Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, August 9th, 2024

How to build the perfect $50 a month TV bundle

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, August 9th, 2024:

HOW TO BUILD YOUR PERFECT $50 A MONTH TV BUNDLE
With the cost of virtual cable systems such as Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV around $90 a month - not counting addons such as local sports or premium channels - you might be looking for a cheaper alternative.

Here's the bad news. No matter what your budget might be, you are likely not going to find a combination of packages that gives you EVERYTHING you want. But putting together a bundle that gives you most of the channels you want is definitely doable.

I just posted a piece which includes some theme-specific mini-bundle selections for everyone from sports fans to people who live reality programming. Or in this case, international television:

I REALLY LOVE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING
Here in the United States, we are living in the Golden Age of international programs. Twenty years ago, "global TV" was limited to a few British and Australian-produced TV shows that had been picked up by PBS. Now programming produced outside the U.S. is available on every streaming platform. And a wide range of niche streamers targeting specific genres of international television are now available. And you can get a lot of global TV for less than $50 per month:

Britbox ($8.99 per month)
BBC Studios owns a majority stake in the U.S. version of the service. So it's no surprise there is a lot of BBC programming, although there is also a healthy amount of content from former owner ITV. There are current scripted shows such as The Responder, Blue Lights and After The Flood, older classics including Killing Eve, Lovejoy and Vera, comedies including The IT Crowd and Keeping Up Appearances, as well as plenty of nature and cooking shows and true crime programs.

Viaplay ($5.99 per month)
While this Nordic streamer closed its standalone service in the U.S. and Canada earlier this year, it's still available as an add-on through Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Xumo, Xfinity X1 or Flex. If you think Nordic Noir is the only type of television made in Norway and Finland, you're in for a pleasant surprise. From the broadly weird comedy Dips to the dystopian pandemic-influenced drama The Fortress, Viaplay has a wide range of new originals as well a curated collection of older Nordic titles worth watching.

Acorn TV ($7.99 per month)
Owned by AMC Networks, the streamer offers programming from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, other Commonwealth countries, and Spain. American audiences will discover familiar titles such as Midsomer Murders, Doc Martin and The Murdoch Mysteries as well as newer originals such as Monsier Spade and The Accident. The selection of food and true crime programs is pretty thin. But there's not a better place for familiar British mystery dramas.

MHzChoice + Topic ($7.99 per month)
The two services recently merged and the result is the best place to stream international TV from around the world. The service currently streams TV shows produced in 46 different countries, ranging from Armenia to Wales. MHz Choice is the definition of a niche streamer. But if have a soft spot for global TV, it will provide endless hours of discovery. Believe me, watching a cop show made in Serbia is a unique experience. But if that's not your thing, MHzChoice also has the new season of Babylon Berlin.

Netflix ($15.49 per month)
Every major streamer now carries a selection of shows and movies produced outside the U.S./UK/Australia axis. But of all the major streamers available in the U.S., none of them can compare to the selection available on Netflix. While subscribers are familiar with the streamer's breakout global hits, there are hundreds if not thousands of originals from across the globe in every conceivable genre. When it comes to international television, Netflix is a must-have.

Total cost: $46.50 per month

Given the collapse of X and the changes at Google search, it's really challenging right now to get pieces in front of new people. So if you can, please share this piece. I happen to think it's quite useful.

TWEET OF THE DAY

MASSIVE LEAK HITS NETFLIX
Kasey Moore's What's On Netflix is by far the best source for news on the goings on at Netflix. And because the Hollywood trades are reluctant to link to outside sites or give proper credit, you may have missed this story. Someone got access to servers used by a company working with Netflix and released a number of still unreleased titles onto pirate sites. I can't recall another hacking incident that involved anywhere near this amount of projects. And Kasey has been on top of the story this week:

On Wednesday, leaks began appearing on 4Chan, and files were shared across social media throughout the day. 

On Thursday, the number of titles that had been leaked continued to grow, with Spellbound, Terminator Zero, Plankton: The Movie, Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, Ranma 1/2, Dan Da Dan, and Fairly Odd Parents: A New Wish! among the Netflix titles to get leaked, with other distributor titles also getting released. 

Leaks continued throughout the day with more Netflix titles being made available, including Arcane season 2 and, later in the evening, the first batch of episodes of Heartstopper (season 3). The latter show was the first live-action title to be leaked, and some had speculated that Stranger Things would be among the next to leak. 

I have a lot of sympathy for Kasey, because we are both independent journalists doing our best to break stories and get them in front of readers. And as example of the challenges that involves, this piece in Deadline links to an IGN post from earlier today, noting IGN was "the first to report the leak." Which is weird, given that Moore had an earlier piece the day before which broke the news.

