The Business of Hollywood & Streaming

[henrygandorf 28886]

On 2/24/2023 at 2:42 PM, henrygandorf said:

when you search for something on roku and it finds where it's located, you can click on it and it will take you not only to that app, but to the actual landing page for that show.  this means that the roku has that capability.  for the last couple of years i was hoping they would've cracked the "last channel" barrier that could take you from a show on one streaming network directly to a show on another, but apparently we're not there yet.

it shouldn't be that difficult, but will be a pain in the ass if not solved while live sports continues to migrate to streaming platforms.

ok, so i need to amend this after playing around with roku for a few min last night.  if you scroll down to "what to watch" it actually does keep tabs on what you've been watching and gives you the option to "continue watching" which means you can go straight from roku to an episode in a show in an app.  i don't know how long it's been doing this, but probably for a while, i just missed it.

in short, if you're deeply entrenched in outer banks season 3 (or obx3 as my nephew and wife call it), you can just click from roku to go to the next episode, instead of clicking on netflix, clicking on your profile, scrolling down to continue watching, then clicking on obx. 

it appears to do this for hbo max, netflix, prime, par+, and britbox.  it appears to not do this for apple+, disney+, or hulu.  yet.  it does however let you explore all the apps you subscribe to if you scroll down a bit more.  so it has access to apple and others, but not on the "continue watching" tab, so i assume this is something they're working out in programming.

the reason this is significant is that it gets us closer to the "last channel" technology that will be required if live sports ever start seriously splintering into streaming apps.  that's a pretty large barrier, imo.   

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

ok, so i need to amend this after playing around with roku for a few min last night.  if you scroll down to "what to watch" it actually does keep tabs on what you've been watching and gives you the option to "continue watching" which means you can go straight from roku to an episode in a show in an app.  i don't know how long it's been doing this, but probably for a while, i just missed it.

in short, if you're deeply entrenched in outer banks season 3 (or obx3 as my nephew and wife call it), you can just click from roku to go to the next episode, instead of clicking on netflix, clicking on your profile, scrolling down to continue watching, then clicking on obx. 

it appears to do this for hbo max, netflix, prime, par+, and britbox.  it appears to not do this for apple+, disney+, or hulu.  yet.  it does however let you explore all the apps you subscribe to if you scroll down a bit more.  so it has access to apple and others, but not on the "continue watching" tab, so i assume this is something they're working out in programming.

the reason this is significant is that it gets us closer to the "last channel" technology that will be required if live sports ever start seriously splintering into streaming apps.  that's a pretty large barrier, imo.   

Cool post; thanks for amending.

Topically, I thought I read somewhere Roku had a good amount of money with SVB: eek.

[HamsterHookah 112]

Here it is: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/roku-says-26percent-cash-reserves-stuck-in-silicon-valley-bank.html

• Around $487 million, or 26%, of Roku’s cash reserves are stuck at Silicon Valley Bank, the streamer said in a Friday SEC filing.

 

[henrygandorf 28886]

yeah, i saw a list where they were the 2nd highest (reported) depositor there.  i think only circle was higher, and they were way higher.

won't really matter for this conversation, but it's interesting i guess.

[Scary Stranger 1711]

Happen to have a link to that list?

[henrygandorf 28886]

52 minutes ago, Scary Stranger said:

Happen to have a link to that list?

 

[HamsterHookah 112]

Thought this was interesting:

Prices for an ad-free Disney+ subscription went up 38% last December, and yet the service — streaming home to Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and more — retained 94% of its subscribers, per The Wall Street Journal.

Only 5% of users balked at the new $10.99/mo. charge and canceled. Less than 1% switched to the cheaper version with ads ($7.99/mo.).

This doesn’t mean the ad-supported version isn’t working

Data from Antenna shows the Disney+ “Basic” offering gaining traction.

• So far, 36% of new sign-ups have gone this less costly route. By comparison, adoption rates for HBO Max’s ad-bedazzled offering hover around 21%.
• Across its full streaming portfolio, Disney customers remain ever-increasing — Mickey and friends entered 2023 with 235.7m subs, per IndieWire.

A Peter Pan-like dedication to youth helps: About half of Disney+ subscribers are families with children.

