“Now Streaming” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories surrounding the biggest content streamers.
PLAYING THIS WEEKEND: Among this week’s most notable new streaming content is season one of Marvel Comics series “Daredevil: Born Again,” whose first two episodes are available to watch on Disney+ (DIS). Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video (AMZN) subscribers can watch British romantic comedy film “Picture This,” while Max (WBD) users can watch the first episode of the new season of comedy series “The Righteous Gemstones” on Sunday. Additionally, Netflix (NFLX) subscribers can catch Italian television series “The Leopard” as well as the new season of sports documentary series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.”
PARAMOUNT/SKYDANCE: A Delaware judge is open to weighing claims in a class action lawsuit that Paramount’s (PARA) $8B sale to Skydance Media should be barred from closing because it short-changes public investors, Reuters’ Tom Hals blog post that Prime Video will begin offering AI-aided dubbing on licensed movies and series that would not have been dubbed otherwise. AI-aided dubbing in English and Latin American Spanish will be available initially on 12 licensed movies and series, including titles such as El Cid: La Leyenda, Mi Mama Lora, and Long Lost. “At Prime Video, we believe in improving customers’ experience with practical and useful AI innovation,” said Raf Soltanovich, VP of technology at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. “AI-aided dubbing is only available on titles that do not have dubbing support, and we are eager to explore a new way to make series and movies more accessible and enjoyable.” This AI-aided pilot program is a hybrid approach to dubbing in which localization professionals collaborate with AI to ensure quality control. AI-aided processes like this one, which incorporate the right amount of human expertise, can enable localization for titles that would not otherwise be accessible to customers.”
YOUTUBE: YouTube (GOOGL) is preparing a Netflix-like redesign of its TV app, with paid content from other streamers like Max and Paramount+ on the homepage, The Information’s Sahil Patel reported earlier this week. A day later, Alphabet announced that it has started expanding its Premium Lite pilot to users in the U.S. Premium Lite gives viewers a new, more affordable way to enjoy most videos on YouTube ad-free for $7.99 per month, the company added. In the coming weeks, YouTube will also make Premium Lite available to all users in its current pilot countries, namely Thailand, Germany, and Australia.
MAX/TURKEY: Max will officially launch in Turkey on Tuesday, April 15, Warner Bros. Discovery announced. “Turkish streaming service BluTV will evolve into Max, an advanced global platform with enhanced features and functionality, leveraging BluTV’s local storytelling power and combining it with an even richer lineup of content… As one of the most populous countries in the EMEA region, with more people than Germany, U.K, or France, the launch in Turkey presents a major opportunity to entertain and engage millions of new fans with high quality content across film and television from WBD’s world class studios,” the company stated.
ESPN/MLB: Last year, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro visited MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, carrying a harsh message: The company thinks baseball’s TV rights are declining in value, Jared Diamond and Isabella Simonetti of The Wall Street Journal reported this week. ESPN has been paying $550M a year to show baseball games, which is already hundreds of millions less than prior years. Now, ESPN plans to exercise an opt-out clause to escape the final three seasons of its contract with the MLB, the Journal said, according to people familiar with the matter.
LOOP UPS DISNEY PT: Loop Capital raised the firm’s price target on Disney to $130 from $125 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares. The company’s FY25 guidance appears conservative, implying that the next 9-months EPS is down y/y, but assuming Snow White – an expensive title with mixed early reception being released later this month – is not a problem, guidance and estimates should rise, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Disney’s DTV profits are growing quicker than linear profits are declining, and the combined DTV/linear profits should top the recent combined peak of FY21 and keep growing, the firm adds.
ROKU UPGRADE: MoffettNathanson upgraded Roku(ROKU) to Neutral from Sell with a $70 price target as the firm believes 2025 is setting up as “a beat-and-raise story” for Roku. The firm’s long-term thesis on Roku has not changed and it still believes that the multiple at which the stock has been trading is “unwarranted,” though it believes that Roku’s results will be strong and better than expected in the near term and says “it is hard to fight momentum… for now.”
STOCK PLAYS: Other publicly traded companies in the space include Fox(FOXA), FuboTV (FUBO), Apple (AAPL), AMC Networks (AMCX), and Comcast (CMCSA).
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