Sportskillers

Sportskillers
Number	105
Broadcast Date	January 25, 2016
Episode Length	1:09:48
Hosts	Brian Brushwood, Tom Merritt
Guests	Justin Robert Young

Would you pay $8 for ESPN standalone? $20? $36? Can ESPN subscribe in a cord-cutting world? Also, the fallout from Netflix's International expansion and Apple TV gets a podcasts app again. With special guest Justin Robert Young.

Guests

• Justin Robert Young

Intro Video

• Look, Mom! No Skis!

Primary Target

• 56% Would Drop ESPN In A Heartbeat If It Meant Saving $8 A Month On Cable

A study commissioned by BTIG Research and anlyst Rich Greenfield

56% surveyed would ditch ESPN to sabe $8 a month (60% of females 49% of males)

85% of those polled say they wouldn't subscribe at $20 a month, even if it bundled in all ESPNs

• Mofett-Nathanson estimates how much networks would be a la carte

Took current fees paid to networks and the Nielsen reach to estimate how much each viewer would have to pay to keep - Income the same

ESPN $36.30 a month

FX $3.72

SYFY $2.73

AMC $2.58

HGTV $1.42

Signals Intelligence

• Netflix global push grabs more customers than expected; shares jump
• Netflix blocks VPN in Australia
• Netflix has a month to get its affairs in order in Indonesia
• Netflix Is In 'No Hurry' to Go to China

NFLX SUBS

INTN’L - Added 4.04mm (est. 3.5)

US - Added 1.56mm subs us (below 1.65 forecast) from 1.9mm last year

(earnings revenue rose 22.8% 7 cents a share (est. 1.82 2 cents)

VPN Crackdown

Australia’s uFlix said users reported VPN block, had a fix in place in a day

Indonesia

Netflix needs to get a business license as a local content provider within a month

Firm must open an office in Jakarta, hire local employees, and subject itself to tax regulations

CHINA

“We have a very long term look. It could be a many years discussion or it could happen faster than that. We’re going to take our time.”

“And so, our view is, if we’re looking out for the business a decade from now, we should be very patient and continue to build those relationships, and listen and learn.”

Gear Up

• Apple releases tvOS 9.1.1 software update with Podcasts app for the new Apple TV
• Apple TV Designer Ben Keighran Is Leaving
• Apple is ‘frustrated’ by TV streaming negotiations, says ESPN

Designer from Chomp (app discovery) worked on the new interface for Apple TV and is now leaving.

“I want to create not just a killer product, but my own iconic company,”

(Apple is) creating a significantly advantageous operating system and a great television experience,"

"We are big proponents of believing it would be a fabulous place to sell some subscriptions.”

Front Lines

• HBO Plans to Take On Netflix in Spain With Streaming Service

HBO will offer its streaming service to people in Spain by the end of the year, meaning it will no longer license its shows to cable networks there. About 50% of Spanish residents have broadband without cable TV service vs 16% in the US.

• Forget Hollywood: Vimeo Will Just Fund Female Filmmakers Itself

Vimeo is expanding its funding of original content with a new effort called “Share the Screen” which will fund at least 5 projects in 2016 that would not normally get backed by Hollywood. The focus at first will be on female filmmakers. A short from SNL’s Aidy Bryant, Darby Forever will kick things off February 18th.

• Nielsen Wants to Watch You Talk to Your Facebook Friends About What You Watch on TV

Nielsen will start taking anonymized aggregate data from Facebook on mentions of TV shows and combining that with similar data from Twitter for Social Content Ratings. That’s the new name for its existing product, Twitter TV ratings.

• YouTube Figures Out How to Supercharge Super Bowl Ads Even More

For the 7th year YouTube has launched adblitz.withyoutube.com to give you a chance to watch Super Bowl ads before they come to the super bowl.

YouTube also launched a beta of real-time ads, where ads can be delivered on YouTube in time with big moments like a presidential debate quip or dramatic score in a sportsball game.

• A cord-cutter's guide to watching the Super Bowl

And the Super Bowl itself will be streamed online for free as usual. This year you can get it on the Web or through the CBS Sports app which means you can watch it on Roku, Chromecast, Xbox One and Apple TV. PlayStation’s Vue service will have it. On mobile only Verizon has the rights to show it to you if you’re not on Wifi.

