Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, March 9th, 2022

Disney continues to make a bad situation worse.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, March 9th, 2022. 

DISNEY CEO BOB CHAPEK CHANGES HIS MIND
I wrote a bit on Monday about Disney CEO Bob Chapek 's email to employees about Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. At the time, I thought Chapek's stance was unsustainable and as it turns out, it took him less than 48 hours to shift his position. Earlier today, Chapek said he had called Governor DeSantis and conveyed his "disappointment" regarding the "Don't Say Gay" bill. He added that he and Disney execs plan to meet with the Governor and that Disney is signing a statement opposing such legislation across US:

"While we have been strong supporters of the community for decades, I understand that many are upset that we did not speak out against the bill," Chapek said. "We were opposed to the bill from the outset, but we chose not to take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind the scenes engaging directly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle."

The CEO added that the company was hopeful that "our longstanding relationships with those lawmakers would enable us to achieve a better outcome."

"Ultimately, we were unsuccessful," he said.

One indication of how unsuccessful Disney's efforts were to block the bill is this extremely passive-aggressive statement from the Florida Governor's office:

It's worth noting that this statement is a mischaracterization of the bill. Florida Republicans (including the Governor) continue to describe the bill as primarily designed to protect young children from unwanted discussions about "sex." But when Democrats attempted to add an amendment to specifically prohibit discussions about sex, Republicans voted it down.

In fact, the bill doesn't focus on sex education. Instead, it prohibits teachers from talking about "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," whether or not the discussion has anything to do with sex. 

It's no secret why Florida Republicans are mischaracterizing their own bill. The bill is written in a way that specifically prohibits discussions about sexual orientation, which is a lot less popular than the mythical one Republicans continue to describe.

It's also worth mentioning that Disney waited until the bill passed before shifting its stance. It also has continued to donate money to the Florida legislators who supported the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

TWEET OF THE DAY

SUBSTACK RELEASES APP FOR NEWSLETTERS
You can now read Too Much TV in the new Substack app for the iPhone.

With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.

The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.

I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS AN HONEST ANSWER, OR JUST TROLLING THE CRITICS
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann responded to a question on the prospect of an ad-supported Netflix with a non-committal answer:

"Never say never. It’s not something in our plan right now. It’s not like we have religion against advertising."

His position really isn't any change from what Netflix executives have been saying for years. They will never definitely rule out advertising (or live sports). But they have no current plans. 

I suspect this stance is mostly there to distract critics of the company's current approach. And predictably, as soon as these comments surfaced, some analysts were arguing that this must indicate Netflix is considering the idea.

There are some streaming media analysts - especially on the ad tech side - who are flummoxed by Netflix's decision to keep their service free of advertising. They also remain convinced that Netflix should be offering a cheaper, advertising-supported tier.

I think they're wrong in both cases. Netflix is able to charge one of the highest subscription prices in the industry because they are seen as a "premium brand." Adding advertising might bring in some extra revenue. But not enough to compensate for the impact it would have on Netflix's branding.

ANOTHER CONTENT COMPANY TO WATCH
A24, the independent production company behind such movies as Lady Bird and the best-picture Oscar winner Moonlight, raised $225 million to fund future projects:

Collectively participants in the round will own less than 10% of the business, suggesting a valuation of about $2.5 billion. A24 founders and management remain the majority shareholders, according to the statement.

The funding marks the first equity investment since the company’s founding in 2012. Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, an early investor, remains a minority shareholder. 

A24 has been shopping itself around for awhile and at first glance, it has a content portfolio that would make it an attractive acquisition target. Recent movies include After Yang, The Humans, The Green Knight, Uncut Gems and Red Rocket. Recent television projects include Euphoria, Mr. Corman, At Home With Amy Sedaris and Ramy. 

The challenge for anyone considering an acquisition is that A24 has really embraced the arms merchant approach to licensing content. It's best titles are scattered across several streaming services and many of them are tied into multi-year deals. So anyone purchasing the company would have to be patient before they could fully monetize A24's content.

ODDS AND SODS
* The Starz original series Power Book IV: Force has been renewed for a second season. The third spinoff in the Power franchise debuted February 6th as the most-watched premiere ever in Starz history with 3.3M multiplatform views in the U.S. alone.

* The streaming news service NBC News Now has ordered a limited-run series from CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin.

* Nick has announced the hosts and nominees for theKids Choice Awards 2022.

* HBO Max has ordered the limited-run drama series The Penguin, starring Colin Farrell. Based on the character from The Batman, the series is executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, and Lauren LeFranc, who writes and serves as showrunner.

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

Animals At Play (Smithsonian)
Bee Czar Series Premiere (Discovery)
Black Files Declassified Season Premiere (Science)
Byron Baes Series Premiere (Netflix)
Domino Masters Series Premiere (Fox)
Good Trouble Season Four Premiere (Freeform)
Kung Fu Season Two Premiere (The CW)
Queer Eye Germany Series Premiere (Netflix)
Signs Of A Psychopath Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
Survivor Season Forty Two Premiere (CBS)
The Andy Warhol Diaries (Netflix)
The Bombardment (Netflix)
The Flash Midseason Premiere (The CW)
The Last Kingdom Season Premiere (Netflix)
The Masked Singer Season Premiere (Fox)
Weekend Family (Disney+)

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

SEE YOU THURSDAY! 

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