All encouraging news for the people who really make dreams come true: Disney investors

Streaming is an expensive game — the company segment housing Disney+ has lost nearly $10B since 2019, per WSJ.

Widening its audience base and ad revenues through this new model is meant to help Disney close this gap.

• Plus: Existing Disney+ audiences not flinching at price increases may enable further bumps. (Case in point: $56 Disneyland tickets in 2005 vs. today’s $104 starting price. The park is still packed day in, day out.)

[Chopper 16666]

Yeah if I had kids I'd avoid the disney ecosystem altogether. I'd probably also give away all the tv's in the house, and dumbdown to flip phones.

Apple+ must be struggling. I had 2 free months thanks to their Will Smith promotion, maxed out viewing everything I wanted (basically just Slow Horses and Acapulco) so canceled and the free trial ended March 7. I opened Roku on Monday and there was an offer on the screensplash for 3 more free months of Apple+. I logged in with the very same apple id I used up until March 7 and snagged the free 3 months so have it back for the weekly drops of TL.

Disney's bundle worked except their new subs slowed way down and that was the metric everyone has used to define success. That hasn't stopped the bundling model from being copied. Paramount+ now is bundled with Showtime+. HBOmax will be rolling out a new bundle and supposedly are going to change the name to just Max. The thing about the Disney bundle is you can get all 3 of their services for less than the cost of 2 purchased individually, so why wouldn't you do it? For example, espn+ is $10 and hulu no ads is $15. But a bundle of those 2 (ad-free) plus disney is $20.

 

 

[HamsterHookah 112]

11 hours ago, Chopper said:

Yeah if I had kids I'd avoid the disney ecosystem altogether. I'd probably also give away all the tv's in the house, and dumbdown to flip phones.

Apple+ must be struggling. I had 2 free months thanks to their Will Smith promotion, maxed out viewing everything I wanted (basically just Slow Horses and Acapulco) so canceled and the free trial ended March 7. I opened Roku on Monday and there was an offer on the screensplash for 3 more free months of Apple+. I logged in with the very same apple id I used up until March 7 and snagged the free 3 months so have it back for the weekly drops of TL.

Disney's bundle worked except their new subs slowed way down and that was the metric everyone has used to define success. That hasn't stopped the bundling model from being copied. Paramount+ now is bundled with Showtime+. HBOmax will be rolling out a new bundle and supposedly are going to change the name to just Max. The thing about the Disney bundle is you can get all 3 of their services for less than the cost of 2 purchased individually, so why wouldn't you do it? For example, espn+ is $10 and hulu no ads is $15. But a bundle of those 2 (ad-free) plus disney is $20.

 

 

The bold makes me think you are in my house! We just cancelled Disney+ (one of the few, it appears from that article) and the flip phone comment is funny and spot on.

Ted Lasso S3 dropping you'd think would be just what Apple+ is needing, but so far it doesn't seem to be nearly as culturally relevant and top of mind as in seasons past. I wonder if it's just world baseball classic, march madness and spring break competition for mindshare.

Edited March 22, 2023 by HamsterHookah

[HamsterHookah 112]

Bringing the conversation back to the negotiations and potential strike from page 1…I read this today and found it interesting because I would have guessed the Union would have taken the opposite position and been opposed to AI versus pushing to embrace it. Probably really smart and forward thinking of them though?

Quote

 

This week the Writers Guild of America, a labor union that reps film and TV writers, proposed that AI be allowed to help write scripts.

The idea arose during routine negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which reps studios, over writers’ pay. And while letting ChatGPT in the writers room sounds like a job threat, the details of the WGA’s proposal could ensure we won’t see a robot giving an Oscars speech anytime soon.

AI could do some of the work but get none of the credit

The union tweeted that it considers AI to be merely “research material,” noting that “AI software does not create anything. It generates a regurgitation of what it’s fed.”

Therefore, the WGA proposes that AI could be used to help write scripts. But the writer who turns AI-generated text into a show or movie would get all the credit—and compensation.

Zoom out: Creative industries everywhere are discussing what guardrails should be established around using AI to produce content. While the WGA’s proposal could set a precedent for materials created with AI, some are wondering…what happens when AI gets good enough to write a screenplay without a human co-writer?

