Apple on Monday said it’s raising prices on its popular Apple Music and Apple TV Plus subscription services, as well as on its Apple One bundle, marking the first major price increase in the US from the company in years.

Apple Music is jumping by $1 for individuals to $11 per month and by $2 for families to $17 per month. Apple TV Plus, meanwhile, is rising by $2 and will now cost $7 per month. Apple’s bundle service, Apple One, meanwhile, will cost $16.95 per month for an individual — a $2 increase. The Apple One family plan will hit $22.95 per month — a $3 increase.

An Apple spokeswoman cited increased licensing costs and payouts to artists and songwriters for Apple Music’s price increase. Meanwhile, she noted that Apple TV Plus had started at a low price with “just a few shows and movies,” but now has a much larger selection of “award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers.”

The move marks the latest in a series of price increases among top subscription services as economic instability around the world has led to high inflation. Netflix, Spotify, Disney and even Google-owned YouTube have raised at least some of their subscription rates over the past couple years, though like Apple they haven’t all blamed the global economy.

Some of the price increases, such as with Spotify and YouTube, have been focused on family plans, where multiple people benefit from access to the service. Netflix, Disney Plus and Apple, meanwhile, have made their price increases hit more broadly.

It’s hard to determine whether people will change their habits in response to the price changes. Every time a service raises prices, it typically has to deal with what’s known as churn, or the rate of cancellations. Netflix, for its part, has previously characterized its churn after a price increase as manageable, calling it an “adjustment period” of “slightly higher churn.” But shortly after Netflix raised its prices by as much as $2 in January, an unprecedented number of people dropped the service. Earlier this month, the company reported growth again, but not before it promised to change its business by cutting costs and offering a new, cheaper ad-supported tier.

Apple hasn’t updated its public Music membership figures in more than three years. Back in June 2019, Apple said its service had 60 million subscribers. Spotify, meanwhile, reported in July that it has 188 million paying subscribers and expected to eclipse 450 million total listeners last month. According to music industry researcher MIDiA, Apple holds about 15% of the world’s subscription music market; Spotify’s share is more than double that.

Apple has never disclosed a subscriber count for Apple TV Plus, but it’s generally considered to be a fraction of Netflix’s, which had 223 million paying customers around the world as of September. 

The post Apple Hikes Prices on Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple One Bundle first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Netflix, for years, was notoriously tight-lipped about its viewership. But after a few years of dropping stats for some of its programming, Netflix launched a website in mid-November posting charts of its most popular shows and movies from the past week, as well as a global ranking of its all-time most watched titles. 

The charts, which are updated every week and ranked by the total number of hours that subscribers spent watching them, represent an unprecedented trove of data about what’s popular on Netflix. The site details the most popular titles in the last week not only globally but also for more than 90 countries. And it’s meant to help subscribers like you get a better sense of the biggest hits on the world’s largest subscription streaming service, in the hopes you’ll discover something new to watch. 

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

The company updates its weekly “Top 10 on Netflix” every Tuesday, based on hours viewed from Monday through Sunday the previous week for original and licensed titles. The rankings are broken down into top 10 charts for films in English, TV in English, films in non-English languages and TV in non-English languages.

A ranking of all-time most watched titles also lives on the site, detailing shows that have the most viewing hours in their first 28 days of release. If a new season releases its episodes in two parts on different dates, Netflix counts the watch time of the first volume’s episodes for their first 28 days, then it counts the watch time of the second volume’s episodes for their first 28 days. These all-time rankings are also updated every Tuesday, whenever any programs make it into the charts during the week prior. 

Netflix’s biggest hit TV shows, ranked

The following are Netflix’s most watched series, based on Netflix’s own reporting of total hours viewed in the first 28 days of each titles’ release. Again, if a new season releases its episodes in two volumes on different dates, Netflix counts the watch time of the first volume’s episodes for their first 28 days, then it counts the watch time of the second volume’s episodes for their first 28 days. 

Any changes in the rankings from the previous week are in bold text. 

1. Squid Game (season 1), a Korean survival thriller — 1.65 billion hours.
2. Stranger Things (season 4), a retro sci-fi series — 1.35 billion hours. 
3. Money Heist (part 5), a Spanish-language thriller — 792.2 million hours. 
4. Bridgerton (season 2), a period romance — 656.3 million hours. 
5. Bridgerton (season 1) — 625.5 million hours.
6. Money Heist (part 4) — 619 million hours.
7. Stranger Things (season 3), a retro sci-fi series — 582.1 million hours.
8. Lucifer (season 5), a fantasy police procedural — 569.5 million hours. 
9. All of Us Are Dead, a Korean zombie thriller taking place in a high school — 560.8 million hours.
10. The Witcher (season 1), a fantasy show — 541 million hours.
11. Inventing Anna, a true-crime limited series about a fake socialite — 511.9 million hours
12. 13 Reasons Why (season 2), a controversial teen drama — 496.1 million hours.
13. Ozark (season 4), a crime drama series — 491.1 million hours.
14. The Witcher (season 2) — 484.3 million hours.

