Image source: https://www.criticalhit.net/entertainment/daybreak-review-a-for-apocalyptic-effort/

Netflix continues to employ media disruption with its fictional podcast launching this November 7^th. The global streaming enterprise is branching out beyond their original series, and concurrently, expanding their own novel programs further with extra content. Daybreak, a new apocalyptic zombie show, launched just a couple of weeks ago as a Netflix original. Now, this podcast will further add to the world the creators have built by depicting a group of teens who make a podcast in the same universe Daybreak takes place in.

This serves a variety of benefits, especially for huge fans. It’s also once again an avant-garde direction no streaming service (at least that I know have) has shot for before. I believe this move, if successful, will motivate Netflix and other streaming services alike to add similar bonus content in other media forms as well. This could possibly be a way for show makers to add more context to their shows which in turn will enrich the original narrative.

This reminds me of the podcast series that spawned from Xbox’s staple series Halo 5. I’m not quite sure of its success, but I know a good number of dedicated fans tuned in for the episodic series that accompanied the video game.

Though, I could see a potential downfall with one company trying to do too much. The reviews aren’t looking super great at the moment for Daybreak, with a 6.8/10 on IMDb. A potential problem would be if Netflix dedicated too much time to try and have both the show and podcast working well concurrently, and ultimately delivering a lackluster product on both ends.

However, I’m optimistic for their future, and Netflix continues to prove its ability to be original in a digital age saturated with derivative content.

Source material: https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/31/20942754/netflix-scripted-the-only-podcast-left-spotify-daybreak-release-date

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/roku-stock-jumps-10percent-as-company-adds-apple-tv-app.html

Back in 2018 many tech minds considered Roku one of the biggest TV tech Platforms of our time. Though the streaming device has had a couple of rocky months it has managed to bounce back. Roku was one of the first TV Tech platforms to bring our online streaming services to our televisions.

What made the  Roku service convenient is that consumers only had to buy a device, in an era where subscription services were on the rise. Roku devices come in a variety of sizes, some devices look like a small cable box and others look like a flash drive. The Roku device price ranges from $30 to $100.00.

This week Roku released the news that it would be adding Apple TV + to it’s current streaming channels. This announcement caused Roku’s stock to rise 10%. News such as this build up the anticipation for the long-awaited streaming service. Though we know the release date and some of the new shows being streamed on the platform, there is still an element of mystery surrounding the streaming service. So far we have only heard of 7 shows that will be exclusive  to the platform, but we haven’t heard much about the other releases on the service. Apple TV + will be available on Roku and other streaming devices on November 12, 2019.

The NCAA organization’s top governing board voted unanimously to allow college athletes to be compensated which will mark a huge change for student-athletes. This is more sports news, but it is also relevant media news because the athletes will be getting paid mainly for their image and likeness in the media such as product endorsement commercials and advertisements.

The NCAA’s 3 divisions will have to individually decided their own rules and details regarding this change. The NCAA has always previously been strictly against compensating their players, as they believe there should be a clear distinction between an amateur player and a professional player. Last month, California. became the first state to pass and implement a law that would allow student athletes attending college in the state to be compensated for their likeliness in the media.

This new law is very controversial and people believe it should be heavily distinctive. People believe that all of the scholarship money each student-athlete receives should be both treated and taxed like income. I don’t think that scholarship money should be received as income because its not getting spent on personal items for entertainment, it’s spent on educational purposes– which is essentially a necessity nowadays. However, it does make sense that if students are getting paid for their athletic likeliness that the money they receive from this should be considered income– because it is. They are essentially working; playing a sport, and getting paid for it. I agree with this new law, and I think it should have been in effect a long time ago. All the players that played sports in college, were great at their sport and the star of their college, but didn’t go on to be in the Professional league, could have had some sort of financial security due to their play in college.

Article: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/ncaa-allows-athletes-to-be-compensated-for-names-images.html

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/spotifys-barry-mccarthy-says-podcasts-are-growing-in-importance.html

Spotify’s CFO Barry McCarthy claims that Podcast will be as important to the company as streaming is for Netflix. This is new frontier for the music-only streaming company. Within the last year Spotify bought two major podcast distribution companies; Gimlet Media and Anchor . The company decided to spend $ 400-500 million to acquire podcast. Not only will listeners be able to listen to their favorite podcast on Spotify, but they will also be able to tune into Spotify original podcast.

This new shift for the company is possibly due to many musicians not wanting to have their music streamed on Spotify due to the streaming revenue issues for artist. The streaming service is already the most popular music streaming service, however after 13 years and over 96 million subscribers the company finally gets to make money with podcasting. According to The Verge  and Spotify’s financial review, this is the first time in the company’s history that the operating income, net income, and free cash flow were all positive.

Similar to my previous post about Google and Amazon, I believe that Spotify is trying to win the music streaming battle against all of the other streaming services. Spotify’s true competition is Apple Music. Both of the services come at the same $5.99 price (for students) and they both are  popular within the same age group. Now it’s only a matter of time to see which music streaming service prevails in the streaming world and which does not.

WarnerMedia Confirms Price And Launch Date For HBO Max

The streaming wars were already brewing, but now things are really heating up.

Earlier this evening, WarnerMedia and HBO presented their slate for the upcoming release of their new streaming service, HBO Max. The event featured a wide variety of developing content and projections as the long time television network hopes to make their mark in the streaming industry.