I'm not suggesting this is malicious exactly. It's just that when you're a small publication, the trades tend to not notice stories until they're reposted by some larger outlet. Which isn't just lazy, it's bad journalism.

And, for that matter, news the leak had happened began surfacing on social media late Wednesday. And one way of knowing that is by looking at the embedded tweet Deadline included in their piece. So giving IGN the link and credit just seems wrong on so many levels.

I REALLY DON'T WANT TO FIGHT THIS BATTLE AGAIN...BUT
Simply defined, confirmation bias is people's tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with their existing beliefs. In other words, you see what you want to see.

This tendency is strong in some of the entertainment press, who take the "when you're a hammer, everything is a nail" approach to an extreme. They insist on seeing things a certain way and no amount of conflicting data or differing possibilities will change their ingrained bias.

I really didn't want to get into this battle again, but this piece from The Bulwark's Sonny Bunch is irritating in a way that feels almost as if it were written specifically to drive up my blood pressure. The piece talks about the decision by Apple TV+ executives to change the release of the Brad Pitt and George Clooney movie Wolfs from a full theatrical release to a limited one. Here is one explanation he provides:

If I had to guess, someone at Apple simply got tired of getting hammered in the press for “flops” like some of the movies mentioned above. Harder for a movie to demonstratively “flop” if you never release any data about them (and Apple has been pretty stingy with data, though what we’ve seen from Nielsen doesn’t suggest they’re keeping a lot of good news from us). If I had to further guess, Apple’s experiment with theatrical presentations is coming to a close. Which is a shame. But, perhaps, inevitable.

Now I will be the first to admit that Apple PR folks don't have a huge sense of humor when it comes to bad press. I once had an Apple PR executive try and get me fired because Stockie The Stock-Picking Sock Puppet (it's a very long story) was being mean to them. But Apple executives are also very revenue driven and I find it difficult to believe someone made the decision "well, we COULD make millions on a theatrical release, but what happens if there are bad reviews?" It's an especially dumb theory when you consider that it's not as if the film won't receive the same reviews when it hits Apple TV+.

And there is this old favorite argument:

But the data is in! Movies tend to perform better on streaming if they’ve gotten a proper theatrical release. It gives them a whiff of legitimacy and there’s a publicity hangover from the ad campaign. I find it hard to believe studios can’t figure out how to sell “The Oceans Guys Made a Movie with the Spider-Man Director,” but what do I know?

I am not going to relitigate this argument. But I will say I guarantee that spending $50 million or so marketing a film so it can come to your streamer as as essentially a Pay One Window release instead of global original is not a winning financial strategy. 

Some days I am so tired....

ODDS AND SODS
* Hulu has renewed Vanderpump Rules for a second season. The show will also add former Vanderpump Rules alum Stassi Schroeder in the upcoming season. The streamer also announced Schroeder will star in the half-hour docu-comedy Stassi Says.

* Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will begin streaming on Max on August 16th.

* Filming has begun on season three of BritBox's crime drama Beyond Paradise. Here's the official logline:

"Set against the idyllic backdrops of Devon and Cornwall, there are plenty of cases to keep the team on their toes, including a body found in the river on the county border, a baffling chocolate box poisoning, a historic farming feud and a spiking incident on the water. Away from the police station, Martha and Humphrey must overcome unexpected hurdles as foster parents, while the reappearance of Martha’s old flame Archie presents an unexpected challenge. While Esther navigates a surprise encounter in her private life, a health scare for Anne stirs up painful memories, and Kelby embarks on a journey of personal growth."

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9TH:
* Blue Ribbon Baking Championship Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Inside The Mind Of A Dog (Netflix)
* Mission: Cross (Netflix)
* Nadie Nos Va a Extrañar Series Premiere (Prime Video)
* Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba (Netflix)
* Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series Premiere (Paramount+)
* The Braxtons Season Premiere (WE tv)
* The Instigators (Apple TV+)
* 13 Days In Ferguson (CBS)
* Wiggin' Out with Tokyo Stylez Series Premiere (WE tv)
* Yo Gabba Gabbaland Series Premiere (Apple TV+)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10TH:
* Call Me Miss Cleo (Lifetime)
* Miss Cleo: Her Rise and Fall (Lifetime)
* My Dreams Of You (Hallmark)
* Romance In The House (Neflix)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11TH:
* American Godfathers: The Five Families (History)
* Gangland Chronicles Series Premiere (History)
* Hollywood Black (MGM+)
* Industry Season Premiere (HBO)
* SEAL Team Season Premiere (Paramount+)
* Stalked By My Amish Boyfriend (Lifetime)

MONDAY, AUGUST 12TH:
* Celebrity IOU Season Premiere (HGTV)
* Houses Of Horror: Secrets Of College Greek Life Series Premiere (A&E)
* Solar Opposites Season Five Premiere (Hulu)

SEE YOU ON MONDAY!