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I was going to bring back the old "Netflix Crash and Burn" thread, but with all the bad news that just keeps coming out about Hollywood (mostly news about Netflix, Disney, and WB), I thought I expand it to cover all of Hollywood.


Streaming giant Netflix has lost a case against the Writers Guild of America, and must pay $42 million in unpaid residuals.

A recent arbitration with the WGA over Bird Box starring Sandra Bullock has resulted in the organization securing $42 million in unpaid writer residuals.

“Netflix argued the WGA should accept a substandard formula the company negotiated with DGA and SAG-AFTRA,” reads a WGA memo from president Meredith Stiehm. “After a hearing, however, an arbitrator determined differently: that the license fee should have been greater than the gross budget of the film
.”
 
Who is ready to pay more for Hulu & Disney+ while also watching ads? :mad:


Disney+ and Hulu will both be receiving price hikes in both their ad-supported and premium tiers, Disney announced today.

The price hike is timed with the impending release of Disney+'s ad-supported tier, which will cost $7.99. The ad-free version, meanwhile, will rise to $10.99 — an increase of $3 per month.

As for Hulu, it will jump $2 per month, rising from $12.99 to $14.99 on October 10. Meanwhile, the ad-supported verion will rise from $6.99 to $7.99.

The price hikes come amid strong subscriber increases for Disney+, which rose to 151 million subscriptions. However, those increases have been tempered by large losses. According to Disney's financials released today, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ have combined to lose $1.1 billion.

The programming has also been quite successful. Disney+ has established itself with a slew of successful MCU and Star Wars shows, with Andor and She-Hulk just around the corner, while Hulu has found big success with Prey.

Disney+'s ad-supported tier launches December 8.
 
I wonder what that'll eventually mean for Prime Video.
 
I wonder what that'll eventually mean for Prime Video.
I don't know, but it looks like Walmart is trying to cut a deal with Disney, Paramount, and Comcast to make their own streaming deal/package. :-(

 
I don't know, but it looks like Walmart is trying to cut a deal with Disney, Paramount, and Comcast to make their own streaming deal/package. :-(

Well, I guess now we know where Newsmax, OANN, Fox, and the rest of that dumpster fire will end up once they're finally driven off all the "normal" cable providers.
 
Well, I guess now we know where Newsmax, OANN, Fox, and the rest of that dumpster fire will end up once they're finally driven off all the "normal" cable providers.
I think Fox is going to stay on Hulu & Disney+ because Disney owns them now.
 
I thought Disney owned everything but the Fox News brand? It was the "news" service I was thinking of specifically. Murdoch still owns that.
 
I thought Disney owned everything but the Fox News brand? It was the "news" service I was thinking of specifically. Murdoch still owns that.
Your right, I forgot about that. That was the one part of Fox that Disney did not want to own.
 
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I think the cost of living crisis is going to hurt these guys badly.

When you can't afford heating and food, your TV packages are going to get canned pretty quickly, especially if they keep pushing up the prices.
 
Counterpoint: They're already expecting lots of people to cancel, so they're pushing up prices now because those who keep paying will probably continue to do so despite the cost-of-living crisis.
 
Counterpoint: They're already expecting lots of people to cancel, so they're pushing up prices now because those who keep paying will probably continue to do so despite the cost-of-living crisis.

Yeah, I suspect that's true, but I think that's based on the assumption that the crisis will be limited to one group - the working classes.

But it's going to hit the middle classes as well. Hard. And a recent price rise is going to stick in people's minds.
 
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And a recent price rise is going to stick in people's minds.
This. The price of *everything* has gone up. People are already looking for ways to cut the "fat" out of their household budget. D+ and Hulu will likely keep the customers who can still afford this but they're going to lose an awful lot of customers, I think. The price increase isn't going to compensate for the customers lost, which will mean another price increase in a year or so when they go over their annual report.
 

Warner Bros. cooked its HBO Max subscriber numbers by as many as 10 million and misled shareholders in other ways that violate the Securities Act to complete its merger with Discovery, according to a class-action lawsuit that claims it could potentially represent “hundreds of thousands” of plaintiffs.

The lawsuit was filed last Friday in New York on behalf of the Collinsville Police Pension Board, an Illinois-based shareholder of Warner Bros. Discovery stock, which it accepted in trade for its pre-merger Class C common Discovery shares. At the time of the merger, Discovery shares were valued at $24.78; as of Tuesday, WBD shares were trading just above $11.

The lawsuit names Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Zaslav, and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels as defendants. WBD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
 
Here is some more info on the upcoming lawsuits over how things are running over at Warner Bros. Discovery.


And here is David Zaslav reply to the rumors about Discovery reselling WB someone else in the very near future.


If you ask me, I think David Zaslav is full of it, and it's only a matter of time before NBC Universal becomes the new owners of WB.

