The things about stories like the battle over the Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery merger is that they are loud, messy media stories that are important enough to crowd just about everything else off the front page (if we had a front page anymore).
But there are all sorts of seemingly smaller stories that don’t have the same impact. But these incremental changes in what we watch and where will have just a big long-term effect on the television and streaming video industry.
From Netflix expanding its deal with AMC to MSNOW launching a membership “super fan app” to DirecTV’s efforts to insert itself into the center of the streaming business, there are a number of stories that end up being more substantial in the aggregate than they are separately.
Netflix, AMC Announce New Co-Production Deal
Netflix and AMC announced on Thursday they have greenlight a co-produced drama series, Bannerman. Shane Black co-wrote the first episode, and will executive produce and direct the first two episodes. Craig Silverstein will showrun, write, and executive produce. Greg Nicotero and Brian Witten will also executive produce.
The greenlight is the first co-production between the companies to jointly develop and produce select original series. The series will premiere on AMC in the US and Canada and will also be available on Netflix in the US and Canada 90 days after the premiere of the season finale on AMC.
Netflix and AMC will jointly premiere each episode in Australia, New Zealand and Spain. Netflix will debut the show exclusively everywhere else in the world.
Given the use of the word "also," in the press release, I am assuming it means that AMC (along with Netflix) will have the rights to stream the show on AMC+ after the season finale and its premiere on Netflix. Also, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Spain are also other territories where AMC+ is available and those are also mentioned where the two companies will share streaming rights (Netflix will have the remaining global rights).
On the one hand, this deal is similar to ones Netflix has signed with local networks and streamers in Europe and Asia. A co-production, an exclusive window for the local company and the ability for Netflix to stream it exclusively across the rest of the globe.
But this is also another example of the growing connections between the two companies. Netflix’s licensing of AMC’s The Walking Dead made a huge impact on its growth early on and the companies have continued to sign additional licensing deals. earlier this month announced a $500 million licensing deal for the entire The Walking Dead universe. Additionally, Netflix just landed for development AMC Studios’ drama The Headlands House starring Colman Domingo.
MSNOW To Launch ‘Super Fan’ App
One of the things I have been happy to see is MSNOW’s decision to lean more into the network’s progressive roots now that it is split from NBC News and part of the Comcast spin-off company Versant.
Granted, sometimes the network’s anchors can be a bit too accommodating to its Dem Party guests, apparently deciding not to ask questions that might prove to be a bit uncomfortable.
For instance, on Wednesday night Ali Velshi sat in for Chris Hayes on his show and one of his guests was MN Attorney General Keith Ellison and they discussed efforts by MN to extradite an ICE agent from Texas who is accused of shooting through a door at a Minnesota man during an apprehension.
That part of the interview was fine and newsworthy. But just is newsworthy is the fact that Ellison is running for reelection and facing charges from Republicans that he failed to aggressively pursue Medicaid fraud in the state.
Are the complaints politically motivated? Sure, at least in part. But it also a valid question to ask Ellison and the fact that it didn’t even come up was a bit disappointing.
I thought about the moment when thinking about MSNOW’s just announced plans to launch a “streaming membership program for super fans.”
On September 9th, MSNOW will launch MSNOW Membership, which it describes as providing "new opportunities for Members to interact directly with the brand’s trusted journalists, exclusive community features to engage with each other, a new roster of contributors and experts, original creator content, new verticals that explore how news and politics impact everyday life, and 24/7 access to live streams and television programming."
It will be available for $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually. Through September 30th 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.
To be honest, I think this is a smart idea. With CNN in some sort of holding action during the on/off merger, this gives MSNOW the chance to launch a product whose most direct competition is CNN's streaming platform.
But ideas such as this all come down to execution. Do viewers see the value in membership and is the content mix distinctive enough to keep subscriber churn down.
It sounds as if the "membership might include the cable TV live feed, although they don't specifically say that and I am attempting to get clarification from MSNOW on that.