Other high-ranking shows: 

• 13 Reasons Why (season 1) — 475.6 million hours
• Maid, a limited series about a young mother fleeing abuse — 469.1 million hours.
• You (season 3), a psychological thriller — 467.8 million hours.
• You (season 2) — 457.4 million hours.
• Stranger Things (season 2) — 427.4 million hours.
• Money Heist (part 3) — 426.4 million hours.
• Sex Education (season 3), a British teen dramedy — 419 million hours.
• Money Heist (part 5) — 395.1 million hours.
• Ginny & Georgia (season 1), a dramedy about a young mom and kids — 381 million hours.
• Extraordinary Attorney Woo (season 1), a South Korean legal drama — 401 million hours. 
• Café con Aroma de Mujer (season 1), a Colombian telenovela — 326.9 million hours. 
• Lupin (part 1), a French heist show — 316.8 million hours.
• Elite (season 3), a Spanish teen drama — 275.3 million hours.
• Who Killed Sara? (season 1), a Mexican mystery thriller — 266.4 million hours. 
• Elite (season 4) — 257.1 million hours.
• The Queen of Flow (season 2), a musical Colombian telenovela — 230.3 million hours.
• Lupin (part 2) — 214.1 million hours.
• Dark Desire (season 1), a Mexican dramatic thriller — 213 million hours.

Netflix’s biggest hit movies, ranked

The following are Netflix’s most watched movies, based on Netflix’s own reporting of total hours viewed in the first 28 days of each titles’ release. Any changes are in bold text. 

1. Red Notice, an action movie starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds — 364 million hours.
2. Don’t Look Up, a dark comedy with a star-packed cast — 359.8 million hours. 
3. Bird Box, a post-apocalyptic movie starring Sandra Bullock — 282 million hours.
4. The Gray Man, a CIA action thriller — 253.9 million hours.
5. The Adam Project, a sci-fi adventure comedy — 233.2 million hours.
6. Extraction, an action movie starring Chris Hemsworth — 231.3 million hours.
7. Purple Hearts, a romantic drama about a musician marrying a Marine — 228.7 million hours. 
8. The Unforgivable, a drama about a woman rebuilding her life after prison — 214.7 million hours.
9. The Irishman, a period Mafia epic directed by Martin Scorsese– 214.6 million hours.
10. The Kissing Booth 2, a teen rom-com sequel — 209.3 million hours.

Former top-ranking movies that have been bumped out of Netflix’s official all-time charts:

• 6 Underground, a Michael Bay explosion-fest starring Ryan Reynolds — 205.5 million hours.
• Spenser Confidential, an action-comedy starring Mark Wahlberg — 197.3 million hours.
• Enola Holmes, a period detective film — 189.9 million hours.
• Army of the Dead, a heist set in a zombie apocalypse — 187 million hours.
• The Old Guard, an action-thriller starring Charlize Theron — 186 million hours.
• Murder Mystery, a comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston — 170 million hours.

Netflix appears to have never released a non-English-language film that generated enough viewing hours to make it into an overall top-watched ranking. But additional widely watched non-English language movies on Netflix have included:

• Blood Red Sky, a German/British action horror film set during a plane hijacking — 110.5 million hours.
• The Platform, a Spanish social commentary wrapped in a horror film — 108.1 million hours.
• Black Crab, a Swedish apocalyptic war thriller starring Noomi Rapace — 94.1 million hours. 
• Through My Window, a Spanish teen romance — 92.4 million hours. 
• The Takedown, a French cop comedy — 78.6 million hours.
• Below Zero, a Spanish action thriller about a breakout from a prison transport vehicle — 78.3 million hours.
• Rogue City, a French action thriller about an unorthodox team of cops — 66.6 million hours.
• Carter, a South Korean action thriller about a man who wakes up with no memories and a voice in his ear — 65.4 million hours.
• The Forgotten Battle, a Dutch World War II film — 60.9 million hours.
• Loving Adults, a Danish thriller about an extramarital affair — 60.2 million

Former top-ranking non-English movies that have been bumped out of the non-English top 10 include:

• Restless, a French action thriller — 59.1 million hours.
• Lost Bullet, like a Fast & Furious movie but French — 58.3 million hours
• Spoiled Brats, a French comedy about rich siblings tricked into earning their own living — 56.9 million hours.
• #Alive, a South Korean movie about a gamer’s bid to survive the zombie apocalypse — 54.6 million hours.
• Space Sweepers, a South Korean space western with a weaponized child-android — 53.3 million hours
• The Last Mercenary, a French action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme — 52.1 million hours.
• Just Another Christmas, a Brazilian Christmas comedy — 48 million hours. 

The post Netflix’s Biggest Shows and Movies, Ranked (According to Netflix) first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Peacock TV is NBCUniversal’s US streaming app, with tens of thousands of hours of free programming, plus more shows, movies, sports and originals if you pay. Monday, Peacock is the only place in the US to stream the 2022 Emmy Awards ceremony live — but only if you have one of the paid, premium subscriptions. 

Also paywalled on Peacock are Premier League matches; cowboy drama Yellowstone; WWE; The Office; and most of Peacock’s originals. Peacock is also streaming theatrical movies like Jurassic World: Dominion, with Minions: The Rise of Gru and Jordan Peele’s latest movie, Nope, on the way — but, again, you need to be a paying subscriber for those too. 