 

 

[henrygandorf 28886]

48 minutes ago, HamsterHookah said:

Bringing the conversation back to the negotiations and potential strike from page 1…I read this today and found it interesting because I would have guessed the Union would have taken the opposite position and been opposed to AI versus pushing to embrace it. Probably really smart and forward thinking of them though?

 

gpt can’t handle dialogue, especially funny dialogue. it’s great with plot summaries and show bibles though. 

[HamsterHookah 112]

4 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

gpt can’t handle dialogue, especially funny dialogue. it’s great with plot summaries and show bibles though. 

Which makes sense because most things that are greenlit, their biggest weakness is in dialogue and dialogue-driven shows (or even consistently good dialogue) is rare IMO even with the best writers doing it, so stands to reason bots can do it yet.

[henrygandorf 28886]

3 minutes ago, HamsterHookah said:

Which makes sense because most things that are greenlit, their biggest weakness is in dialogue and dialogue-driven shows (or even consistently good dialogue) is rare IMO even with the best writers doing it, so stands to reason bots can do it yet.

this sentence certainly reinforces that the craft of writing in 2023 is suffering.

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

this sentence certainly reinforces that the craft of writing in 2023 is suffering.

Haha for sure. Good thing I don’t need to do it for a living, is all I can say, in agreement.

[atomheartbevo 89046]

On 3/21/2023 at 7:24 PM, Chopper said:

Yeah if I had kids I'd avoid the disney ecosystem altogether. I'd probably also give away all the tv's in the house, and dumbdown to flip phones.

I'd catch hell over Bluey and Star Wars stuff leaving the household.

On 3/21/2023 at 7:24 PM, Chopper said:

Apple+ must be struggling.

Apple is playing an extremely long game and has over $51 billion just sitting there, not doing much.  They've already invested a lot in original children's programming (and it's pretty damned high quality, I have to say) and are doing more, as well as shows for adults.  They are dumping like a billion into movies as well this year.

They still aim to be the eventual hub of the household (and already are with many households), but they are patient.  They still have some ambitions about future sports pickups, but seem very selective about what they want.

 

[henrygandorf 28886]

34 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Apple is playing an extremely long game and has over $51 billion just sitting there, not doing much.  They've already invested a lot in original children's programming (and it's pretty damned high quality, I have to say) and are doing more, as well as shows for adults.  They are dumping like a billion into movies as well this year.

They still aim to be the eventual hub of the household (and already are with many households), but they are patient.  They still have some ambitions about future sports pickups, but seem very selective about what they want.

their hit rate on original programming is also unmatched, imo.

[atomheartbevo 89046]

49 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

their hit rate on original programming is also unmatched, imo.

Yeah, they seem to play into that Apple = quality thing with their programming.

[HamsterHookah 112]

Disney laying off 7,000 starting today-- I wonder if a contingent of that will be Disney+

[HamsterHookah 112]

On 3/28/2023 at 10:10 AM, HamsterHookah said:

Disney laying off 7,000 starting today-- I wonder if a contingent of that will be Disney+

Disney Eliminates Its Metaverse Division as Part of Company’s Layoffs Plan

The unit, once seen as developing a new form of storytelling, had about 50 employees

[HamsterHookah 112]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-31/netflix-restructures-film-group-as-it-scales-back-movie-output

Netflix Inc. is restructuring its film group to make fewer movies each year and centralize decision-making, the company said Thursday.

Netflix will combine units that produce small and midsize pictures, a change that will result in a handful of layoffs and the departure of two of its most experienced executives. Lisa Nishimura, who led Netflix into standup comedy and original documentaries, will depart after more than 15 years at the company. She is presently responsible for documentaries and smaller-budget films. 

[HamsterHookah 112]

Posting here because when talking about the business of Hollywood, you have to include Ari Emmanuel:

Quote

 

Ari Emanuel’s media colossus Endeavor, whose properties include the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has agreed to buy World Wrestling Entertainment, creating a live event behemoth and cementing its status as a leader in combat sport competitions.