But the editorial challenge for this membership is the temptation to do what has done with Fox Nation. Crank out a bunch of programs you know will attract your core audience. Even if they might sometimes be a bit one-sided politically.
I am going to be very interested to see what those like once it launches and I'll have a full review then.
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Is The Fact That Bari Weiss Blew Up ‘60 Minutes’ A Good Thing In The Long Run?
Charlotte Klein has a long piece in the New Yorker about the changes at 60 Minutes and she argues that for all of the show’s editorial successes, it was long overdue for substantial changes to its production process:
But everyone concedes that broadcast television as a whole is in irreversible decline. “The story of CBS is the story of people kicking the can down the road, deferring pain,” says one network insider. And the latter-day version of 60 Minutes has grown notably soft. The show pioneered a kind of television journalism that utilized hidden cameras, undercover correspondents, deeply sourced investigations, and hard-hitting interviews. Michael Mann made a whole movie about it. Now, Cecilia Vega was devoting two segments to the sherpas of Mount Everest and her ten-day journey to base camp. “What was the fucking point of that?” one CBS staffer asks. “If you’re going to go, climb Everest.” This past season included stories on the perfume capital of the world, the only active rare-earth mine in the U.S., and a dog study that may help pets and humans age well. Weiss thought the visual language of the show could evolve beyond sit-down interviews and walk-and-talks; she recently discussed filming a story that would open with footage shot on GoPros.
The piece also recounts the various battles between Bari Weiss and longtime 60 Minutes staffers, some of which were driven by differences in editorial priorities and some by Weiss’ often clumsy attempts to change the culture of the show:
For Weiss’s critics at 60 Minutes and beyond, her behavior presented a clear case of political interference on behalf of the Trump administration. Weiss and her defenders insist that, while she is more conservative than many people at 60 Minutes, the issue was not political — it was managerial. Weiss grew exasperated by the constant pushback. "She got very upset that Tanya wouldn’t consider stories Bari thought were worthy of the broadcast," says one former 60 Minutes staffer. “Tanya would explain, ‘Well that’s not a 60 story; that’s an Evening News story.’” A network insider describes the attitude slightly differently: "That’s not how we do things, and I don’t want to be the one to break precedent." Weiss wanted to go down lanes the show hadn’t before — to, say, spotlight a religious revival among young Catholics by sending a correspondent on one of their pilgrimages or a story on surrogacy, the latter of which was met with hesitation owing to concerns it would offend gay couples. Meanwhile, correspondents were openly disparaging her in messages to staff that were leaked to the public, often via the media newsletters devoted to publishing even minuscule developments at 60 Minutes and CBS News. Weiss’s closest allies reportedly began referring to the ceaseless criticisms of her as "Bari Derangement Syndrome."
Aside from the back-handed shot at media newsletters “devoted to publishing even minuscule developments,” the extensive article nicely illustrates how change at 60 Minutes was always going to be challenging. But there were also better ways to institute those changes than the approach taken by Weiss.
Odds & Sods
The Hunting Wives
While it’s not the same as the in-person awards, but the TCA announced its annual awards this morning and here is a video that includes both intros from various critics, as well as video comments from the recipients. Some really fun moments.
For The Guardian, Jeremy Barr has a great exclusive piece based on a trove of FCC documents that shed light on the close working relationship between FCC head Brendan Carr, his top staffers and members of Trump's White House team.
Former Even Stevens star Christy Carlson Romano writes in Elle that “Early fame is like CTE. Not as a diagnosis. As a way of thinking about repeated impact. We now have language for youth sports: protocols, helmets, parents worried about concussions. But we have almost no language for what happens when stress, scrutiny, rejection, adult pressure, and the collapse of privacy become the architecture of a childhood.”
While my ordering it would probably give my wife a heart attack, after reading this piece in Vince Mancini’s The Content Report. Because now I really want to eat a giant, greasy Spice Bag.
