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.
Stranger Things is back for (the first part of) its final season, but given the lengthy period between episodes, there’s a good chance you have some catching up to do. To that end, Netflix released this very handy recap covering season 4, which wrapped up way back in 2022.
We knew this day was coming. Starting this week, Plex says it’ll require a Remote Watch Pass or Plex Pass in order to stream remotely to its Roku app. In 2026, enforcement will come to “all other Plex TV apps (Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, etc) and any third party clients using the API.”
[Plex Forum]
The first chunk of the show’s fifth and final season moves a little too fast for its own good.
This trailer for Netflix’s upcoming Star Search revival is really just a list all the celebrities like Beyoncé, Usher, and Britney Spears who were discovered on the original series. But it’s also the streamer’s way of announcing that Anthony Anderson will host the new live show when it premieres on January 13th.
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The director of Wake Up Dead Man talks about the direction of the series, and why each one is ‘a reaction to the present moment.’
US-based car reviewers are going gaga over Chinese EVs. Their audiences wonder why they can’t buy them.
A source tells TheWrap that Netflix is betting on video podcasts to capture your attention while outside the platform:
When people aren’t spending time on Netflix, we want to win as much of that as possible.
In addition to a podcasting deal with Spotify, rumors suggest that Netflix is considering licensing shows from iHeartMedia and SiriusXM — and maybe even launching its own podcasts, too.
Over the weekend, CNN yanked its stories from the Apple News app as it tries to work out a deal that would bring its content back to the platform, according to a report from Semafor.
CNN has gotten more aggressive about monetizing its content over the past year, with the outlet paywalling some of its articles and once again launching a streaming service.
Alongside the unveiling of the very impressive self-walking Olaf character coming to Disney’s Frozen world attractions in Paris and Hong Kong next year, Disney takes us on a behind the scenes look at its research and development efforts, showing how reinforcement learning combined with simulation is dramatically accelerating robot development.
Apple announced that it’s dropping the latest episode of Pluribus a bit early this week, and it’ll be streaming on Wednesday. Now there’s something for Carol to be happy about for once.
The streamer is the place for premium sci-fi, but can it catch up with the competition?
Another spoiler-filled discussion of the latest from Vince Gilligan’s sci-fi series on Apple TV.
Amazon MGM Studios has greenlit a new Stargate series for Prime Video, with Martin Gero as writer and showrunner. Gero formerly wrote, produced, and directed episodes of all three of the original Stargate series. The Prime Video series is the second attempt to revive the franchise after the Stargate: Origins mini-series in 2018.
The new trailer for Amazon MGM’s adaptation of Alex Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary teases a bit more of the catastrophe that’s imperiling Earth, but it’s mostly about the friendship that’s going to develop between astronaut Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and an alien that looks like a pile of rocks.
Here’s a couple of facts for you, apropos of nothing: it has been less than a decade since Moana hit US theaters, and not even 12 months since Moana 2 followed it. And yet, here we are.
sam flynn:
The live-action remakes will continue until morale improves
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The concept of a live-action Moana adaptation feels pretty premature until you remember that the original animated movie came out almost a decade ago. The new movie hits theaters on July 10, 2026.
Studios specializing in vertical video production are slowly but surely shaking up the entertainment industry.
The show, Outside Tonight, will be hosted by Recess Therapy host Julian Shapiro-Barnum. “Set in public parks and on street corners, Outside Tonight with Julian Shapiro-Barnum revitalizes a classic format with weekly, live shows packed with star studded interviews, audience driven games, live music, and nonstop comedy,” YouTube says.
Instead of offering MLS Season Pass as a separate subscription, you might be able to watch MLS games next season with just a base Apple TV subscription, like how Apple TV will be the place to watch F1 in the US, ESPN reports.
