Is this the world's best video podcast set?
Video podcast sets are almost always terrible. Kind of like CNN's live streamed election show.
Late in the evening yesterday on NBC News’ digital video channel NBC News Now they ended the election night coverage to cut to a live episode of NBC News podcast Here’s The Scoop.
I think may be the best video podcast set I have seen.
There are caveats on that, which I will get to…
First though, here’s what seems to be the podcast video set for Here’s The Scoop:
Now, this isn’t the set visible on that YouTube video linked to above. But… what a goddamn handsome set. It looked great on my phone and on my desktop. I assume it looks pretty good on a connected TV too.
More important than being handsome.. it is functional.
The arc of the desk seemed to be the perfect size to foster intimacy between the guests, while also giving each of the hosts the capability to move in their chair to engage with every other person on the panel. Plus, it has a desk.
Video podcast sets are always a bit odd. They’re usually designed to be casual, but many are just too casual. Chairs are often a bit too lean-back, which creates unflattering images of many guests. And lets be real… podcast guests are rarely in TV-friendly physical shape.
Here’s The Scoop - this is what a video podcast should look like.
I did mention some caveats…
The biggest being… is this even the regular set for the podcast? Do they have a set for the podcast?
It is branded as a daily podcast and it is publishing episodes daily. You can find the episodes on apps like Spotify. But then it also says that it is available as a video podcast, but the only episodes on YouTube are about a month old. And the set seen on those videos is not this set.
So, is this a set that was created just for the election coverage TV program? Will they be using it going forward?
I really enjoyed the lengthy Here’s The Scoop part of the broadcast - it was casual and chatty, but also really informative and delivered quality analysis. I’ve long-liked Yasmin Vossoughian and thought she did a great job here as host, giving everyone opportunities to engage, while also keeping everything moving at a decent pace.
If the point of yesterday was to expose Here’s The Scoop to audiences… they succeeded. I’m very keen on more of it. But, I’d also like it to be representative of what was on display yesterday - panel conversations with Vossoughian moderating. And using this set.
Meanwhile…
Counter to the rather good Here’s The Scoop was the CNN streamed TV show coverage hosted by Harry Enten.
Reviews generally weren’t especially kind. Worth a read was this from The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr:
Throughout the two-hour program, there were few updates on the results of the election. Those watching the streaming show rather than the main CNN broadcast, which featured the network’s standard election-night fare – anchors Jake Tapper and John King pointing to maps and getting live reports from campaign celebrations – were late to find out that the network had projected Zohran Mamdani as the winner of the New York City mayoral election. (Enten had to interrupt a discussion between Shapiro and Kasparian about the white nationalist Nick Fuentes to actually share the update.)
CNN designed a set for the event that featured comfy couches, arcade games, a pop-a-shot basketball game and a foosball table. The idea was that the cast would actually have some fun, playing games while chatting politics and taking in the results. But everyone stayed glued to their seats – until the very end of the broadcast, when Enten made Shapiro play the basketball game. Neither had much success. “We have this lovely room here, and we haven’t actually utilized it at all,” Enten said. A large coffee table in the center of the room featured bowls of snacks that never seemed to get touched.
Kara Swisher, who was beamed into the room for a few minutes, perhaps too honestly, described it as “the weirdest living room I’ve ever seen”.
News Desk
In an effort to present some top-notch metrics to advertisers, Netflix is introducing a new metric it reports labelled as ‘monthly active viewers,’ which takes an educated guess as to how many viewers in a household was watching the same program (as opposed to MAU’s, which just tracked user accounts and counted it as one viewer). It reports it has 190 million such viewers in the 12 countries where it offers an ad tier. Read: THR
America’s Funniest Home Videos will launch as a FAST channel in the US on Samsung TV Plus. Read: Deadline
How long is it until Australia’s Daryl Somers strikes a deal to launch a Hey Hey It’s Saturday FAST channel locally?
Nintendo has launched a Nintendo Store app for iOS and Android. Read: The Verge
Nintendo is also in the process of phasing out the Switch console as it sets more of a focus on the Switch 2. Read: The Verge
Sarah Steele reprises her role as Marissa Gold on this week’s episode of Elsbeth. Read: TV Line
Xolo Maridueña has joined the season three cast of One Piece on Netflix. Read: Variety
Kim Kardashian, star of dopey and dull Hulu legal drama All’s Fair, is herself a law student. She says she fails law exams all the time because she relies on answers from ChatGPT. #FoolMeOnce Read: PrimeTimer
Universal has announced a release date for the Cocomelon movie - Feb 26, 2027. The good news here is that my kid is almost too old for it now and will certainly not be into it in 2027. Read: The Wrap
Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence are producing a Miss Piggy movie, with Cole Escola writing it. It isn’t clear who will be playing Miss Piggy in the film… Read: Deadline
Trailer Park
The Abandons debuts Dec 4 on Netflix.
In 1850s Washington, two families led by powerful matriarchs - one wealthy, one poor but deeply loyal - battle for supremacy on the unforgiving frontier.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan returns for season 5 in 2026.
Dynamite Kiss debuts on Netflix Nov 12.
A passionate fling in Jeju ends abruptly - until fate reunites an heir and a young woman when she joins his company, disguised as a married mother.
Cosmic Princess Kaguya debuts on Netflix Jan 22.
Iroha, a high school student living on her own, has her life upended when she takes in Kaguya, who came from the moon.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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