Lead-In HBO Now Sub Data: Game of Tones Signifi cance of 800,000 OTT signups is in the eye of the beholder

BY DADE HAYES HBO Now explained why the OTT service had “only” URING A WEEK when reached the 800,000 mark. “I the glare of the spotlight wouldn’t say ‘only,’” Plepler Dspared no media com- said. “I reject the notion that pany as quarterly earnings were our major distributors out of reported, Time Warner’s HBO hand do not want to bundle unit came under particularly HBO Now. I don’t think that’s harsh scrutiny. true. As our deals come up for Overall results for the pre- renewal, I think we’ll see differ- mium network were upbeat for ent kinds of packaging.” the fourth quarter, especially Plepler added: “If they the addition of 2.7 subscribers. want to sell HBO through But it was the 800,000 or so skinny bundles, fantastic. subscribers who get HBO via If they want to sell HBO the HBO Now app that Wall HBO CEO Richard Plepler last week revealed the subscriber count for the HBO Now stand- through triple-plays, fantastic. alone service, and the 800,000 fi gure fell short of Wall Street anaylsts’ expectations. Street analysts obsessed over. I think it’s very important to (Admittedly, analysts did like- remember that over the last wise with Disney, 21st Century of prevailing analyst predic- tion. Those two services alone four years, we’ve grown by Fox and Viacom. See related tions of 1 million to 2 million. account for 20% of viewing of 8 million subscribers in the story, page 6.) Plepler noted that high-profi le HBO Go, the authenticated TV U.S. In the 44-year history of HBO chief Richard Plepler new shows from Bill Simmons, Everywhere app. our company, that’s 20% of divulged subscriber numbers and Vice News One analyst asked Plepler our [total subscriber base]. for the fi rst time since the had not come to the service about signs he interpreted as What that tells you is, nobody is stand-alone service launched yet, and carriage has not been unwillingness by broadband doing us any favors in terms of last summer, and they fell short secured with Xbox or PlaySta- providers to aggressively market selling HBO.”

THE WATCHMAN Deputy Editor Michael Malone’s weekly look at the programming scene

Oswald’s Mysterious Mate, New Yorker Fans Wait, Twin Powers Deactivate WITH LIMITED SERIES 11.22.63 debuting on President’s Day, naturally, what the heck don’t we know about the assassination of John F. Kennedy after countless books and mov- ies? Showrunner Bridget Carpenter says one man of mystery has not received the scrutiny he deserves. George de Mohrenschildt was a Russian émigré—a petroleum geologist and, as Carpenter puts it, a “blowhard-y community leader” in Dallas. He was also, perhaps illogically, tight with a bumbling dropout named Lee Harvey Oswald. Hulu’s 11.22.63 stars James Franco De Mohrenschildt was a CIA asset who testifi ed extensively during the Warren Commis- and Sarah Gadon. continued on page 6 Hulu

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continued from page 4 partner, United Talent Agency, said he sug- story set across a lone summer. He did at sion, was committed to a mental hospital gested to his Netfl ix counterparts that a least leave open the possibility of a return. and later committed suicide. He will get his new series would work better as a weekly “When people watch the fi nal episode, they close-up in the series, which J. J. Abrams release, as opposed to all at once. That did will see threads that one could imagine adapted from the Stephen King novel. not go over well. “I was told I was old-fash- potentially being addressed in some future form,” said Hirsch. “Right now, I’m content “He’s an amazing character who has ioned,” grumbled Benedek. with where it is, but I can’t say what Future been lost in the layperson’s general knowl- Alex might do. So we’ll just have to wait edge of the assassination,” says Carpenter. and see.” “Why was this guy friends with Lee Harvey It could be a special or even a comic Oswald?” book, said Present Alex. The series is a thriller that sees James averaged 1.6 million viewers Franco’s English teacher character, Jake across its young life, three of them being Epping, time trip from the present back to my son and the neighborhood boys he 1960, where he sets out to fi nd Oswald and watches the show obsessively with. He’s alter the course of history. Carpenter warns not alone. Hirsch mentions an “elaborate” against watching 11.22.63 as a YouTube video that incorporated all the history lesson. “We tried to get the histori- various plot lines of the show at that point cal details right,” she says. “But it’s pure in its history. “At that moment it was, storytelling.” Disney XD’s Gravity Falls ‘Oh my God, anything can happen now,’” Hulu is releasing the eight episodes Hirsch said. “People care enough to do weekly. “Stephen King loves binge-watch- something so insane and delightful.” ing, but Hulu wanted to bring back the idea And just as 11.22.63 is arriving, another The fi nale, “Weirdmageddon Part 3: Take of anticipation,” says Carpenter. “I had to series steeped in mystery—goofy kid mys- Back the Falls,” picks up where “Weird- agree.” tery—departs. If you’re not familiar with Dis- mageddon Part 2” left off in November. Also being released in a not-very-bingey ney XD series Gravity Falls, ask the 10-year- How many series can you think of weekly format is The New Yorker Presents old boy in your life. The show, about boy that had rabid followings yet lasted just two on Amazon (see page 18), which debuts Feb. and girl twins who spend the summer with seasons? 16. Executive producer Alex Gibney told us wacky relatives in a town steeped in surreal HBO’s comes to that the staggered release schedule is a mythology, accounts for the network’s top my mind. Kristen Schaal’s career got hum- way to replicate the rhythms of a weekly eight animated series telecasts of all time ming after she brilliantly played stalker girl magazine. among kids 6-11. Mel in Conchords; she voices plucky Mabel The to binge or not to binge debate came Feb. 15 marks the season two—and series— Pines in Gravity Falls. up during a recent panel at the ATV Festival fi nale. Creator says Gravity Falls “That never happens in showbiz,” Schaal in Atlanta. Peter Benedek, cofounder and was always conceived as a closed-ended says, “except for shows I work on.”

NBCU SHAKES UP CABLE STATOFTHEWEEK BY B&C STAFF

NBCUniversal has consolidated USA, 20.55 MILLION Syfy, Chiller and Total viewers for CBS’ post-Super Bowl airing of The Late Show Cloo under a new With Stephen Colbert on Feb. 7, according to Nielsen live-plus- banner called the same-day numbers. While well above the show’s total-viewer Entertainment average of 3.3 million, the tally tied with CBS’ own Elementary Networks group. for the worst Super Bowl lead-out of the past 20 years. Chris McCumber, president of USA McCumber Howe Network, will helm the unit as president “Fox calls the NH primary, while Dave Howe, president of Syfy and Chiller, will become president of strategy and commercial growth. for some reason. Do they know Syfy programming chief Bill McGoldrick will lead something we don’t?” —National Review writer Charles scripted content for the group as executive VP, while Cooke wrote Feb. 9 after Fox News prematurely declared Donald Trump the win- Sandra Schron will oversee marketing for the division. ner of the New Hampshire primary before polls had even closed. Trump did win The reorg also includes the movement of Sprout under the primary in the end, but he was not declared the winner until hours later. the Lifestyle Networks group that includes Bravo, E!, Oxygen and Esquire. Disney XD; Lisa Berg/Syfy; Lisa Berg/NBCUniversal; Heather Wines/CBS Heather Berg/NBCUniversal; Lisa Berg/Syfy; XD; Lisa Disney

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