Netflix deal brings ‘Narcos’ to broadcast TV
Did you watch Netflix’s Narcos and think it would be a perfect fit for TV? So did Univision. The Spanish-language broadcaster is forging a partnership with Netflix that will bring the first season of the Pablo Escobar crime saga to TV through the Univision Network. You’ll also see the first run of Netflix’s futbol drama Club de Cuervos air on UniMas. The second seasons of both productions will still be Netflix exclusives (this is more of a promotion than an olive branch), but it’s good news if you’ve wanted to show your friends what all the fuss was about.
Of course, this added exposure comes at a cost. Netflix and Univision are making El Chapo, a drama series surrounding the namesake Mexican crime lord, that will arrive first through UniMas in 2017. Yes, you’ll have to wait to see it on Netflix proper. That may be a small price to pay for Netflix, which no doubt wants any help it can get in courting Spanish-speaking viewers, but it’s unfortunate if you’re used to Netflix getting first dibs on most of its co-productions.
Source: Univision (1), (2)
Starz starts streaming on Android TV
ESPN isn’t the only big broadcaster showing some affection for Android TV today. Starz has launched its streaming service on Google’s big-screen platform, giving you access to Ash vs. Evil Dead, Outlander and other shows through Android-powered TVs and set-top boxes. The features will resemble what you’ve found on iOS and smaller Android devices, including both the $9 per month internet-only plan and authentication if you already get Starz through a supporting TV provider (sorry, Comcast customers). Just don’t expect it to work on every gadget running the platform — the company only promises support for “select” Android TV devices, such as Sony’s Android sets and Google’s Nexus Player.
Source: Starz
Amazon gives Alexa more control of your Fire TV
Amazon’s virtual assistant was already hard at work helping with tasks via its Echo speakers and Fire TV, but now Alexa is getting more control of your television. The online retailer announced today that Alexa can handle more requests on its streaming gadgets, including launching apps, playing selections from Amazon video and add-on subscriptions (HBO Go, Starz, Showtime, SeeSo) and browsing local movie times. Fire TV already offered voice search and Alexa has been available on those devices as well, but this update expands the virtual assistant’s workload.
Alexa can also search local business listings and play Kindle books that are equipped with speech-to-text features. What’s more, Fire TV is gaining the ability to play YouTube videos in 4K, so long as the device is connected to a compatible UHD display. Amazon says Alexa’s new chores and the other features will arrive on the streaming gear “in the coming weeks” via an over-the-air update.
Source: Amazon (Business Wire)
WatchESPN brings live and on-demand sports to Android TV
ESPN’s streaming app is already available on a number of streaming gadgets and mobile devices, and now you can watch it on Android TV. WatchESPN’s live and on-demand content is now available on Sony 4K HDR Ultra HD TVs, Sharp Aquos Android TV, Nexus Player, Nvidia Shield and Razer Forge TV. The company says that the app will makes its way to Philips and RCA devices “at a later date.” If you’ll recall, WatchESPN was already available on Google’s Chromecast streaming dongle.
Of course, you’ll need a cable subscription in order to stream the library of sports content, so you may need to temper your expectations. Despite rumors of a standalone NBA streaming service, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger said the company wouldn’t rush the offering early last year. Disney/ABC Television Group says that this ESPN app is the first of its Android TV offerings and that others are “coming soon.”
Source: ESPN
‘Mr. Robot’ season 2 trailer makes us giddy for revolution
After last year’s surprising (but not completely unexpected) Mr. Robot season finale, hacker Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) and the fsociety are back. But, if you’re hoping the season two trailer will shed any light about what’s happening with Alderson and his hactivist collective, you’re out of luck.
The Golden Globe-winning series has been lauded not only for its compelling characters and storyline, but also its realistic portrayal of hacking. Don’t worry if you haven’t caught up with the show, though. Season two premieres July 13th, so you still have plenty of time to binge-watch the compelling adventures of a genius who might also be insane.
Source: Mr. Robot
Netflix’s ‘Voltron’ assembles in its second trailer
Netflix’s upcoming Voltron: Legendary Defender is looking a whole lot more palatable than previously imagined. DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming Netflix reboot of the classic series is taking a lot of cues from familiar faces (and voices) as the first trailer makes its way to audiences today.
The series comes to Netflix on June 10 with an hour-long premiere episode and ten additional 22-minute episodes from executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos and co-executive Lauren Montgomery. Dos Santos was in part responsible for the smash hit The Legend of Korra, and it’s easy to see where this modern vision of Voltron found so much of its influences. It’s colorful, loud, and frenetic, as the trailer shows off, but also personal and silly, true in many ways to the original Voltron’s mission.
