Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, November 8th, 2021

Discovery's boneheaded programming decision

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, November 8th, 2021. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities, where AllYourScreens HQ is running very late today.

I'M STUMPED
I write a lot in this newsletter about the issue of usability. Not just the UX of streaming services, but the more general topic of how easy is it to discover content and watch it on demand. It's a complex set of factors and there are no guidelines that are appropriate for every situation. Which - to be honest - might be part of the reason why I enjoy dissecting the topic. Ambiguity is challenging and it's always fun to look at a situation and try and figure out a better solution.

One of the smaller aspects of the usability topics I've written about a few times is the tendency of some networks to "DVR pack" when a user decides to record new episodes of a specific show to their DVR every week. Some networks (NatGeo, I'm looking at you) have a myriad of extra episodes of a show also designated as "new" each week. So if I want to record every new episode of Wicked Tuna, my DVR not only automatically records that week's new episode, it will also record 5 or 6 other episodes that have been listed as "new." Even though those episodes are clip shows, first looks and other bonus features. Sure, I can delete the extra episodes each week. But it's a pain to do it and adding a bunch of unwanted episodes to the DVR is not a great idea when a high percentage of users who subscribe to a virtual cable offering have a limited DVR capacity.

But Discovery has upped that idea to a new level and it's an idea that for the life of me, I can't understand. I'm sure someone at the network must have thought there was an upside, but it's certainly not obvious from the outside.

If you looked at the Discovery primetime lineup of Friday night, this is what you would see: a three-hour block of Gold Rush:

Now this is an increasingly common approach on Discovery Communications networks. Two or three-hour programming blocks of a show. Sometimes the entire block is comprised of reruns. In some cases, the block is a mix of old and new episodes. If you want to record it, you're forced to record the entire block. I'm assuming the theory is that most viewers will just watch the three-hour block of Ghost Hunters even if they've seen some of it before.

But Friday's programming block on Friday was noteworthy because the three hours included a new episode of Gold Rush as well as the season premiere of the sister show Gold Rush: White Water. Which is an entirely different program. 

It's not that just that Gold Rush: White Water viewers had to record the three-hour block to get the new episode. Gold Rush: White Water wasn't even mentioned in the listings. Even worse, most services won't allow you to fast forward through ad breaks on newly recorded programs. So even if you were pretty sure that new season premiere of Gold Rush: White Water was buried in that three-hour block, you had to watch an entire episode of Gold Rush first in hopes your episode would follow. And if you had previously set your DVR to record new episodes of Gold Rush: White Water, you missed the episode, because your DVR didn't recognize it was buried inside the programming block.

But you know where you could watch the hour as a standalone episode? On Discovery+, which posted the season premiere within hours by itself, without forcing viewers to slog through anything else first.

This move is something I just don't understand. Sure, you might capture some reluctant viewers and maybe the theory is that most viewers of Gold Rush would also be interested in Gold Rush: White Water. But many won't be and this move just seems so short-sighted and dumb.

For the record, while I can't say this block was the option on every virtual cable setup, I did check three different services and they all showed the three-hour Gold Rush block.

DON'T MAKE 50 CENT MAD
On Sunday, Starz had one of those problems that matters more on the talent relationship front than anything else. But anytime someone who is important to your network is publicly slamming you on social media, it's not a good day.

Viewers of the Starz series BMF weren't expecting a new episode until next Sunday. But for three hours yesterday, the Starz app posted the episode a week earlier than scheduled, leading to a series of unhappy posts from series producer 50 Cent:

“Starz is a shit show, they better sell it fast. They put the fucking BMF show on, then took it down. what network does shit like that? They just ruined the anticipation of The episode i directed, I WORKED HARD ON THIS. I can’t work with these people anymore,” he posted.

He added: “?‍♂️?I’m out till next week Saturday 12AM , because the shit people are gonna say when they find out BMF is not coming on this week. ?‍♂️ it’s a good time to catch up.”

He said he was informed that Starz execs “wanted to hold episode 7 back a week so We can roll right in GHOST Nov 21. I said cool i like that idea.Then these shit head people put the fucking episode out for 3 hours then take it down. ?‍♂️ This is not ok, when I get uncomfortable i make everybody uncomfortable now who getting fired? until you figure that out don’t call my phone respectfully.”

However, a Starz spokesperson said that a technical glitch was to blame for the BMF episode becoming available a week earlier than planned.

WHAT'S NEW ON BROADCAST TV?
I just finished doing a radio interview and one of the callers brought up an interesting point: "Why does it feel as if there isn't much new happening this fall on Broadcast television?"

Thinking about it, I suspect there are a couple of factors having an impact. The pandemic threw off production schedules and after more than a year of erratic seasons and delays, it's hard to mentally get back to the old mindset of "Hey, it's the fall TV premiere season!"

A bigger factor is that there are just fewer new shows being premiered in 2021. It's a decade-plus trend, but with overall slumping primetime ratings, broadcast networks are ordering fewer new shows. And the fact that so many "new" shows this season are brand extensions or reboots of familiar titles has an impact as well. Those shows might be a safer bet, but the net result is that the fall premiere season has just felt lackluster and drab.

TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* Tamron Hall’s syndicated talk show has scored a two-season renewal that will take it through the 2023-24 season.

* Disney is slashing the price of its Disney+ subscription to $1.99 for one month as part of the Disney+ Day promotions leading up to the event on November 12th. The special pricing converts to the standard $7.99 monthly pricing thereafter unless canceled.

* Kenan Thompson will host the 2021 People’s Choice Awards, which will air Tuesday, December 7th on both NBC and E!

* AVOD STIRR is adding AccuWeather Now to its lineup of live channels.

* CBS Sports has acquired broadcast, streaming Rights to Barclays FA Women's Super League in the U.S.

* Fandor and Screambox and now available to Xfinity households through X1 and Flex, and also on Comcast’s recently announced XClass TV.

SEE YOU TUESDAY! 

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