Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, July 2nd, 2021

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, July 2nd, 2021. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities suburbs, where AllYourScreens HQ is powered by buffalo cauliflower and Diet Rite.

PROGRAMMING NOTES
There won't be a newsletter on Monday. I'm taking a three-day weekend, which is really needed after this crazy week. I'm also going to be taking off a few days at the end of the month in order to see family (and maybe sit on the beach). I'll update everyone as that trip gets closer.

Today's newsletter will also be brief, given the lack of news today ahead of the holiday weekend.

Everyone have a wonderful Fourth of July.

GROWTH SLOWING AT DISNEY+
The Information has a piece today reporting that according to internal documents it obtained, Disney+ growth slowed substantially in the first half of 2021:

Disney+ had a little more than 110 million total subscribers late in Disney’s third fiscal quarter, which ran through early July, according to the internal data, up from the 103.6 million the company reported for the quarter ending April 3. Of the most recent total, nearly 38 million were in India, up 12 million over the past six months. The U.S. and Canada together accounted for close to 38 million subscribers. That compares with the start of February, when North America had about 37 million subscribers.

It's a subscriber-only piece, but it's worth reading if you have access. 

Just a side note, I wish that more news outlets that are subscriber-only would provide a limited-run direct free link to the press, so we could offer access to the full article. Seems as if there is no better way to bring in new subscribers than by getting your target audience to read a free article or two.

WEEKEND READING
* If you are interested in reality television, then Andy Dehnart's web site Reality Blurred should be at the top of your reading list. He has as wide a knowledge of the genre as anyone in the business and after doing it for twentyish years, he has a perspective and knowledge of reality television that is really unique. One example of his writing is this recent piece on pandemic-influenced changes to reality TV shows that should stick around after things reopen fully. He also includes a suggestion from me at the end of the piece, but that's not why I mention it. Especially since my suggestion isn't exactly earth-shattering. But I think Andy and I might be just about the last two journalists in the entertainment news space who have managed to build a career as a solo entrepreneur and his success is due in large part to his deep knowledge and love of the genre.

* Gabriel Barradas is a Media Strategy researcher and practitioner based in Rio. He has a really interesting piece on how most SVOD metrics cover exit processes (aka avoiding churn) but don't reward loyalty:

Churn rate has a similar issue, as in it only shows the outflux number. It’s tier 2 metrics can get very complex, such as Tech Service Level and Product Quality and all of them respond to the same action: Exit. But should the loss of customers that had been loyal for years be treated the same way as customers that had been around for some months? Maybe those groups have different needs and reasons.

A larger issue is that Exit pressure happens after it is already too late. Instead of focusing on avoiding Exit, services should change their mindset to focus more on rewarding Loyalty. Some Chinese services do it very well. Loyal customers are rewarded with VIP status, early access and prizes. Those loyal customers will be brand ambassadors and are key both to acquire and to retain other customers.

* I wrote a bit earlier this week about how Netflix is using its Netflix Jr. YouTube channel to promote the upcoming Ridley Jones series. Emily Horgan at whats-on-netflix.com has a solid in-depth look at how Netflix built that channel into a destination for kids and its a must-read for people interested in children's programming.

ODDS AND SODS
* The HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl will be premiering in the UK on BBC One and BBC iPlayer later this year. iPlayer will also have the entire series run of the original Gossip Girl.

* Kevin Can F**k Himself is set to launch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video worldwide next month, excluding the U.S., Canada, Spain and Portugal.

* The Dallas Cowboys will be the focus of this season's HBO sports series Hard Knocks. The five-episode season will begin on August 10th.

FRIDAY'S PREMIERES 
1) Big Timber (Netflix)
"A no-nonsense logger and his loyal crew battle brutal elements and finicky machines to chop and transport valuable lumber on Vancouver Island."

2) Fear Street Part One: 1994 (Netflix)
"After a series of brutal slayings, a teen and her friends take on an evil force that's plagued their notorious town for centuries. Welcome to Shadyside."

3) Haseen Dillruba (Netflix)
"Under investigation as a suspect in her husband’s murder, a wife reveals details of their thorny marriage that seem to only further blur the truth."

4) Mortel Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
"When Obé returns — in a startling new form — and begins to raise an army of followers at the school, Sofiane, Victor and Luisa race to stop a disaster."

5) My Lottery Dream House Season Premiere (HGTV)
A Portland man is homeless when he inherits $1.4 million after his mother passes away.

6) Roswell: The Final Verdict (Discovery+)
"In 1947, a rancher near Roswell, New Mexico, claimed to have discovered mysterious debris on his property, triggering decades of official government denials, and countless conspiracy theories, about aliens. Now, tapes of haunting first-person accounts from the past are being analyzed in a totally modern way, using artificial intelligence (AI) lie detection software to test if the eyewitnesses are telling the truth. Although most of the witnesses are now deceased, AI permits truth to be separated from fiction and the most important UFO event in world history can be weighed in the balance with all the evidence at hand. Truth seekers will now decide...the final verdict."

7) Summer Of Soul (Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Hulu)
"In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary—part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion."

8) The Boss Baby: Family Business (Peacock)
"The Templeton brothers have become adults and drifted apart, but a new boss baby brings them together again."

9) The 8th Night (Netflix)
"With prayer beads in one hand and an ax in the other, a monk hunts down a millennia-old spirit that's possessing humans and unleashing hell on Earth."

10) The Tomorrow War (Amazon)
”Time travelers arrive from 2051 to deliver an urgent message: 30 years in the future mankind is losing a war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians to be transported to the future and join the fight."

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.