Some may be hesitant to subscribe after the announced $14.99 monthly rate, streaming users may feel more inclined to buy into HBO with its favorable bundles and packages. For instance, HBO subscribers already using AT&T and HBO Now subscribers will get HBO Max for free. Additionally, customers who subscribe to AT&T’s premium video, mobile and broadband packages will be offered with HBO Max at no additional cost. The bundles and already packaged subscribers linked to existing WarnerMedia properties project HBO Max to reach 50 million subscribers in the US by 2024

Although HBO Max will officially be the most expensive platform across the streaming landscape, its abundance of original content and existing properties hope to drive traffic towards the site. Along with popular shows such as Big Bang Theory, Friends, and Gossip Girl, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson stated that there will be over 69 original series in production.

As someone who already has subscriptions to nearly every big streaming service on the market today, HBO’s presentation makes me much more willing to subscribe to another. HBO has always been about quality, and with 69 new shows coming to its service, I think we can expect a lot from the company over the next few years. I think HBO Max is flying under everyone’s radar in terms of excitement. While the Disney/Netflix fume will be interesting to follow and Apple TV+ offers a major wildcard, HBO Max already attains a sustainable user base who is accustomed to no fuss, no mess, no stress. And it’s only going to get better from here. They also just spent another $500 million on South Park. Watch out for HBO Max.

Netflix announces new feature for its mobile and tablet users only that would allow them to watch shows and movies in 1.5 speed. You can keep watching in normal speed, but also slow it down (0.5x or 0.75) or speed it up (1.25x or 1.5x). This was at first simply just speculation, Keela Robinson, Netflix’s VP seemed to confirm it in a blog post on Monday. But Netflix assures this is just another new feature that they are testing which is something they are always doing, but this mobile feature won’t been seen any time soon as they wait to make decisions based on feedback. I personally don’t know how many users would take advantage of this new addition as I think many people are fine watching shows and movies in their normal speed, but I could be wrong.

This isn’t the only new feature that Netflix has in its back pocket ready for testing. They are working on new playback controls that would allow the brightness to be adjusted without having to manually go to the phone settings. Robinson also said they corrected the audio pitch at slower and faster speeds.

Big names in Hollywood, like director Judd Apatow, have already spoken out against the possible additions to the streaming platform. He claimed, “Distributors don’t get to change the way content is presented.” Director Peyton Reed tweeted that he and every director would fight against this ‘terrible’ idea. It will be interesting to see how Netflix reacts to this initial feedback some from some major Hollywood content creators.

Article: https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-responds-to-frenzy-surrounding-1-5x-viewing-speed-test/

Image source: https://imgur.com/gallery/mnnig78

AI technology has progressed society in vast, dynamic ways. Self-driving cars, marketing automation, virtual assistants that detect voice recognition and accept commands right on our phones—you name it.

And its role in the entertainment industry is changing, so much that it has the potential to change the way the film industry functions forever.

A-listers in Hollywood are being digitized. Their bodies, voices, mannerisms, and all things of life that make them human are able to be stored on a hard drive. We’ve consumed this in small doses, such as the seemingly resurrection of Seymour Hoffman in the Hunger Games series, as well as Carrie Fisher in Star Wars‘s eight episode.

Image source: https://www.channel24.co.za/Movies/News/watch-will-smith-fights-himself-in-gemini-man-20190424-2

I personally didn’t think too much about this, considering these actors passed away during the filming of their final works. Though that changed after the release of Gemini Man, where Will Smith battles against his younger 23-years-old self. But director Ang Lee didn’t hire a lookalike to play young Smith, but instead had Smith play both roles, and let AI tech handle the rest, de-aging Smith by nearly three decades. Audiences around the world were exposed to what AI technologies are really capable of, and it’s fair to say it alludes to the future we are entering.

Charles Bramesco, a writer from The Verge, is concerned that this “commodification of identity and the degradation of the real” will severely hurt talent in the film industry. Production companies already exploit their talent’s brand in any way possible to make them more money, but imagine if the actors themselves weren’t necessary? Imagine if a company didn’t have to deal with the disputes, hesitations, and potential lawsuits from an actual human. Saves lots of time and lots of money, something all thriving business adhere to.

Image source: https://letterboxd.com/film/s1m0ne/

Andrew Niccol warned us in the early 2000s of the power that can come with artificial intelligence as a celebrity commodity with his drama sci-fi, S1m0ne. As society progresses into this new medium, we can only hope the craft of acting is valued as superior to that of a computer, and like in S1mone, we stay grounded in reality and do not become all consumed with the artificial.

Source material: https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/22/20927032/cgi-digital-actor-replacement-cinema-gemini-man-the-congress-rogue-one-legality

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/342397/analyst-disney-projected-to-hit-8-million-subscr.html

Disney’s new streaming service isn’t set to debut until November 12th, however it’s already expected to bring in a huge amount of subscribers. Amongst the growing amount of streaming services, Disney+ will be up against many other services but it’s predicted to come out on top.

Michael Nathanson, senior research analyst at MoffettNathanson Research, predicts that Disney+ will have 8 million subscribers at launch, and 18 million subscribers by the end of 2020. This is a huge turnout and may force some other streaming services out of business and further disrupt the amount of cable subscribers. Verizon will be the cause of many of these subscribers, because they will be giving Disney+ premium video access to their new and existing customers for free for a year. Many of these customers will probably retain their subscription after the year is up.

Even though only about 17.7 million customers out of a total of 33.9 Verizon customers are going to be eligible for a free Disney+ subscription is predicted that by the end pf 2020, just about 9 million of the 18 million Disney+ subscribers will be from Verizon alone. Again, Disney+ is set to launch on November 12th  at an initial price of $6.99 per month or a yearly subscription for $69.99. If you are apart of The official Disney Fan Club, you are privy to some other discounts, including a 3-year plan for only $141 and for Disney Park guest, a 3-year plan will be only $170. It will be interesting to see how much disruption Disney+ will cause, and what this will mean for other streaming services.