Generally, that means you’ll need to pay either $5 or $10 a month if you want to watch any of those. But some people qualify for discounts on those prices; see the section on deals below.

See it at Peacock

Peacock was one of a flood of new streaming services from tech and media giants that launched over the last two years. Competitors include other new services, like Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Paramount Plus (the revamp of CBS All Access) and HBO Max, as well as vets like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.

But Peacock is unusual among these rivals in that it offers a free tier. It also has live sports and news; most of the newest streaming services are focused squarely on video-on-demand entertainment along the lines of Netflix. 

How do I stream the Emmys? 

In the US, Peacock is streaming the Emmy Awards telecast exclusively, starting at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. 

It’s available for premium subscribers only, so people who have a free account will need to upgrade or figure out if they qualify for a discount. 

How much does Peacock cost, and what’s the deal with the free tier? 

Peacock has three tiers: a limited one that’s free, an all-inclusive one that’s $5 a month with ads and an all-inclusive one that’s $10 a month without ads. 

The free tier limits how much you can watch. For example, Peacock offers only select episodes of its originals free, withholding the rest inside its paywall. Free accounts can watch one episode of Yellowstone and the first two seasons of The Office, but no more. And though many movies are available on this free tier, some of the most high-profile and newest ones are blocked unless you upgrade. This limited free tier has access to roughly two-thirds of Peacock’s total catalog of movies, current season TV, TV classics, curated daily news, sports, Hispanic programming and curated channels. 

Crucially, almost all of Peacock’s live sports are behind the paywall. That means to watch NFL Sunday Night Football, any Premier League matches or live Olympics coverage, you need to pay. 

The paid tiers are basically all-access passes to the full catalog on the service. Peacock Premium is $5 a month or $50 a year with advertising, or you can upgrade to Peacock Premium Plus for ad-free viewing at $10 a month or $100 a year (this Premium Plus tier is also the only one that lets you download to watch offline). 

The tiers with advertising are supposed to have no more than five minutes of commercials per hour.

Are there deals or discounts to get Peacock’s premium tiers free? 

Some people can score discounts that cut the cost of Peacock if they’re already customers of certain cable companies. Peacock gives Comcast X1 and Flex subscribers the paid versions of the service at a $5 discount. So if they want to watch with advertising, they pay nothing for Peacock Premium; if they want to watch ad-free, they need to pay $5 a month for Premium Plus. 

Cox customers also get that $5-off deal. Peacock has said it’s working on partnerships to offer this discount to a wider array of consumers. 

And Spectrum video and broadband customers to get an extended free trial to Peacock, thanks to a deal with parent company Charter Communications. Qualified Spectrum TV customers get a year-long free trial, and qualified Spectrum internet customers get 90 days. 

Read more: How to Get Peacock Premium Free if You Already Pay for Comcast, Cox or Spectrum

The pricing at Peacock’s competition runs the gamut. 

Among the services that have ad-supported options, Hulu is $6 a month with ads and $12 a month ad-free. CBS All Access charges $6 for its tier with advertising, and $10 for the ad-free version. 

By comparison, Netflix, which has no ads, offers its cheapest tier at $10 a month, while its most popular plan is $15.50. Apple TV Plus is $5 a month, Disney Plus is $7 a month and HBO Max is $15 a month. None of them includes advertising (and of those only Apple TV Plus has any live sports to speak of yet). 

And none of these competitors — whether with ads or without — offers a free tier like Peacock’s.

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

Does Peacock offer a free trial? 

No, Peacock quietly ended its free trial as a standard offer to new subscribers in late 2021. 

When will Minions: The Rise of Gru and Nope start streaming? 

Minions: The Rise of Gru is set to begin streaming on Sept. 23. You’ll need a premium membership, because free accounts will be locked out. 

For Nope, Peacock hasn’t confirmed a streaming release date yet. Generally, Peacock should start streaming films sometime starting 45 days after theatrical release but no later than 120 days after they hit cinemas. 

• For Nope, it could have started streaming it as soon as Sept. 5, or it could wait as late as Nov. 18.

But streaming release dates are unpredictable. 

This year, Universal has released movies like Marry Me and Firestarter on Peacock to stream the same day they hit theaters, so you didn’t have to wait at all — and it’ll do it again with Halloween Ends, which will be available for same-day streaming when it lands in cinemas Oct. 14. On the other hand, The Northman, a historical action movie that Universal’s Focus Features division distributed in the US, hit Peacock after only 42 days, but then Jurassic World Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru were given much longer theatrical exclusives, at 84 days in cinemas before streaming. 

Wildcards like these make streaming release dates harder to predict. 

What is happening to NBC programming on Hulu? 

For now, NBC’s shows are still streaming on Hulu, but they’ll be disappearing soon.

NBC was a partner in Hulu for years, but NBCUniversal-owner Comcast struck a deal with Disney to give it control of Hulu. That deal included terms that essentially allowed NBC to have programming stream both on Hulu and on Peacock at the same time.

But in March, NBCUniversal officially terminated its next-day TV streaming deal with Hulu. That means that in late September, NBC shows won’t be available to stream on Hulu the day after they air. Past episodes will be disappearing from Peacock’s library too. 

