LEAD STORY
Epix Is Becoming MGM Plus
In life, there is nothing certain except death, taxes, and maybe another media organization using the plus suffix for its streaming service.
MGM, the owner of the premium cable channel and streaming service Epix, will rebrand them to MGM Plus at the beginning of the new year.
The relaunch of MGM Plus is set to coincide with the premier of the third season of Godfather of Harlem, currently Epix’s most-watched original series, which will be on January 15.
In addition to that, MGM Plus will also feature new original content like the crime drama Hotel Cocaine, Belgravia: The Next Chapter, an untitled docuseries on the Amityville Murders; and the two-part documentary San Francisco Sounds (a working title) about the city’s music scene from 1965 to 1975.
MGM Plus will remain at $5.99 per month and will also include MGM's expansive movie library featuring the likes of James Bond, The Pink Panther, Barbershop, G.I. Joe, Rocky, Legally Blonde, and Tomb Raider.
Michael Wright, the head of MGM Plus, said in a statement, “MGM is one of the most iconic and beloved brands from the golden age of entertainment.” He added, “This rebrand is a promise to existing and new viewers that MGM+ is the place to find television that reflects and celebrates the legacy of the iconic MGM brand — cinematic programming with sophisticated storytelling that entertains, delights, surprises, and transports. MGM is television for movie lovers.”
It’s perplexing as to why media executives seem to believe that using the “plus” moniker for their streaming service is the way to go. Understandably they want to tie their streaming service to the parent company as a way to ensure brand recognition, but there has to be a better way to ensure that outside of using “plus.”
Epix had already built enough brand awareness to survive as a streaming channel, but it seems executives wanted consumers to know who was fronting it, hence the switch to MGM.
Is this type of brand association something consumers really care about?
Interestingly enough, MGM is now owned by Amazon, which completed the $8.5 billion purchase of the studio and its cable and streaming properties earlier this year and has a streaming service that doesn’t have the “plus” moniker attached to Prime Video.
In the meantime, MGM Plus will be in good company in the “plus” category as it joins Disney Plus, AppleTV Plus, Discovery Plus, and Paramount Plus.
To be determined is whether Warner Bros. Discovery will also use the “plus” moniker for its unnamed streaming service, which will be formed when HBO Max and Discovery Plus are finally fused together.
Something to also keep an eye on is whether, at sometime in the future, Amazon will look to merge Prime Video and MGM Plus.
(Adweek, Vulture, The Hollywood Reporter)
RECAP
Legendary News Anchor Katie Couric Announces She Has Breast Cancer
In a moving post, former NBC News and CBS News anchor Katie Couric revealed that she has breast cancer. Couric detailed what led to the revelation and the process she went and is still going through. The good news, her breast cancer, which is type 1A, was caught early, and she should make a full recovery. The bad news, as she found out, breast cancer can strike anyone with or without having a family history of suffering from that disease. “85 percent of the 264,000 American women diagnosed every year in this country have no family history. I clearly had a lot to learn,” Couric said. (Katie Couric)
Rachel Nichols joins Showtime
Rachel Nichols has a new home. The former host of ESPN’s basketball coverage joins Showtime, where she will be a host and producer of Showtime Basketball. Nichols was unceremoniously let go from ESPN in January after her private conversations, where she complained about her colleague Maria Taylor and the opportunities she was receiving, were leaked. In an episode of the Showtime Basketball podcast, All The Smoke, Nichols spoke about the incident saying, “One person decided to just sit and watch and start spying on me like I was their own personal television show.” She continued, “When they heard something they thought was juicy, they picked up their cell phone, and they started recording me.” (Sports Business Journal and Variety)
Amazon’s Thursday Night Football Under Fire For Tua Tagovailoa Coverage