Kill Jackie, a revenge thriller series starring and executive produced by Catherine Zeta-Jones, premieres Friday, October 2nd on AMC+
Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 returns for its second season on September 17th, with 10 episodes picking up straight after the first-season finale.
The Food Network has announced the premiere dates of its two Halloween-themed show franchises. Halloween Wars premieres Sunday, September 13th and Halloween Baking Championship premieres Monday, September 14th.
Season two of The Hunting Wives premieres on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26th. Here is the very brief official logline: “At the start of Season 2, Sophie and Margo are on the outs. But soon enough, old secrets and new foes force them back together. As they play their dangerous games, the question arises. Are they the hunters or the hunted?”
Ava DuVernay's new documentary 14th will premiere in select U.S. and U.K. theaters on Friday, November 27th, before premiering the following Friday - December 4th - on Netflix. Here is the official logline: "Written in the wreckage of the Civil War, the 14th amendment was meant to close the door on the hierarchy of human worth. Instead, it has become a permanent argument. Ava DuVernay's 14th pulls this constitutional fight out of the footnotes and into the present, chronicling the vicious battle over the amendment that has raged for over 150 years. Threading deep archival scholarship with piercing headlines of today, 14th brings together legal minds, politicians, historians and cultural voices in direct conversation with a question America still hasn’t settled: Who gets to belong?"
The animated series Golden Axe premieres Wednesday, September 16th on Paramount+. Here is a first look at the trailer. And here is the official logline: “In a hilarious homage to SEGA’s iconic 1989 video game, Golden Axe follows legendary warriors Ax Battler, Tyris Flare and Gilius Thunderhead as they reunite to save Yuria from the evil giant Death Adder, who just won’t seem to stay dead. Their quest is complicated by Hampton Squib, an inexperienced and wildly underprepared adventurer whose dream of heroism far exceeds his abilities. Forced to work together despite their flaws, they must find a way to stop Death Adder once and for all.
Wednesday Was A Tough Day For David Ellison
After more than a week of flooding the zone with a series of carefully timed leaks, Paramount’s efforts to close its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery faced some negative news on Wednesday.
The findings of a report submitted to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors revealed the somewhat obvious results that the merger would result in the loss of nearly 4,500 film and TV jobs and $2.78 billion in economic value over three years. Which is why I keep finding it so confusing when people in favor of the merger claim it will “protect Hollywood jobs.”
Additionally, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin U.S. District addressed several legal moves regarding Paramount's delayed $81 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery. A decision on Paramount's demand for a $1.88 billion bond from opposing state attorneys general until September 24th. A week later, on October 1st, Paramount must begin paying about $7 million a day in penalties if the deal hasn’t closed by then.
It seems unlikely this request for a bond will be approved, given that the same judge ruled in a TRO last month that a bond was not needed in the case: “Plaintiffs have demonstrated that Plaintiff States bring suit to enforce important public interests.”
She is now going to reconsider the request, but there doesn’t appear to be any reason for her to agree to it - especially given Paramount’s $1.8 billion ask.
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20TH:
Blood Sacrifice Series Premiere (Netflix)
Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana (Fox)
Chompoo: Lost & Forgotten (Netflix)
Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter (Prime Video)
Outer Banks Season Five Premiere (Netflix)
S & X Series Premiere (Netflix)
Secrets Declassified With David Duchovny Season Two Finale (History)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21ST:
Back To The 90s (Prime Video)
Big City Greens Season Five Premiere (Disney+)
Conan O’Brien Must Go Season Three Premiere (HBO Max)
Facing El Chapo (Netflix)
LEGO Disney Princess: Magical Mayhem (Disney+)
9/11 Reunited (NatGeo)
Stillwater Season Premiere (Apple TV)
The Dynasty: UConn Huskies (Apple TV)
The Girls: A Khloé Kardashian Project Series Premiere (Hulu)
Unlawful Attraction