The combination will create a new, publicly traded company that is 51 percent owned by Endeavor, with W.W.E. holding the remaining 49 percent. The new company will be worth more than $21 billion; the all-stock deal values W.W.E. at $9.3 billion and U.F.C. at $12.1 billion. Endeavor’s other units, which include the William Morris Endeavor talent agency, will remain a separate publicly traded company.

The acquisition is the latest big win for Emanuel, who has become one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood by transforming his talent agency into a multipronged media group. Endeavor wants to tap into the growing demand for live events, which remain a linchpin of cable TV and streaming giants like YouTube, that are acquiring broadcast rights. He will be C.E.O. of the new company and retain the same role at Endeavor.

“Must-watch TV is a rarity these days,” Mark Shapiro, Endeavor’s president, told The Times. “And unicorns like the U.F.C. and W.W.E. will be heavily in demand.”

 

 

[Chopper 16666]

Ari's the best

[HamsterHookah 112]

Wait, another streaming service or is this just consolidating HBO Max with Discovery?

Warner Bros. Discovery unveils a new streaming service. Expected to be called Max, the app will combine HBO series like “Succession” with Discovery’s library of reality series for about $16 per month. The promise of a streaming service that could compete with Disney and Netflix was one selling point of the merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery last April.

[orange dream 1227]

I think this just combines HBO with Discovery+ (HGTV, Food Network, Magnolia, Travel, History, A&E, Lifetime, etc.)

I'm not sure exactly how that will impact everyone.  I get HBO free through cell phone deal, but pay $6 or $8 / month for Discovery+

I doubt it will all be free but it would stink if my $$ doubles, which means that is probably what will happen. 😡

[Chopper 16666]

2 hours ago, orange dream said:

I think this just combines HBO with Discovery+ (HGTV, Food Network, Magnolia, Travel, History, A&E, Lifetime, etc.)

I'm not sure exactly how that will impact everyone.  I get HBO free through cell phone deal, but pay $6 or $8 / month for Discovery+

I doubt it will all be free but it would stink if my $$ doubles, which means that is probably what will happen. 😡

Discovery+ will still exist as a separate stream. Bye HBOMAX, hello MAX, and all the cheap-ass, uncreative, non-risk taking (more shitty franchise exploitation) programming decisions likely to ensue, including portions (or perhaps all) that is currently on Discovery+.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Chopper

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 minute ago, Chopper said:

Discovery+ will still exist as a separate stream. Bye HBOMAX, hello MAX, and all the cheap-ass, uncreative programming decisions likely to ensue, including portions (or perhaps all) that is currently on Discovery+.

My understanding that the whole reason they merged this companies and brought in that CEO was to be aggressive in cutting costs and turning profits a la "year of efficiency" that has gripped all the tech companies.

[Chopper 16666]

21 minutes ago, HamsterHookah said:

My understanding that the whole reason they merged this companies and brought in that CEO was to be aggressive in cutting costs and turning profits a la "year of efficiency" that has gripped all the tech companies.

Yeah probably. It was an idea borne 2 years ago and it's taken this long to put it into action. I guess two years ago the head of discovery/hgtv/foodnetwork thought he'd try to emulate the disney/hulu/espn+ package and this is the result.

Do people who subscribe to hbo give a fuck about watching the pimple popper or some hgtv show or whatever the food network has running these days? Not in my opinion. The mediocrity/shittiness of those shows is the reason so many people don't bother to subscribe to cable.

[Chopper 16666]

@HamsterHookah

I've c&p'd the more interesting analysis culled from today's NYT article. The problem for HBO is their growth in subscribers from traditional cable is dead, so they need growth and profits from the app. "Max" is supposed to cut costs, grow viewership AND increase subscribers' time spent on the app. The crew in charge seems way out of their depth. I don't think HBO viewers want low budget, unscripted, cookie-cutter shows like those that thrive on the discovery channels.
 

Quote

 

It is not yet clear how existing subscribers will migrate from HBO Max to the new service once it’s available. That is one of the topics that executives are expected to address on Wednesday. Discovery+ will remain a stand-alone app.

