Established streaming industry leaders like Netflix and Amazon are facing more competition than ever. Now legacy entertainment giants are in the game with their own subscription services, like Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and the Disney Plus / Hulu / ESPN Plus bundle, while Apple TV Plus attacks around the edges. Meanwhile, the rise of ad-supported free platforms like Roku Channel and Pluto TV has attracted enough attention that Plex, YouTube, and Amazon’s Freevee are trying to get a chunk of the action too.
After about an hour or so of reports from around the world of problems with YouTube, the video streaming platform is back online, and a support forum post confirms the issue is now resolved.
The only problem left now is for people criticizing its newly updated and now more transparent video player.
Avatar actress Zoe Saldaña was just talking earlier this week about wanting James Cameron to make a documentary about how much human artistry goes into films made with motion capture. And now, there’s a new trailer for Disney Plus’ upcoming Fire And Water: Making The Avatar Films doc out on November 7th.
Apple’s quiet announcement that its streaming service is now just Apple TV, which definitely won’t create confusion with its Apple TV app and Apple TV hardware, brought the best out of The Verge’s comment section, but there was only going to be one winner:
PSVita:
It’s your turn Google, change Android Auto to Google Drive
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The Apple-produced Brad Pitt vehicle will stream on Apple TV Plus, which Apple has just quietly rebranded to Apple TV, available on the Apple TV app, which you can stream using your Apple TV hardware. Nope, not confusing at all.
A six-part documentary and Final Show concert film showcasing Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour are coming to Disney Plus on December 12th, featuring guest appearances from Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran, and Florence Welch. The recent Disney price hikes might be a small price to pay for Swifties who missed out on the tour itself.
First, Yahya Abdul-Mateen showed up at the Fantastic Four: First Steps premiere, giving in-character interviews as Simon Williams — the star of Disney Plus’ upcoming Wonder Man miniseries. And now, Marvel has dropped a Wonder Man teaser that makes it seem like the show will be about an in-universe superhero movie reboot.
California is banning streaming ads that are louder than the content around them, bringing streamers in line with broadcast TV. But as some ask whether Big Government has gone too far this time, we say: No, obviously not!
Hoto:
You can just do that? You can just ban things because they’re loud, purposeless and annoying??
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Ahead of the premiere of season 4 on October 30th — which, of course, introduces Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia — Netflix has released a new Witcher trailer. The new season has more of an ensemble vibe, with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri all doing their own thing across the Continent.
The bundle, announced previously in August, offers monthly savings of around $10. It includes access to live sports and news across ESPN and Fox’s linear channels in both of their respective streaming apps.
[ESPN Press Room U.S.]
Fortnite wasted no time cooking up its KPop Demon Hunters collaboration that will see the Huntr/x girls squadding up to slay monsters in a movie-inspired version of the game’s Horde Rush mode running from October 2nd to November 1st. Naturally, Rumi, Zoey, and Mira skins will also be coming to the Fortnite Shop.
The new model, announced yesterday, is the $39.99 4K Select. It’s pricier, yet it has worse specs than the $24.99 Fire TV Stick 4K (the Select is missing Wi-Fi 6, Dolby Vision, Atmos, and other features). The best value under $50 is still the Wi-Fi 6E-ready 4K Max.
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Disney’s notorious legal team complained Character.AI was damaging its brand and exploiting its intellectual property by allowing unauthorized chatbots of its characters.
Don’t worry, there’s still an abundance of bots pretending to be characters owned by other companies if that’s what you’re after, including hordes of Shreks and SpongeBob SquarePants.
YouTube announced that a short-term carriage extension deal was reached with NBCUniversal shortly after the previous agreement expired at midnight ET on September 30th. It’s unclear how long this new deal will last. The situation mirrors a similar short-term extension — and near-immediate resolution — between YouTube TV and NBCU in 2021.
[blog.youtube]
We’re getting a new trailer for the Netflix film tomorrow, and as a teaser the streamer put out this poster that provides the best look yet at Jacob Elordi as the creature.
A carriage dispute between the companies may result in YouTube TV subscribers losing access to NBA, Premier League, Big Ten football, Sunday Night Football, WWE, The Voice, and The Real Housewives programming when the current agreement expires on September 30th.
