Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023
WBD really wants you to stop watching Discovery+
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023.
AN UPDATE
We are entering day four of the outage that has kept AllYourScreens offline. Some of you have asked if I have an ETA for the fix, so let me share the latest update from the company that hosts my server. Let’s say I am not filled with optimism:
We do not have an ETA at this time. Unfortunately, based on our discussions with vendors and findings today, some of our larger shared servers may take longer into the week to fully restore.
We are grateful for your continued patience under these unprecedented circumstances. We understand the impact this has had on people and businesses, and we will be providing a Reason for Outage (RFO) report next week after full recovery and investigation.
Until I have access to the site again, I won’t be including the listings you usually find at the end of each newsletter. I apologize for the inconvenience.
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY REALLY WISHES YOU WOULD STOP SUBSCRIBING TO DISCOVERY+
Despite the fact that Warner Bros Discovery head David Zaslav used to run the Discovery Networks, he apparently really wishes he could figure out a way to make the SVOD Discovery+ go away.
Before the merger, Discovery+ was launched as a real option for linear TV fans of the various Discovery-owned channels. Nearly every episode of the programming from Food, HGTV, Travel, Discovery, TLC, OWN, Magnolia and Investigation Discovery was available on a next-day basis on Discovery+. In fact, in a number of cases, episodes were available same-day or even a day early on the streaming service.
Discovery+ also had a robust collection of original unscripted originals and documentaries. Along with a growing selection of licensed unscripted programming from outside networks.
But even before the merger with Warner Media took place, Zaslav had publicly argued that Discovery+ would disappear at some point. The plan was to combine it with Max and create one super-streamer. In part, because Zaslav was concerned with the churn rate at what was then HBO Max and he felt that adding the Discovery+ content would help with that.
The problem was that a large percentage of Discovery+ subscribers weren’t especially interested in switching to the new-fangled Max. Several internal studies done of subscribers apparently found that for some subscribers, it was a matter of money. For others, they were happy with the un-scripted focus of Discovery+. These were viewers who were superfans of the Discovery Network programs and they weren’t especially interested in paying extra to watch Succession.
WBD eventually gave up the plan to formally combine the services, but has continued to passive-aggressively make Discovery+ incrementally less valuable to subscribers. Apparently in hopes they can push unhappy subscribers into upgrading to Max.
Max now carries a substantial number of programs that are also available on Discovery+. And in some cases, Max subscribers are seeing the new episodes on a next-day basis while Discovery+ subscribers have to wait until the current season ends. And in other cases, the new season heads first to video on demand before eventually showing up on Discovery+.
And now today comes word that the price of Discovery+ is increasing, effective immediately. In the U.S., the price for the ad-supported version of the service will remain at $4.99 per month. But the ad-free version is increasing $2 per month to $8.99.
With that price point, it seems pretty clear the fine folks at WBD are hoping the price increases are enough to finally push some Discovery+ subscribers into switching to Max. But we won’t know whether or not that move is successful, given that WBD doesn’t break out the standalone subscriber numbers for Discovery+
THE TIMING OF THESE EMAILS WAS UNFORTUNATE
BET+ ANNOUNCES HOLIDAY MOVIE SCHEDULE
The streaming service BET+ announced its holiday original slate today, which includes 12 new movies and specials:
Thursday, November 2nd:
A Wesley Christmas Wedding
Heart For The Holidays
Thursday, November 9th:
Christmas Angel
Thursday, November 16th:
Sworn Justice: Taken Before Christmas
Thursday, November 23rd:
The Ms. Pat Show Holiday Special
So Fly Christmas
Thursday, November 30th:
A Royal Christmas Surprise
The Christmas Ringer
TWEET OF THE DAY
ODDS AND SODS
* Season twelve of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills premieres Wednesday, October 25th.
* Duff Goldman hosts The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown, which premieres Sunday, November 19th on the Food Network.
* Lifetime today announced what it describes as the “tentpole” of its holiday schedule, Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas. The film stars Loni Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray, Donna Mills and Nicollette Sheridan. The movie “follows five soap opera divas readying for a reunion show who take on playing cupid during Christmas to bring together their director and producer as they all learn the meaning of true Christmas spirit.”
* Expats, the six-part limited series directed by Lulu Wang and based on the internationally best-selling novel The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee, will premiere January 26, 2024 on Prime Video.
SEE YOU WEDNESDAY!
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