Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, February 24th, 2022

A cord cutters guide to watching live, breaking news

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, February 24th, 2022. 

IF YOU FIND THIS NEWSLETTER USEFUL
Today I just passed the 20,000 mark for free subscriptions and I wanted to ask for your help if you find this newsletter useful. I only mention this every 4-6 weeks, because like you, I am weary of the some of the non-stop solicitations you find in some newsletters.

All of my Monday-Friday free newsletters remain free to all. I think keeping the newsletter free makes it much easier for readers to share it and based on the numbers I've seen, that happens a great deal. And while it's a bit contrarian to keep the newsletter free in an era where just about every newsletter has moved most of their content behind a paywall - or partnered with a newsletter network - I think the positives continue to outweigh the financial hit. 

But with more than 20,000 people now subscribing, I do receive a regular number of requests from people who want to support my work in some way.  So here are three options:

1) Share the newsletter and encourage others to do the same. It not only helps support the newsletter, but that sharing makes it worthwhile for me to keep everything in front of a paywall.

2) Buy me a cup of coffee (which is really just a way to throw a few dollars to me in a one time payment)

3) Subscribe to the Too Much TV newsletter. I've priced it as low as I can on the Substack platform - $5 per month or $50 for the year. I'm working on some bonus stuff for subscribers, but honestly, this is mostly just an option for people who want to support the newsletter (and can afford to do so). One subscriber bonus for 2022 will include a print or digital copy (your choice) of a book I'm releasing in the first half of this year. It focuses on the streaming world, and will include some new interviews done specifically for the book, along with other interviews and pieces I've posted in the last few months.

I completely understand the financial limitations we all work under. I certainly can't begin to pay for all the subscriptions on my list of "must read" publications. But if you're able to subscribe, I appreciate the support.

And now on to the real news....

BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE FOR CORD CUTTERS
I received a number of questions today on social media about the best ways to keep up with the breaking news in the Ukraine if you don't have a Pay-TV subscription. 

While you can't watch cable news stalwarts CNN, MSNBC or Fox News live without a subscription, there are plenty of free news channel options. I'm sure most of you are already familiar with many of these options. But if not, here is a rundown of what is available:

LIVE, 24/7 NEWS APPS 
All three of these apps provide around-the-clock breaking news coverage and ABC, CBS and NBC all have decent-sized global news capabilities. These networks do include some analysis in their news mix, but the editorial approach is more like the old CNN Headline News format than the current cable news network coverage of breaking news.

* ABC Newslive
* CBS News
* NBC News Now

LIVE, 24/7 INTERNATIONAL NEWS CHANNELS
Several live feeds of news channels based outside the U.S. can be found on the various AVOD platforms. 

* Sky News (The UK)
* CBC News (Canada)
* Euronews (France)

OTHER OPTIONS
* Newsy does provide some live coverage of breaking news, but they don't have a reporting presence of their own. So the coverage is basically news anchors reading stories and playing aggregated news footage from other sources. 

* The Latest News From CNN is an AVOD channel that includes segments of coverage that first aired on CNN. But like similar efforts from MSNBC and others, the problem is that more often than not, you're watching segments that are 12-24 hours old. For instance, the channel was airing segment this morning that speculated whether Russia was getting set to invade the Ukraine.

* Live Now By Fox is the only free streaming Fox News-branded option and it's mostly just live, unedited streams of news conferences, B-roll and other footage that fall into the category of "Live Now." The raw approach is interesting and I'm guessing that the cost of programming is nil. But I'm not convinced it's all that useful to news junkies.

Looking at all of the options, I'm shocked by the lack of effort CNN has put into the free, ad-supported news business.  The network has vast reporting resources already in place and while launching a 24/7 AVOD channel isn't cheap, it's a business that is proving to be a moneymaker for networks such as CBS. I just find it odd that CNN has decided to leave money on the table, especially when it could use the channel to help promote the mother network as well as its upcoming CNN+ subscription streaming service.

TRANSLATORS ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND IN INDIA'S TRANSLATOR BOOM
With Minnal Murali, Netflix turned heads in the Indian market. Released on Christmas Eve 2021, the superhero origin film follows a village tailor who is struck by lightning and develops supernatural powers. In its first week, Minnal Murali placed third on Netflix’s Global Top 10 list of most-watched non-English movies and has now accumulated over 25 million streaming hours. The film’s success on Netflix is partly attributable to translations: filmed in the South Indian regional language Malayalam, the blockbuster was eventually dubbed into Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English as well as subtitled in over a dozen international languages.

That success has spawned a boom in requests for local translation services from global streamers ranging from Netflix and Amazon to Disney+. But that boom in work has not meant more money for the people doing the translations:

Veteran translator Rekhs says that the rise of streaming services has changed how distributors see the translation industry over the past decade. She has over 500 film credits to her name, and her work is regarded within the industry as the gold standard for South Indian cinema. But that appreciation has not converted to increased wages. Her standing rate ranges between 41,000 rupees and 52,000 rupees [$550 and $700], depending upon the target language of translation, which has not increased in several years. 

“We are digging our own grave,” Rekhs said. “There are students that are half-baked idiots, who agree to do it, and there are producers who don’t care. And so they just say, Fine, here’s somebody who’s willing to do it for 15,000 rupees or even 5,000 rupees [$200 or even $60]. Do you think it’s fair?” 

And if you've ever wondered why the quality of many translations is so spotty, maybe it has something to do with the paltry money being paid for the services:

Even major translation clients pay less for Hindi than for some languages. Netflix global rates cards list $30 for every minute of content subtitled from English audio to Japanese, but just $9.00 for every minute of English-Hindi subtitling. Subcontracted translators will often pocket only a fraction of this payout. 

THINGS TO WATCH FOR IN MARCH
Whip Media just released its list of the most-anticipated streaming titles in the U.S. for March:

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW FOR THURSDAY
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:

Big Sky Spring Premiere (ABC)
Bilardo Series Premiere (HBO Max)
Destination Fear: Trail To Terror (Discovery+)
Grey's Anatomy Spring Premiere (ABC)
Hellbender (Shudder)
Karma's World Music Videos (Netflix)
Las Bravas (HBO Max)
Law & Order Series Premiere (NBC)
Legacies Spring Premiere (The CW)
Love, Tom (Paramount+)
Station 19 Spring Premiere (ABC)
Take Note (Peacock)
Wasteland (Paramount+)

Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU FRIDAY! 

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