Too Much TV: Discovery+ And The Weird World Of Streaming Windowing

I try to make sense of some of the strategic decisions being made at Discovery+ and fyi.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, May 15th 2025:

DISCOVERY+ AND THE WEIRD WORLD OF STREAMING WINDOWING
I have had an ad-free subscription to Discovery+ since it launched because when I want to watch something just to turn my brain off, I'll watch one of several favorite unscripted shows. And while my wife and I have tired of much of the Food Network's programming since the days back when we were enjoying Grillin' & Chillin' and Sara Moulton Live, the network still has a few shows we enjoy and will watch together. So I end up being very aware of what is available on the streamer and when various titles show up.

In the earliest years of the streamer, Discovery+ was releasing some original titles and often making programming from the Discovery Communications linear networks available on a same day basis. But as Warner Bros. Discovery executives seem to grow annoyed with Discovery+ subscribers who refused to switch to Max, those original programs slowly disappeared. As did many of the day-and-date linear releases, with new episodes of most shows shifting to a next-day release. And when the UI of Discovery+ was recently changed over to the same tech stack used by its sister streaming service Max, along with the awkward and not especially useful changes to navigation, the service removed the release dates from each episode, shifting from listing the day/month/year to just the year. Which made it more difficult for subscribers to determine just how new an episode might be.

I have managed to weather those changes without too much annoyance. But more and more shows are now being held from Discovery+ until the entire linear season is completed. And from what I can tell, there doesn't seem to be an obvious reason for why some shows are available the next day and others aren't.

Take, for instance, two shows that are now airing Friday nights on Discovery. Both Gold Rush: White Water and Gold Rush: Mine Rescue With Freddy & Juan are long-running spin-offs of the Discovery series Gold Rush. And while I tired of that series a number of seasons ago, both of these shows really hit my mindless TV sweet spot. Interesting storylines and characters who are just trying to make a bit of money. But even though the shows run back-to-back on Discovery, new episodes of Gold Rush: White Water are available on Discovery+, while the new season of Gold Rush: Mine Rescue With Freddy & Juan have yet to make an appearance.

I'm not sure what's going on here. Is WBD delaying the streaming premiere of some shows in order to protect their slumping linear networks? Or is just a subtle way of punishing Discovery+ subscribers by making it more difficult to watch some shows on a timely basis?

SPEAKING OF LINEAR TV STRATEGY I DON'T UNDERSTAND
I can usually figure out why a linear network is programmed the way that it is. I'll watch a network slowly lose carriage reach and/or overall audience and that inevitably leads to a once interesting channel becoming a "zombie network." There are no longer any new programs, just endless day-long marathons of familiar shows in hopes of collecting whatever small retransmission fees the network can wrangle out of cable and satellite TV companies.

Once that march towards zombie status begins, it is almost never reversed. In large part because the economic factors that led to the original zombie status have only gotten more severe.

That's why I find myself fascinated by what's going on at fyi, the A&E Network's lower tier lifestyle cable channel. Formerly known as The Biography Channel (and then Bio), fyi launched in 2014 with an assortment of original food, home and design programs. And in its early years, it had some reasonable successes, including Zombie House Flipping, Tiny House Nation and Married At First Sight. But slowly, those shows were sent off to better funded sister networks or rivals able to pay the production costs and in recent years, fyi has become the home of day-long marathons of reruns of Shipping Wars and Ice Road Truckers.

And while those marathons still dominate the network's programming, it is slowly easing back into the original programming business. In early 2024, A&E Networks acquired a 50% stake in Rachael Ray's Free Food Studios and at the same time ordered 278 episodes of new programming. While a small amount of that programming has aired on A&E's weekend Home.Made.Nation lifestyle programming block, much of it has ended up on fyi. As an example, new seasons of Rachael Ray's Meals In Minutes and Global Soul Kitchen are set to premiere on fyi. And that follows recent airings of shows such as Rachael Ray’s Italian Dream Home and Rachael Ray’s Tuscany.

I find these moves incredibly perplexing. Sure, Rachael Ray might not be the red-hot personality she used to be. But it's difficult to imagine that many viewers are going to even know the new episodes are airing in the midst of all of those rerun marathons. And this also comes at a time when A&E Networks has been allowing cable systems to move fyi to a separate programming tier along with the other near-zombie entertainment networks few people are watching. A move which further limits the number of viewers able to watch the new episodes.

I've reached out to A&E Networks several times hoping to find someone who might be able to walk me through their strategy behind these moves - even if it's on background. So if anyone reading this has a connection at the company, please reach out.

A 'DUCK DYNASTY' PRODUCER WANTS TO TURN CITIZENSHIP INTO A COMPETITION FOR TELEVISION
Television can be a cynical and almost dystopian business where the possibility of making money can overshadow everything else - including morality and basic human kindness.

Still, I wasn't prepared to learn that Rob Worsoff, a writer and producer known for Duck Dynasty and Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker has put together a TV series in coordination with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tentatively called The American.

