Freebies Are the Key Hook of the ‘Streaming Wars’

If you make it free, will they come? Apple, Disney and AT&T’s WarnerMedia want to jump-start their challenges to Netflix by offering freebies and deep discounts on emerging streaming plans.

That includes a free year of Apple TV Plus for customers of new Apple devices and a free year of Disney Plus to higher-tier Verizon customers.

Some existing HBO subscribers will also get the supercharged version, HBO Max, at no additional cost.

Experts say these services can worry later about holding onto customers — perhaps by offering must-see shows they can’t get anywhere else or tying discounts to other services that are difficult to drop.


“Next year is a race to aggregate consumers,” said Kevin Westcott, who heads Deloitte’s U.S. telecommunication, media and entertainment consulting business.

“The first war is getting them to sign up for a service.
The second war is retaining them.”

The new services have to attract users with marketing blitzes and the promise of original shows and movies, then build a big enough library of old favorites to help keep them.

Already, HBO Max will have “Friends ” exclusively, and Disney is taking back its older movies from Netflix.

A lot of shows and movies won’t be available at launch but will be added over time.
Free helps in the meantime.

Netflix has spent years building up its 158 million subscribers worldwide.
Hulu has 28 million.

The new players want to ramp up subscribers quickly to show they can compete.

So the services have launched the digital equivalent of the old cable promos: lure you in with discounted rates, then jack up the price after a year or two.

But digital customers have more choices than cable customers of yore so a big question is whether they’ll stick around.


Apple TV Plus debuts Friday for $5 a month with just nine shows and a few more coming soon.
It’s already cheaper than the $13 a month Netflix charges for its most popular plan.
Buyers of any new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod Touch get a year for free.
That suggests a market of 40 million customers, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said.

Disney Plus, which arrives Nov. 12, is also cheaper than Netflix at $7 a month.
Disney struck a deal with Verizon to give customers of all unlimited wireless plans and some home-internet customers a free year.

Members of Disney’s free D23 fan club were also eligible to buy three years of Disney Plus service upfront for the price of two years.

Disney is targeting 60 million to 90 million worldwide by 2024.

AT&T’s HBO Max, which launches in May for $15 a month, is the most expensive of the new services.

That could make it tough for AT&T to reach its goal of 50 million U.S. customers and 75 million to 90 million worldwide by 2025.

But AT&T will make the service free for about 10 million existing HBO subscribers, or about a third of its U.S. subscribers.
HBO Max will also be included with AT&T’s higher-tier wireless and broadband offerings.

Comcast’s Peacock service will be free for many of its own cable and internet customers.
The regular price hasn’t been announced yet.
The service launches next spring.

“I don’t think customers are going to have to make difficult choices about cutting one in order to add another for the first few years,” said MoffettNathanson Research’s Craig Moffett.

But companies can’t run the services at a loss forever, and when discounts end and prices rise, customers may flee.
After all, the services add up fast, and signing up to multiple ones could end up costing as much as the cable packages people are ditching for streaming.

There’s a lesson to be drawn from the latest TV-industry attempt to counter cord-cutting.
Cable-like online packages like Sling TV and YouTube TV have ended discounts or raised prices, causing customers to flee and new sign-ups to slow down.

Sony announced Tuesday that it will quit offering PlayStation Vue, one of the first to challenge traditional TV packages.

Even the dominant player isn’t immune.
Netflix has raised prices slowly, which helped shield it from price shock, but its latest small increase has hurt customer growth.

Westcott, the Deloitte consultant, compared the streaming promotions to efforts to lure wireless customers from competing companies.


T-Mobile has long offered Netflix free to many customers.
Verizon includes six free months of Apple Music with some of its unlimited plans.
Many offer other deals like paying off your phone early or getting a phone for free if you switch.

“They were constantly looking for ways to steal you off other players,” he said.

How will these services keep users once they’ve reeled them in?

The companies can constantly refresh their services with new shows and movies, Diffusion Group president Michael Greeson said.

Cathy Yao, an analyst at Diamond Hill Capital Management, also said companies can try to create “stickiness” by bundling the services with other products and services so a customer is less inclined to unsubscribe.

For example, including HBO Max with wireless and broadband services will make consumers more likely to stick around for all three, Yao said.

It’s similar to how Amazon packages its streaming service with its $119-a-year Prime loyalty program.

Ultimately, the content will be king, experts say.
The services are investing billions into creating new shows and building up their libraries to find or create the next “Stranger Things.”