Some analysts question whether combining Discovery’s library of programming with the scripted shows available on HBO Max will put the new combined app over the top. Julia Alexander, the director of strategy at the research firm Parrot Analytics, said she was “skeptical that it will drive the level of subscriber acquisition that some on Wall Street are looking for.”

But, she argued, it will help with time spent on the app, pointing to data that many subscribers use streaming services for ambient television experiences — the kind of watch-it-while-you-fold-the-laundry fare that is Discovery’s bread and butter with brands like HGTV and the Food Network.

“You’re opening HBO Max once a week and might not open it up for the rest of the week,” she said. “They want you to open it two, three or four times a week. Unscripted programming creates that increased engagement.”

Indeed, even though HBO has been on a delirious hot streak — one hit after the next going back to August, including “The House of the Dragon,” “The White Lotus,” “The Last of Us” and, now, “Succession” — the amount of time spent on the app in the United States is toiling in the lower-middle ranks of the top streaming services.

According to Nielsen, 1.3 percent of the total minutes spent by Americans using television was with HBO Max in February, a fraction of what YouTube (7.9 percent), Netflix (7.3 percent), Hulu (3.3 percent) and Amazon Prime (3 percent) garnered. HBO Max instead finds itself in the same neighborhood as Comcast’s Peacock and the Fox Corporation’s free advertising-supported streaming service, Tubi.

If there is more time spent on the new service, Ms. Alexander said, that could help prevent subscribers from canceling the service when the company inevitably raises the price. And it could increase revenue from advertisers on the streaming service’s lower-priced tier.

And removing HBO from the streaming service’s name also signals an ambition to attract more subscribers.

“Dropping HBO from the name is cementing that ‘we’re not just a home for premium programming,’” Ms. Alexander said. “‘We’re the home for anything you want to watch.’”

 

 

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 hour ago, Chopper said:

@HamsterHookah

I've c&p'd the more interesting analysis culled from today's NYT article. The problem for HBO is their growth in subscribers from traditional cable is dead, so they need growth and profits from the app. "Max" is supposed to cut costs, grow viewership AND increase subscribers' time spent on the app. The crew in charge seems way out of their depth. I don't think HBO viewers want low budget, unscripted, cookie-cutter shows like those that thrive on the discovery channels.
 

 

Thanks for posting this. That makes a TON of sense now. And I agree with the Street and the analysts that HBO, while a premium product with premium content, is more "appointment" TV than background noise/general entertainment. I am one of those who gladly pay the HBO subscription to open the app once a week for my show (Succession) and am one of those the article talks about that is content to do so. Once the show ends, I'll cancel my subscription again. I can see how trying to be more sticky is important these days.

[Chopper 16666]

Looong, very critical but balanced Hollywood Reporter article about Amazon's studio. tldr: No vision. Pay sucks on a comparative basis. Not fun to work for. Amazon culture doesn't fit Hollywood. Last choice for creatives.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/inside-amazon-studios-jen-salke-vision-shows-1235364913/

[HamsterHookah 112]

A strike could be coming!!

Hollywood writers authorize a strike. Unions representing thousands of movie and television writers overwhelmingly supported a walkoutwhen their contract with major studios expires on May 1. If a strike happens, it would be the first in 15 years; the unions and studios are at an impasse on economic issues, including the use of so-called minirooms to produce shows.

[gyroprotagonist 2591]

so more reality TV?  barf

[Deej 76218]

8 hours ago, HamsterHookah said:

A strike could be coming!!

Hollywood writers authorize a strike. Unions representing thousands of movie and television writers overwhelmingly supported a walkoutwhen their contract with major studios expires on May 1. If a strike happens, it would be the first in 15 years; the unions and studios are at an impasse on economic issues, including the use of so-called minirooms to produce shows.

ChatGPT, come on down!!!

[HamsterHookah 112]

Netflix earnings yesterday were good-- apparently the ad tier they introduced is killing it. Also there was a doubling down on their movie strategy as well. One thing I learned was that I didn't know they still had the DVD-mail business, but they are sunsetting that this summer. 8 people will be mad, I'm sure.

from wsj:

Quote

 

Netflix Inc. said it would roll out new password-sharing limitations more broadly — including in the U.S. — by the end of June, and announced it would soon wind down the DVD-by-mail business that the company was built upon.

