Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, January 21st, 2025

I have some thoughts about Netflix earnings. And a bunch of other stuff.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, January 21st, 2025:

PRODUCTION NOTES
Thanks to everyone for the kind words of support and for those of you who were able to upgrade to a paid subscription. I appreciate it. I even appreciate the person who canceled their free subscription, then re-subscribed. Then canceled again and sent me a note telling me that they found me so annoying that canceling once wasn't enough. So thanks, I guess.

NETFLIX EARNINGS BRING STRONG NUMBERS AND A PRICE INCREASE
There was a fair amount of news that came out of the Netflix Q4 earnings call today, and I suspect that you've already seen the highlights:

* Netflix added around 19 million new global paid subscribers last quarter, ending with 302 million. The streamer has added an impressive 40 million global subscribers in the past year.

* It also reported $10.24 billion in revenue, passing the $10 billion mark for the first time. Net income was $1.86 billion.

* Netflix is also increasing the subscription price in several markets, including the U.S. The price of the ad-supported tier will increase a dollar to $7.99 per month. The price of the Premium tier will go up $2, to $24.99 per month.

* Besides the United States, subscription prices are also increasing in Canada, Portugal, and Argentina. I'll be honest, I haven't been able to figure out why Portugal and Argentina are on the list. I know that Argentina's base subscription price for Netflix has tended to be in the bottom five or so countries where the streamer is available. But Portugal stumps me. Unless Netflix is using it to test how European consumers respond to a price increase and Portugal is a good place to experiment.

* One interesting stat that popped up was that the average Netflix subscriber watched seven films a month.

* This was an interesting datapoint about WWE viewing numbers: "We also saw that the non-live viewing, so in the day after the live event, our viewing grew by 25% mostly outside of the U.S. time zones, so this is new viewing in the U.K., in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, particularly big markets."

That's one advantage event programming like the WWE has over traditional sports such as the NFL. Aside from the more complex global rights, the percentage of viewers globally who would tune into a game repeat after the fact is likely much less than 25%. Which makes traditional sports a lot more difficult to fully monetize.

* Not surprisingly, executives pushed back against the notion that a two-week run for the upcoming Narnia movie in IMAX theaters is a change from the streamers long-running decision not to do full theatrical releases. And there's a lot of truth to that. I can see Netflix doing the occasional limited-window IMAX release. But there is zero indication Netflix is going past that a lot of the journalist/analyst talk you read about that possibility is just wish fulfillment.

* Content spending at Netflix is increasing $1 billion year-over-year, increasing from $17 billion in 2024 to $18 billion in 2025.

* This was the last earnings call in which Netflix will report specific subscriber numbers. Which I suspect is part of the reason behind the price increase. However subscriber numbers are affected by the increase, it won't be reflected in any of the numbers released by the company moving forward. And it's likely that any current subscribers who are that price sensitive weren't core fans of Netflix, so their loss should increase Netflix's average engagement number, which the company will be reporting.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER DOESN'T MINCE WORDS
I have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised by some of today's political coverage on The Hollywood Reporter, which has in recent months been more interested in softball celebrity stories and shopping features.

This piece from THR writer-at-large James Hibberd takes aim at Elon Musk's sorta Nazi salute and the idea that ultimately, the context is what matters:

Notice all this debate is around what Musk intended, which is ultimately unknowable. Here’s another idea: What if it doesn’t matter — at least not that much — what Musk intended? Books teaching communication have a rule: If somebody is misunderstood during a speech or conversation, it’s the fault of the communicator, not the listener; it’s the responsibility of the person speaking to ensure they’re correctly understood. Give Musk the benefit of the doubt, and he still wasn’t correctly understood by many. Trump has extremist supporters who might take this gesture as a shout-out. The salute is causing an uproar in Europe. And Musk’s refusal to simply and clearly state “That is not what I meant” — or, better yet, “f–k Nazis and f–k Hitler, that’s what that gesture meant!” — has left it feeling like a wink and nod. Those kids marching around in fifth grade didn’t mean any harm by their playacting, but it still didn’t make it a good idea to do it.