According to the UK's Daily Mail - which says it has obtained the 35-page pitch deck - the series would "pitch immigrants against each other "for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship." The immigrant contestants would travel across the U.S. on a train, stopping in different states to perform regionally significant tasks:

As described in Worsoff's pitch, contestants from various countries and backgrounds would be pre-vetted and arrive at Ellis Island in New York City aboard 'The Citizen Ship', a boat symbolizing a new beginning.

They'd be greeted by the host – 'a famous, naturalized American who was also born in another country'.

Worsoff's pitch names Colombian-born Sofia Vergara, Canadian Ryan Reynolds and Mila Kunis who hails from Ukraine as possible hosts who'd greet each contestant with a welcome gift – a personalized baseball glove.

Contestants would then travel state to state meeting 'interesting Americans' and learning about the history, culture and quirks of each region. Viewers in turn will learn about each wannabe American and why they want to live here.

'We'll join in the laughter, tears, frustration, and joy – hearing their backstories – as we are reminded how amazing it is to be American, through the eyes of 12 wonderful people who want nothing more than to have what we have,' the pitch reads.

The immigrants would be divided into teams who'd face off in one-hour episodes.

There would also be 'elimination challenges,' where contestants get divided into two groups.

The teams would raft down the Arkansas River in Colorado, dig clams in Maine, put together a chassis for the 1914 Model T Ford on an assembly line in Detroit, and deliver mail via horseback and ferry from Missouri to Kansas.

Although there will be a winner who will become 'our newest fellow American!', Worsoff makes it clear losers will have all been pre-screened for eventual citizenship, so will have a leg-up when it comes to applying for citizenship in the more traditional way.

Game prizes would be 'iconically American,' such as 1 million American Airlines points, a $10,000 Starbucks Gift Card, or a lifetime supply of 76 gasoline.

The live finale would feature the train braking at its final stop, Washington, D.C., where the winner walks to Capitol Hill for a swearing-in ceremony.

As Thunderbird pilots fly overhead, a 'top American politician or judge' will perform the swearing in, read Worsoff's pitch. 'There won't be a dry eye within 10 miles!'

And to top off the experience, The Daily Mail reports Noem is even offering up officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to tally votes for the made-for-TV contest.

There are times like this when I don't know what to say. Although I have to admit I didn't think we would hit the Running Man stage of the American Experience quite so quickly.

TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* Season three of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will premiere Thursday, July 17th on Paramount+.

* Based on the children’s book of the same name by Jason and Allison Flom, the animated children's special Lulu Is A Rhinoceros will premiere Friday, May 30th, on Apple TV+.

* In the upcoming series HBO series Task, "in the working class suburbs of Philadelphia, an FBI agent (Mark Ruffalo) heads a Task Force to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspecting family man (Tom Pelphrey)." Set to premiere "sometime in September," here is a first look at a trailer.

* The Swedish drama Mafia premieres Thursday, June 19th on Viaplay. According to the streamer, the series "is a powerful character-driven drama about two underdogs from completely different worlds who are forced to take a risky game to bypass their superiors: Radovan "Jakov" Jakovic (Peshang Rad, Gåsmamman, Bäckström), the criminal entrepreneur and cigarette smuggler, and Gunn Thörngren (Katia Winter, The Boys, Dexter), the police officer who sees what no one else sees, that the revenues from cigarette smuggling will create a proper mafia in Sweden. It doesn't take long before they develop a connection with each other. Both are convinced they are using the other to their own advantage, but for both of them, their contact will have devastating consequences."

* The UK version of the Prime Video franchise Last One Laughing has been renewed for a second season.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

THURSDAY, MAY 15TH:
Bet Series Premiere (Netflix)
Doctor Odyssey Season Finale (ABC)
Duster Series Premiere (Max)
Found Series Finale (NBC)
Franklin Series Premiere (Netflix)
Grey's Anatomy Season Finale (ABC)
Haaland Breaking Ground (Viaplay)
Haaland Conquers England (Viaplay)
Law & Order Season Finale (NBC)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season Finale (NBC)
Love Death + Robots Season Premiere (Netflix)
Mermicorno: Starfall (Max)
9-1-1 Season Finale (ABC)
Overcompensating Series Premiere (Prime Video)
Pernille (Netflix)
Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) (Netflix)
SkyMed Season Three Premiere (Paramount+)
Thank You, Next (Netflix)
Vini Jr. (Netflix)
The Amazing Race Season Thirty-Seven Finale (CBS)
The Reserve (Netflix)
The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives Season Two Premiere (Hulu)
Welcome To Wrexham Season Premiere (Hulu)

FRIDAY, MAY 16TH:
Deaf President Now! (Apple TV+)
Dear Hongrang Series Premiere (Netflix)
Football Parents Series Premiere (Netflix)
Matteo Lane: The Al Dente Special (Hulu)
Murderbot Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
Rotten Legacy Series Premiere (Netflix)
Shark Tank Season Finale (ABC)
The Quilters (Netflix)

SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!