Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, January 28th, 2021

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, January 28th, 2021. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities suburbs, where AllYourScreens HQ is powered by black coffee and tomato soup.

Today’s newsletter is a bit shorter than normal. It’s a heavy reporting day and among other things I’m getting a look at some planned user interface changes at one of the streamers. Hopefully, this is something I’ll be able to talk about soon.

WHEN IT COMES TO THIS MOVE, I ADMIT THAT I AM STUMPED
I like Discovery+ a lot. The price is point is good and if you are someone who watches any of Discovery Communications networks on a regular basis (and my household does), Discovery+'s mix of tens of thousands of episodes of your favorite shows, along with new linear programs and originals makes it a must-have. Still, I have to admit Discovery+ is making some choices I find perplexing.

You can browse for content several different ways in the app and one method is via individual networks tabs that include every program on the service from that network. There is a tab for nearly every Discovery Comm. network, along with ones for A&E, History and Lifetime. But the service has now added five more network tabs to the already lengthy mix - digital networks The Dodo, Popsugar, Now This, Seeker and Thrillist. The odd thing is that at least in the Roku app, while those five digital networks show up in the tabs that are listed on the home page, they don't show up if you click "browse" and search that page’s network list.

But a bigger mystery is why these networks are there in the first place. While some of their content is fine, there isn't much there that falls into the category of "must have." And given how much content Discovery+ also contains, the additions seem pointless. I'm assuming it's all part of a marketing deal, but including those widely distributed networks as part of the Discovery+ programming mix makes everything seem less exclusive and on-brand.

ABC NEWS HEAD STEPPING DOWN
In a memo sent to ABC News employees earlier today, ABC News President James Goldston said he is stepping down. His last day is on March 31st. This isn't an unexpected decision, Goldston has been rumored to be leaving for months and according to some previous reporting, Disney executive Peter Rice has said to sources in the past that he did not think Goldston was the right fit for ABC News.

There are a bunch of names being privately floated for his replacement, but there doesn't seem to be a clear favorite as of yet.

THERE ARE BAD NUMBERS AND THEN THERE ARE BAD NUMBERS
You are seeing a lot of streaming service subscriber numbers being thrown around in press coverage this week and most of them are just one step above smoke and mirrors. HBO Max touted its increase in "activations," which isn't the same as subscribers. The number apparently includes people who downloaded the app. Which is the streaming media world's version of describing me as a Mustang owner because I drive one in Grand Theft Auto.

And then there is Peacock, where NBCU head Jeff Shell bragged on Thursday that viewing of The Office on Peacock is ahead of what the "pace" was when it was on Netflix. And yes, that's a vague metric that even a psychic couldn't accurately define with a Ouija Board and six voices from beyond. He also said that the new streaming service is off to a "promising" start and is "exceeding internal projections." So why would an executive offer up such a mushy bunch of data points? Well, one reason is that entertainment industry trades like Deadline will just spit his comments back out, giving the service some positive press coverage.

All of these subscriber numbers being thrown around drive me a little nuts, because they don't give any sense of how well the service is actually doing at getting people to pay for their product. Premium Peacock is free to millions of Comcast customers and through other partnerships. There are a number of people (like myself) who pre-purchased a year of Peacock at a discount. And it's the same situation with HBO Max. It's not just the people who qualify for an upgrade to HBO Max because they were already an HBO subscriber. There are all sorts of bundles and partnerships that make it nearly impossible to determine how many people are actually paying somewhat close to full price for the service.

And I have mentioned that we still don't have an official breakdown of how many people subscribe to CBS All-Access? I'm sure that will all be cleared up when everything transitions to Paramount Plus in a few weeks.

This newsletter is called "Too Much TV" because....well, it's hard to keep track of all the new television premiering everyday. To help you prioritize your viewing, click here to see our list of more than 400 upcoming television premieres, movies and finales. You'll find listings from more than 70 networks, as well as streaming services and web shows.

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I'll be back with another one tomorrow. If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.