10 Stories You Should Know: 10/21/2022

So there is a Universal+ streaming service in Europe, but the U.S. got stuck with the name Peacock?

Here are the stories that should be on your radar for Friday, October 21st, 2022:

Seven Talking Points From Mipcom 2022 (Screen Daily)
Mipcom was buoyant this year because it captured the pent-up energy of an international TV industry that has hardly been able to meet for a few years, and that has been producing record amounts of content. Given that many countries are now entering a recession, one buyer wondered aloud to Screen if there was something of the doomed voyage of the Titanic about this year’s Mipcom – the orchestra is playing loudly, the passengers are enjoying themselves, but a very big iceberg lies clearly ahead.

Two New TV And Film Streaming Platforms To Launch In France (Connexion France)
Universal+ is already available in Spain, South America (especially Brazil), India, and Africa.

According to the group's data, "this launch extends DreamWorks' presence to 43 territories…and it is currently already accessible to 35 million households in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico”.

Another screening platform, Paramount+, is set to be distributed in France by the French group Canal+ by the end of the year.

The news comes three months after Amazon Prime confirmed that fees for its platform would rise by €20 a year in France from September. 

NBCUniversal Mulling Early Retirement Offers To Longtime Staffers In Latest Cost-Cutting Move (The Hollywood Reporter)
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that while no formal offers have gone out, the conglomerate is looking to save costs by offering buyout packages to select employees across the entire company who have been with the company for 10 or more years and who are age 57 and older.

Sky Is Hiking Sky Glass’ TV Prices For The First Time (Cordbusters UK)
The highest price rise is on the 65″ Sky Glass, which will go up to £1149 if you pay upfront, instead of £1,049 before, or £23/month instead of £21/m if choose the 48-months instalments plan (Yes, the instalments option ends up costing LESS than paying upfront – that’s always been the case with Glass).

Netflix Adds Disclaimer Under The Crown's Trailer For Series Five (BBC News)
The YouTube, online and Twitter description of the series says: "Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign."

Similar language has been used in press statements before, but no previous YouTube trailers have carried the word "fictional".

In Indian Village, Residents Take To YouTube To Fulfill Their Bollywood Dreams (Inquirer)
Inspired by videos seen in the streaming service, Gyanendra Shukla and Jai Verma set up the “Being Chhattisgarhiya” channel in 2018 as mobile Internet service became cheaper in India. They have both given up their day jobs to focus on the channel.

Residents got increasingly involved as a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 put many out of work, and now about a third of them participate in some form of content creation for YouTube, from acting to post-production work.

WarnerBros Discovery Unveils Extensive Winter Sports Line-Up (Digital TV Europe)
“With up to 600 races and 3,500 hours of winter sports action to be broadcast over the next six months on discovery+, Eurosport and Eurosport App, fans will have access to the most comprehensive coverage, cementing Warner Bros Discovery’s status as the home of Winter Sports in Europe,” said the company.

You Can Now Navigate Netflix In The Filipino Language (GMA News)
This new feature allows subscribers to read titles and synopses in Filipino, plus watch shows and movies with Filipino subtitles and in Filipino dubbing. You can switch your profile to Filipino from the language option in the ‘Manage Profiles’ section on your desktop, TV, or mobile browsers.

Why Brand Experiences Need To Hit Us In The Feels (Creative Review UK)
Post-Covid, experiential budgets have come back with a vengeance, and according to Guthrie they have to answer to consumers with much bigger expectations – and less patience. “It’s no longer a pop-up and sampling,” he tells CR. “They’re expecting something richer – and richer in the sense of more texture, and ways that are pulling on emotions. It has to be interesting, and I think that bar is higher. It’s hard.”