Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, April 1st, 2024

I'm not sure that this qualifies as a data point.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, April 1st, 2024:

PRODUCTION NOTES
I've picked up a number of new subscribers over the past week and today I've officially topped 82,000 free subscribers. So welcome to all of you.

Aside from the continuing press coverage of my part in Quiet On Set, I was also quoted a bit in this Guardian piece from yesterday, which talked about Ronna McDaniels and the politics-to-pundit conveyor belt. As an FYI, I'm always available to talk about TV and media issues, so feel free to reach out anytime.

If you are new to the newsletter, I will warn you that I cover a wide range of topics in this newsletter. It really depends on the news of the day, what stories I am working on for my web site (allyourscreens.com), as well as ideas that are passed along to me from readers. So if there is a day when my chosen topics don't appeal to you, I'll likely be covering something else the following day.

This is also a good time to mention that there is a paid version of this newsletter available. I keep Too Much TV free for everyone, but the paid subscriptions do provide some of the resources I need to do my job. And it only costs around 15 cents per newsletter if you opt for the annual rate.

I'M NOT SURE THIS QUALIFIES AS A DATA POINT
I have been known to mock streaming services that release some data point that ends up not meaning much since it doesn't provide any context. But even in the universe of vague viewing numbers, this paragraph from Ad Week is in a category of its own:

ADWEEK exclusively learned that House of the Dragon's recently released dueling trailers scored 80 million global views in their first 72 hours, making them the most-viewed trailers for originals since the Max platform (formerly HBO Max) debuted in 2020. The marketing stunt also resulted in the most-talked-about trailers since the platform’s premiere, with social conversation volume reaching more than 280,500 posts.

Sigh. So we're hyping trailer viewing numbers now? I can't wait to start parsing trailer completion rates.

On a related note, I am curious if there is indeed any correlation between interest in a trailer and definable interest in watching a show? I just received a pitch from someone the millions of views on a trailer that was posted on TikTok. But I have no idea if that actually means anything. Although I suspect not.

ADVENTURES IN STREAMING UX
Most of the major streaming services do small tweaks of their user interface on a regular basis. Sometimes it's to improve navigation or correct some problem that has come out of subscriber usability tests.

But sometimes, the reasons are a bit less obvious, including one change I recently noticed on Max. During the last tweak of the way the service shows episode information, I noticed the service no longer lists a premiere date for individual episodes. Now it just lists the year the episode premiered and while I have no specific info on what brought about the change (and the fine PR folks at Max didn't respond to my questions), my hunch is that it's an effort to make the age of any episode less transparent to the subscriber.

Stripping the specific date off of the episode data allows Max to promote shows that are months old in a way that makes them feel much newer. If the episode data just shows the episode premiered in 2023, there's no way of subscribers knowing where it debuted in January or December of that year.

A PROFILE WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT REFLECT REALITY
Netflix executives - like the top executives at most media companies - don't especially like to give major interviews. Which is a big problem if you're a reporter tasked with profiling a new executive.

The Hollywood Reporter's Mia Galuppo and Borys Kit had the unenviable job of doing a profile of incoming Netflix film division head Dan Lin, which was apparently complicated by the fact that not only were they unable to speak with Lin, they didn't have much luck speaking with anyone else that might have direct knowledge of his plans for the streamer's film slate.

That's not to blame the reporters, you can only work with what you're given. But it makes for some pretty heavy speculating at times:

There is a definite upside for Netflix, too — getting a well-liked, even-keeled film head with slate-building experience. The streaming wars have been waged. Netflix, the victor and the great disrupter of Hollywood, now needs stability. It has already been well reported that Netflix has wanted to get into the “fewer, bigger, better” business for some time, and Lin, who has a reputation for coming in on budget, may be the executive to finally get them there. 

As I've written many times before, the "fewer, bigger, better" mantra is just a piece of crap. No executive sets out to make a film that doesn't work. So how does anyone claim they can plan to focus on making "better" ones in the future? A big portion of what someone like Lin is hired to do is to make those calls on what films he believes can work. No matter what the budget might be.

According to insiders, the Lin-era Netflix film slate will be made up of a majority of midsized offerings, with the streamer having found its biggest hits with comedies, rom-coms and family films. Scattered in there will be a handful of big movies and requisite awards contenders. Though the slate may be smaller than those working with Netflix are accustomed, the industry, which has been hearing about Netflix belt tightening for the better part of the past year, won’t pin smaller paydays on Lin.

I'm confused. Will Netflix be making fewer, bigger films? Slightly fewer films, but a mix of big and medium-sized titles? To be honest, this feels a lot like a bunch of random musings from people who really don't have a firm sense of what a Netflix film will look like in two years.

It's also interesting to me that none of the discussion in this article (or similar ones I've seen) focus on the global productions, which are becoming a larger focus of Netflix's original content budget. 

TWEET OF THE DAY

OTOH, THIS IS A GREAT PROFILE
Variety's Todd Spangler spoke with Tom Ryan, CEO of Paramount Streaming and you should really read the entire interview. There is some nice insight into both Pluto and Paramount+:

Some analysts have said, “You know, Paramount Global should shut down Paramount+” and become an arms dealer [selling content] to other platforms. You’ve heard this. The theory is that you simply can’t get the scale to compete globally with Netflix or Disney+. Why is that wrong?

I think I just explained why. We just grew from $1.8 billion to $6.7 billion in three years. Pluto’s a key part of that segment; it has been profitable for a few years. Paramount+ is going to be domestically profitable next year, and we’re going to get this segment profitable [overall] after that. And so I fundamentally disagree with that analysis.

ODDS AND SODS
* The BBC pulled off the only funny April Fool's Day joke in the history of TV. All hail the spaghetti tree.

* The Food Network Kitchen app is going away. And if you don't know what that is..well, there was your problem.

* I asked some AI software to write a song complaining about trend of six-episode seasons on streaming TV. And the results aren't terrible, in an early 1990s Disney pop band sort of way.

* If you're interested in the business of covering Hollywood, this DigiDay podcast with The Ankler's Janice Mins is a great listen. 

* Two of Warner Bros. Discovery‘s board members, Steven Newhouse and Steve Miron, are stepping down from their roles with the company after receiving inquiries from the U.S. Department of Justice.

* Felicity Huffman will guest star on Criminal Minds: Evolution as Dr. Jill Gideon, a brilliant biological psychiatrist who also happens to be the ex-wife of Mandy Patinkin‘s Jason Gideon from the early years of Criminal Minds.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

MONDAY, APRIL 1ST:
* All-American Season Six Premiere (The CW)
* Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal (Peacock)
* For Her Sins (Acorn TV)
* Lovers & Liars Series Premiere (The CW)
* Re:Monster Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* RoOT/Route Of OddTaxi Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Saint Seiya: Knights Of The Zodiac - Battle For Sanctuary (Crunchyroll)
* Spice And Wolf: Merchant Meets The Wise Wolf Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* The Banished Former Hero Lives As He Pleases Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* The Magic Prank Show With Justin Willman Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Train To The End Of The World Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards(Fox)
* Vanderpump Villa Series Premiere (Hulu)

TUESDAY, APRIL 2ND:
* Demetri Martin: Demetri Deconstructed(Netflix)
* Lopez Vs. Lopez Season Premiere (NBC)
* Julius Caesar: The Making Of A Dictator(PBS)
* Physical: 100 Season 2 finale (Netflix)
* Together: Treble Winners(Netflix)
* Weakest Link Season Premiere (NBC)

SEE YOU TUESDAY!