Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities suburbs, where AllYourScreens HQ is powered by lemonade and random snacks.

HULU DRAWS MOST DAILY MINUTES OF TUNE-IN AMONG STREAMERS
Deadline has a good piece recapping a presentation by Nielsen SVP of product strategy Brian Fuhrer at Tuesday's Cannes Lions conference:

A snapshot of the new competitive landscape yielded some striking results in the month of May. Hulu had the most average viewing minutes per day of any major service, with 130. YouTube was next at 128 minutes, followed by Netflix at 110, Amazon Prime Video at 97 and Disney+ at 89. The high tally for Hulu is likely tied to its longtime position as a place for catch-up viewing. Many series stream on Hulu after their linear airings, making it a fixture among viewers who have come to rely on it more than a DVR.

Nielsen measures only Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Disney+ and YouTube and only U.S. viewing on a TV screen. So it's worth remembering that these numbers are only a snapshot of a segment of the streaming audience. But with those caveats, it's still interesting to see the demographic breakdowns of the services:

About 33% of Hulu’s viewers were between the ages of 18 and 34, the highest percentage in that demo of any service. Streaming overall also remains tilted toward women, especially for Hulu, whose viewing was 57% female. Competition for male viewers, Fuhrer observed, could be the next streaming battleground, a notion supported by live sports investments like Amazon’s multi-billion-dollar bet on exclusive NFL rights.

VIACOM/CBS RESTRUCTURES EXECUTIVE RANKS
Viacom/CBS has announced a massive restructuring of its executive ranks as it seeks to maximize the company's ability to not suck in the new streaming era.

I'm not sure that there is a simple way of explaining the movies, but essentially the new structure elevates each of ViacomCBS’s global content leaders to oversee their respective genres within Paramount+, while appointing Tanya Giles as a centralized programming head to chart content strategy for Paramount+ and Pluto TV globally. She will report to Tom Ryan, president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming. Showtime’s David Nevins will serve as chief content officer for scripted originals at Paramount+.

Other moves include:
George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS, will also serve as chief content officer for news and sports at Paramount+.

Jim Gianopulos, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, will also serve as chief content officer for movies at Paramount+.

Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming and events, will also serve as chief content officer of music for Paramount+.

Chris McCarthy, president of MTV Entertainment Group, will also serve as chief content officer of unscripted entertainment and adult animation at Paramount+.

Nicole Clemens will expand her responsibilities as president of Paramount Television Studios (PTVS) to include president of Paramount+ original scripted series.

Brian Robbins, president of kids and family entertainment, will also serve as chief content officer of kids and family for Paramount+.

Kelly Day will continue as president of streaming and chief operating officer of ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI). Day will continue to report to Ryan and Raffaele Annecchino, president and CEO of VCNI.

Scott Mills will continue to oversee BET+ in his capacity as president of BET, reporting to Nevins.

Each respective executive will reportedly also have the ability to greenlight programming directly for Paramount+

There's a lot to unpack about these moves, one thing that stands out to me is that it certainly appears that the long-rumored idea to move Showtime's content into Paramount+ in some fashion seems closer to reality.

CABLE COMPANIES TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS WITH CONTEMPT, PART 314
Altice announced on Wednesday that it is cutting the upload speeds for new broadband customers up to 86% beginning next month. The ISP says the move is an effort to bring its speeds in line with "industry norms":

Altice claimed that its cable network isn't having any trouble offering its current advertised speeds. "Our network continues to perform very well despite the significant data usage increases during the pandemic and the speed tiers we offer," the company said. The upload-speed change is apparently being implemented not to solve any network problem but to match the slower upload speeds offered by other cable ISPs. Altice told Ars that it is changing its cable upload speeds to bring them "in line with other ISPs and aligned with the industry."

Altice's 100Mbps download plan currently comes with 35Mbps uploads. But those uploads will be dropped to 5Mbps, an 86 percent cut. The 200Mbps plan with 35Mbps uploads today will get only 10Mbps uploads after the July 12 changeover date. The 300Mbps and 500Mbps-download plans that currently have 35Mbps uploads will be cut to 20Mbps on the upload side. Download speeds will remain the same.

Additionally, Altice's 400Mbps-download plan is being cut from 40Mbps uploads to 20Mbps, while the gigabit-download plan's upload speeds are being cut from 50Mbps to 35Mbps.

ANOTHER SATISFIED PARAMOUNT+ CUSTOMER
This one comes from Hollywood Reporter TV critic Daniel Fienberg:

THE NFL LOOKS FOR PARTNERS FOR ITS MEDIA PROPERTIES
The Wall Street Journal's Joe Flint is reporting that NFL has retained Goldman Sachs to find partners for its media properties including NFL Network. But league sources stress they are not interested in selling, but they are looking for investment partners:

Both networks are facing the same challenges with cord-cutting as other channels. Other media companies such as Walt Disney Co. and AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia are focusing on building up their direct-to-consumer relationships. The NFL wants to keep pace and find new ways to exploit its content. To achieve that, Mr. Kraft thinks the league needs an assist.

