Goodbye stand-alone Hulu. Hello international Hulu.
In news that we all knew was coming, but is interesting nontheless to see it happen, Disney today officially announced the end(-ish) of Hulu as a standalone app and the service being fully integrated into Disney+.
Now, I say ‘-ish’ because there isn’t an actual shut-off date for the standalone Hulu app. At a certain point customers won’t be able to sign up for the app and it will be an add-on within Disney+.
Part of the news announced today, which was done through Disney’s latest quarterly investor announcement, is that internationally, Disney are dumping the Star brand and will just have it known as Hulu internationally.
From a user-experience POV, it changes nothing, but it makes sense from a broader Disney corporate POV. It helps the company create a globally-recognised brand (really, who among us even knows what Star is supposed to be? It feels like one of those weird ghost kitchen brands on Uber Eats). It also makes it a cleaner story to tell Wall Street.
You can read more about this at Variety.
Other Disney news today is the US launch of the standalone ESPN app. It’ll cost $29.99 a month and bring all of the ESPN linear channels and on-demand content to streaming. Read more at thefutoncritic.
Oh, and Disney will now follow Netflix’s lead and stop reporting subscriber numbers.
David Ellison - new Paramount CEO and tech mogul
Over at THR is a feature talking up new Paramount CEO David Ellison.
I was having lunch a few days back with a friend/mentor figure and among the many media conversations we came to talking about Ellison. My pal wasn’t a big believer in the idea that a tech solution is what Paramount needs.
I’d argue that it is a very big part of the picture. There’s an opportunity for Paramount as it builds afresh its tech stack under new leadership to take full advantage of the many changes in technology from the last few years. A lot of that AI-driven. Every other company is working off pre-COVID era platforms and iterating on top of that. There’s an opportunity here which can enable actual efficiencies and product benefits for consumers.
Part of the feature on Ellison speaks well to this:
Certainly the millennial comes in with some advantages: the advent of AI (which, among other things, will make content production cheaper); the use of Oracle’s top-flight cloud service to compete with what Amazon MGM can do with Amazon Web Services (AWS); Skydance’s existing partnerships with Apple and Meta on the gaming side; and even the tantalizing rumors of an Oracle stateside TikTok purchase. (If nothing else, those algorithms will make Paramount+ more Netflix-y sticky.) The automation factor in particular could get supercharged at Paramount, which unlike rivals Disney and Universal has not taken an oppositional attitude toward the tech.
All suggest a company with lots of strategic upside, and those who see Paramount as an also-ran might be reminded that the rules are about to reset for everyone, as AI-powered personalized content and automated production prepare to sweep through the industry. “He’s the kind of person who’s going to take advantage of these innovations,” says a longtime exec who knows Ellison and Paramount but is not tied to either one.
Of course, content is a huge factor. Paramount actually has some really good content across it’s multiple channels and with Cindy Holland now in charge, it feels like Paramount is all heading in the right direction.
Of course, there is the matter of decisions made around politics. Lets see how that side of it all plays out…
News Desk
Speaking of great shows over at Paramount, the new Robert and Michelle King show Cupertino is taking shape. It’s a look at Silicon Valley, which seems very topical and interesting considering the new ownwership. The news today is that Mike Colter (seen in their shows Evil and The Good Wife) is joining the cast. Read: Variety
Jussie Smollett, the former Empire star who controversially faked a hate crime, is returning to Fox to take part in reality competition show Special Forces. Read: THR
Logan Marshall-Green is joining the cast of Yellowstone spin-off Y Marshalls. Read: THR
There are more calls for Mubi to end its relationship with an investment firm with close ties to the Israeli military. Read: The Guardian
Australian indie film distributor Umbrella are launching a Games company. Among launch titles is Pro Jank Footy, which includes Danger 5 star and co-creator David Ashby among its creative team. Read: Mediaweek
BBC Studios and Australia’s ABC are teaming on Bluey short-form spin-offs that are inspired by the show: Bluey Tunes, Bluey Puppets, Bluey Cookalongs, and Bluey Fancy Restaurant. Read: C21
Trailer Park
Tulsa King season 3 debuts on Paramount+ Sept 21.
The Wrong Paris debuts on Netflix Sept 12.
She signed up for Paris, France. She got Paris, Texas. In this feel-good Netflix romantic comedy, Miranda Cosgrove plays an aspiring artist who joins a dating show hoping for a free trip to Paris, France, but ends up just a few miles from her hometown in Paris, Texas. What starts as a plan to get eliminated takes an unexpected turn when sparks fly with the bachelor (Pierson Fodé).
That’s the newsletter for today.
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