Apple TV Plus inked high-profile deals with Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Jennifer Aniston.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal reportedly paid $500 million to take back “The Office,” and Netflix reportedly paid even more to claim global rights to “Seinfeld.”

“The weapon of choice for retention is exclusive programming,” said Peter Csathy, founder of Creative and an industry consultant.
“All of these behemoths are investing billions of dollars in originals with the hope of finding the next ‘Game of Thrones’ that becomes ‘Must See TV.'”

source: usa.inquirer.net

#BoycottMulan trends after ‘Mulan’ actress Liu Yifei supports HK police

Calls to boycott the live-action adaptation of “Mulan” trended online after the film’s lead actress Liu Yifei allegedly expressed support for Hong Kong police. The movie is slated for release in 2020.

Hong Kong has been the site of pro-democracy protests for the past two months. Law enforcement has attempted to quell protests through tear gas and rubber bullets.

Based on a screenshot of the “Mulan” actress’ Weibo account, Liu backs the Hong Kong police despite allegations of police brutality.

The post shows an image from the Communist Party’s official newspaper People’s Daily with the caption, “I support Hong Kong’s police, you can beat me up now. What a shame for Hong Kong.” Liu typed the hashtag “I also support the Hong Kong police” with a heart emoji.

Online forum LIHKG, known as the Hong Kong version of Reddit, sparked the calls to boycott “Mulan,” as per The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, Aug. 15. LIHKG has served as a platform for protestors to organize and raise funds.

Though Liu’s post received support on Weibo, on Twitter and Instagram the actress faced backlash as #BoycottMulan trended.

One Sean Norton (@sdnorton) tweeted on Thursday: “Disney’s ‘Mulan actress, Liu Yifei, supports police brutality and oppression in Hong Kong. Liu is a naturalized American citizen. it must be nice. meanwhile she pisses on people fighting for democracy. retweet please. HK doesn’t get enough support. #BoycottMulan @Disney.”

Similar messages have been posted on Twitter, along with pictures and videos of police attacks against protestors. Some have highlighted how law enforcers have treated women. This week a woman became a symbol of protests after she was hit in the eye by a beanbag round from police on Aug. 11, as per The Straits Times on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

Liu moved to the United States when she was 10 and became a citizen after five years. She returned to China where she pursued an acting career. The actress has been supportive of the Chinese government, having posted on Weibo in the past about China’s claims in the South China Sea. She also promoted the “One-China policy,” which states that Taiwan is part of the sovereign state of China.

Other actors who have opposed the protests include Jackie Chan and Tony Leung Ka-fai.  Niña V. Guno /ra

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Disney parks around the world to go straw-free next year

After hotel chains, restaurants and airlines, Disney has announced plans to eliminate plastic straws across all its owned and operated parks around the world by mid-2019.


In a blog post, Disney outlined a broad plan to join the global fight against plastic pollution that will include banning single-use plastic straws and stir sticks at theme parks around the globe.

The move is expected to amount to the reduction of 175 million straws and 13 million plastic stirrers annually.


At its hotels and onboard cruise ships, the company also announced a plastic reduction strategy that will include transitioning to refillable in-room amenities.

Plastic bags will be reduced at their parks and onboard cruise ships, and guests will be offered the option to purchase reusable bags.

Disney follows fellow tourism and hospitality players like Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and Royal Caribbean cruise line in committing to phasing out the use of single-use plastic straws which are non-recyclable and are choking the ocean’s marine life. JB

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Disney drops YouTuber PewDiePie over anti-Semitic videos

Disney has expunged its connections with Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg, one of YouTube’s wealthy megastars, after several of his videos came into question for its anti-Semitic messages.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Maker Studios, a multi-channel branch of Disney, cut its ties with PewDiePie after his now-defunct YouTube video showed two Indian men holding a placard that read, “Death to All Jews.” PewDiePie reportedly hired the duo from freelance site Fiverr, but reasoned that he “didn’t think they’d actually do it.” Both men apologized but Fiverr barred all three of them from their services.

The 27-year-old Swedish YouTuber, who currently has 53 million YouTube subscribers, has eight other videos that have spun anti-Semitic contents since last year. Another clip he uploaded features a man dressed as Jesus Christ blurting out, “Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong.”

“Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate,” a representative of Maker Studios told the news site.

