Entertainment Episodes

Streaming news and rumors, including the latest from companies like Netflix and Spotify.
Sept. 28, 2020

Mon. 09/28 – Roku’s New $130 Streambar and Updated $100 Roku Ultra

Roku launches a Streambar and an Ultra with Dolby Vision. Dell updates the XPS 13 lineup. TikTok is still ticking, as of this moment. Will we see the return of the mini moniker, with an iPhone 12 Mini that might not actually ...
Sept. 22, 2020

Tue. 09/22 – Quibi Is “Exploring Options”

Quibi is exploring its options, as they say. The Google Antitrust suit could come next week. Why do you have to return the entire Apple Watch if your wristband doesn’t fit? The CIA has a new plan to compete with Silicon Valle...
Sept. 21, 2020

Mon. 09/21 – ByteDance Says It Won. Trump Says Not So Fast. TikTok Continues… For Now.

It looked like we had a TikTok deal the president liked. Then ByteDance went and pointed out they still had control. Now, I dunno where we’re at. Microsoft buys Bethesda. The founder of Nikola steps down in murky circumstance...
Sept. 18, 2020

Fri. 09/18 – WeChat Officially Banned On Sunday. TikTok Only Kinda Banned.

The Commerce Department officially has brought the hammer down. WeChat is banned on Sunday. TikTok banned on Sunday too, but it’s complicated. PayTM is banned from the Google Play Store in India. Facebook decides that Faceboo...
Sept. 14, 2020

Mon. 09/14 – Has Oracle Saved TikTok (In The US)?

Has Oracle saved TikTok, in the US at least? Let me explain why it’s not actually buying anything, probably isn’t solving the security problem Microsoft says it would have, and China is keeping its hands on the algorithm. On ...
Sept. 12, 2020

(Bonus) The TikTok Sales Saga With @Kantrowitz

The TikTok saga. It’s gonna end. Or it’s gonna happen. Or it’s gonna… something in the next few days. Will it be sold? Will it not be? Will it be banned in the US. There are so many angles here. So many interesting ways to te...
July 13, 2020

Mon. 07/13 – SiriusXM Makes the Biggest Podcast Acquisition Yet

SiriusXM looks like it is stepping up to be the big competitor to Spotify in the podcasting space by lining up Podcasting’s biggest ever acquisition. More worrying signs if you’re a regular user of TikTok. Again, everyone wan...
July 1, 2020

Wed. 07/01 – YouTube TV Has Recreated The TV Bundle At Essentially The Same Price Point

The reckoning for social media ad spend might be hitting critical mass. Spotify gets more affordable for couples. YouTube TV gets more expensive for everyone. Apple IS struggling with iPhone 5G delays, but it SHOULDN’T delay ...
June 30, 2020

Tue. 06/30 – Amazon Prime Video Launches Watch Party

Lululemon wants to buy Mirror. We think Uber is thinking about buying Postmates. Amazon Prime Video launches Watch Party. Android’s AirDrop competitor is rolling out. And why cloud gaming is the impetus for a new data center ...
May 12, 2020

Tue. 05/12 - Quibbling With Quibi

Is Uber about to gobble Grubhub? Twitter does something Facebook and YouTube did a long time ago. Details on Apple’s forthcoming over the ears headphones. New releases for developers and music producers. And look, let’s have ...
May 6, 2020

Wed. 05/06 – Disney+ Is Saving Mickey’s Bacon At The Moment

New Surface Gos, New Surface Books, New Surface Headphones and the Surface Buds finally arrive. The rumored layoffs come to Uber and Airbnb. Disney+ is saving Disney’s bacon at the moment. And why Peloton is one of those comp...
April 21, 2020

Tue. 04/21 – Sonos Radio

Sonos launches its own streaming radio service, huge trove of Facebook accounts purchased on the dark web, Google goes with free to compete with Amazon in product search, Kickstarter is seeing a huge drop in project launches ...
April 6, 2020

Mon. 04/06 – Happy Quibi Day!

Happy Quibi day everybody. Check out your Quick Bites for free while you can! Apparently the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook is a hella powerful laptop, but that’s apparently why the battery life sucks. And the Covid-related conspi...
April 3, 2020

Fri. 04/03 - It’s An 80’s Style Free HBO Bonanza!

Tech companies are, in fact, stepping up to track Covid-19. We have a name for the new low-end iPhone. Tesla soars but the Space X Starship doesn’t. Watch some free HBO this weekend, and of course, the weekend longreads sugge...
March 6, 2020

Fri. 03/06 - Sonos Won’t Brick Your Old Hardware Anymore

Another flaw in Intel chips, this time unfixable. Y Combinator demo day is going online only. Sonos won’t brick your old hardware anymore. Jack Dorsey probably won’t be moving to Africa anymore. And, of course, the weekend lo...
March 2, 2020

Mon. 03/02 - I Don't Think Streaming Platforms Have Coke Habits

Some investors want Jack out as Twitter CEO. Apple settles a class action lawsuit for half a billion dollars. If you listen regularly, I bet you can guess why some game developers don’t want to work with Stadia. Spotify wants...
Feb. 5, 2020

Wed. 02/05 - It Turns Out…

Spotify officially buys The Ringer, we have the official Disney+ subscriber numbers, Jeff Weiner is officially stepping down as LinkedIn CEO, a Rockstar Games co-founder is apparently leaving the company, and what languages d...
Jan. 10, 2020

Fri. 01/10 - I Flip-Flop on Quibi

More trouble for Softbank startups, more layoffs at scooter startups, VC deals plateaued last year but music streaming continues to skyrocket, how much money does Netflix lose to password sharers and of course, the weekend lo...
Dec. 27, 2019

Fri. 12/27 - All Hail Baby Yoda!

A late holiday gift for YouTube creators, an important new rule for drone operators, to what degree has the Chinese government enabled Huawei’s success, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: GiveWell.org...
Dec. 19, 2019

Thu. 12/19 - What If Apple Owned James Bond?

That big NYTimes piece about location data, is Facebook taking another run at creating its own OS, is Apple considering buying James Bond, is Spotify building a social graph, and do e-athletes need gaming socks? Sponsors: Tin...
Oct. 30, 2019

Wed. 10/30 - HBO Max Deets

WhatsApp sues the NSO Group about that crazy exploit, Uber is threating to sue Los Angeles about a crazy tracking program that I’m not sure about, we’ve got the full details surrounding HBO Max, an activist is taking Facebook...
Oct. 29, 2019

Tue. 10/29 - Playstation Vue Goes To The Deadpool

Earnings from Alphabet and Shopify, hacking the Olympics, the Rise of the Rest rides again, Amazon is making grocery delivery free and letting you pay your electric bill via Alexa, and don’t update your HomePod, or you might ...
Sept. 6, 2019

Fri. 09/06 - Sonos Goes Portable and Apple Music Goes To The Web

Apple might have just given us the final reason to delete iTunes, Sonos has its first portable speaker, the Attorney’s General are targeting Facebook as well, it’s duplicating Google services all the way down, and, of course,...
Aug. 20, 2019

Tue. 08/20 - Is Apple TV+ DOA?

Twitter suspends a bunch of China-linked accounts, is Apple TV+ dead on arrival? 23 towns in Texas are hit with ransomware, and why isn’t Alexa in your car? Sponsors: DataTribe.com/challenge PixelUnion.net BRD's Longread Abou...