What’s up with WWE on Peacock? 

Peacock is now the only place to stream the WWE Network. 

In 2021, Peacock began rolling out WWE programming just before Fastlane, the first WWE “pay-per-view” event streaming on Peacock. (All so-called pay-per-view WWE events are available to Peacock premium subscribers at no added cost.)

Any legacy subscribers to the previous WWE Network app and service were required to sign up for Peacock to keep watching. The upside to this change is that now WWE Network, including all “pay-per-view” events, will be available on Peacock Premium for $5, or half the price of the WWE Network’s old service. Peacock’s $10-a-month tier will be able to access all the same WWE programming; the only difference between being a $5 subscriber and a $10 one is that the priciest tier strips out advertising — there’s no difference in what you get to watch. 

Peacock has a dedicated WWE page to browse and stream all of its WWE programming. Peacock’s paid tiers are also home to all upcoming pay-per-view events (they’re called “pay-per-view” but there’s no additional cost to watch them on Peacock), as well as the current seasons of WWE Original shows. 

On the free tier, Peacock will also offer a new WWE “channel” with select WWE Original shows; reality shows such as Miz and Mrs., Total Bellas and Total Divas; recent in-ring content. It’ll also have new weekly episodes of select live shows including RAW Talk and The Bump, both live and on demand.

What devices can stream Peacock? 

Peacock is available on the web at Peacocktv.com, and it’s supported on:

• Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD.
• Google devices including Android phones and tablets, and Android TV devices, Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices. 
• Xbox One consoles.
• Sony PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro consoles.
• Vizio SmartCast TVs. 
• LG Smart TVs.
• Roku devices.
• Amazon Fire TV

To check the exact models that support Peacock, check the service’s support page. 

What service features does Peacock have? 

• Up to three devices can stream Peacock simultaneously from a single account. 
• Peacock won’t require accounts to register devices with the service, nor will it limit the number of devices a single account can use to stream. 
• Peacock won’t support high-end formats like 4K resolution, high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos sound at launch, but they’re on the roadmap to be added. 
• It won’t support profiles yet, a feature that typically allows for various members of a household to keep their viewing and recommendations separate. That feature is also on the roadmap, Peacock said.
• Parental controls are managed by a PIN.
• Mobile downloads are available for those who subscribe to its top tier, Premium Plus.
• The app’s user interface will be in English only. The programming on Peacock will support any language audio or subtitles tracks that come with a specific title. At launch, it’ll have some content with Spanish language tracks and subtitles. 

Shows and movies: What’s available to watch on Peacock?

Since Peacock has a free tier, the easiest way to get a sense of what’s on Peacock is to browse the service itself, although you’ll need to register an account with an email address to do so. If you don’t want to hand over an email, you can also check third-party sites like Reelgood, which track streaming services’ catalogs, to get a sense of what’s available to watch. 

Generally speaking, the service’s programming leans into NBCUniversal’s back catalog and its franchises, but there are a couple of complexities there too. 

Peacock is licensing programming from other companies. A deal with Paramount, for example, gives Peacock past seasons of Yellowstone, the hit cowboy drama on the Paramount Network.

Peacock’s free tier includes: 

• Next-day access to current seasons of NBC broadcast shows in their first season, known as freshmen series.
• Next-week access (i.e., one week after episodes air) to current seasons of returning NBC broadcast shows.
• Select episodes of marquee Peacock originals (but not full seasons).
• Curated genre channels, which NBC has characterized as things like SNL Vault, Family Movie Night and Olympic Profiles.
• Selections of classic series and popular movies.
• Curated daily news and sports programming, including the Olympics.
• Spanish-language content.

With the Premium membership, you basically get an all-access pass. It includes everything on the free tier plus: 

• Full seasons of Peacock originals.
• Next-day access to current seasons of returning NBC broadcast shows.
• Early access to NBC’s late-night talk shows. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will stream early on Peacock and Late Night with Seth Meyers at 8 p.m. ET — but this perk will begin only when the shows return to in-studio production.
• Full access to Peacock’s library of shows and movies.
• Additional sports, like Premier League soccer.

Peacock also includes live programming, including the summer and winter Olympics. Select programming from the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics streamed on the free tier, but full live Olympics coverage required a paid account. 

As far as news programming, Peacock draws from brands like NBC News, Sky News, MSNBC and CNBC. It’ll stream same-day broadcasts of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Meet the Press with Chuck Todd; live news channels will include NBC News Now, Sky News and NBC/Sky Global News (a new channel); it’ll feature clips from Today, CNBC, MSNBC, E! News, NBC Nightly News and Meet the Press; and it’ll widen into original content from the Meet the Press franchise, investigative documentaries including full seasons of Dateline and Lock Up, and library documentaries from NBC News and CNBC.

For its originals, the company generally tends to rely on new series from talent with a long track record at NBC, like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Mindy Kaling. It’s also betting on reboots of shows in its catalog with an enduring appeal. It’s announced a revival of Battlestar Galactica (itself a reboot of the 1970s sci-fi series) by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail and released reboots of Punky Brewster, Saved by the Bell and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. According to Deadline, NBCUniversal hoped to make a reboot of The Office, which itself was a remake of a British series. 

