Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, April 21st, 2022

A Florida county moves to ban two books written by TLC star Jazz Jennings

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, April 21st, 2022. 

CNN+, WE HARDLY KNEW YE
Incoming CNN head Chris Licht announced to staff earlier today that he was shutting down the streaming service CNN+, just three weeks after launch. I wrote a long piece about it that you can read here. But the short version is that it's another example of executives believing what they want to believe, despite all evidence to the contrary:

There are a lot of poor decisions that led to the end of CNN+. But a primary decision was the one by Warner Media executives, who wanted to launch CNN+ and gambled that if they did so before the merger, it would take David Zaslav and other executives a few months to pull the plug. Because they wouldn't want to be seen as impulsive and shutting down the service means the money spent on launching it was completely wasted. But multiple sources today told me that Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav was infuriated by the move and considered it "disrespectful." And consequently, one of the first decisions made by Licht after he agreed to the role at CNN was to shut down CNN+.

CAN NETFLIX SOLVE ITS MARKETING PROBLEMS?
It's beginning to feel like "let's gang up on Netflix" week. But for a couple of years, I've been writing about the streamer's problems with marketing. And those missteps have led both to failures to properly launch shows as well as the poisoning of relationships with creators and showrunners.

So I was especially interested in reading this passage in a piece in The Wrap which discusses problems in the Kids & Family division of Netflix's animation wing:

Making matters more frustrating for creators are a set of imposed corporate guidelines that dictate, with Draconian exactness, the marketing and distribution of the series. Promotion doesn’t typically begin until a month before the shows premiere. (Sometimes they haven’t even been announced before then.) This leaves a very small window to build awareness and anticipation, much less cultivate genuine excitement. And once the show debuts on the platform, it can often get lost in the shuffle (how many times have you ever seen an animated series “above the fold” on the homepage?), leading many creators to become their own hype machines via various social media platforms.

Levers that other animation studios at bigger corporations can pull, like consumer products releases or promotional tie-ins, aren’t pulled at Netflix. There weren’t “Kid Cosmic” action figures lining the shelves of Target. You couldn’t get a “City of Ghosts” Happy Meal toy at McDonald’s. There’s no theme park or dedicated retail space to exploit either. On the official Netflix Shop, there isn’t a single Kids & Family animated series represented.

I wrote this piece today discussing Netflix's marketing problems and I'd encourage you to read the entire piece. But here's one passage that sets the tone for my premise:

There is a very real belief inside Netflix that most press coverage is of marginal value, aside from being an effective way of letting subscribers know a series or movie is set to premiere. I've been told by more than one executive in recent years that their internal data shows the best method of content discovery is through Netflix - whether that is through outreach such as emails or content pushes inside the Netflix app itself.

And that may very well be the case. But that approach also has some notable flaws. First, given the amount of new content Netflix is releasing, there is just not enough bandwidth to properly promote every new project. And if your project isn't prioritized, you can feel as if no one knows you even exist. Especially if you have a project that is too complicated or nuanced to sell through a catchy thumbnail image.

That belief in internal promotion efforts is also part of the reason why Netflix insists on not beginning any promotion or marketing of a show or movie until very close to the premiere date. There are exceptions to this when the project is high-profile and/or the talent has insisted on a certain level of promotional efforts as part of the their deal. But generally speaking, most TV shows and movies are lucky to get any marketing a week or two in advance of the premiere. Which often leads to subscribers seeing something new and saying "Hey, where did that come from? I had no idea it was even coming out?"

I'd be very interested in speaking with you if you've worked on a Netflix show and have some feedback about the piece. You can email me at rick@allyourscreens.com or just reply to this newsletter.

NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY TRY TO STAY NEUTRAL, MEDIA COMPANIES ARE GOING TO BE DRAGGED INTO THE CULTURE WARS
Walton County, Florida has moved forward on banning 58 books from Walton County Public School Libraries. The list includes two books written/co-written by Jazz Jennings, who has starred for seven seasons on the TLC series I Am Jazz. 

TWEET OF THE DAY

WAIT, MAYBE *THIS* IS THE TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* FX’s The Old Man, the new drama starring Jeff Bridges, will premiere Thursday, June 16th at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.

* Bel Air and the flawed logic of black excellence.

* AMC is continuing its relationship with Bob Odenkirk business with a straight to series order for the comedic drama Straight Man, which will premiere in 2023 on AMC and AMC+.

* The MTV Video Music Awards will air live and in person this year on Sunday, August 28, from New Jersey’s Prudential Center.

* Warner Bros Discovery sets international leadership following close of merger.

* Crunchyroll CEO Colin Decker resigns following merger with Filmation.

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

All About Gila (Netflix)
Amsterdam (HBO Max)
Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story (Hulu)
Curb Your Carbon (Discovery+)
He's Expecting Series Premiere (Netflix)
Marlon Wayans Presents: The Headliners (HBO Max)
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers The Globe - Hungary For Democracy (Comedy Central)
The Flight Attendant Season Two Premiere (HBO Max)
The Wonder List With Bill Weir Season Four Premiere (CNN+)
Virus 32 (Shudder)
Windy City Rehab Season Premiere (HGTV)

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

SEE YOU FRIDAY!

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