Miami Dolphin’s quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a frightening concussion injury while his team was playing the Cincinnati Bengals during Amazon Prime Video’s broadcast of Thursday Night Football. How Amazon responded to the injury during the broadcast caused many to criticize the streaming service. Viewers were upset that they replayed the gruesome play repeatedly, and then during the halftime show, the broadcast team offered minimal context to the situation. Amazon, which shelled $1 billion to broadcast the Thursday night game, is experiencing baptism by fire as it tries to stand tall next to the other broadcast titans. The streaming service has to learn how to balance the NFL’s needs with the need for contextual and honest reporting when another serious issue pops up during its broadcast. (Awful Announcing, Front Office Sports, and The Washington Post)
QUICK RECAP
Former CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante passes away. (CBS News)
Former BBC News anchor Mark Mardell has Parkinson’s disease. (The Guardian)
Fox Sports NFL analyst and former NFL player Terry Bradshaw revealed he had been battling cancer. (Sports Media Watch)
ABC News moves Marcus Moore to London, making him their foreign correspondent. (TVNewser)
Alisa Bowen named Disney Plus president. (Brooks Barnes/Twitter)
Former NBA player Jamal Crawford to replace Dwayne Wade at Turner Sports. (New York Post)
Linsey Davis adds radio to her ABC News news presenting responsibilities. (TVNewser)
CNN International moves Selina Wang from its Tokyo bureau to its Beijing bureau. (CNN Press Room)
CNN names Marcus Mabry SVP of digital editorial and programming. (TVNewser)
Mac Budill leaves NBCUniversal as president of content distribution. (Sports Business Journal)
Hurricane Ian: How the networks covered it. (NewscastStudio)
Hurricane Ian: How the networks covered it. (TVNewser)
Hurricane Ian: Reporters keep putting themselves in harm’s way. (NPR)
Third Quarter ratings: Fox News remains at the top. (Deadline)
Third Quarter ratings: MSNBC remains number two. (TVNewser)
NBC Sports’ Olympic Channel’s flame is put out. (Timothy Burke/Twitter)
Disney channels go dark on Dish Network and Sling TV after carriage dispute. (Deadline)
Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro is a central target in the Dominion Voting System defamation lawsuit. (NPR)
Peacock’s communications operations restructured by NBCUniversal. (Deadline)
Matthew Berry’s fantasy football show to also air on CNBC on most Sundays over the rest of the season. (Awful Announcing)
ABC News to launch streaming version of Nightline on Hulu. (Variety)
ESPN NBA announcer Mike Breen’s house was destroyed in a fire. (New York Post)
2022 News and Documentary Emmy winners announced. (TVNewser)
How Netflix lost its competitive edge. (CNBC)
Jessica Tarlov shines on Fox News. (Los Angeles Times)
CNN International opens bureau in Taipei. (CNN Press Room)
Netflix will see viewership decline in 2022. (MediaPost)
Aaron Judge’s home run chase helps sports networks’ ratings. (Sports Media Watch)
CNN lays off audio and digital staff. (Deadline and The Daily Beast)
Warner Bros. Discovery names its sports leadership team. (Sports Business Journal)
David Zaslav tells employees Warner Bros. Discovery isn’t for sale. (Variety)
Nightly networks embrace the streaming world. (Associated Press)
Profile: PBS’ Judy Woodruff on her long, storied career. (The Hill)
NBC News makes slight changes to the Today show. (NewscastStudio)
ABC News Juju Chang to be honored at NAIMC conference. (NextTV)
Judge allows lawsuit against former Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs to proceed. (Deadline)
A class-action lawsuit claims Warner Bros. Discovery fudged its HBO Max subscriber numbers. (The Wrap)
NewsNation mimics CNN’s political branding. (NewscastStudio)
Gerhard Zeiler sets out Warner Bros. Discovery’s international strategy. (Variety)
BBC News’ Clive Myrie and Ros Atkins were nominated for broadcaster of the year by the London Press Club. (London Press Club)
DAZN acquires Eleven Sports. (Axios)
Netflix is creating a gaming studio in Helsinki. (MediaPost)
ESPN signs former NBA player JJ Redick to a multi-year extension. (ESPN PR/Twitter)
Chris Cuomo talks about what led to his exit from CNN. (TVNewser)
Oprah and AppleTV Plus part ways. (The Streamable)
PlutoTV launches 60 Minutes channel. (Variety)
A look at the revamped Look who is talking to Chris Wallace. (NewscastStudio)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #101 - 2022