But not all Peacock’s original programming comes straight from NBCUniversal’s family tree. Some original titles, like Brave New World, are fresh projects just for Peacock. 

The post Peacock: What’s Paywalled (Emmys), What’s Free and What Else to Know first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Thor: Love and Thunder hit theaters July 8, but with middling reviews (“disappointingly shallow” was the reaction of CNET reviewer Sean Keane), you may have been holding out until the movie made its way to Disney Plus. 

But Disney’s streaming strategy for its theatrical releases has been all over the map. Encanto spent a month in theaters before streaming. For Marvel’s Eternals, it was two months. West Side Story, Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of the musical, hit Disney Plus about three months after it played exclusively in cinemas. 

Up until Thor: Love and Thunder, Disney seemed finally to be settling into a pattern for releasing its big films on its streaming service. But with Thor’s Disney Plus date two weeks later than expected, the streaming-release timing for upcoming big movies — like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Avatar: The Way of Water and others — may be unpredictable.

When did Thor: Love and Thunder start streaming on Disney Plus?

Disney Plus began streaming Thor: Love and Thunder early Thursday morning, starting at 12:01 a.m. PT/3:01 a.m. ET. 

The release date coincided with what Disney calls Disney Plus Day, an annual marketing event for the service, which typically includes adding big new titles to stream as well as some discounts and perks across Disney’s other businesses. 

Is Thor available to stream ‘free’ on Disney Plus? 

Thor: Love and Thunder is part of the standard Disney Plus catalog, available to watch at no added cost. Some people refer to this being “free” to stream, but everything on Disney Plus still requires a paid subscription.

Was the CGI in the movie altered for the Disney Plus release? 

Fans have posted comparisons of at least one scene in which computer-generated imagery in the film appears to have been changed versus the theatrical release. 

Disney and Marvel previously have tweaked elements of other shows and movies while they’ve been on Disney Plus. 

But with Thor, director Taika Waititi, in a video interview breaking down a scene in the film not long after its theatrical release, made some deadpan remarks about the realism of a CGI character in the shot. The offhand comments became a flashpoint for complaints by visual effects artists about Marvel working conditions. 

However, the scene with seemingly altered CGI on Disney Plus is different than the one that sparked the outcry. 

When will Thor be available on DVD?

Disney has set Sept. 27 as the date Thor: Love and Thunder will be be released on DVD, 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray. 

When was Thor’s previously expected Disney Plus release date? 

Thor was previously expected to hit Disney Plus two weeks earlier than it did. 

During the pandemic lockdown, Disney let many movies stream on Disney Plus the same day they were released in cinemas. But for more than a year, Disney has been giving its live-action theatrical releases long stints of exclusivity in theaters before making streaming an option. Disney hasn’t officially declared a standard length for these theatrical exclusives. 

However, up until Thor, the company appeared to have settled on giving its theatrical films 47 days in theaters before streaming them on Disney Plus.

Disney’s previous two films both spent 47 days in theaters before hitting Disney Plus: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness became available to stream 47 days after its wide release in theaters, and then Pixar’s Lightyear started streaming on Disney Plus on Aug. 3 — also 47 days after its theatrical release. 

But Thor: Love and Thunder’s release kicks the streaming release date to 62 days after it hit theaters.

What does the timing mean for streaming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and other Disney movies? 

For future Disney theatrical releases, predicting streaming release dates is going to be guesswork again.  

Thor: Love and Thunder is hitting Disney Plus 62 days after its theatrical release. That’s weeks later than the 47-day period that appeared to be becoming Disney’s standard. It’s closer to the length of time for theatrical exclusives last year: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was in theaters for 70 days before streaming on Disney Plus; for Eternals, it was 68 days. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, for example, will hit cinemas Nov. 11. If it were sticking with the 47-day timeline, it would be on Disney Plus on Dec. 28, tucked into the week after Christmas but before New Year’s Day. Every year, that week is an extraordinarily popular time for streaming — and for going out to the movies. Now that Thor’s Disney Plus release reiterates there’s really no telling when movies will start streaming, you could be able to stream the Black Panther sequel just a month and a half after it’s out — or you could have to wait until next year. 

Disney’s timing decisions for Black Panther and other upcoming movies — the new Avatar movie, the next Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy films and the live-action reboot of The Little Mermaid, to name a few — are going to hinge on how much the company wants to generate box-office dollars versus how much it wants to reel in new streaming subscribers and keep the ones it has. And lately, big Hollywood companies like Disney aren’t prioritizing streaming-subscriber growth nearly as much as they did. 

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

The post Thor on Disney Plus: Everything to Know first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Morbius, a spinoff from the Spider-Man universe of live-action films, hit theaters way back in April. And even though lots of movies are making their way to streaming services faster than they did before the pandemic, that isn’t the case for Sony-distributed movies like Morbius, which took five months to start streaming in September. 

Where is Morbius streaming? 

Morbius is streaming first and exclusively on Netflix. The movie is distributed by Sony, which struck a deal with Netflix last year for all its 2022 theatrical releases to stream on Netflix before they’re available on any other service or TV network.  

Is it ‘free’ to stream? 

Since Netflix requires a paid subscription, nothing is available on Netflix free. But Netflix never charges any additional fees to watch anything in its library, and Morbius will be part of the standard catalog like everything else. 