 

Netflix will charge $6.99 per month for its new advertising-supported tier, which the company will roll out in the U.S. on Nov. 3.

Netflix’s “Basic with ads” tier will include an average of four to five minutes of commercials each hour and won’t give users the ability to download movies and TV series. A limited number of TV series and movies will initially be unavailable due to licensing restrictions.

Ads will be 15 or 30 seconds in length and will play before and during Netflix’s content. Companies will have the ability to prevent ads from appearing on content they deem unsavory or unsuitable. To help advertisers understand its reach, ratings company Nielsen will use its standard digital audience measurement, Digital Ad Ratings, in the U.S. beginning in 2023.

Netflix is launching its first less-expensive plan with commercials after years of rejecting the concept. The move comes as subscriber growth has plateaued in recent quarters. Netflix lost subscribers in the first two quarters this year and expects to add just 1 million customers in the third quarter. The company has about 221 million subscribers globally, which makes it the largest worldwide streaming service.


While it is nice to know how this new ad supported tier on Netflix will work, I think I am going to stick with Nitflix's $9.99 No Ads tier unless they do away with it or make the price go up again.
 

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav continued to defend the deep cuts to the company's animation and streaming lineups during today's earnings call, signaling that more could be on the way after absorbing a $2.8 billion net loss in the most recent quarter.

"Spending money with abandon all in the service of building sub numbers is in our view deeply flawed," Zaslav said during the call.

His comments follow a period in which Warner Bros Discovery has aggressively slashed its animated offerings, canceled movies like Batgirl, and removed shows and movies from services like HBO Max.
 

After months of warning subscribers that anti-password sharing measures were coming to Netflix, the company appears to be finally set to unleash them.
Netflix has estimated that over 100 million users worldwide are using the service through the login credentials of someone else. It hopes that by putting an end to account sharing, it will bring a new infusion of revenue to the company. It’s essentially the only way that Netflix can make meaningful subscriber additions in North America, where the service currently sees its highest share of market penetration.


The Netflix Help Center now has a page outlining how your account should be shared, and how it shouldn’t. Check below for all the details you’ll need regarding sharing a password on Netflix.

Who Can Use a Netflix Account Now?


Netflix accounts are still shareable, but only within one household. To ensure that your devices are associated with your primary location, Netflix is now asking users to connect to the Wi-Fi at your primary location, open the Netflix app or website, and watch something at least once every 31 days.


Can You Still Share Netflix With Someone Who Doesn’t Live With You?


No, accounts are only meant to be used within one household. Netflix will prompt users who try to sign into your account elsewhere to sign up for their own account instead and block their access until they do.

Netflix will NOT begin automatically charging account holders whose information is used outside of their homes.

Can Other Users on Your Netflix Account Save Their Profiles?​

Yes, Netflix offers users a profile transfer feature that will allow them to migrate their show recommendations, watch history, and more to their own account if they decide to create one. This will give password sharers the opportunity to preserve their profile if they sign up for their own Netflix accounts.

Can You Still Use Netflix While Traveling?​

Signing into Netflix outside of your home may lead to the device in use being blocked from Netflix. This could prevent you from signing into new devices while traveling, but Netflix has devised a workaround.

Traveling users who want to use Netflix on a hotel smart TV, company laptop, etc. can request a temporary code from the service when signing in. This will give them access to their account for seven consecutive days.


How Can You Prevent Netflix from Blocking Your Devices?​

Signing into home Wi-Fi at least once every 31 days on your devices will make them “trusted devices,” which Netflix will remember and leave unblocked.

If your device has been blocked incorrectly, you’ll need to contact Netflix in order to get it unblocked.


How Will Netflix Know if You’re Not in Your Home/Primary Location?​

Netflix uses information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity to determine whether a device signed into your account is connected at your primary location.

If your device is being used outside your home by someone you haven’t authorized, you can sign into your account and sign out on all other devices, then change your password.


How Many Devices Will Netflix Let You Use Simultaneously in One Location?​

That all depends on which plan you’re signed up for. Netflix offers four distinct price tiers, and the number of simultaneous streams varies on which tier you subscribe to.

Basic With Ads ($6.99 per Month)Basic ($9.99 per Month)Standard ($15.49 per Month)Premium ($19.99 per Month)
1 Device1 Device2 Devices4 Devices

These measures seem like cautious first steps to avoid a massive exodus of account-sharing users. If they do not meet Netflix’s expectations in curbing password sharing, harsher measures, such as charging users who continue to give out their login information, could follow. Netflix began testing methods to charge users $3 when someone outside the home accessed their account in several Latin American countries in 2022.

When discussing Netflix’s plans to curb password sharing in mid-January, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said the company was seeking “thoughtful experimentation to let our members speak to us in terms of what set of solutions work for them.”

Now that the first details regarding that experimentation are public, all that remains to be seen is how users respond.
 
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