While many are disgruntled with PewDiePie’s shenanigans, he earned the kudos of neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer, which rephrased its motto to “The world’s #1 PewDiePie fansite” last month, The Wall Street said.

In defense, PewDiePie clarified in a Tumbler post that he was not supporting hateful speech and irrational movements on the video-streaming site.

“I think it’s important to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes,” he said.  “I make videos for my audience. I think of the content that I create as entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary. I know my audience understand that and that is why they come to my channel.  Though this was not my intention, I understand that these jokes were ultimately offensive.”

He added: “As laughable as it is to believe that I might actually endorse these people, to anyone unsure on my standpoint regarding hate-based groups: No, I don’t support these people in any way.”  Gianna Francesca Catolico

source: technology.inquirer.net

Blasters ablaze, ‘Rogue One’ dominates in opening weekend

LOS ANGELES, United States — The latest blockbuster episode in the “Star Wars” anthology dominated weekend box offices in North America, humbling another popular Disney film, “Moana,” according to industry estimates.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” raked in $155 million for the three-day weekend, Exhibitor Relations said. It has brought in $290 million globally, and has yet to open in the vast Chinese market.

The North American figure was less than last year’s $248 million weekend opening of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” but still ranked the new film as 12th among all-time openings and third-best this year, according to Forbes.

“The movie lived up to expectations,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst with comScore. Based on the success of these latest two films, “The next film in the Star Wars saga has the potential to claim the title as the biggest movie of all time,” he said.

“Rogue One” blew away the $11.7 million weekend take of second-place film “Moana,” the computer-animated musical fantasy about a brave Polynesian teenager, which had ruled the box office for three straight weekends and has grossed $161.8 million to date.

Produced by Lucasfilm and directed by Gareth Edwards, “Rogue One” stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Forest Whitaker. The first stand-alone chapter in the Star Wars epic — it is set shortly before the events of the original 1977 film — it tells the story of Rebel Alliance fighters trying to steal plans for the Empire’s feared Death Star.

Placing third in weekend box offices was “Office Christmas Party,” a Paramount comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, which took in $8.4 million.

Fourth was the Warner Bros. film “Collateral Beauty,” which notched $7 million in its opening weekend. With an ensemble cast including Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren, it tells the story of a man trying to cope with his daughter’s death.

In fifth place was the Harry Potter spin-off “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which chalked up $5 million, for a total so far of $207.6 million. Based on a 2001 book by J.K. Rowling, the Warner Bros. film stars Eddie Redmayne as a wizard in 1920s New York.

Rounding out the top 10 films were:

“Manchester by the Sea” ($4.2 million)

“La La Land” ($4 million)

“Arrival” ($2.8 million)

“Doctor Strange” ($2 million)

“Nocturnal Animals” ($1.4 million)

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Disney reaches for the skies with 'Planes'

LOS ANGELES -- As a lifelong aviation enthusiast and qualified pilot, filmmaker Klay Hall was the logical choice when Disney was seeking a director for its latest animated offering, "Planes."

A spin-off of Pixar's phenomenally successful "Cars" franchise, "Planes" was initially envisioned as a video project, released through the Disney Toon Studios division.

However, Disney took the rare step of giving the movie a theatrical release, confident the film, which opens in the United States this week, has potential to be a commercial success at the box office.  



The sky-high hopes for the project are a testament to the work of Hall, a pilot who comes from a long line of aviators. Both Hall's father, a former US Navy pilot, and grandfather were fliers.

As a child growing up in California, Hall would accompany his father to a local airfield to watch planes taking off and landing, often sketching what he saw.

Decades later, Hall's affinity with aircraft meant the director was in his element as he got to work on "Planes."

While the project bears obvious similarities to "Cars," Disney's legendary animation chief John Lasseter -- who directed both "Cars" and "Cars 2" -- encouraged Hall to "create his own universe."

"John told me: 'Cars is established, we've got that whole world. That's all good. Learn from that world, learn what we did over there as far as personality and animation and then forget about it ... I want you now to go out and create a whole new world, a whole new universe,'" Hall told AFP in a recent interview.

"The aesthetics are the same. We have eyes and the characters talk, and it's a charming design of a vehicle. But that's where the similarities stop," the director added.

"Planes" follows the adventures of a feisty crop-dusting plane called Dusty who dreams of competing in a prestigious round-the-world race.

"I always loved the underdog stories, the little guy, the weak guy able to rise above. I think it's a classic story, it's universal," Hall said.