Are Morbius and Spider-Man: No Way Home both on Netflix?

No, the latest Spider-Man movie, No Way Home, isn’t on Netflix at all. 

Both movies are distributed by Sony, and they belong to the same narrative universe. But Netflix’s deal to stream these movies starts with films theatrically released in 2022 and after. No Way Home was released in late 2021, and Sony has an agreement in place for its 2021 movies to go to the premium cable network Starz first, not Netflix. 

On Starz, No Way Home has been available to watch on its traditional channels as well as on its streaming app since July.

Why isn’t Morbius on Disney Plus? 

Marvel may be Disney’s, and Morbius may have sprung from Marvel, but don’t expect this or other new Spider-Man universe films to be on Disney Plus soon. 

The main reason for the differences is that Marvel characters on film divvied up between two different studios, Disney-owned Marvel Studios and Sony. Spider-Man and Morbius, as characters, derive from Marvel, but Disney’s Marvel struck a complicated license-sharing deal with Sony for characters from the Spider-Man comics. 

All the standalone Spider-Man universe movies are made and distributed by Sony. Marvel handles the rest. 

Each company can arrange to “borrow” the characters (and the actors who play them) from the other to be part of its own MCU films. That’s why Tom Holland appears regularly in Disney’s Avengers films. That’s also why Benedict Cumberbatch played Doctor Strange not only in Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home but also in Disney’s Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness. 

That’s also why you can stream some movies on Disney Plus featuring Holland as Spider-Man — but you can’t stream any of the Spider-Man specific films there. 

On top of that, Disney and Sony have dramatically different streaming strategies. 

Disney has its own streaming service; Sony doesn’t. Disney has been flexible during the pandemic, constantly changing when (and if) movies went to theaters and how long they stayed there before streaming. Sony, on the other hand, is what’s sometimes called an “arms dealer”: It produces and distributes theatrical films, but then it strikes deals with TV networks or streaming services, like Netflix, to show them for home viewing, racking up revenue from these deals in the process. 

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

Movies Coming in 2022 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More

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The post ‘Morbius’ Is Now Streaming on Netflix, 5 Months After It Hit Theaters first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Disney Plus is offering a $2 subscription for one month of its streaming service for any new members who sign up starting at 9 p.m. PT Wednesday through 11:59 p.m. PT on Sept. 19. That cuts $6 off a single month of Disney Plus; any members who keep the service will be charged $8 starting with their second bill. 

But the deal comes just three months before Disney Plus is set to hike its prices. Starting Dec. 8, the current, ad-free subscription will go up $3 a month, to $11. Simultaneously, a new ad-based membership will launch at $8 a month, the same price that Disney Plus subscribers are paying now to watch ad free. (Disney has published tables detailing all the new rates.)

The launch of the $2 deal also coincides with what’s dubbed Disney Plus Day, an annual marketing event for the service that typically includes adding big new titles to stream as well as some discounts and perks across Disney’s businesses. Disney Plus is also releasing its big-screen Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunder to stream starting Thursday for Disney Plus Day, as well as debuting its live-action reimagining of Pinocchio on the service too. 

Disney Plus has been a breakaway success among a wave of new streaming services in the last two-plus years, thanks in part to its large library of shows, movies and exclusive originals. Disney Plus has 152 million subscribers, quickly putting it in the same league as Netflix — the industry leader with more than 220 million paying members worldwide.

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Nope, director Jordan Peele’s latest movie, hit US theaters in July. But any fans who want to watch it at home should prepare to wait a while before it’s available online to stream on a subscription service.

Last year, an unprecedented number of new theatrical movies streamed online the same day they hit cinemas. But this year, as COVID-19 restrictions have eased and audiences have flocked back to cinemas, the practice has nearly vanished — especially for flicks with summer blockbuster ambitions. Pretty much all movies now get at least a month and a half in theaters exclusively, but these timeframes are all over the map. 

How can I watch Nope in theaters for $3 on National Cinema Day? 

The only two ways to see Nope for now are either to go to a theater or rent it online for $20.

But on Saturday, theaters across the US are observing a so-called National Cinema Day for the first time, pricing tickets at just $3 (plus taxes and fees) regardless of the film or showtime. The $3 price applies even to premium formats like Imax, 3D and Dolby Cinemas, and some theaters are discounting concessions like popcorn and soda as well. 

More than 3,000 theaters representing more than 30,000 screens are participating, from the country’s biggest chains, like AMC and Regal, down to some mom-and-pop art house theaters too. 

The participating theaters are locally specific, so the best way to find a discounted screening of Nope is to check listings in your area. 

What service will stream Nope first?

Nope is expected to stream on Peacock first. Peele’s Monkeypaw production company has a deal with Universal Pictures, and the film is being distributed in the US by Universal. Peacock and Universal are owned by the same parent company, and Peacock’s arrangement is to be the first place to stream Universal-distributed movies. 

When is Nope’s streaming release date? 