“I’m not sure we are the best at taking advantage of what we have in our system,” Mr. Kraft said, adding that whether the league partners with a traditional media company, tech firm or startup, “we would just want to be with someone who is hungry.”

The NFL’s other properties include the NFL.com, its NFL app, production facilities and library. The league’s media operations, currently based in West Los Angeles, are moving to new offices adjacent to SoFi Stadium, home of the Rams and Chargers.

Even if the NFL was interested in selling off their media assets. I can't imagine anyone would be insane enough to buy media assets that only have value due to content owned by someone else. 

ODDS AND SODS
* Fox Sports 1 could cancel Fox Bet Live, one of the first sports TV programs to focus on sports betting.

* John Bodega's recent exit from a Netflix series gets a bit more mysterious.

THURSDAY'S PREMIERES 

1) An Unquiet Grave (Shudder)
Jamie, a widower who lost his wife in a car crash, convinces her sister, Ava, to return with him to the site of the accident to help him perform a strange ritual. But as the night wears on, it becomes clear that he has darker intentions. 

2) Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell (Peacock)
The three-part documentary series is an investigation into the British socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell, known for her association with financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as she awaits trial on multiple sex trafficking charges.

3) Godzilla Singular Point (Netflix)
Brought together by a mysterious song, a grad student and an engineer lead the fight against an unimaginable force that may spell doom for the world.

4) Good Girls Season Premiere (NBC)
The stakes get higher in season four as the Secret Service closes in on our women's counterfeit ring. When we last saw Beth, she was struggling to carve out her own criminal path separate from Rio, using her husband's spa company, Boland Bubbles, as a front. Ruby seemed to have salvaged her marriage after a rocky road, but only time will tell if her hidden secrets implode. Annie is focusing on inner love and healing as she takes the journey to rebuild independence.

5) Innocent Season Two Premiere (Sundance Now)
Sally’s (Katherine Kelly, Cheat, Criminal: UK) spent the last 5 years in prison for the murder of a teenage boy – once her pupil. Now a free woman, life in her hometown has moved on. Her ex-husband is about to remarry, her friends have new lives, and her mother with dementia can no longer remember her. Can she find the real killer and prove her innocence?

6) Jiva! (Netflix)
A talented street dancer from Umlazi, Durban must confront her fears and deal with family objections to pursue her dancing dreams.

7) LFG (HBO Max)
In 2019, the players filed a class-action, gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, three months before the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which sets the stage for LFG. The film interweaves transcendent athletic performances with the players’ ongoing pursuit for equal pay, granting viewers unprecedented access to these game-changers as they meet the physical demands and pressures of being some of the world’s top athletes, while showcasing their courage, unflinching spirit and resiliency in an effort to create long-lasting social change with the biggest fight for women’s rights since Title IX. 

8) Making It Season Premiere (NBC)
In this six-episode competition, eight of the most talented makers from across the country will take on a variety of handmade projects with the hopes of impressing Poehler, Offerman and our expert judges, Simon Doonan and Dayna Isom Johnson. Poehler and Offerman both share a love and passion of craftsmanship, albeit from different perspectives. Poehler is a self-proclaimed crafting novice who has long harbored a secret appreciation for those who can imagine and execute incredible things by hand. Offerman is a New York Times best-selling author in the woodworking space and is well known for his love for making a variety of objects himself.

9) RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars Season Six Premiere (Paramount+)
The highly anticipated new season is bringing back 13 fabulous queens to vie for a spot in the “Drag Race Hall of Fame” and a cash prize of $100,000.

10) Sisters On Track (Netflix)
An intimate portrait of girlhood following three determined sisters in Brooklyn as they race against all odds on a journey toward hope, belonging and a brighter future

11) The Good Fight Season Five Premiere (Paramount+)
In the fifth season, Diane (Christine Baranski) is forced to question whether it’s appropriate for her to help run an African American law firm with Liz (Audra McDonald) when the firm loses two top lawyers. Meanwhile, Marissa (Sarah Steele) and the firm become entangled with Hal Wackner (Mandy Patinkin), a regular Chicagoan who decides to open his own courtroom in the back of a copy shop. 

12) The Naked Director Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
Now known as the pioneer of the adult video industry, Toru Muranishi aims for even loftier heights - his dream to broadcast porn via satellite, but his growing ego and ambitions may spell his downfall.

13) Yellowstone Super Volcano: The Next Pompeii (Discovery+)
Hidden seven miles below Yellowstone, America's most famous National Park, lies an unseen terror, a time-bomb bigger than 1,000 Hiroshima bombs: the supervolcano. A natural fiery monster building up to its next eruption, when it blows it will be a modern Pompeii and the biggest natural disaster ever to hit the modern world. This supervolcano is a danger waiting to explode, and it's not the only one on the planet. NASA races to try to beat this natural killer, using the very latest science.

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