Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, December 28th, 2023.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
* Given the lack of news during the holiday week, today's and tomorrow's newsletters will be shorter than normal. I added a lot of subscribers during the dual strikes and this is a good time to catch everyone up and highlight some things coming in 2024.
Monday's newsletter will also be shorter and will look back on the state of TV and streaming in 2023. I'll have a rundown of how many scripted shows aired during the year, as well as breaking it down by the number of new premieres as well as networks. FX usually rolls out an estimate during the Spring TCAs (which happens next in February). But aside from the fact that I don't think it makes sense to wait until then, I am hoping to be a bit more transparent with the process than FX has been.
* While it might seem as if I only have time for TV, I am also a pretty massive music geek. One of my favorite music Substacks is Brad Kyle's Front Row And Backstage. He has a regular feature called "Tune Tag," and in each one, a guest contributor picks a tune (the more unexpected the better) and he picks one that has some connection to the first song. This goes back and forth for four rounds and then at the end, each person shares why they made the song choices they did and whether they could figure out the connections to the choices they received.
I'm this week's victim..err..contributor and you can read it all here. Spoiler alert: Brad and I go down some musical rabbit holes, although I suspect you'll also hear some great tunes for the first time.
A FEW YEAR-END THOUGHTS FROM AN APPLE TV+ EXECUTIVE
During the WGA strike, I spoke several times with an Apple TV+ executive and those pieces were some of the most-shared and read posts of mine in 2023.
I recently spoke again with the executive and I'll be posting the entire interview on AllYourScreens this weekend. But here is a first look at some excerpts:
Q: What do people in the industry get wrong about Apple TV+?
A: (laughing) I want to say "just about everything." But I get it. We don't share a lot of core data publicly, so it can be hard to see how our business works. Without accurate subscriber numbers - and I can tell you that most of the estimates I've seen are wrong - it can be hard to judge success or failure from the outside.
But it's more than that. I frequently read pieces from journalists who claim that because Apple has been throwing off a lot of revenue, it doesn't matter how much we spend on content. And I have sat in enough budget meetings to tell you that claim isn't even remotely accurate. No one is getting any blank checks around here.
Q: But can you talk about what success does look like at Apple TV+? I think most outsiders could define what a successful business at Peacock or Max would look like. But Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime are a lot more challenging because of the way they're integrated into the mothership business.
A: It's interesting that you brought up Amazon, because although they have a very different business than we do, we both have similar challenges. The video business is graded both as how it is doing on a standalone business and also how effectively it is contributing to the entire business. And that can be complicated to discern even on an internal basis.
I liked the point you made a week or two ago about the reasons why Prime Video is adding a surcharge to its new ad-free business. Because there isn't a separate fee for video, it's one of the few ways Amazon can drive more revenue for its video product without increasing the overall cost of its Prime product. All of that integration comes with its own challenges.
And we have similar challenges. Apple TV+ has a separate subscriber fee, but the integration with other Apple products is a mixed blessing. We're expected to drive business and revenue to the entire Apple ecosystem and that brings its own unique set of goals and roadblocks.
I don't think there is any major streaming service that isn't expected to carry its own weight. But how that success is defined does look very different, depending on the overall business model of the parent company.
I'll post the entire interview on Sunday and will link to it in Monday's newsletter.
THE BEST OF 2023
This certainly wasn't the year I anticipated.
Nearly a year ago, I suspected 2023 was going to be mostly about the continuing global expansion of the television business, along with the ongoing financial and growth struggles at some of the larger streaming services.
But much of the year ended up being centered around two extended Hollywood strikes that left large parts of the industry shut down for close to six months. That shutdown and resulting anger over the state of the business led to a lot of hard discussions about what Hollywood needs to do to provide a middle-class income for its workers while still delivering a reasonable revenue stream to investors.
So it's not surprising that nearly all of the most-read stories on AllYourScreens in 2023 were about the strike and the industry turmoil.
But I'd also like to think it's because my reporting on the dual strikes and the issues behind the reshaping of Hollywood were as good as any independent news sites. And in many cases, I was breaking stories before even the much bigger trade publications.
Here are the fifteen most-read stories on AllYourScreens.com in 2023.
15) Why Wasn't Hulu's 'Prey' Released Directly Into Theaters?
14) Op Ed: Why The U.S. Government Should Block A Warner Bros. Discovery/Paramount Global Merger
13) Warner Bros. Discovery's Impressive Collection Of Zombie TV Networks
12) Is A SAG-AFTRA & AMPTP Deal Really 'In Sight?'
11) Five Takeaways From The SAG-AFTRA Strike
10) Exclusive: An Apple TV+ Executive Talks Streaming, The Strike (Part 2)
9) 'General Hospital' Script Story A Reminder About Fi-Core WGA Members And Daytime Soaps
8) Commentary: The Myth Of 'Longer Seasons Are Better'
7) The Profitability Of Streaming TV And The Innovator's Dilemma
6) WGA To AMPTP: Thanks For Getting That Draft In. Well Told.
5) The Netflix Proposal That Might Have Changed The Strike
4) The Hidden Costs Of Hollywood's Non-Union Global TV Productions
3) AI, Compensation Issues Threaten To Derail SAG-AFTRA Talks (Exclusive)
2) The Proposed SAG-AFTRA Strike-Breaking Letter You've Never Seen (Exclusive)
1) Exclusive: An Apple TV+ Executive Talks Streaming, The Strike & Global Television
ODDS AND SODS
* Since the diginet Decades changed its name to Catchy Comedy, its once-expansive weekend binges have turned into 48 marathons of the most predictable choices in their library, such as All In The Family and I Love Lucy. This weekend brings a bit of a more interesting mix, with a binge of Bridget Loves Bernie and Fish.
* A new study shows that so-called "Copaganda" TV shows not only distort the way viewers see law enforcement, it also leads to an increase in low-level arrests by police who are being followed around on camera.
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28TH:
* Married To Real Estate Season Premiere (HGTV)
* Miss Shampoo (Netflix)
* My Wife's Hidden Lover (LMN)
* Oprah and The Color Purple Journey (Max)
* Pokemon Concierge Series Premiere (Netflix)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29TH:
* A Widow Seduced (Lifetime)
* Berlin Series Premiere (Netflix) - [first look video]
* Burn The Witch #0.8 Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* In With The Old Season Premiere (Discovery+/Max)
* Restoring Galveston: The Inn Series Premiere (Discovery+/Max)
* The Established Home Season Premiere (Discovery+/Max)
SEE YOU TOMORROW!