The Mergening

The Mergening
Number	122
Broadcast Date	April 29, 2013
Episode Length	1:17:57
Hosts	Brian Brushwood, Tom Merritt

Amazon set-top box, Netflix long term predictions, Yahoo snags SNL archives, YouTube Comedy Week, and more.

Show Segments

Opening Video

Weather Lady Goes Crazy When Camera Falls During Live Broadcast!

The Big Story

Amazon reportedly working on video streaming set-top box to compete with Apple TV, Roku, Xbox. ^{[1] [2]}

Another Big Story

Netflix's 'Long Term View' lays out predictions for internet vs. traditional TV delivery. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Sponsor

The audience, also Doghouse Systems! (neither in the official capacity)

Slipstream

• Yahoo snags exclusive rights to Saturday Night Live's archives (update: clips only) starting September 1st. ^[6]
• YouTube to get its funny on with Comedy Week. ^[7]
• YouTube now offers more MLB highlights and full archived games. ^[8]
• New York Times lifts paywall for video, plans ‘franchises’. ^[9]
• DirecTV adding voice search to smartphone app this summer. ^[10]
• Aereo brings free over-the-air TV and cloud DVR to Boston May 15. ^[11]

Tube Tops

• Boxee Cloud DVR reaches the San Francisco Bay Area in beta. ^[12]
• The CW app brings full episodes streaming to Xbox 360 a day after they air. ^[13]

Film Falm

• New episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live are airing online. ^[14]
• 'EVE Online' getting a TV show based on real player stories. ^[15]
• Kevin Spacey becomes a real-life political puppet master in 'House of Nerds'. ^[16]
• Zach Braff's new film hits Kickstarter goal as director attempts to retain creative control. ^[17]

Summer Movie Draft

• (1) Brian = $65,090,925
• (2) Scott = $20,244,505
• (3) Justin = $0
• (3) Tom = $0
• (3) Sarah = $0
• (3) Cargill = $0

Iron Man 3 premieres this week.

What We're Watching

Brian

• Rango
• Game of Thrones
• Boardwalk Empire

Tom

• Doctor Who
• Game of Thrones
• Mad Men
• The Americans
• Arrow
• Orphan Black
• Hemlock Grove

Feedback

• A viewer wonders if the weekend Game of Thrones skips a week has anything to do with the release of Arrested Development.

• Brian speaks to his Netflix experience.

I'm one of the people that (may have) gamed Netflix for the free subscription. I had intended for a while to sign up for Netflix's disc service (I can't stand the quality of their streams) to get Blu-ray delivery. I finally bit the bullet when House of Cards came out (I used the /twit URL just for you guys), watched the show and immediately canceled after finishing (and greatly enjoying) it. I also re-watched a couple episodes of Arrested Development with friends and did a few other things, but overall I only wanted to watch House of Cards.

That said, I now give Netflix approx. $10/month to get discs delivered to me, so I don't know if I count as a system-gamer or not.

--Brian from Trona, CA (Troldann of the chatroom)

• Jim questions Brian's approach to speaking about Game of Thrones in a spoiler-free way.

Hey Tom & Brian,

I love the FrameRate podcast and think you guys totally rock that ish. There are two things, I’ve noticed, that Brian has been actively avoiding outright naming in an attempt (I presume) to prevent spoiling upcoming events for those who haven't read the books. I question the logic behind this. Anyone who has a clue who [NAME REDACTED] is has already been spoiled; anyone else wouldn’t know anything about [GENDER INSPECIFIC], therefore the name itself cannot be a spoiler. The same can be said for the [EVENT TITLE REDACTED] (calling it a [NOUN DELETED] may give something away, but it would “tease” more than “spoil”, IMHO).

I hope this logic is sound and true so it will allow Brian to speak, unencumbered, about these exciting events that he seems to be anxious to speak about.

Thanks for the great podcast!

Jim

The Spoiler Zone (Game of Thrones)

This week the boys talk Game of Thrones.

Links

• TWiT Episode Archive
• TWiT Wiki

Preceded by: "Take Off Your Pants And Grab Your Pitchfork"

The Mergening

Followed by: "Direct to Vimeo"