Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, September 9th, 2022

Netflix is testing a rotating top promo carousel in its apps.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, September 9th, 2022.

WE LIVE IN THE DUMBEST REPORTING TIMELINE
I have often joked here that the easiest way to get social media attention and/or extra pageviews is to construct a story with a variation of "Netflix is giving up on binge releases" or "Netflix is releasing its movies into theaters first." Both headlines play into people's preconceived notions of what they believe should happen and journalism is a lot like selling used cars: you can never lose money giving people what they think they want.

This story has been all over social media today, with people chiming in with comments along the lines of "it's about time." The reaction is frustrating, but even the more so when you consider the tweet is factually incorrect.

It seems to be based on this Matthew Belloni piece in Puck (subscription required), in which he quotes analyst Michael Nathanson:

Second, the binge model goes away, right? “It’s not a model that makes a lot of sense,” Nathanson told me. Netflix customers may like the choice to watch all episodes at once for every show, but they’d also like the service to cost $1 a month and deliver butterscotch ice cream sundaes, and that’s not a viable long-term business. Netflix says there’s no hard evidence that week-to-week episodes reduce subscriber churn, but the Netflix churn rate has been inching higher, and it is now the only streamer with a default all-at-once strategy. The others mix and match, with an emphasis on drawing out seasons to keep customers subscribed. In a competitive landscape, that’s smart. Netflix has experimented with dual tranches for Ozark and Stranger Things, and reality competitions such as the upcoming The Mole reboot will drop episodes in bunches. But for the most part, Hastings has seemed unwilling to pivot off the binge model because he hasn’t needed to. Now, it appears, he does.  

Which is not at all the same as claiming Netflix is giving up on binge releases. Now I happen to disagree with Nathanson's take on bingeing. And for that matter, I think Belloni's take on a theatrical release for Glass Onion ignores Netflix's desire to do a theatrical release for the movie, albeit with a shorter window:

Rian Johnson is said to have begged Netflix co-C.E.O. Ted Sarandos for a real theatrical exclusive for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. As of now, it’s not happening, I’m told, outside of a few marketing stunts. (Maybe Ted would have reconsidered if Johnson had given back some of that $450 million Netflix paid for the sequels?) That’s probably a few hundred million dollars Netflix is leaving on the table to send the movie directly to the service, revenue that Wall Street probably would have loved to see on the bottom line. But it would be a major retrenchment for Hastings. Expect this storyline to repeat over the fall movie season, even as Netflix plugs its longer “exclusive” theater runs for movies like Noah Baumbach’s White Noise and Alejandro G. Iñáritu’s Bardo, which is getting 400 theaters in his native Mexico. Great, but in the U.S., if you don’t have the AMC and Regal chains, you don’t really have theatrical. Yet Hastings seems unwilling to acknowledge that not every Netflix customer wants to watch its movies on a small screen first.  

So why don't Netflix films have the AMC & Regal chains? Because they won't allow Netflix to compress the theatrical to less than a month. Which seems like an important detail.

I'll keep saying this as long as I need until things improve. Most things in the streaming sector are shades of grey. We really need to get comfortable about that idea.

NETFLIX APPARENTLY TESTING A TOP ROTATING PROMO CAROUSEL
Netflix is rightfully praised for it UX, which despite its problems is still likely the best in the streaming business. So anytime they roll-out a new tweak, it's worth noting.

I noticed this morning that on several of my Netflix apps, the default promo window at the top of the home page has been upgraded. It used to consist of one static title, generally one that had just been released and was considered high-profile.

Now that has been replaced with a rotating promo carousel, similar to ones that are on Peacock, Paramount+ and HBO Max. The carousel includes 12 choices (which is a larger amount than what you see on other services). And it autoplays the first show clip, then automatically moves to the next one, and so on.

It's not clear to me if this is a test or is being officially rolled out. I lean towards a test, since nothing has changed on my Apple TV Netflix app, but my Roku app shows this look, with the carousel titled "Spotlight:"

While on the web version, it's arranged slightly differently (with the titles along the bottom of the carousel) and here it's called a more personalized "Daily Picks For Rick." Some of the highlighted shows are different as well, which is an interesting marketing decision.

If this is a test, I hope Netflix sticks with the idea. It's useful from a subscriber point of view and it provides more high visibility promo space for Netflix.

One interesting use for this carousel would be as way to increase engagement by allowing subscribers to click a "remind me" button after they've watched episodes of a show. Clicking that would automatically drop the show into the carousel when new episodes or a new season is released. That would be helpful for shows that are released in batches. But it would also be a great reminder to watch a show you previously watched that has now dropped a new season after 18 months. That tweak would answer one of the biggest complaints I hear from Netflix subscribers:  the UX doesn't do a great job of letting you know when new episodes of a favorite show are now available. 

I reached out to Netflix to see if I could get an official comment on this, but haven't heard back yet as I write this. But if see some other variation (or don't see anything at all), reply to this newsletter and let me know.            

THE 'TRANSITION ASSISTANCE' PHONE LINE IS GENIUS

TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* Paper Girl has been officially cancelled by Amazon after one season. There are reports that Legendary TV is looking to buy the show back from Amazon and shop it around to other streamers.

* Disney has announced that the Disney+ Original series National Treasure: Edge of History  will premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday, December 14th, 2022, with the first two episodes. 

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

Are My Friends Killers (LMN)
Central Park Season Three Premiere (Apple TV+)
Cobra Kai Season Five Premiere (Netflix)
College Bowl (NBC)
End Of The Road (Netflix)
Flight/Risk (Prime Video)
Gutsy (Apple TV+)
Merlí. Sapere Aude (Netflix)
Narco-Saints Series Premiere (Netflix)
No Limit (Netflix)
The Mayor of Rione Sanità (Film Movement Plus)

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

SEE YOU MONDAY!

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