"I also like the idea that he's built one way but deep down he feels he can do more."

Hall paid particular attention to the mechanics of his characters' flying sequences.

"One of the hardest things is to make airplanes fly and make their flight believable," he said. "It took us at least six months to crack that code. We had aviation experts in, flight experts and consultants."

The other main challenge was deciding how to "humanize" the planes at the center of the action.

"A car is on the ground. Everyone knows how a car rolls and works -- they have a big windshield for the eyes, a big grill area for the mouth," he said.

"We have wings, that are constantly in the way, we have little windshields, the mouth is on the bottom. Then we have the propellers, always in the way of the camera. Tons of challenges," he added.

The last time Disney turned a plane into a cartoon character was way back in 1942, when the animated short "Pedro" was released in conjunction with "Saludos Amigos."

"That plane sort of bent and picked things up with its wings, it was really cartoony, charming in its own right," Hall said. "But we would never do anything like that. I don't think the audience would see them as real airplanes."

While perfecting the look of the aircraft in "Planes" was a lengthy process, it was second nature to Hall, who joined Disney as an animator when the studio's fabled founding fathers -- the so-called "Nine Old Men" -- were still around.

"Sometimes I would go back with a drawing and ask them 'What do you think about this?'" Hall recalled. "And they would ask 'How many times have you drawn this? Three or four times. Do it another 20 times and then come back.'"

"It was all about due diligence and put your very best foot forward before you show anything that represents yourself. Go for the gold, always." - Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Marvel's 'agents' hope to entice Comic-Con fans to lagging ABC

LOS ANGELES - Disney offered Marvel comic devotees an exclusive look at its new television series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" on Friday as its ABC network hopes to engage the "super fans" at Comic-Con to bounce back from a ratings decline.

Banking on the huge success of Marvel's films that include 2012's "Avengers," ABC and Disney's television series tries to lure young fans of the films to a new platform for the universe created by the comic books.

They had their first shot at San Diego's annual comic convention, which has become a venue for television studios to bring fans their favorite shows, building hype around upcoming seasons.

Unlike the films that focus on superheroes such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" side-steps costumed crime-fighters to center on Agent Phil Coulson, a high-level government official who commands Marvel's Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division.

The series' executive producer, Joss Whedon, creator of sci-fi TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and director of Disney's Marvel box office hit films "Thor" and "Avengers," said on Friday that the show would take a more human focus.

"'The Avengers' is the epicenter of the Marvel universe and this is the periphery, this is about the people who did not get the big hammer or gamma radiation, and are dealing with things on a human scale," Whedon told reporters.

For ABC, which has suffered a ratings decline that put it last of the four largest TV networks among the young audience coveted by advertisers, Comic-Con is a quick way to tap into Marvel's devoted fan base.

Last year's "The Avengers" had the largest box office opening at the North American box office, while this year's "Iron Man 3" grossed more than $400 million at domestic theaters.

Not much is known about "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" but on Friday, fans were given an exclusive look at the first episode of the television series, set to air on Sept. 24.

Coulson, played by Clark Gregg, has had supporting roles in the "Iron Man," "Thor" and "Avengers" films, where he quickly became a hit with his humorous and often sarcastic one-liners.

"'The Avengers' made him a fan favorite, he was the audience surrogate in the movies...and the way Clark brings him to life, people love that," said Jeff Bell, the show's co-writer and producer.

In "Avengers," Coulson was seemingly killed off, but in the trailer for the new television show, the agent is very much alive and the mystery behind his death is resolved.

'The most dialed in'

Another network on high display on Friday was HBO, which brings its raunchy vampire series "True Blood" and medieval fantasy series "Game of Thrones" to San Diego each year, and both attract a slew of fans.

"Game of Thrones" devotees dressed as their favorite character from the show to attend the panel featuring cast and crew, who discussed the past season. HBO is also hosting fan interactive experiences, parties with the cast. It even debuted a new beer in honor of the show.

"Comic-Con over the past few years has seen such a growth in terms of size and scale of what's going on, there's a lot more noise and clutter, and we're always looking for ways to stand out in the market there," said Zach Enterlin, HBO's senior vice president of program advertising.

"The fans that come to San Diego are almost super fans, and the most dialed-in and most engaged and most passionate," he added.


Comic-Con, now in its 44th year, attracts more than 125,000 people and brought an estimated $75 million to the city of San Diego last year, according to the San Diego Convention Center. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com