Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, May 18th, 2022
This is not your typical newsletter...
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, May 18th, 2022.
A QUICK NOTE
I wanted to thank the people who opted to add a paid subscription to this newsletter yesterday, as well as the readers who have made the same decision in recent months and who continue to support this effort. I really appreciate the vote of confidence.
And I also wanted to apologize for the lateness of today's newsletter. It was a long, upfront-filled day and I am still not caught up...so this is a shorter and later edition than normal.
ABOUT THOSE NETFLIX LAYOFFS
There was a lot of talk yesterday about the 150 or so layoffs at Netflix and most of the reporting tended to blame the streamer's dismal recent earnings report. And while that did have an impact, it's also worth noting that company executives had been signaling for months that they were planning on reducing the U.S. headcount as Netflix shifts its priorities to faster-growing markets such as the various Asian territories. And indeed, while there were a number of layoffs in content and marketing in the U.S., Netflix is actively hiring to fill content and strategy positions in South Korea, Thailand and the Nordics, along with managers of local original content in Thailand and Indonesia. It also has some available publicity and content accounting positions available in Asia.
This won't offset the number of people being laid off in the U.S., but it does illustrate the refocusing of the company as it figures out how to more aggressively roll out expanded local original content.
I spoke with several people at Netflix today about the social media and vertical content layoffs and while no one has been told precisely the specific reasoning behind the moves, it appears to be a decision that is a combination of necessary cost-cutting as well as an admission that while those specialized social media efforts were nice, the consensus is that the efforts didn't move the bar enough - either in motivating new subscriptions or in slowing churn.
As for the large group of animation layoffs, the consensus from people I spoke with who are losing their jobs is that Netflix executives want to move the company's animated efforts in a new direction and feel that requires a bit of a cleaning of the deck. Many of the original Netflix animated efforts have failed to attract a substantial audience and that leads to different approaches as well as cutting of overhead.
THE WARNER BROS DISCOVERY UPFRONT PRESENTATION
A lot of new series and casting information came out of today's Warner Bros Discovery Upfront presentation. It's too much to recap here, but here are some links to highlights of the announcements:
* Travel Channel, Discovery+ Unveil New Slate Of Paranormal & Horror Shows
* Chris Wallace's Show To Debut On HBO Max And CNN
* Adult Swim Delves into the Anime Multiverse with New Series Orders for Rick and Morty: The Anime and Ninja Kamui
* Adult Swim Announces the Return Of The Eric Andre Show for a Sixth Season
* Untitled Lizzo Documentary Coming to HBO Max This Fall
PARAMOUNT GLOBAL UPFRONT PRESENTATION
There were also a bunch of announcements from from the company formerly known as ViacomCBS. Here are links to some of the highlights:
* Paramount+ Announces Slate Of New Programs
* BET+ Introduces New Programming To Advertisers
NETFLIX LOSES GRIP ON LONG-TERM SUBSCRIBERS
According to a new piece in The Information by Jessica Toonkel (subscription required), Netflix's recent drop in subscribers is due in large part to a loss of longtime subscribers. Here's a chart that provides some details:
CBS ANNOUNCES ITS 2022-2023 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
There aren't many change happening in the fall at CBS and that is in part a reflection of the way people are now watching broadcast television. They treat it almost like radio, turning on a network and letting it run as long as the programs are similar to each other.
MONDAY:
The Neighborhood
Bob Hearts Abishola
NCIS
NCIS Hawaii
TUESDAY:
FBI
FBI International
FBI Most Wanted
WEDNESDAY:
Survivor
The Amazing Race
The Real Love Boat
THURSDAY:
Sheldon
Ghosts
So Help Me Todd
CSI Vegas
FRIDAY:
SWAT
Fire Country
Blue Bloods
SATURDAY:
Encores
48 Hours
SUNDAY:
60 Minutes
The Equalizer
East New York
NCIS Los Angeles
WHAT'S NEW FOR WEDNESDAY
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:
Buy It Or Build It Series Premiere (HGTV)
Columbia: Wild & Free (PBS)
Cyber Hell: Exposing An Internet Horror (Netflix)
Love On The Spectrum U.S. Series Premiere (Netflix)
Lovestruck High Series Premiere (Prime Video)
Miami Wild (Smithsonian)
So You Think You Can Dance Season Premiere (Fox)
The Deep End (Freeform)
The Perfect Family (Netflix)
Toscana (Netflix)
Who Killed Sara? Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.
SEE YOU TUESDAY!
If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.