Netflix is doing a podcast. Sorta. It suggests what the podcast strategy will be.
Let’s start today’s newsletter with a quick PSA.
I’ve just spent the last hour or so on the phone to family members trying to organise for someone to go out and visit an older family member currently without power, mobile phone Internet, and dwindling food supplies as a result of Cyclone Alfred in Queensland.
If you have family or friends in Queensland, please make some aggressive wellness checks on them - some people can be too proud and/or stubborn to take a helping hand.
And now onto the newsletter…
Netflix mics up for podcaster
There had been talk that Netflix was looking into the podcast space and today’s announcement isn’t quite that. But it’s the sort of thing you do before going big into something - kind of like staging a competitive hot dog eating competition before announcing a deal to stream NFL Christmas games.
Today Netflix announced a new stand-up comedy special with controversial stand-up Tony Hinchcliffe, along with three Kill Tony specials (Kill Tony is his popular love-recorded podcast).
Kill Tony, the long-running show created and hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe, has become a smash hit, known for its unpredictable format, rising comedic talents and no-holds-barred humor.
The specials will feature a mix of established comedians and surprise celebrity guests, while blending rapid-fire standup sets from aspiring comedians with sharp and often brutal feedback from Hinchcliffe and his panel of seasoned comics.
The first special will film at The Comedy Mothership in Austin, Texas and premiere exclusively on Netflix on April 7, 2025.
The Kill Tony podcast isn’t the usual sort of panel chat podcast - it is filed in front of an audience and includes comedians doing sets of material. It is really TV-format friendly, so it makes sense that Netflix are doing it. Even conflating it with the idea of Netflix getting into podcasts is slightly murky.
I do suspect it shows a pathway that Netflix might want to take with podcasts on the platform - make it less about taking the exact podcast product and placing it on TV and more about taking a podcast format and adapting it for TV.
You could imagine them doing more in this space with comedy podcasts. For example, We’re Here To Help hosted by Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds, which the two of them pitching solutions to listeners with problems feels very easy to adapt to TV.
But just taking a video podcast like Call Her Daddy and putting it directly onto the Netflix platform seems too much like Netflix getting into the same space as YouTube and ignoring the premium subscription spirit of the platform.
Fetch seeks code to relevance. Try: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A
Australia’s Fetch TV may be struggling to sign and retain content deals for its platform, but it hasn’t given up on engagement with the set-top box now offering 30 free, family-friendly games that, I guess, can be played with the Fetch remote control? It is part of a deal with Play.Works, a company that offers originals and beloved titles from brands like Atari, Crossy Road, Trivia Crack, and Tetris.
It all seems pretty bargain basement to me.
Read more: Mediaweek
ESPN on Disney+ down under
We have a date. ESPN on Disney+ will launch in Australia and New Zealand on 26 March.
ESPN has been in Australia for 30 years as of this year, with the channel launching when pay TV service Foxtel launched back in 1995. Now, just shy of that 30 year anniversary, the relationship with Foxtel has splintered - not entirely dissimilar to Warner Bros Discovery going it alone with Max.
Word is that ESPN will soon start pursuing local sporting rights, giving Foxtel (and incoming new owners DAZN) an additional competitor in the market.
As a reminder, this is what Disney is promising from adding ESPN to Disney+:
The new ESPN hub on Disney+ will bring more than 10,000 hours of ESPN’s live sports action to the platform in Australia and New Zealand, including live ESPN and ESPN2 channels, fan-favourite studio shows such as SportsCenter, The Pat McAfee Show, NBA Today, and First Take, along with live events and on-demand replays, and iconic original programming including ESPN’s award-winning library of 30 for 30 films.
News Desk
To no surprise, after one season, the Cruel Intentions reboot TV show has been cancelled by Prime Video. Read: Variety
Mistletoe Murders will be back for a second season on Hallmark. Rest easy. Read: Deadline
The Neighborhood has received a pick-up for an eighth and final season at CBS. Read: Deadline
The BBC has acquired Thomas Vinterberg’s first TV series Families Like Ours, a climate emergency-themed drama set in a near-future Denmark where rising water levels can no longer be ignored and the country needs to be evacuated. Read: Variety
Conan O’Brien Must Go will return for a third season at Max. The second season will debut in May. Read: Variety
When Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney debuts this week, the first guests will be: Michael Keaton, Joan Baez, Fred Armisen, Cypress Hill, and personal finance columnist Jessica Roy.
Jessica Radloff, author of The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series will host an official rewatch podcast of the Old Sheldon show for Warner Bros. Read: thefutoncritic
Anne Charleston will guest star on the Australian-but-really-made-for-the-UK soap Neighbours playing someone who isn’t Madge, but looks a lot like Madge. Shocking to consider Amazon has cancelled this? Read: Radio Times
Trailer Park
You returns for a fifth and final season on Netflix April 24.
That’s the newsletter for today.
Consider becoming a paid supporter of Always Be Watching.
Connect with Dan on Bluesky. Connect with Dan on Letterboxd. Connect with Dan on Linkedin. Email Dan @ alwaysbewatching.com or just reply to this email.
And remember, the world really is wonderful!