Tag: TV

  • Popularity Contest – Streaming vs Linear in 2023

    Popularity Contest – Streaming vs Linear in 2023

    The most recent episode of the new(ish) podcast Search Engine with PJ Vogt asked the simple question, “Why is it so hard to figure out how many people watched Stranger Things?” The question was posed by actor Maya Hawke who appears on the Netflix show. And it opened up an in-depth discussion about audience measure…

  • ESPN, Charter, The Cable Bundle and the Future

    ESPN, Charter, The Cable Bundle and the Future

    I have been fascinated by the recently resolved standoff in the US TV industry between the second biggest cable provider in the country, Charter Communications, and one of the biggest TV providers, Disney. Over the US Open tennis final at the weekend, and the start of the opening weekend of the new NFL season, millions…

  • Premier League UK TV Rights

    Premier League UK TV Rights

    There’s a good piece in the FT from earlier this week (£) that examines the forthcoming kick-off the next set of UK Premier League TV rights. The current set of rights agreements expire at the end of the 2024/5 season, and with the 2023/4 season just getting underway, it means that the time is right…

  • Max

    Max

    With Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) having yesterday confirmed what everyone expected, that the new combined HBO-Max/Discovery+ streaming offer will now be called simply “Max“, I have a few questions about what true global ambitions WBD has for the service. To date, HBO Max has only been available in a relatively narrow list of countries. Having…

  • Peak TV and Not-So-Peak TV – Early 2023

    Peak TV and Not-So-Peak TV – Early 2023

    Earlier this year, John Landgraf, the Chairman of FX Networks, presented his annual update where he spells out just how many shows there are now. He counts shows available on US services in the English language, excluding kids and soaps. In 2022, his team counted a record high of 599 programmes. This is widely thought…

  • Algorithmic Promotion Shouldn’t Be Everything…

    Algorithmic Promotion Shouldn’t Be Everything…

    As an addendum to my last blog on the lack of physical media for the leading Oscar contender, Everything Everywhere All At Once, I thought it was worth seeing how sharp the streamers have been reacting to yesterday’s Oscar nominations buzz. The nominations came out on Tuesday lunchtime, UK time, and I’m writing this a…

  • Streaming Things

    Streaming Things

    EBU/Warner Bros. Discovery’s Olympic Deal The IOC has just announced that a joint European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) bid has been successful for the next few Olympic cycles, from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan through until the 2032 Summer Games in Brisbane. In the UK, that means that BBC will…

  • TV – Good, Bad and Meh

    TV – Good, Bad and Meh

    We’re only two episodes in, but the third and final series of Happy Valley is just wonderful. The lines that writer/director Sally Wainwright gives to her Sergeant Catherine Cawood are just delicious. And yet it’s all so natural. I am glued to this on Sunday nights. When Reservation Dogs came to Disney+ back in 2021,…

  • Why Cancel So Fast?

    Why Cancel So Fast?

    The other day, Netflix cancelled its strange SF show 1899 which came from the producers of the similarly weird German show on the platform, Dark. Netflix uses a whole load of metrics to determine which shows get renewed and which get cancelled, and with increased financial pressure on the platform these days, it feels like…

  • New Year’s Day 2023 – Radio Times

    New Year’s Day 2023 – Radio Times

    A final TV selection for this year’s Festive season – mostly because there’s some pretty decent TV for New Year’s Day when the schedulers reckon that the nation’s collective hangovers mean that most of us aren’t going anyway too far from the sofa, even if the intentions to be better in 2023 are there. And…

  • Boxing Day 2022 – Radio Times

    Boxing Day 2022 – Radio Times

    Ideally you want to at least think about spending some time outside today. But you’re probably not going anywhere by train, which might make some of the Premier League games a particular challenge for away fans today. So good luck with those doing family trips across the town or across the country. But for those…

  • Christmas Day 2022 – Radio Times

    Christmas Day 2022 – Radio Times

    Congratulations on making it through to Christmas Day! While the family arguments begin early, I’m here to hold your hand through your TV and radio entertainment options, to make sure that you’re not stuck watching a celebrity special gameshow when you could be watching something much better (i.e. anything). Certainly, my tastes may not be…