Netflix added 1.75 million subscribers in the first quarter and ended the period with 232.5 million customers, a far slower pace of growth than it was accustomed to before and during the pandemic. After losing subscribers for the first time in a decade a year ago, the company took a series of steps to expand its customer base, including launching an ad-supported tier of service and starting to limit password sharing. The strategic changes highlight the streamer’s ongoing transition from an upstart that shipped discs in red envelopes to a global entertainment giant focused on increasing its profitability.

 

 

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 hour ago, HamsterHookah said:

Netflix earnings yesterday were good-- apparently the ad tier they introduced is killing it. Also there was a doubling down on their movie strategy as well. One thing I learned was that I didn't know they still had the DVD-mail business, but they are sunsetting that this summer. 8 people will be mad, I'm sure.

from wsj:

 

Building off that:

An estimated 1.1 million–1.3 million people subscribed to the DVD service last year, generating $145.7 million in revenue for Netflix (not the worst biz).

The first DVD Netflix ever sent was Beetlejuice in 1998.

The most frequently requested DVD was The Blind Side.

[bernorange 8341]

We have the Netflix DVD service.  There are a lot of older movies and TV shows that you can't get on their streaming service that you can get with the DVDs.  I probably averaged around 40-50 titles in the queue at any given time over the last couple of years, but in the last few months, it's been very noticeable how they don't get new movies available (locked in to other streaming services I suppose).  My queue is down to ~15 titles now and I've been thinking about cancelling it, so a September sunset date works fine for me.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4962]

Older movies and rural areas that don't have reliable high speed internet, although Starlink seems to be on track to fix that.

[Dbeasy 14790]

 Subscriber to Netflix DVD since the day it became available in Texas.  I will reluctantly give it up, but don’t tell me my rotary phone is next. 

[henrygandorf 28886]

1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Older movies and rural areas that don't have reliable high speed internet

just say oklahoma.

[HamsterHookah 112]

Fascinating:

Quote

 

Netflix doubles down on Korean content

Netflix announced a $2.5B investment in Korean content over the next four years — 2x the amount it has invested in the market since 2016 — in a recent press release.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke of Netflix’s confidence in Korean storytelling and its impact on the world’s interest in the country.

“Hallyu” (meaning “Korean wave”) refers to that global phenomenon, spurred by K-pop bands, Parasite’s Best Picture win, and, of course, Netflix’s “Squid Game.” In 2021, South Korea saw a record $12.4B in content exports.

For Netflix, the move is obvious

Over 60% of its 230m+ global subscribers watched Korean content in 2022, while the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has been a source of consistent growth, accounting for 1.46m of Netflix’s new 1.75m subscribers in Q1.

Contentwise:

“Squid Game” was a global sensation. Netflix’s most-watched non-English series kept people hooked for 1.6B+ hours.

Other Korean hits include revenge drama “The Glory,” legal drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” and reality competition show “Physical: 100.”

Throughout 2023, Netflix’s slate of Korean content will feature 34 new and returning titles across genres.

Other streamers…

… are catching up or missing out.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s new Max rollout won’t hit the Asia-Pacific region until 2024, which Variety noted was a “particularly egregious” part of a “dreadful blunder.”

Disney+ wisely teamed up with K-pop superstars BTS and, in late 2022, announced numerous Asian titles for 2023, saying stories from the region would be a “key pillar” for the platform for the next 100 years.

Meanwhile, Amazon recently tried to gain APAC market share via ads in the region featuring anime and Korean dramas.

Fun fact: “Zombieverse” — an upcoming Netflix reality competition show set in a zombie apocalypse — recruited the team behind another Korean hit, “All of Us Are Dead,” to make the game’s monsters.

 

 

[Chopper 16666]

On 4/19/2023 at 9:05 AM, HamsterHookah said:

apparently the ad tier they introduced is killing it.

They are earning more per ad tier subscriber than the $15 subscriber. Something like $17 from the ad tier.

But there aren't that many ad tier subscribers so it's unknown how that will scale once/if they get a lot more.

