Disney chief Bob Iger spoke at a Morgan Stanley conference where he spoke about the rethink happening internally at Disney about the volume of content needed for its streaming service and how much the company wants to spend.

The overall message: Expect fewer shows on its streamer, but more quality control over them.

Here's Iger"

“I’m really pleased that the support that I’m getting from the content creators of the company is significant and real, and it comes in the form of reducing the expense per content, whether it’s a TV series or a film, where costs have just skyrocketed in a huge way and not a supportable way in my opinion. They all agree to that,” Iger said, adding that it was also about “understanding how much volume we need, reducing how much we make. So it’s how much we spend on what we make and how much we make.”

But that doesn't necessarily mean they will make fewer shows. Iger is very interested in making and licensing content to third-party platforms:

"And as we look to reduce the content that we’re creating for our own platforms, there probably are opportunities to license to third parties,” Iger said. “For a while that was verboten or something we couldn’t possibly do, because we were so favoring our own streaming platforms. But if we get to a point where we need less content for those platforms, and we still have the capability of producing that content, why not use it to grow revenue? And that’s what we would likely do.”

But, don't expect to see its big branded IP on a competing service. For example, Disney might license a Splash TV show to Amazon Prime Video, but it wouldn't license a Star Wars show to them.

He also made a comment about the future of Marvel movies and why you're not likely to see multiple sequels starring the same character - which makes all the sense in the world looking at the box office of the recent Ant Man 3.

“Sequels typically work well for us, but do you need a third or a fourth, for instance? Or is it time to turn to other characters? There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we are mining.”
Bob Iger: Disney Will Reduce Costs on Films, TV Shows to Focus on Quality, Not Volume
“It comes in the form of reducing the expense per content, whether it’s a TV series or a film, where costs have just skyrocketed,” the Disney chief told an investor conference.
The Hollywood ReporterAlex Weprin

The power of text

Netflix is giving users greater control over subtitles. Users soon will be able to select the size of the subtitles presented on screen, along with the style of the subtitles.

I'm particularly enthused about the SBS-style yellow on black subtitles, which is how a subtitle was always meant to look, imho.

Netflix rolls out customizable subtitles for TV
Increase text size and style to make captions easier to read.
The VergeJess Weatherbed
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  • Bob Odenkirk will star in a remake of The Room, which has been produced for charity without the approval of very handsome auteur Tommy Wiseau. Read: Indiewire
  • An editing glitch on Jeopardy! revealed the results of the competition at the start of a recent episode. Read: NY Post
  • Greg Kinnear joins Part 2 of the current season of You. Read: Indiewire
  • After 51 seasons of TV, game show The Price Is Right will film from a new studio with its next season. Read: TV Line
  • Charles Holmes says its time to give the multiverse a rest, Hollywood. Read: The Ringer
  • Amazon is working on an adaptation of From Blood and Ash, a fantasy series of books. Read: THR

Yellowjackets returns March 24 for season 2 on Showtime.

New Shawn Ryan show The Night Agent debuts March  23 on Netflix.

While monitoring an emergency line, a vigilant FBI agent answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House.

The Last Thing He Told Me debuts April 14 on Apple TV+.

Slip stars Zoe Lister-Jones and debuts April 21 on The Roku Channel.

Restless in her marriage, "Slip" - starring Zoe Lister-Jones - follows Mae through a surreal journey of parallel universes, married to different people, trying to find a way back to her partner, and ultimately, herself.

Hunger debuts April 8 on Netflix.

A talented young street-food cook pushes herself to the limit after accepting an invitation to train under an infamous and ruthle

And that's that for another day. And another week. Somehow it is Friday already? Wild. The supporter-only Always Be Streaming newsletter will be in your inbox later today.