Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, June 18th, 2022
Want to know what's on NBC tonight? Then don't bother checking its sister streamer Peacock.
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, June 18th, 2022.
PARAMOUNT+ TO ORDER 150 INTERNATIONAL ORIGINALS BY 2025
Ahead of the launch of Paramount+ in the U.K. and Ireland on Wednesday, the streamer unveiled a slate of seven new titles on Monday that will debut around the world. Executives also said the company is planning to commission 150 international originals by 2025:
The Paramount subscription VOD service previously unveiled an ambitious commitment to greenlighting 50 international scripted originals in 2022, with titles announced in the past including the likes of Sexy Beast (from the U.K.), The Chemistry of Death (Germany), Bosé (Spain), Fallaci (Italy), Impact (France) and Los Enviados (The Envoys) (Mexico), among others.
In addition to unveiling the new originals, Paramount+ on Monday also revealed casting details for the previously announced The Chemistry of Death, a psychological crime series based on Simon Beckett’s best-selling novels that will debut in all of the streamer’s international markets. The show will star Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful, Star Trek: Picard) as forensic anthropologist David Hunter, alongside Katie Leung (The Peripheral, The Wheel of Time), Jeanne Goursaud (Barbarians), Nick Blood (Close to Me, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Amy Nuttall (Downton Abbey), David Hayman (Top Boy) and Hardy Krüger Jr. (Uppercut, Stauffenberg). Shooting of the six-episode series began in mid-May and will continue through the end of August.
This news prompted a lot of the expected voices to semi-mock the idea, arguing that streamers still haven't learned the lessons about spending too much on original content or that the bulk of international programming still doesn't resonate with American audiences.
Aside from the creative reasons to expand global production, the underappreciated challenge all of the major streamers face is that countries from Canada to Thailand have proposed or passed legislation that mandates a certain amount of locally-generated revenue be spent on local productions. There are mandates requiring a certain percentage of the streamer's library be produced regionally and all sorts of other variations of guidelines that essentially force any streamer with global ambitions to increase their global production substantially, whether they want to or not.
So this international production increase would have happened regardless. But the pace and size of the growth has been driven in part by the local production requirements, which force streamers to think beyond Hollywood whether they want to or not.
MORE ADVENTURES IN MARKETING
I continue to be shocked by how often streamers aren't doing some of the heavy lifting when it comes to promoting shows airing on their sister broadcast network. Peacock always seem to stumble around with this, because for the most part, if you go to Peacock and check out the home page - or the "TV Show" tab - the only linear shows getting attention are from Bravo and NBC Late Night/SNL.
For instance, tonight American Ninja Warrior is airing episode three of its new season and like nearly everything on broadcast TV, it's struggling to find an audience. So given that, you might expect to see some mention of the show in the home page carousel, along with a push to watch a new episode tonight. Instead, the home page promos (at least on my account) are: The Real Housewives Of Atlanta, the Downton Abbey movie (which premieres on the 24th), Rutherford Falls, Dateline: The Last Day and The Northman.
Fair enough, there are a couple of big-ish film titles that Peacock should be promoting. So let's wander over to the "TV Shows" tab: Dateline: The Last Day, Late Night With Seth Myers Corrections, the six seasons of Downton Abbey, the 1990s cop show New York Undercover, The Real Housewives Of Atlanta and Killing It.
There certainly is room to promote that night's programming. Both the Dateline series and The Real Housewives Of Atlanta certainly don't need the double love. If for no other reason than everyone is going to start on the home page, so subscribers had a decent chance of seeing the first carousal promotion.
The annoying thing about this is given the slumping viewership on broadcast television, even the slightest boost can be the difference between success and failure.
BALLY SPORT+ TO SOFT LAUNCH THIS WEEK
Sinclair will soft launch its new local streaming service on June 23rd. Bally Sports+ will stream local MLB games in Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee and Tampa.
A subscription will $20 per month or $190 per year. As a comparison, NESN recently launched a streaming service in the Boston area for Red Sox and Bruins games. NESN 360 costs $30 per month or $330 per year.
John Ourand from the Sports Business Journal spoke with Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley and COO Rob Weisbord, and they continue to make the case that a stand-alone streaming service isn't in competition with Linear television (and those cushy linear TV rights contracts). In fact, service such as Bally Sports+ are complimentary to linear TV:
Ripley envisions the streaming service existing side-by-side with the linear TV service — a “hybrid environment,” he called it — for the foreseeable future.
“It’s really the only way the ecosystem will work, and it’s going to work that way for years to come,” he said. “You can’t just be solely reliant on a direct-to-consumer product. That would be a really problematic situation for everybody in the ecosystem, if that’s all you had.
“The real promise of direct to consumer is getting people off of linear analog experiences and onto digital experiences where you know who they are, you have their payment information, and you know their preferences, and you can deliver them interactive experiences.”
In the end, Sinclair seems gaming as the component that will make this idea successful, which seems to be the go-to "magic sauce" mentioned by every executive in the sports media business:
“The math for the whole sports industry gets really interesting when you have a scaled audience on a digital platform where you can deliver interactive experiences,” Ripley said. “That’s because this younger generation is really interested in interactive experiences. They’re far more interested in sports betting than their parents.”
Certainly gaming (or let's just be real and call it gambling) is a growing part of the sports business. But are there really enough problem gamblers to make this work over the long run? And what happens the first time there is a massive point-fixing scandal?
There are time when the growth of sports gambling feels like the hype over NFTs. Both ideas are certainly moneymakers. But the downsides of the idea are real and increasingly likely to occur.
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT - FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (sponsored ad)
LATER THIS WEEK
Another big week in television and I wanted to give you a heads-up on some of the coverage that will be on AllYourScreens. I'll link to the pieces throughout the week as they post.
Here are the reviews that are scheduled right now. In most cases, embargoes prevent the reviews from posting until right before the premiere:
Tuesday:
The Future Of... (Netflix)
Hip Hop My House (Paramount+) (didn't receive a screener, but will have a review up by the next day)
Motherland: Fort Salem (Freeform)
Wednesday:
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes (HBO)
Snowflake Mountain (Netflix)
Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
Thursday:
Beavis & Butthead Do The Universe (Paramount+)
Bid For Love (BET+) (didn't receive a screener, but will have a review up by the next day)
Menudo: Forever Young (HBO Max)
The Bear (Hulu)
The Split (Sundance Now)
Friday:
American Anthems (PBS)
Chloe (Prime Video)
Loot (Apple TV+)
Money Heist Korea (Netflix)
The Great American Recipe (PBS)
The Man From Toronto (Netflix) (didn't receive a screener, but will have a review up by the next day)
The One That Got Away (Prime Video)
TWEET OF THE DAY
It is impressive. Although so is the Rolling Stone URL for the story, which includes a flurry of SEO-friendly keywords such as Billy Joel, Trump and penis.
ODDS AND SODS
* Dana Delany is joining the cast of the Sylvester Stallone/Paramount+ drama Tulsa Kings.
* Freevee acquires its first Filipino-language drama.
* Keep your eye on the story about the deaths of two cast members in a vehicle accident on the Netflix series The Chosen One. I'm hearing some fairly unsettling stories about the work conditions on set and once I can nail things down, I'll post the story. But if even 20% of what I've heard is accurate....yikes.
WHAT'S NEW FOR MONDAY
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:
Doom Of Love (Netflix)
Hidden Season Three Premiere (Acorn TV)
Mind Over Murder (HBO)
The Holiday (Spectrum)
The Salt Mines (Criterion)
The Transformation (Criterion)
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.