Peacock and Universal haven’t confirmed the streaming release date for the movie Nope yet, but here’s what to know: 

• Theoretically, the film should start streaming on Peacock sometime between Monday and Nov. 18. Peacock can start streaming theatrical movies like Nope 45 days after theatrical release but no later than 120 days. So if Nope were to hit Peacock exactly after that 45-day period, then it would become available to stream there on Monday. If the movie waits until its 120th day of release, it’ll be on Peacock on Nov. 18. 
• Universal’s other big summer movies don’t provide much precedent to go on, unfortunately. Jurassic World Dominion is Universal’s biggest blockbuster so far this year, and the company is keeping it in theaters 84 days before it reaches Peacock. If Nope followed the same timeline, it wouldn’t reach Peacock until Oct. 14. 
• But streaming release dates are unpredictable! The next movie from Peele’s Monkeypaw production company (called Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul) started streaming on Peacock the same day it hits theaters, Friday. Since Nope got an exclusive theatrical release to start, that same-day streaming option was never in the cards. But predicting streaming release dates is difficult with such a dramatic difference between the likes of Jurassic World Dominion and Honk for Jesus.

Will Nope be free to stream on Peacock? 

Highly unlikely. Peacock routinely puts movies like Nope behind its paywall. 

If you don’t already have a premium Peacock subscription, you’ll need to sign up for a $5-a-month or a $10-a-month premium tier if you want to watch the film or any of Peacock’s other paywalled programming (like Yellowstone, Premier League matches, WWE, The Office and other popular stuff.)

Peacock has some deals that could reduce — or even eliminate — your cost of being a premium member.  

But the movie is expected to be available to paying Peacock premium subscribers without any additional fee. So if you’re already a premium subscriber to Peacock, then you’ll be able to stream it just like anything else on the service. 

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

The post ‘Nope’ Won’t Be Streaming for Weeks (and It’s $3 in Theaters Today Only) first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Jurassic World Dominion hit theaters (and only theaters) June 10. Since then, it’s spent longer in theaters before streaming than any other film put out by its distributor, Universal, since the pandemic began. But on Friday, Universal detailed how and when Jurassic World Dominion will become available to stream with a subscription cheaper than the $20 price to buy it online.

Where will Jurassic World Dominion be streaming? 

Jurassic World Dominion will stream first on Peacock. Universal Pictures is the movie’s distributor, and both Peacock and Universal are owned by the same company, Comcast’s NBCUniversal. The company has set up an arrangement for Peacock to be the first place that streams Universal movies. 

When’s the streaming release date? 

Peacock will start streaming Jurassic World Dominion on Sept. 2. The service will be streaming the standard theatrical cut of the movie as well as an extended version with 14 extra minutes and an alternate opening. Peacock is also touting that it’ll have behind-the-scenes footage about the making of the film, as well as an original short film called Battle at Big Rock.

What other Jurassic films are streaming there?

One day before Jurassic World Dominion lands on Peacock, the service will also be adding earlier films in the franchise to its library: Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and Jurassic Park 3 will join the catalog Sept. 1. 

But Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom aren’t available on any regular subscription streaming service at the moment. 

Will Jurassic World Dominion be free to stream on Peacock? 

No — like every other new Universal movie that’s been released to stream on Peacock, Jurassic World Dominion will be behind the service’s paywall. 

But some people may qualify for a deal to get over that paywall at no extra cost. 

Generally, you’ll need one of Peacock’s two paid membership levels to watch Jurassic World Dominion, so either a $5-a-month Premium account or a $10-a-month Premium Plus account. The main difference between these two tiers is that the cheaper one includes advertising and the pricier one is ad-free. (Peacock has an entirely free tier with ads, too, but it doesn’t unlock Jurassic World Dominion nor any of Peacock’s other paywalled programming like Yellowstone, Premier League matches, WWE, The Office and other popular stuff.)

However, Peacock has deals available that could reduce — or even eliminate — the cost of being a premium member. If you already pay for Comcast, Cox or Spectrum, you may be able to get one of Peacock’s premium memberships at no extra cost.

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

The post Jurassic World Dominion Will Finally Start Streaming Next Month first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Lightyear, the first Pixar film to go into theaters since the COVID-19 pandemic began, hit Disney Plus on Wednesday, more than six weeks after it landed in cinemas. 

It was Disney’s first foray into giving Pixar an exclusive run on the big screen again, but so far, the response to Lightyear has been underwhelming — enough to spur some outlets to dish out the epithet of “bomb.”

Before that, every Pixar movie since Onward in February 2020 essentially skipped theaters to stream on Disney Plus instead: Soul in December 2020, Luca in June 2021 and Turning Red in February 2022. And for Disney movies more broadly, the streaming strategy has been all over the map. Encanto spent a month in theaters before streaming. For Marvel’s Eternals, it was two. West Side Story hit Disney Plus about three months after it played exclusively in cinemas.

The last time Disney moved an animated film from cinemas to streaming, it became a phenomenon. Lightyear’s landing on Disney Plus will prove whether the movie can replicate the success of Encanto, or whether the launch of this Toy Story origin story was a misfire all around. 

Failure to launch

Last year, ticket sales for adult-oriented movies started bouncing back as movie fans emerged from pandemic lockdown and cinemas started opening back up. But family films, Pixar’s specialty, struggled with theater attendance. Parents, compared with other adult filmgoers, were more sensitive to the risks of bringing their young ones into crowded cinemas while the coronavirus continued to mutate and circulate. The COVID vaccine for children wasn’t available until the day after Lightyear opened, and a kid’s coronavirus infection could mean missing weeks of school or daycare and derailing other family plans. 

