Watching 10 News+ between Lemonheads tracks
Australia’s Network Ten has my attention right now with a planned news program to air after it’s nightly hour-long news bulletin.
10 News+, which has a strong echo of the CBS Evening News Plus show out of the US, launches next week and promises a deeper dive into the news each night.
But what REALLY has my attention was the news yesterday that 10 News+ is embracing Spotify and YouTube as key distribution channels.
As per the AFR:
The company said it had inked what it believes is a world-first deal with audio streaming platform Spotify to broadcast its 10 News+ show as an hour-long podcast and video each day, to be available within minutes of it ending on TV. It will also broadcast live on YouTube.
What’s a bit strange about it is that there doesn’t appear to be a monetisation strategy around it:
There is no money changing hands here. While Spotify paid artists in Australia $300 million in royalties last year, this deal is more of a test – the ads will be stripped out of the broadcast, and Spotify isn’t inserting any of its own. There could be ads eventually, if a big enough audience develops.
Way back in 2020, I wrote up a story in Always Be Watching about Spotify introducing video podcasts onto the platform. My piece was about the impact this would have on talk-focused TV shows, primarily the sort found on news channels. I wrote:
Will this impact plans that cable news services have in the podcast space? MSNBC and CNN have been pushing into podcasts for some time with Fox and Sky News each ramping up efforts. Most of these shows are just the audio of the talk heavy TV shows being aired. Will they upload the video to Spotify? Does that turn Spotify into a TV catch-up platform too?
The future of TV might actually be podcasts.
Now, 2020 is forever ago in the media. I mean, look at the focus of the newsletter where I wrote about Spotify… I was talking about plans for the then-branded CBS All Access to rebrand and go international. This was some time before it was branded as Paramount+. I even wrote in the article about Quibi, as though it were a thing.
The availability of a news program as a downloadable Spotify podcast isn’t exactly what I had in mind. My mind was focused more on the talking heads news opinion shows. But, this Spotify deal with 10 News+ is very much in the ballpark.
I’m not convinced that the audience is going to quite be there for them. But, if Spotify can amplify their presence on platform, there’s always the possibility that audiences might find their way to it. And, if this sort of consumption is going to take off, someone has to move first. I’m excited that they are giving it a go.
There are consumption challenges. With the show airing early evenings, after people have already engaged in those peak-podcast listening time periods (walking the dog, hitting the gym, commuting to/from work, etc), most consumption will likely be the next day. Will audiences be keen on watching a news show (as deep-divey as it is) the next day?
News Desk
Prequel Outlander: Blood Of My Blood is getting a season 2 renewal ahead of the debut of the first season. Read: Deadline
Mad About You is (finally) making its way to US streamer Hulu. The show has been available in international territories previously. I note that the US release will include the little-seen Spectrum revival series from 2019, which curiously isn’t streaming on BINGE in Australia where the show was also recently added. Read: Comicbook
A legal battle is brewing between South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and the incoming Paramount president Jeff Shell (should the Skydance merger take place). He has been accused of meddling in contract negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix. Read: THR
Is CBS backing away from a deal with Trump? In its latest filing, it has called the Trump lawsuit against the network as “meritless” and an attempt to “evade bedrock First Amendment principles.” Read: Deadline
MobLand has been renewed for a second season. Read: TV Line
Marc Maron’s second HBO special Marc Maron: Panicked will debut August 1. Read: THR
Julian Fellowes says there is no renewal for The Gilded Age just yet. Read: TV Insider
Cancelled Disney+ show Renegade Nell has found a new home (for the eight already-streamed episodes) at ITVX. Read: Cult Box
A $230m studio is being proposed to be built at a 30-hectare site at Calga, about an hour’s drive north of Sydney, serving film, TV, games, live performance, esports and virtual production. Read: Variety Australia
I am pretty enthused to see Freaks & Geeks creator Paul Feig was announced as a speaker at SXSW Sydney. I really like him. And Freaks & Geeks is one of the all-timers. His movies can be patchy - some are great, others are very much not. I’m definitely going to try to get in the audience for this one. Read: Mediaweek
The BBC has stood behind news anchor Martine Croxall after she went viral for changing her autocue from “pregnant people” to “women.” Read: Deadline
Trailer Park
Washington Black debuts on Hulu July 23.
Follows the 19th century adventures of George Washington "Wash" Black, an 11-year-old boy on a Barbados sugar plantation who must flee after a gruesome death threatens to turn his life upside down.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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