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While the core TooMuchTV newsletter continues to be free, I am continuing to roll out new features for paid subscribers.
Next up is the Too Much TV Book Club, which will highlight new media and television-oriented books that are worth watching.
Right now, this includes a weekly reading list of newer books that should be on your radar as well as some exclusive author interviews.
This is a work in progress and I am sure I’ll add and adjust things as I see what resonates with everyone. So please let me know what you think.
The One Important Thing They Don’t Tell You About That MSNOW Membership Offer
Sometimes I will read a story written by some tech-savvy reporter who admits that they fell for a scam or were tricked into a deal that they should have known wasn’t what they believed they were getting. And when I read those pieces, my response is to roll my eyes and insist, “I would never be that dumb.”
As it turns out, I am that dumb. And dumb about a streaming app, which is even more infuriating.
When MSNOW rolled out their new membership app last week, I was excited because I believed the hype. I would be able to watch the live MSNBC linear channel 24/7, without a live TV subscription.
And indeed, when you navigate to the page where you sign up, it certainly implies that will be the case:
Stream Live TV…that’s what I am looking for. I wonder how much it costs?
I look at the rest of the membership page and everything looks fine. So I sign up and anticipate the ability to watch MSNOW live on my smart TV’s MSNOW app.
And it doesn’t work. I can use a live TV account to authenticate the app, but there is no place to sign in with a membership account.
So I go back to the signup page and find a short FAQ section, but none of those questions address my problem:
And after finally digging around in the FAQs, I stumble across this entry:
WHAT! No smart TV app access? Well, I guess that explains why cable TV providers haven’t used their existing carriage agreement to block the 24/7 linear feed.
And now I feel like a moron.
But I am surprised that I didn’t notice this problem when I read the initial press release announcing the service:
The MS NOW Membership is available now in the App Store, on Google Play, and online at ms.now. Membership is available for $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually. Through Sept. 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET, new Members can take advantage of an introductory offer of $39.99 (+ tax) for the first full year of Membership. Terms apply.
This seems to be the only suggestion it might not be available on a smart TV app, although I honestly would have never extrapolated that restriction based on this brief explanation of where you could subscribe.
Sigh. I apparently am that dumb. But MSNOW is also being purposefully tricky about the fact their new membership is limited to the web and mobile.
Anime Viewing On Netflix Is Growing Faster Than Any Other Genre
A new Media Partners Asia (MPA) report into anime shows that viewing for anime on Netflix has rocketed at almost 10 times the rate of the streamer’s total viewing numbers over the past three years.
The Anime Economy report draws on audience panels MPA runs across eight Asian markets, on how MPA classifies Netflix’s engagement figures and public filings, and on additional research and interviews MPA conducted.
According to the report, viewing of Japanese anime rose from 3.33 billion hours in the first half of 2023 to 4.64 billion during the first half of this year, up 39% against 4.5% for total viewing, and from 3.6% to 4.75% of all Netflix hours.
“Anime’s scale is established; the question is where the next growth comes from and who captures it,” said MPA CEO Vivek Couto. “The catalysts are streaming pushing deeper into new markets globally, theatrical events on the scale of Infinity Castle becoming repeatable, and games and merchandise carrying franchises well beyond the screen. The direction is toward ownership: platforms financing production directly, Japanese IP groups buying studios, and the two learning to work together.”
One interesting takeaway is the strength of Netflix in Asia.
Netflix carried roughly half of the region’s anime viewing across the tracking period, holding 51% of anime hours in the second half of 2025 and 50% in the first half of 2026. Japan, the world’s largest anime market, has become a two-way contest between the two biggest global platforms: Prime Video held a 43% share of anime hours there in the second half of 2025, before Netflix pulled even with 42% each in the first half of 2026.
Clicking on this app provides a bit of extra revenue for Too Much TV
The Surprising Kindle Hack 15 Million Readers Already Know About
Every day, the ebook editions of huge New York Times bestsellers are discounted to just $2. While most are unaware, readers with the inside scoop are filling their libraries with these deals.
Readers are finding these savings through a free service called BookBub.
It sends you deals on bestselling ebooks – starting at $2. No subscriptions. No monthly fees. Just books you actually want to read, at prices that don’t make you do a double-take.
