HBO And Discovery Finally Fuse Into Max
HBO Goes Full Max
WBD went and announced that they would indeed be combining HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single app, a move that was so unsurprising that many reports seemed to focus on the string of imitations WBD Streaming chief J.B. Perrette was doing on stage.
That said, the move is a big one as it gives the new Max app a whole lot more content options and thus a whole lot more reasons for people to see it as one of the Big Three.
It also introduces a brand new interface, one that is designed from scratch (as opposed to the prior interface, which was designed as a series of kiudges that dated back to HBO Now days.
And interface is going to play a much bigger role in the years ahead, almost as much as content.
But I digress…
The biggest controversy (other than what role, if any, CNN will play in Max) seems to have been around the choice of name, with many bemoaning the decision to lose the “HBO” part.
Which I actually think was the smartest move they’d made.?[READ MORE]
Google Launches New TVOS Interface
Google, who have been quietly working on their TV OS for a while now, debuted the start of a revamped Google TV OS that features over 800 FAST channels in total, a number that includes their new already-on-the-screen-when-you-log-in channels along with channels from Pluto TV, Tubi, Plex, and Haystack News.?
The new interface also includes a number of personalization features to make it easy to wade through those 800 channels.
The service is available through Chromecast (the device) and via Google-powered TVs from Sony, TCL, Hisense and Philips.
But that’s not really the news.
The news is that they are planning to export all this, in some form or another, to their Android TVs sometime later this year.
Which is news because there are a lot more of those Android TVs, especially in markets outside of the U.S.?[READ MORE]
A long awaited follow up to our primer on?free ad-supported streaming TV services (FASTs).
Part 2: Advertising goes deep into the ins and outs of advertising on the FASTs.?In this report you will learn:
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Is YouTube Really ‘TV’? (Wolk)??[Next TV]
There is a lot of content on YouTube (and this is not new) that I’ll call “pro-am” (professional-amateur). It’s made by people who have worked on network TV shows as writers, actors, directors, cinematographers, camera operators and editors. These folks often belong to the unions associated with those roles. Their content is often episodic. And if those episodes are not quite 20 minutes, they’re often pretty darn close. So do we call that “TV” or “not TV”?
Microsoft Corp. recently shut down a social virtual-reality platform; Walt Disney Co. closed its division for metaverse strategy; and Mark Zuckerberg, who kicked off much of the interest in the sector when he renamed Facebook as Meta Platforms Inc., has shifted his focus at least in part to the industry’s new obsession: artificial intelligence.?
It’s a shame, too. There’s so much to like about ATSC 3.0: 4K resolution! Scalable, cost-efficient distribution! Internet protocol! No need for expensive cable or satellite subscriptions! Multiplexed datacasting! New business models! Personalized audio! Sports betting! Geo-targeted, interactive advertising! Better emergency broadcasts! Data services for cars! Pretty heady stuff for a medium that’s been around for nearly a century.?
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