No official details yet on the Apple TV+ service, but Bloomberg is mooting a $9.99 monthly price with free trial windows as the service builds up its content library. That seems a little high considering the size of its library and what competitors are offering, but it makes more sense if the $9.99 price is only for those who aren’t subscribed/customers of Apple services.
Source: Bloomberg
Your plan to wait out YouTube so that you can start watching their Original shows for free has finally paid off. From 24 September, shows including Cobra Kai, Impulse, Step Up: High Water, Mind Field, and Foursome will now be available without you needing to pay a single cent. All you need to offer is some time to watch some advertising and a willingness to inadvertantly fall down a YouTube viewing rabbit hole and become radicalised by videos promoting extreme right wing sentiment.
Source: /FILM
Ryan Murphy’s new show for Netflix The Politician has this trailer for your consideration:
Seven West Media has reported a $444 million loss after auditors forced another savage impairment charge on the TV operations in Australia. It places the abrupt termination of Channel 7 CEO Tim Worner in a whole new light.
Part of the blame is placed on a tough advertising market. Expect thought pieces on this at Mumbrella ASAP with someone from adland insistent that Netflix need to offer an advertising-driven tier of its service.
Source: ABC
There’s a good feature about The Dark Crystal TV show that debuts on Netflix this week.
“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance,” premiering Friday on Netflix, is built on an even grander scale. A 10-part series, it includes 180 puppet characters, 90 different sets and 10,000 lines of dialogue voiced by an all-star cast that includes Mark Hamill, Helena Bonham Carter, Andy Samberg, Simon Pegg and Keegan-Michael Key. The grotesque Skeksis, the gentle Gelflings and the potato-faced Podlings will be familiar to anyone who has seen the film, but the series is new territory for everyone involved, including the viewer.
Source: NY Times
There’s a fun column from former Cheers and M*A*S*H* writer Ken Levine about TV episode lengths being cut for syndication.
You would think that independent stations who paid fortunes for these syndicated packages would insist that the episodes at least could be comprehended. But I guess not. The studios make their money, the stations get their ratings, and the only losers are (as always) the viewers.
Source: By Ken Levine
Yesterday I mentioned Spider-Man in the ABW newsletter - well, there’s some pretty big Spidey news hitting today - Marvel will no longer have a hand in producing the Spider-Man movies. You can probably assume that you’ve now seen the last of Spidey appearing in any of the Marvel movies and that probably kills the Happy Hogan/Aunt May romance ongoing storyline.
Source: Deadline
Succession has been picked up for a third season. I don’t think this news is a surprise to anyone.
Source: Broadcasting & Cable
And finally…
This week’s Always Be Watching podcast is ready for you to listen to. This week Dan & Chris are joined by film critic and Sydney Sci-Fi Festival Program Director Simon Foster.
There’s a discussion of Netflix martial arts action show Wu Assassins, but there’s also an extensive conversation about the new film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to the TV & movies of the late 1960s.
You can listen to the podcast on your favourite podcast apps, or listen to it via the web HERE.
