Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, April 20th, 2021
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuessday, April 20th, 2021. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities suburbs, where AllYourScreens HQ is powered by leftover adrenaline.
NETFLIX EARNINGS INFO
I was holding the newsletter until Netflix Q1 earnings came out, so here are some highlights. I'll have a more in-depth take later on AllYourScreens that I'll link to in tomorrow's newsletter. But just my regular warning that there are always a number of bad hot takes in the media sector and Netflix seems to attract a number of them. So let the reader beware tonight:
* Netflix total global subscribers rose to 208 million, a bit below the company's guidance of 210 million. US memberships barely budged, moving from 73.9 million at the end of 2020 to 74.4 million.
* Netflix said it will spend around $17 billion on content in 2021. That presumably includes some of the production that was halted in 2020 due to the pandemic. Production is now up and running in every territory except Brazil and India, which are both battling new COVID-19 outbreaks.
* Both dates have long been rumored, but Netflix confirmed the next season of The Witcher and Money Heist will be coming in the second half of 2021.
* "We believe paid membership growth slowed due to the big Covid-19 pull forward in 2020 and a lighter content slate in the first half of this year, due to Covid-19 production delays," the company said in its quarterly letter to shareholders. "We continue to anticipate a strong second half with the return of new seasons of some of our biggest hits and an exciting film lineup. In the short-term, there is some uncertainty from Covid-19; in the long-term, the rise of streaming to replace linear TV around the world is the clear trend in entertainment."
* The guidance for Q2 is a net gain of only a million subscribers, but the company anticipates growth will "accelerate in the latter half of 2021."
* Netflix also continued to stress the importance of global productions: "Another goal is to create great, locally authentic stories in countries all around the world," the company wrote in its latest letter. "It’s why our priority for local language titles is to have a big impact in the home territory so we don’t sacrifice local impact for 'travelability.' But we’re increasingly seeing that these local titles find significant audiences around the world, which supports our thesis that great stories are universal: they can come from anywhere and be loved everywhere."
NETFLIX'S MOST SAMPLED ORIGINAL CONTENT FOR Q1 2021
Television
Lupin - 76 million
Fate: The Winx Saga - 57 million
Ginny & Georgia - 52 million
Firefly Lane - 49 million
Cobra Kai Season Three - 45 million
Movies
Outside The Wire - 66 million
Yes Day - 62 million
I Care A Lot - 56 million
To All The Boys I've Loved Before - 51 million
AMAZON SAYS NO TO THE SUPER LEAGUE
ODDS AND SODS
* Season seventeen of Discovery's Deadliest Catch premieres tonight (even though the episode has been on Discovery+ for a month). I have a review of the premiere here and I also interviewed Sig Hansen, the only captain who remains on the show from the 2005 premiere.
* Philo is adding channels from Bloomberg TV, Crackle and Revry.
TODAY'S PREMIERES
1) A Mysterious Disappearance (MHz Choice)
A violent dispute between a butcher and his wife leads to her disappearance and possible murder.
2) Bannan Season Five Premiere (MHz Choice)
In this Scottish Gaelic drama, Màiri MacDonald returns home to the island she escaped eight years prior, fleeing its customs and a dysfunctional family. It turns out family ties – bannan – are enough to turn her visit into a much longer stay.
3) Chopped 420 Series Premiere (Discovery+)
Rising stars of cannabis cuisine integrate THC and CBD into their dishes.
4) Cruel Summer Series Premiere (Freeform)
The show is a psychological thriller that follows two young women; Kate Wallis, the popular girl with a charmed life who one day goes missing, and Jeanette Turner, the nerdy wannabe who is accused of being connected to Kate’s disappearance. All signs point to Jeanette’s guilt, but is Kate really who she seems to be? Set over three summers and told through shifting points of view, the series challenges perception and follows how one girl can go from being a sweet outlier to the most despised person in America.
5) Deadliest Catch Season Premiere (Discovery)
On the brink of closure, captains must join forced to save the fishery.
6) Deadliest Catch: Bloodlines Season Premiere (Discovery+)
Josh Harris returns to Hawaii to chase his father's dream.
7) Hustle And Tow Series Premiere (A&E)
In Atlanta, DJ and the HiTech Towing crew has to deal with a raucous impound outside of a nightclub; Nik Morgan is called to recover a tractor trailer that crashed into a lake.
8) Izzy Koala's Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
When a koala needs help, Izzy Bee and her family are there — and with Australia's extreme fires taking a toll, their care is needed now more than ever!
9) Philly D.A. (PBS)
The series details the dramatic work inside the office of current Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a fiery civil rights attorney who won a longshot campaign for D.A.in 2017 and has continued to make headlines ever since. While this is a show that follows the Philly D.A.’s office and the people its policies affect, the series is an entry point for exploring complex, systemic issues facing communities all around the country including mass incarceration, the lack of accountability in policing, systemic racism in the legal system, and the debate over how resources are best spent to achieve public safety.
10) Sasquatch (Hulu)
A true crime documentary series following investigative journalist David Holthouse as he attempts to solve a bizarre 25-year-old homicide that was said to be the work of Bigfoot.
11) Storage Wars Season Premiere (A&E)
Recently separated, Brandi and Jarrod find themselves at the same auction and tensions flare. Ivy schools Ivy Jr., who needs to find his footing.
12) The Fog Of Murder (Discovery+)
Through the mist of murder, every clue falls into place.
13) The Typist Series Premiere (MHz Choice)
To discover what happened to her daughter, a 50-something police secretary defies protocol to launch some unconventional investigations of her own in this German thriller set in Berlin.
I'll be back with another one tomorrow. If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.