Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, August 16th, 2023

Why yes, I would like to "continue watching"

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, August 16th, 2023. 

WHY YES, I WOULD LIKE TO 'CONTINUE WATCHING'
I don't have any streaming subscriber user data to support the idea, but I suspect that when the average person logs into a streaming service, one of the primary reasons is to resume watching something they didn't finish the last time they accessed the service. So given that, you would expect that most services would put that "continue watching" section pretty high up on the main page.

But for the same reasons that grocery stores make customers walk through the entire building to grab some much-needed toilet paper, some streaming services adopt the attitude of "I know what you'd LIKE to watch. But please check out these somewhat random things we'd prefer you watch instead."

The app UI for each platform can be quite different. As an example, the Netflix app on an Apple TV is much different than the one available on a Roku. So with that in mind, I decided I would randomly pick a platform and see how each major streaming service handles the "continue watching" question. I opted to look at the Roku apps, for the very science-driven reason that a Roku dongle is the one I have on my office TV.

So here's a quick look. I am ignoring any rotating carousel windows at the top of the home page, as well as any row of "brands" (what we oldsters used to call networks) that are being promoted.

Discovery+
1) "Featured"
2) "Continue Watching"

I am going to be generous and go with a B-. And to be honest, until a couple of months ago, it would have been a solid D grade. But some recent tweaks have made the app less annoying, although only slightly so.

When it works, the "Continue Watching" section is great. Because not only does it keep track of shows I am in the middle of watching, if I add a show to my list and have watched the latest episode, it will add the show back onto the list when the next episode is available. A feature which is super helpful. Sadly, it only seems to work about half the time. And it doesn't remember to remind me when a new season of a show on my list available.

Discovery+ also still hasn't fixed its most annoying quirk. When the final episode in any show's season ends, the app will auto-start some random program. There doesn't appear to be a way to stop that from happening and when the next random show begins, it is automatically added to your "Keep Watching" section. They recently added a "press to remove" selection, which allows you to remove the interlopers. But it is a weird work-around.

Disney+
1) "Action And Adventure"
2) "New To Disney"
3) "Continue Watching"

Grade this one a B. Third position isn't an unreasonable spot, although I'd love to know the marketing discussions that led up to "Action And Adventure" being at the top.

Hulu Live TV:
1) "Live Now"
2) "TV For You" (which is reasonably accurate)
3) "Movies For You" (which seems to be mostly what's new on Hulu"
4) "Continue Watching"

So I would give Hulu's UX a solid B in this case. "Continue Watching" wasn't the top choice, but the three items above it had some possibility of being useful. And there appears to be some modest level of personalization at work. 

Max:
1) "Continue Watching"

It's an A for Max in this challenge. Especially since they also play "My List" in the number four spot.

Netflix
1) "Recently Added"
2) "Continue Watching For Rick"

An A+ for Netflix. A #2 spot is fine and numbers 3 & 5 are the very helpful "Trending Now" and "My List." Netflix also has a "New & Popular" section in left side vertical navigation bar, which includes Top Ten Lists and rundowns of programs "Coming Next Week" and "Worth The Wait." The sections include both TV shows and movies and you can asked be reminded when a title premieres (you receive an email on the premiere date). A really bit of content discovery and it's one of the reasons why the service is so effective at driving subscribers to new (or new to them) titles.

Paramount+ 
1) "Keep Watching"

This one gets a solid A grade. While there are many things about the Paramount+ app I dislike, it puts "Keep Watching" at #1 and "My List" is #3.

Peacock
1) "Peacock Picks"
2) "For You"
3) "Just Added"
4) "Continue Watching"

This one is a soft C grade. While the #4 spot is the same as on Hulu Live TV, it seems lower because the top two sections just seem randomly populated. There doesn't appear to be the slightest bit of personalization and "Peacock Picks" seems to be obsessed with pushing Bravo reality titles. Programming I have never watched on Peacock.

Philo
1) "Recommended"
2) "Keep Watching"

It's a B. The Philo app is pretty bare bones and that's what dropped it down a bit. Also, most of the shows on the "Recommended" list seem to be drawn from my saved shows list But bonus points for the top of the home page promo carousel, which includes several of the most recent episodes you need to continue watching.

Prime Video
1) "Continue Watching"

Amazon's TV app receives a B-. Yes, "Continue Watching" is in the top slot. But of all of the major streaming video apps, this one is the most likely to forget I was watching something. Or how far I was in the program. Plus, the app itself is just a mess. 

THIS IS BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE A 'PENSKE OUTLET STORY OF THE DAY' FEATURE
After yesterday's piece about Deadline, I was hoping to have at least a brief respite before writing another piece about a Penske Media-owned trade outlet. Unfortunately...

Now there is a lot of skepticism from union members about much of the strike coverage that appears in the Penske Media-owned trade outlets. Some of that is warranted, some of it is just a reflexive criticism. But there are a number of occasions recently when I have looked at an article in one of the trades and wondered what they were thinking.

Variety's Gene Maddaus wrote a piece today entitled "TV Staff Minimum Remains Key Sticking Point, But Some in WGA Privately Grumble: ‘Nobody Asked for This," and given the headline, it probably isn’t a surprise that a number of WGA members are unhappy with the article.

The tone of the article is very unbalanced and while I don't have a problem with any journalist using unnamed sources for stories (I certainly do it), it is a problem when a journalist relies on the unnamed sources to buttress the dubious argument that most showrunners are against the idea of mandated writers room size. From the hyperbolic headline to the barrage of complaints about the idea, the Variety piece has a definite point of view.

It's tempting to chase the contrary viewpoints in a story because sometimes that is where you get the best quotes. But this piece feels as if Maddaus got too caught up in putting forth a contrarian view that he lost sight of the story. And the undefinable fact that there are plenty of showrunners - I'd argue most of them - who are just fine with the idea of some sort of minimum writers room size. 

Not including more of those voices might have made the article more clickworthy. But it made a much less accurate piece.

ODDS AND SODS
* Universal Pictures’ Fast X is set to begin streaming on Peacock September 15th.

* Here is a first video look at the upcoming Hulu original series The Other Black Girl, which premieres Wednesday, September 13th. And ICYMI, here are some photos from the series. 

* The true crime series True Crime Confidential returns for a second season Wednesday, September 6th on Investigation Discovery.

* Here's a first video look at the Prime Video movie A Million Miles Away, which premieres on Friday, September 15th. 

* Sorry Apple TV users. you'll never be able to stream Netflix games.

* Behind the making of Alone, the most genuinely perilous show on television.

WHAT'S NEW TODAY AND TOMORROW:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16TH:
At Home With The Furys Series Premiere (Netflix)
Battle Of The Decades Series Premiere (Food)
Depp Vs. Heard (Netflix)
Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars Season Finale (Fox)
Guy's Grocery Games: All-Star Invitational (Food)
Miguel Wants To Fight (Hulu)
Temptation Island: Secrets Revealed (Peacock)
The Chosen One (El Eledgido) Series Premiere (Netflix)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17TH, 2023:
Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks (Hulu)
Dark Rivers Series Premiere (Topic)
Fenris Series Premiere (Viaplay)
Killing It Season Premiere (Peacock)
My Dad The Bounty Hunter Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
My Son Didn't Do It (LMN)
The Upshaws Part Four Premiere (Netflix)
Tracy Morgan: Taking It Too Far (Max)

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

SEE YOU THURSDAY!

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