Putting Pixar movies directly on Disney Plus was, at its core, a strategy to both lure in more subscribers and keep the ones it has. Kareem Daniel, the Disney executive in charge of distribution calls like this, noted in the Turning Red announcement that both Soul and Luca were “enthusiastically embraced” by Disney Plus subscribers when they went straight to the service. 

And by sending three Pixar films straight to Disney Plus, Disney may also have been protecting Pixar’s pristine reputation for critical and box office successes, according to some experts: If Disney doesn’t put Pixar movies in theaters, they can’t have disappointing theatrical runs. 

A bust or a thrust?

In the months leading up to Lightyear’s release, moviegoers were flocking to franchise films. Spider-Man: No Way Home was the first film since the pandemic to cross $1 billion worldwide at the box office. Since then, Top Gun: Maverick has, too, and Jurassic World Dominion and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are close. 

But so far, Lightyear’s box-office take has been underwhelming. Worldwide, Lightyear has grossed $222 million. Toy Story 4, Pixar’s last release free of any pandemic disruption, was inches away from $1 billion at the global box office at the same stage. And it’s not like all family-friendly movies are struggling. Minions: The Rise of Gru came out a month after Lightyear, but it has more than tripled Lightyear’s worldwide gross. 

For another Disney family film — Encanto — the theatrical exclusive period actually appeared to put a damper on its popularity.

Encanto was released in theaters Nov. 24; one month later, it became available to stream on Disney Plus, at no added cost to all subscribers. 

During Encanto’s theatrical exclusive, its box office performance was mediocre. The film’s total domestic ticket grosses were just $86 million in that period. Disney’s Frozen 2 soared well past that during just its first weekend pre-pandemic, and even Lightyear, at the one-month mark, had cleared $115 million. 

But once Encanto started streaming, it evolved into a phenomenon. The Encanto soundtrack climbed Billboard’s music charts to hit No. 1. Videos of its musical numbers are among the most popular songs on YouTube. We Don’t Talk About Bruno, the best-known song from the movie, became a TikTok meme. But none of that happened until Encanto hit Disney Plus.

When Lightyear hits Disney Plus, it may get the rocket boost it’s needed all along. 

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

The post ‘Lightyear’ Finally Hit Disney Plus. Here’s Why It Took 6 Weeks to Get There first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Streaming service HBO Max will combine with Discovery Plus for US subscribers during the summer of 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery said Thursday, detailing the plans for a move that it has telegraphed ever since the company was formed by a megamerger earlier this year. 

Latin America will get the mashed-up version of the services later in 2023. Some European markets where HBO Max is already operating will follow in early 2024, and the company will launch the combined offering in some new Asia Pacific and European markets later in 2024. 

The company didn’t specify any pricing changes as the two services meld. Warner Bros. Discovery added that it’s exploring the possibility of launching a free, ad-supported streaming offering of some kind. 

The plan to combine HBO Max and Discovery Plus is a “main priority,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Thursday, in a discussion of the company’s streaming strategy. The two services have 92 million subscribers collectively, and Warner Bros. Discovery said it anticipates adding more than 40 million more members by 2025. By comparison, Netflix, the world’s biggest subscription streaming service, has nearly 221 million. 

In April, Discovery and WarnerMedia closed their $43 billion megamerger to form the combined Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal united Hollywood powerhouse WarnerMedia — home to streaming service HBO Max, the Warner Bros. movie studio and TV channels like HBO, CNN, TBS and more — with Discovery, which features reality shows and unscripted programming on its cable networks and the streaming service Discovery Plus.

HBO Max is known for prestige originals and a deep library of top movies. Discovery Plus, on the other hand, is known for unscripted programming at both the high end (like award-winning natural history documentaries) and the low (like Naked and Afraid and the wildly popular 90 Day Fiancé). 

But the companies’ combination clouded the future shape of both HBO Max and Discovery Plus. Earlier this year, the new company’s leadership was clear they wanted to combine the two services, but until Thursday executives hadn’t specified how or when. Warner Bros. Discovery also said earlier it would consider intermediary steps like bundling the services in a discounted package before a full-fledged combination of the two. 

Their combination comes at a time when streaming video has never been more popular — and the competition around it never more fierce. In the last two years, media giants and tech heavyweights have launched their own rivals to Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, with services like Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus, HBO Max and Peacock rolling out. These so-called streaming wars also affect how many services you must use — and pay for — to watch your favorite shows and movies online. 

The latest news comes after reports of an escalating number of scuttled shows, movies and other projects. On Tuesday, the movie Batgirl had its release scrapped, despite the fact that the film (with a reported $90 billion budget) was already well into post-production. Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery killed CNN Plus, a streaming service complement to the 24-hour news network, within about three weeks of its launch. 

Collectively, those decisions and others have underscored an era of belt tightening under Zaslav. 

See also

• 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming
• How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2022
• See More at Streaming TV Insider

The post HBO Max Will Mash Up With Discovery Plus in the Middle of Next Year first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.