You can expect:
• Personalized picks based on your reading taste
• New deals every day to find new favorites
• Flexibility to buy from all major ebook retailers
Given a single ebook can cost $15 or more – and avid readers can spend over $100 on ebooks a year – these savings add up fast.
BookBub’s deals are only available for a limited time. Sign up to see what’s on sale today.
Odds & Sods
This Tom Cruise interview in GQ is unusual - Cruise rarely sits down and talks for anything longer than a junket slot. But reading it, I can’t help wondering what topics were deemed off-limits in order to make it happen. And speaking a journalist, there is nothing more distressing than interviewing someone who refuses to accept the premise of every question you ask. I’m not sure what Cruise’s team thought this would accomplish, but this interview didn’t provide a single nugget of information about Cruise that even the most casual movie fan doesn’t already know.
In case the rise of AI journalism isn’t depressing enough generally, Daniel Parris takes a look at what happens when AI begins to cite itself when answering questions.
You will not be surprised to learn that a declining number of people are interested in a massive museum devoted to cable television.
PBS has announced that the latest episode of its Breaking The Deadlock series premieres Tuesday, October 27th. Here is the official logline: “In this new episode, eight panelists face a series of challenging dilemmas: in a town fractured over data centers, will a couple take a huge cash offer from a company primed to build one? Is it acceptable for a town to use AI surveillance cameras to identify people who might commit a crime, but haven't yet? Grappling with thorny issues touching on public safety and personal privacy, the panelists' struggles become our own.”
CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton will premiere Wednesday, October 21st on ABC.
Fresh from 14 Emmy wins, Apple TV sent a floating Widow’s Bay billboard around Cape Cod, turning the show’s fictional tourism campaign into a real-world stunt that playfully positioned its “definitely not cursed” island against New England’s best-known coastal destinations.
The One Thing I Have In Common With Business Insider
You might remember that when I moved everything over to TooMuchTV.com several months ago, I explained that it was a reflection of the fact that a drastic reduction in search engine traffic had made a standalone website problematic. And that I had determined my best move is to retrench and launch a newsletter-centric website that focused on subscriptions.
Apparently, that is the same approach being taken by Business Insider. Tonight’s Status newsletter reports a Wednesday morning all-staff meeting held by Business Insider chief Christian Baesler at the company's New York offices:
"It’s definitely a challenging time as we navigate the change of the industry and our transition from that traffic-based model," Baesler gently acknowledged.
This story is based on an audio recording of the meeting, obtained by Status, in which Baesler revealed internal figures to staffers. The numbers, which have not been previously reported, revealed the stunning extent to which the digital outlet has been starved of SEO traffic—the former lifeblood of the Henry Blodget-founded publication—and offered the shaken workforce insight into how the company’s subscription business is performing. Baesler disclosed the figures to underscore the urgency of the situation and why swift action is needed for the outlet to survive in a Google Zero landscape.
Early in the meeting, Baesler put up a slide displaying Comscore data that painted a bleak picture of Business Insider’s traffic trajectory over the last five years. Since peaking in 2021 with 95 million average monthly unique viewers, Business Insider’s traffic has cratered 78%, averaging just 21 million monthly uniques in 2026 year-to-date.
I honestly don't know how many publications will be able to survive this collapse of search engine traffic. Even for outlets that have other revenue streams, that loss of revenue is a near extinction level event.
Which makes me curious about how the various Penske Media Corp trades are handling this transition. I have heard a few scare stories, but nothing with enough detail that would allow me to accurately speculate about the web traffic and resulting revenue.
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2026:
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story (Netflix)
Murder Behind The Mask (Sundance Now)
Not A Stranger (Netflix)
Plastic Beauty Series Premiere (Netflix)
Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
The Fixers Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Howard Stern Show Series Premiere (HBO Max)
The Traitors: New Blood Series Premiere (NBC)
The Voice 30th Season Premiere (NBC)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2026:
Best Of The Best (Netflix)
Goody Goody (Netflix)
Jay-Z In 8 (HBO)
Lust Stories 3 (Netflix)
Mobland Season Premiere (Paramount+)
Outlander: Blood Of My Blood Season Two Premiere (Starz)
Pokemon Horizons Season Premiere (Netflix)
Scariest House In America Season Premiere (HGTV)
The Greatest @Home Videos: Cedy Awards (CBS)
The Scandal Series Premiere (Netflix)
You+Me - Against The World (Prime Video)