Tag: TV
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Max
With Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) having yesterday confirmed what everyone expected, that the new combined HBO-Max/Discovery+ streaming offer will now be called simply “Max“, I have a few questions about what true global ambitions WBD has for the service. To date, HBO Max has only been available in a relatively narrow list of countries. Having…
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Peak TV and Not-So-Peak TV – Early 2023
Earlier this year, John Landgraf, the Chairman of FX Networks, presented his annual update where he spells out just how many shows there are now. He counts shows available on US services in the English language, excluding kids and soaps. In 2022, his team counted a record high of 599 programmes. This is widely thought…
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Algorithmic Promotion Shouldn’t Be Everything…
As an addendum to my last blog on the lack of physical media for the leading Oscar contender, Everything Everywhere All At Once, I thought it was worth seeing how sharp the streamers have been reacting to yesterday’s Oscar nominations buzz. The nominations came out on Tuesday lunchtime, UK time, and I’m writing this a…
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Streaming Things
EBU/Warner Bros. Discovery’s Olympic Deal The IOC has just announced that a joint European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) bid has been successful for the next few Olympic cycles, from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan through until the 2032 Summer Games in Brisbane. In the UK, that means that BBC will…
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TV – Good, Bad and Meh
We’re only two episodes in, but the third and final series of Happy Valley is just wonderful. The lines that writer/director Sally Wainwright gives to her Sergeant Catherine Cawood are just delicious. And yet it’s all so natural. I am glued to this on Sunday nights. When Reservation Dogs came to Disney+ back in 2021,…
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Why Cancel So Fast?
The other day, Netflix cancelled its strange SF show 1899 which came from the producers of the similarly weird German show on the platform, Dark. Netflix uses a whole load of metrics to determine which shows get renewed and which get cancelled, and with increased financial pressure on the platform these days, it feels like…
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New Year’s Day 2023 – Radio Times
A final TV selection for this year’s Festive season – mostly because there’s some pretty decent TV for New Year’s Day when the schedulers reckon that the nation’s collective hangovers mean that most of us aren’t going anyway too far from the sofa, even if the intentions to be better in 2023 are there. And…
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Boxing Day 2022 – Radio Times
Ideally you want to at least think about spending some time outside today. But you’re probably not going anywhere by train, which might make some of the Premier League games a particular challenge for away fans today. So good luck with those doing family trips across the town or across the country. But for those…
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Christmas Day 2022 – Radio Times
Congratulations on making it through to Christmas Day! While the family arguments begin early, I’m here to hold your hand through your TV and radio entertainment options, to make sure that you’re not stuck watching a celebrity special gameshow when you could be watching something much better (i.e. anything). Certainly, my tastes may not be…
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Christmas Eve 2022 – Radio Times
If it’s Christmas then that means I get out my Post-it notes and marker pen to run through the double issue of the Radio Times to see what TV and radio I personally think are worthwhile. I’m not kidding myself that we’re all limited to what the major linear channels are showing. Maybe you’re binging…
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IPL TV and Streaming Rights
Long-time readers will know that I have a deep fascination with sports rights, the value attached to them and the value generated by the companies that buy them. Sports bodies have worked out the most efficient ways to maximise those rights, getting big media giants to spend freely every few years. The Indian Premier League…
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The Short Life of CNN+
That was fast. Just three weeks after a big glitzy launch, CNN’s new streaming service, CNN+, is being closed down. The decision was taken – or at least announced – just over a week after the formalities completed on the merger between WarnerMedia (which owns CNN) and Discovery. Together, their combined media group is called…
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Boxing Day 2021 Radio Times
A penultimate look at the TV and radio across the festive period. Where I’m sitting at the moment, it’s a very grey and dank Boxing Day, so the TV might offer more hope than a Boxing Day walk. As usual, click through, or to the links below to view fullsize (especially on mobile). The fullsize…