Episode 143: Netflix Is Screwed

I mean this one's a no-brainer, surely?

The streaming juggernaut that is Disney+ rumbled onto instant global domination in March 2020 and since then it has wound it's content production up to deliver a series of high-profile body blows to the competition in the form of desirable franchise goodies dripping with loving care and high production values. The pace doesn't seem to be dropping, no, indeed, it's picking up. Everyone should be worried.

Actually the two parties who should be worried in particular are the UK's Now TV whose content delivery potential has been stripped back severely losing primary delivery of Disney and Fox content libraries and, of course, Netflix who are now trying to carve out a brand that offers counter-programming to Disney's slate of super-popular franchise fare and edgy drama (on Hulu in the States and inside the Star section of D+ elsewhere). We haven't forgotten Prime Instant Video but Amazon delivers content as an after thought, not as a primary goal, so it seems. Of all these, then, Netflix seems like the one that's in most trouble, Now TV is just an offshoot of a satellite TV provider, Amazon couldn't really care less but Netflix, it has to fight for it's very identity and it can't just be a constant diet of Squid Game, can it?

This week's episode features an excerpt of Lo-Moments by Skipless and bedding music Moon Forest (threads version) by 4T Thieves. Both are licensed under a creative commons non-commercial attribution-based licence. Follow links for more information.

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/143-netflix-is-screwed/143-Netflix-is-Screwed.mp3

Episode 142: Hi-Definitely A Weird Time For Home Media

It's way too early for new year's resolutions. That's a fact. But it is in no way too early for home entertainment resolutions, specifically 480p, 576p, 1080p and 4K.

This week's show is all about the fact that we find ourselves in a world where home entertainment is available in a number of different flavours, DVD, Blu-Ray and UHD for physical, and then the digital counterparts. Marketing will tell you that you always want the 4K version of everything, after it got done telling you DVD was over and everything had to be in Blu-Ray 1080p

To borrow a popular Thor meme

  

This week the Kids from the 80s assert that Just Like Heaven and the Lego Movie are never going to be better than they are at 576p (which is great but more definition does nothing to improve matters), Big Trouble In Little China and 12 Monkeys definitely look better at 1080p and 4K, well that seems to be a gimmick for Denis Villeneuve movies. Let's not even hunker down and consider how the definition of what even is 1080p varies wildly between a lovingly crafted prestige Blu-Ray and a cheeky Netflix stream, actually no, let's for a second. It's techie week on the 80s Kids and things have never been clearer, or sharper.

This week's episode features an excerpt of Speak Easy by DarkSunn and bedding music Lost in dam central vs Exist by Planet Boelex vs Data Rebel. Both are licensed under a creative commons non-commercial attribution-based licence. Follow links for more information.

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/142-hi-def-initely-a-weird-time-for-home-media/142%20-%20Hi%20Def-initely%20A%20Weird%20Time%20For%20Home%20Media.mp3