The trailer is our first glimpse of characters Princess Allura, Coran, Shiro, Hunk, Lance, Pidge and Keith. There are some familiar voices in the crowd as well, like Adventure Time’s Jeremy Shada and Flight of the Conchords’ Rhys Darby.
“We wanted to make it closer to what we remember the show being versus what it actually ends up being when you go back and watch it,” Montgomery explained of the series.
It’s easy to get excited about the series with this new information, voice cast, and a glimpse at what’s to come, especially when you consider how Dos Santos himself describes the new vision of Voltron.
“Our teens are reacting to the insane idea [that] there’s a giant intergalactic war going on, and now they’re going to pilot five lions that become a larger robot, and one lion will wear another as a … well, as a boot …” A boot, indeed.
You can check out Voltron: Legendary Defender next month in its entirety when it hits Netflix.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
TalkTalk TV to offer BT Sport channels
TalkTalk, like Virgin Media, doesn’t hold the rights to any live sport in the UK. Instead, the company has to hash out deals with other broadcasters, such as Sky and BT, to offer its subscribers new channels and coverage. TalkTalk TV customers can already pay extra for Sky Sports, but today the company announced that a BT Sport package is also being added to the mix. The price of the bolt-on subscription is yet to be determined, but TalkTalk has confirmed that it will include BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, BT Sport Europe and BT Sport ESPN. Notably, there’s no BT Sport Ultra HD.
With Sky Sports and BT Sport combined, it’ll be possible for TalkTalk customers to watch every televised Premier League and Champions League match on their TV. Of course, BT offers more than that though — subscribers will also gain access to plenty of rugby, MotoGP and UFC martial arts with their subscription. Sky and BT would, of course, prefer that viewers use their own TV platform, rather than the one provided by TalkTalk, but this is a way to boost their subscriber numbers and recoup the astronomical amounts spent on live Premier League TV rights.
Amazon offers NBC’s Seeso comedy service as a streaming add-on
NBC’s Seeso comedy streaming service has been available to all since January, and now Amazon Prime members are getting easy access. The online retailer added NBC’s lineup of comedy TV shows and movies, which includes new episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Myers the day after they air. You’ll have to shell out an extra $4/month for Seeso on top of that Prime subscription, but doing so puts the comedy library alongside your other Amazon videos.
This isn’t the first time Amazon has allowed Prime customers to tack on other video services to the subscription. It also lets users add Showtime, Comedy Central and others for folks who are willing to pay extra for those. If you’ll recall, Hulu is doing something similar by offering Showtime as an add-on to the regular streaming options. Putting all of those things in one spot certainly seems convenient, but Amazon will need to make that one-stop shop easier to use if it really wants to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu. But hey, at least there’s Saved by the Bell.
Source: Amazon
Ellen Degeneres launches a network with YouTube, Snapchat stars
Ellen Degeneres is leveling up with the launch of her own network, the Ellen Digital Network, which will create content for online platforms and television. YouTube powerhouse Tyler Oakley has signed on to help build original programming for the web and TV alike, while the two stars behind the viral “Damn, Daniel” videos are building an original series for Snapchat. This new venture is a partnership with Warner Bros. Television.
Degeneres has a massive presence on the air (surely you’ve heard of The Ellen Degeneres Show) and online, including 16 million subscribers on YouTube and 59.2 million followers on Twitter. Oakley has 21 million followers across social media, including 8.1 million subscribers on YouTube, where he creates diary-style videos about his life and LGBTQ issues.
The new shows on tap for EDN include Damn, Daniel Boyz, an original series about that viral sensation debuting on Snapchat this year, Ellen’s Pet Dish, an animated show featuring Degeneres’ pets, and She’s Brielle-iant, a series for EllenTube starring 4-year-old Brielle Milla discussing educational topics such as world geography and the human body. Damn, Ellen.
Via: Mashable
Source: Variety
Netflix adds data-saving quality controls to its mobile apps
Back in March, Netflix revealed that it was working on a “data saver” feature for its mobile apps. Keeping its word, the streaming service announced today that the cellular data tool that allows users to adjust video quality to save data is available in its iOS and Android apps. In fact, we’re seeing the new feature in both Netflix apps here at Engadget HQ. By default, the software adjusts video quality to allow for about 3 hours of streaming per gigabyte of data. The company says that tests showed this to be the best balance of data use and quality when streaming over a cellular connection.
In addition to the default setting, there are options for low, medium and high quality streaming that allow for four hours, two hours and one hour of watching with 1GB of data. There’s also a setting for those with unlimited data plans, and if you don’t want to use any of that monthly allotment, you can opt to only stream movies and TV shows on WiFi. Netflix also offered the reminder that even if you choose higher quality in the app, your mobile service provider may place its own limits on bandwidth. Regardless of networks fiddling with quality, these new quality settings should help folks who enjoy an episode of House of Cards on the go, but regularly exceed their data caps.
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