Let’s put this in a different, Nazi-free context. If I’m moderating a Comic-Con panel and emphatically give Hall H my raised middle finger, 6,000 people are going to think I’m flipping them off. Many will be offended. How much does it matter if I somehow didn’t intend that? “C’mon, guys, I just said, ‘The Witcher fans are No. 1!’ Geez!” Their reaction to my gesture is my fault, not theirs.

That's pretty damn pointed for the normally staid THR. Well played.

ODDS AND SODS
* Here is a rundown of today's global TV news.

* Max has released a trailer for the six-episode, Polish-produced spy series The Eastern Gate, which premieres on Friday, January 31st. I haven't been able to get access to screeners, but I've heard good things about it and will review it once it premieres. Here is the trailer, if you're interested.

* Lauren Graham has a new comedy coming to Tubi on Thursday, February 6th. Here is the official logline of The Z-Suite: "Advertising maven Monica Marks (Lauren Graham, "Gilmore Girls") and her loyal right hand executive Doug Garcia (Nico Santos, “Superstore”) have long been at the top of the Madison Avenue world. But after a record scratch blunder, they are suddenly canceled, pushed out and replaced by the agency’s rising Gen Z employees led by social media manager, Kriska Thompson (Madison Shamoun, “The Lake”). Refusing to go quietly, Monica launches her biggest campaign yet– getting their careers back and taking down the eager team of Gen-Zers who are just getting comfortable in their new roles. May the best generation win." And here is a look at the trailer, if you're interested.

* ABC has ordered a second season of High Potential, which is not a huge surprise. Even less of a surprise is that the network has officially ordered a fifth season of Abbott Elementary.

* Philip Rucker has joined CNN as senior vice president of editorial strategy and news, departing The Washington Post after 20 years.

* British sitcom star Pauline Quirke (Birds Of A Feather) will step back from professional duties after being diagnosed with dementia, according to a statement released by her husband Steve Sheen.

* Netflix announced it has renewed The Lincoln Lawyer for a fourth season, with production set to begin in February in Los Angeles. Season 4 will consist of 10 episodes and will be based on the sixth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly, "The Law of Innocence."

* Season six of Guy Fieri's Tournament Of Champions will premiere (In a related note, the Food Network gave Variety the press release in advance so they could claim it was an "exclusive." And the resulting story is basically the press release with a few added words to connect everything together).

* The Kate Hudson basketball comedy Running Point premieres Thursday, February 27th on Netflix.

* The Ankler is launching an entertainment business trade publication dedicated to the creator economy called Like & Subscribe, CEO and co-founder Janice Min told Axios. The new product, authored by veteran tech and entertainment journalist Natalie Jarvey, will launch as a standalone Substack newsletter, separately from The Ankler, and will be priced at $129 a year to start.

* Speaking of The Ankler, Axios is also reporting that the NY Times recently reached out to the digital publication about a deal that would have given The Ankler subscribers access to its subscription games content (hhmm, I wonder if these two stories had some of the same sources?). The deal pitched would have essentially seen The Ankler providing NYT Games access as an added benefit to its subscribers. According to the story, The Ankler ultimately turned down the offer.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21ST:
Brady Vs. Belichick: The Verdict (Vice)
German Crime Story: Deadlock (MHz Choice) - (first look video)
The Joe Schmo Show (TBS) - (first look video)

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22ND:
Captivated Series Premiere (Britbox)
Expedition Bigfoot Season Premiere (Discovery)
Expedition X Season Premiere (Discovery)
Nova: What Are UFOs? (PBS)
Pawn Stars Season Premiere (History)
Prime Target Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
The Thundermans: Undercover (Nickelodeon)
W.A.G.S. To Riches Series Premiere (Netflix)
Whiskey On The Rocks Series Premiere (Hulu) - (first look video)

SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!