Under Surveillance

• Star Wars Episode VIII will not come in May 2017. Instead it will be released December 15, 2017.
• The Wrap says Avatar has been delayed from December 2017.
• A recent Vimeo staff pick is short Star Wars universe film Kara by Joe Sill.
• Orphan Black Writer Making Time-Travel Movie For Netflix

"Netflix producing a time travel film called ARQ, Tony Elliott (Orphan Black) write and direct, starring Robbie Amell

(Flash) Rachael Taylor (Jessica Jones).

Post-apocalyptic no oil unlimited energy tech, time loop, defensd the tech over and over

• Netflix is fleshing out its film program with five new indie movies

ALSO Ryan Koo is making Amateur, a high school basketball drama; Alistair Legrand is directing Clinical, a psychiatric thriller; Osgood Perkins' I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House is a spooky ghost story; finally, Gerard McMurray's Underground is a fraternity hazing drama.

• Netflix is working on a series based on Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon. Written by Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Terminator Genisys)
• So long Steven Moffat, the psychedelic romantic of Doctor Who
• Brian: Always Sunny in Philadelphia (S09, s10), Mad Dogs (2-4), The Expanse (all caught up!)
• Tom: Agent Carter, Star Wars: Rebels, The Expanse, Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, The Big Short, Straight Outta Compton, Justified, X-Files, Mad Dogs (102- 103)
• Justin: Fargo
• On the Lookout: Transparent. 2 seasons on Amazon Prime Video

Dispatches From The Front

Hello Tom and Brian!

Greetings from Wisconsin! I loved the discussion about VLC last week and it's uses, legal or otherwise. I'm writing because I wanted to give a good example of how I use VLC every day and not for pirate content.

I think Tom said it best last week that the main function of VLC is to play whatever content is thrown at it. And that's how I treat it. I'm a Producer / Director at a video production company and I deal with many many different formats and sizes of videos every day. I love that VLC can at least preview any weird things that lands in my inbox. But, also I turn my clients onto it if they are struggling to play something. Even for simple playback in meetings, VLC is a great open source tool. I used to AirPlay my laptop to the Apple TV and then play videos via VLC, so I'm excited for a native VLC app on Apple TV.

Another example of open source software we use everyday is Handbrake. I know Handbrake is primarily used as a way to strip away copyright protection on DVDs and such, but we use it to rip files out of Final Cut down to usable sizes to share that content with clients. Sure, there are other softwares out there that do that and it's built in natively to many non-linear editing software, but no one does it better than Handbrake, in my opinion.

Same with VLC. They have really nailed that streamlined video playback with none of the girth that comes with Windows Media Player or Quicktime.

Thanks, - Trevor

Netflix in Saudi Arabia I was happy using Netflix in Saudi Arabia. I had no problems watching the shows that I wanted from my hotel room. Most of my queue and several movies that are no longer available in the US were available. I even watched part of Hot Girls Wanted -- I expected shows like this to be blocked. Note that there are no movie theaters in the kingdom. Movies in Kuwait were heavily censored. So, I was shocked to find so many things available and not noticeably censored on Netflix.

Previously, I used VPN to watch shows while in KSA and India. This was a pain because the network would frequently drop for a few seconds. That would cause my VPN to disconnect and I'd have to reset it to continue my movie. Now, when it drops, I just run off the buffer until it reconnects.

When Netflix announced that they would block VPN overseas, I thought that I would have to change to a different service. From this experience, I am happy to stay with Netflix."

- Jim

Hey guys, thanks for all the cord killing advice and entertainment! I've been a cord killer for almost 5 years in Canada. The cost of cable/satellite was too much and I refused to pay it. I was left with Netflix and other dubious methods of streaming. Just recently Shomi and Cravetv became available in Canada without a cable subscription. I can finally watch most of the shows you guys spoil weekly on spoilering time. It's about time Canada started to catch to the US when it comes to streaming entertainment. Between Shomi, Cravetv and Netflix it's under $30/month. A guy can't ask for much better than that!!

- Ian from Canada

An emailer last week tagged his question with how his household distribution of streaming services looked... i'd be fascinated to see how this looks over the whole audience of cordkillers.. not sure how to collect it, but i'll throw you my stats pulled off my router

36% Google Play 10% netflix 7% hulu 1% youtube 1% amazon prime

Of course this is based on total bytes, not time.. so an optimized service may stream video to me for longer, but use less bytes, not accurately portrayed by my router. But for argument sake, you could assume these big players are similar (probably)

- Joe

Links

• http://www.cordkillers.com/blog/2016/1/25/cordkillers-105-sportskillers
• patreon.com/cordkillers
• 2015 Winter Movie Draft

Preceded by: "Selling Dish Soap"

Sportskillers

Followed by: "Cordkillers React"