In Netflix's favor, there is strong advertiser demand to be on the netflix platform. Advertisers have apparently been waiting for this opportunity. But nobody knows if the per subscriber ad dollar will remain as high as it is right now as the number of subscribers grow. However Netflix is very happy with it,

Myself, I have a difficult time watching any show with advertising. I make an exception for live sports but it's easier to tune out of live sports or go find something to do for a few minutes than it is to do during a regular tv show or movie. I don't watch any ad tier networks. The Sylvester Stallone Tulsa show was the one exception I've made in a few years and it was painful.

 

[HamsterHookah 112]

Strike Day! Any predictions?

What are the writers’ gripes?

They argue that Hollywood’s pivot to streaming worsened their working conditions and made it hard to earn a middle-class income as a writer. Here’s why…

Shorter series: In the previous TV era, shows like How I Met Your Mother reliably churned out seasons with 20+ episodes. Now, streamers are prioritizing seasons with eight-to-12 episodes.

Residuals: Historically, if you had a writing credit on a TV show and that show was aired as a rerun, you’d earn a royalty payment known as a residual. Streaming has disrupted that income stream.

Mini rooms: In the streaming age, writers often work in “mini rooms” where they crank out scripts at low wages for shows that may or may not be made.

So, there’s a lot of frustration. Last month, 97.85% of eligible members of the Writers Guild of America, which represents most of the working writers in Hollywood, voted to authorize a strike if an agreement with major studios wasn’t reached. That’s the most support for a work stoppage in the union’s history.

What happens if they strike? Studios have been stockpiling scripts ahead of the May 1 deadline, so scripted TV shows would continue for awhile. But late-night shows and other topical programs like SNL could be impacted almost immediately.

During the last strike, which lasted 100 days from 2007–2008, Conan O’Brien filled the airtime by seeing how long he could spin his wedding ring. More importantly, it cost the LA economy over $2 billion, according to the Milken Institute.

[henrygandorf 28886]

🧵

[Parliament 14017]

"None of these Millennials wanna work anymore."

Signed, 

Angry old Boomer

[Neonmoon 38126]

The AI language and rejection of proposal is pretty telling 

[HamsterHookah 112]

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

The AI language and rejection of proposal is pretty telling 

I posted this on March 24th, which seemed to signal that the union was open to AI, what has changed from their request? From March 24th:

Quote

 

This week the Writers Guild of America, a labor union that reps film and TV writers, proposed that AI be allowed to help write scripts.

The idea arose during routine negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which reps studios, over writers’ pay. And while letting ChatGPT in the writers room sounds like a job threat, the details of the WGA’s proposal could ensure we won’t see a robot giving an Oscars speech anytime soon.

AI could do some of the work but get none of the credit

The union tweeted that it considers AI to be merely “research material,” noting that “AI software does not create anything. It generates a regurgitation of what it’s fed.”

Therefore, the WGA proposes that AI could be used to help write scripts. But the writer who turns AI-generated text into a show or movie would get all the credit—and compensation.

Zoom out: Creative industries everywhere are discussing what guardrails should be established around using AI to produce content. While the WGA’s proposal could set a precedent for materials created with AI, some are wondering…what happens when AI gets good enough to write a screenplay without a human co-writer?

 

I am obviously not in the industry or tied to it in any way outside of just being morbidly curious about it from a finance and business perspective as it's such an odd duck compared to most businesses.

My outside-in feel from this first pass and reading the tweet that @henrygandorf posted is that it would seem like the union is in a worse negotiating position than they were the last time they struck. I'd love to hear from someone on the inside who has a better feel for the game.

That said, I've read that since both studios/hollywood AND writers were mutilated during covid and shelter in place, the appetite for a bloody negotiation and prolonged strike isn't really there for either party, as they need to make money while the getting is good again.

[tx 3 putt 75535]

What has changed ?

AI could replace a lot of people and it’s damn evil 

[tx 3 putt 75535]

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

What has changed ?

AI could replace a lot of people and it’s damn evil 

It feels like fighting against AI is like fighting against the internet in the 90's. It's a losing battle and the die has been cast and it's a toothpaste and tube situation at this point. Should find a way to glom on to it.

[Captain Ron 12722]

I'm just here to say #TeamWriters