+ (another tweener service) if and when the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger goes through. So Warner Bros. Discovery could use CNN+ as justification to raise prices for HBO Max — or it could simply get it for free so you feel you’re getting additional value for streaming dollars. You can see other examples of this in the wild already: You can buy a standalone subscription to the New York Times Cooking app for $5 a month — or you can buy an “all access” subscription that gives you the paper’s cooking app, games app, and all of the paper itself for $17 a month. And if that’s CNN+’s future, you don’t need to worry about whether or not you’re paying for it — you’ll simply get it alongside a bunch of other stuff, whether you want it or not. Just like good old-fashioned TV.

https://www.vox.com/recode/22583584/cnn ... bundle-hbo

This Nov story is from (ready?) WND. I was part of the original AOL Time Warner merger, it's been so insane it's almost impossible to keep up with what they are doing. Now it's WarnerMedia Discovery. CNN+ must be planned for Discovery+.

As $48 Billion WarnerMedia Discovery Merger Looms, CNN+ Ramps Up
“They weren’t taking it too seriously early in the year,” says a CNN source of the company’s streaming play. “The merger announcement comes and CNN+ becomes a really big f--ing deal.”
By MARISA GUTHRIE NOVEMBER 17, 2021, 12:07AM

The race to plant a flag in the streaming market went into overdrive during the pandemic, with homebound consumers in search of new content and delivery systems. But it took a proposed $48 billion merger to create a sense of urgency at CNN. As rival news organizations, including NBC News and Fox News Media, were funneling resources into streaming, the media narrative at CNN swirled around tension between CNN Worldwide chief executive officer Jeff Zucker and WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who became Zucker’s boss when AT&T CEO John Stankey put him in the job in May 2020. The former went so far as to announce publicly that he intended to “move on” from CNN at the end of 2021, eliciting a chorus of lament from the network’s top stars. To many at the news operation, the long-gestating CNN direct-to-consumer service, officially announced as CNN+ last July, was more closely aligned with Kilar, the former Hulu CEO. Not anymore. When Stankey and Discovery, Inc. CEO David Zazlav (Zucker’s Hamptons neighbor and golfing buddy), sent tremors through Hollywood with the surprise announcement last May that AT&T would spin off its WarnerMedia unit in a $48 billion deal with Discovery, Zucker’s future at the company was immediately recast. When the deal is consummated — as soon as mid-2022 — Zazlav will be in charge of a behemoth content company boasting dozens of cable and digital networks, storied film and TV studios and a global sports business. “They weren’t taking it too seriously early in the year,” says one CNN source of the company’s streaming play. “The merger announcement comes and CNN+ becomes a really big f–king deal.” And a matter of survival.

The cable bundle is staggering toward implosion as viewers continue to cut the cord — and younger consumers continue to be completely allergic to the antiquated cable subscription. Market research firm Kagan predicts that cord-cutting will cost U.S. cable, satellite and telecom companies more than $33 billion in annual revenue through 2025 with revenue declining from $91.1 billion in 2021 to $64.7 billion by 2025. CNN’s U.S. subscriber base is expected to dip about 5 percent to 80.5 million this year compared to 84.9 million last year, according to Kagan. As the industry awaits a reordering of its delivery systems, streaming is an essential hedge for a future when all content is streamed on demand. And Zazlav has characterizing CNN as a “core asset” of the future combined companies, calling Zucker a “hugely, hugely talented” executive. “We are committed to CNN having the greatest editorial integrity and success globally,” Zaslav said during a press conference in the wake of the deal announcement. For its part, Discovery has a growing portfolio of international news assets, including GB News, launched last summer in the U.K. as an alternative to the BBC and Sky News. Among Zazlav’s ambitions, he has said, is to “be the world leader in news.”

Since news divisions cannot duplicate the programming they serve up on their linear channels, care of lucrative distribution agreements, CNN will experiment with some facsimile of its core product. On CNN+, there will be eight to 12 hours of live programming each day, some with an interactive component, offerings from the CNN archives, original series (Amy Entelis’ CNN Films has been on a buying spree of late), and new daily programs developed for the platform. Hence, CNN+ will launch shows hosted by former NBC News Washington correspondent Kasie Hunt, who joined CNN last August. The company has also hired NYU marketing professor and entrepreneur Scott Galloway, who hosts the podcast “The Prof G Show” and cohosts “Pivot” with Kara Swisher. (Galloway appeared in a bizarre Twitter video last July; bare-chested, wearing a hardhat and with a mattock slung over a naked shoulder, he copped to “erectile dysfunction” and a propensity for “one-night stands.” The video was ostensibly to promote what was supposed to be a show on Bloomberg. Plans for the show were nixed. Apparently, CNN executives are not as squeamish.)

