Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, November 1st, 2024

Charter is leaning into an SVOD bundle. And The 1st Annual Too Much TV Global Television Awards

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, November 1st, 2024:

CHARTER IS LEANING INTO A SVOD BUNDLE
For me, the big news that came out of today's Charter earnings call was the plan to launch a new bundle. CEO Christopher Winfrey told analysts that starting in early 2025, subscribers to its most popular video tier, Spectrum Select, will be able to enjoy $80 a month worth of SVOD services at no additional cost.

Subscribers will receive Disney+, ESPN+, Peacock, Max, Discovery+, Paramount+, AMC+ and Vix. And they will eventually have the option of upgrading to an ad-free subscription to any of those services through Charter.

Why is such a big deal for Charter? Well, the company, now the largest U.S. pay TV operator, has 13.015 million remaining linear video customers, down 9.5% in the last year. Charter also announced the loss of 110,000 broadband customers in Q3 across residential and business channels. Much of that loss can be attributed to the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, but a more long-term issue for the company is that it (along with its other cable TV rivals) hasn’t really grown their broadband business since T-Mobile and Verizon started selling cheap fixed wireless access - essentially Wi-fi broadband - giving them the first real rival in decades.

The calculation for Charter is that offering that array of free ad-supported streamers will make their service more cost-effective and will appeal to consumers looking to pay one bill for their multiple services. Which in theory, might be the case.

I live in an area covered by Comcast and even with this deal, switching from my current T-Mobile Wi-Fi broadband would be a tough decision. In part because while T-Mobile broadband offers an unlimited monthly bandwidth cap, Comcast has a monthly bandwidth limit. Which means that if you use more than their capped amount, you're charged an escalating fee. I work from home, have Hulu Live TV as my live TV service and my teenage son is a hardcore gamer. So I can blow through that cap pretty quickly.

And the cap is an example of why so many people despise traditional cable and broadband providers. That extra bandwidth costs Comcast almost nothing and they are imposing these jacked-up rates because they believe their users don't have an option. Comcast also includes all sorts of fees and mandatory add-ons that make their TV offering much more expensive than advertised. To say nothing of monthly charges for the router and DVR. So even if Comcast offered me a similar deal, it wouldn't be financially worth it.

THE 1ST ANNUAL TOO MUCH TV GLOBAL TELEVISION AWARDS
As you might have noticed, I am a big fan of global television. I write and review television produced outside the U.S. as much or more than any critic in the industry and it's become an increasingly popular driver of new readers.

So I wanted to give you the heads-up that on December 1st, every free and paid subscriber to Too Much TV will receive a ballot for the new "Too Much TV Global Television Awards." It's a way to highlight shows that might not have received the recognition they deserved, especially from American audiences.

I'll lay out more specifics later this month, but the ballot will include nominees in each category, along with a spot for a write-in, if I missed your favorite. The categories will include best drama, comedy, documentary, movie, actor, etc in a number of territories. 

Defining "global TV" was a challenge, given the number of complex co-productions that include American networks. So ultimately, I opted to only include original TV shows, documentaries and non-theatrical movies that were originally produced in a language other than English.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results and if you have any thoughts or suggestions to pass along before December 1st, I'd love to hear from you. Given that this newsletter is rapidly reaching 100,000 free subscribers, I think this will provide a really useful list of winners.

One last note about the timeline. The ballots will be available to fill out online beginning Sunday, December 1st. The voting will end at midnight CT on Saturday, December 14th. And the awards will be announced on Friday, December 27th. Which seems like an odd choice, but it's a time when nothing much is going on in the television and streaming industry, so the results should receive the most possible attention.

ODDS AND SODS
* Season three of the sadly underrated drama Dark Winds premieres Sunday, March 9th on AMC. The new season will be an expanded eight episodes and will include a number of guests stars, including Jenna Elfman and Bruce Greenwood.

* The comedy special Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was.... is set to premiere Tuesday, December 10th on Netflix.

* The Great Christmas Light Fight will return for its 12th season on Thursday, December 5th. The series also has been renewed for a 13th season, set to air in the winter of 2025. Lifestyle expert Carter Oosterhouse and interior designer Taniya Nayak will return as hosts.

* Peacock has renewed Days Of Our Lives for a 61st season.

* Disney Branded Television has given series orders to two music-driven, live-action comedies – How We Became The Biggest Band in the World (working title) and Vampirina (working title). Both are slated to premiere next year on Disney Channel and Disney+.

* Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares: Road to Super Bowl LIX will premiere Wednesday, January 1st with a two-hour episode, with regular episodes airing on Wednesdays at 8 pm starting January 8th.

* The iconic Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is returning to NBC after more than five decades at CBS. The 75-minute telecast will air Friday, December 6th. That is the exact same date it premiered in 1964 as part of the General Electric Fantasy Hour on NBC. 

* Tastemade has renewed Kitchen Glow Up for a second season. The episodes will premiere sometime in the spring of 2025.

* Netflix has ordered the true crime documentary The Many Deaths of Nora Dalmasso, which will examine the November 2006 murder of Dalmasso in Río Cuarto, Argentina. Dalmasso’s body was found in her daughter’s bedroom with the cloth belt of her robe tied in a double knot around her neck.

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST:
* A Carol For Two (Hallmark)
* Barbie Mysteries: The Great Horse Chase Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Doc Of Chucky (Shudder)
* Endurance (NatGeo)
* Freedom [aka Libre] (Prime Video)
* It's All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football (Netflix)
* Let's Go (Netflix)
* Music By John Williams (Disney+)
* Prince William: We Can End Homelessness (Disney+)
* The Contract (ALLBLK)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND:
* A Kidnapping In Amish Country (Lifetime)
* First Time Buyer's Club Season Premiere (OWN)
* Invincible Fight Girl (Adult Swim)
* Love & Marriage Huntsville Season Premiere (OWN)
* Our Holiday Story (Hallmark)
* Tails Of Christmas (Great American Family)
* United Way Benefit For Hurricane Relief (CBS)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD:
* Alien Files Reopened Series Premiere (Travel)
* Before They Kill Again Series Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
* Holiday Mismatch (Hallmark)
* Holiday Wars (Food)
* Like Water For Chocolate (HBO Latino)
* Price Of Fame: The Liam Payne Story (Hulu)
* Secrets Between Sisters (Lifetime)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH:
* Holiday Baking Championship Season Premiere (Food)
* Inspector Ellis Series Premiere (Acorn TV)
* 2024 SNL Election Special (NBC)

SEE YOU ON MONDAY!