And CNN confirmed a report that Zucker made an overture to the popular MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to join CNN+. (Maddow re-signed with MSNBC last August.) CNN’s streaming play will be rooted in news and documentary; there is no intention to stray into scripted content. Without mentioning CNN, Zazlav used his appearance at the Paley Center’s International Council Summit on Nov. 10 to draw an implicit distinction with rival Fox News, which launched its Fox Nation subscription service in 2018. “I think Fox News is much more of an advocacy network,” he told interlocutor Ken Auletta during the online conference. Zazlav also said he would move to Los Angeles — he is restoring Robert Evans’ famed Woodland mansion, which Zazlav bought for $16 million shortly after Evans’ death in 2019 — so that he can be “very hands-on” in running Warner Bros. Discovery. And he has said that he hopes to keep Zucker, a famed empire builder, at the company. There is speculation that Zazlav could tap Zucker to run the merged company’s global news and sports assets. But those who know Zucker wonder if that would be enough to satisfy his ambition. (If and when Zucker does get kicked upstairs, he has made it known that his pick to succeed him at CNN is his chief marketing officer Allison Gollust, say sources. The two have had a close association for decades, and first worked together at NBC.)

Meanwhile, Andrew Morse, CNN Worldwide chief digital officer, and his team are busy hiring hundreds of new employees for the direct-to-consumer platform. There will be a handful of additional CNN+ talent announcements before the end of the year, while the network’s New Year’s Eve coverage hosted by Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon will include big talent reveals, said a person familiar with the company’s rollout plans. A 30-second spot, which bowed in October, hearkens to the network’s launch in 1980 with archival footage from iconic events (Tiananmen Square massacre, Operation Desert Storm, Hurricane Katrina, the Miracle on the Hudson). Of course, CNN+ is launching as many legacy streaming services are confronting the specter of post-pandemic churn. Disney added 2.1 million Disney+ subscribers for its recently ended fiscal fourth quarter, down from 12.6 million the previous quarter. WarnerMedia’s HBO and HBO Max ended the third quarter last September with 45.2 million U.S. subscribers, down 1.8 million after the company’s decision to remove the HBO subscription from competitor Amazon Prime. But there are few news brands with the global reach of CNN. Which means, if the company can put out a reasonably good product and offer it at a non-objectionable price point, it could be a major player in the global streaming news space. Some day. “There is immense potential,” notes former CNN chief Jon Klein, who is the cofounder of subscription streaming platform Tapp Media. (Discovery is an investor in Tapp.) In a fragmented environment, strong brands rule,” adds Klein. “We first saw that at CNN with the advent of the internet. The online explosion in 1995 should have cut the legs out from under CNN because its brand proposition was about 24-hour news. What happened? CNN dominated online news and does to this day. Their strong brand has lured news consumers on every platform that came along. That became true of digital, it became true of social, and I have no doubt it will be true of streaming.”

https://wwd.com/business-news/media/as- ... 234995980/

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 8:56 am We watched The Alpinist on Netflix. Well, my husband watched it. I often looked at my phone so I didn’t have to look at the images of a free climber hanging on to the side of a sheer cliff with nothing but his fingers and toes. Those parts were scary AF. But the scenery was spectacular.

It is a very well-done documentary about Marc-Andre LeClerc, a solo climber from the Canadian Rockies.

Landscapers is a meditation on how many versions of reality there can be within one chain of events, on the impossibility of objectivity. The police go by bullets and trajectories and missing money to arrive at one truth. Susan goes by history, emotion, imagination and self-preservation to arrive at hers. Chris has her story and whatever else his blind devotion to Susan allows him to see. Where viewers land is up to them.

Landscapers doesn’t tie anything down. Even beyond the possibilities evoked, we sense further hinterlands, unknowns and unknowabilities. It is a rich, generous, clever, multi-textured thing, immaculately played by all the main actors, but awards for Colman, Thewlis and the script must surely be given. Consider it the first of your Christmas treats.

bill_g wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 8:42 am

RVInit wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 12:38 pm Also watched Unforgiveable with Sandra Bullock. That was also very good.

Four thumbs up from Mrs_G and me. We watched it over dinner together last night. It has elements of being another Sandra Bullock Social Activist Story, but it's not what you think it is. Worth the watch.

MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 1:57 pm Well, dang.

YouTube TV did not come to an agreement with Disney, so YouTube TV no longer carries local ABC stations, Disney stations, or ESPN. And a few other stations. I wonder what will happen. Yes, YTTV is dropping the price from $65 to $50, but there has to be some seriously pissed off viewers right now switching to the competitors.

Since I rarely watch ESPN or the Disney stations, that doesn't bother me too much. I'm more upset with losing the local ABC station. Fortunately, YTTV is just my backup for the local ABC station because, as long as the weather is good, ABC comes in fine over-the-air.

It'll be interesting to see if and how this gets resolved.

SuzieC wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 8:49 pm The Bitch Who Stole Christmas

neonzx wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 9:01 pm

SuzieC wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 8:49 pm The Bitch Who Stole Christmas

Anything with a title like that must be worth a watch!