Today on AirTalk, we discuss the latest on Disney's recently announced streaming service and what this means for the already crowded online streaming service market. We also debate a bill that would ban Teach for America from California; and more.
Peak streaming? Disney+ joins crowded field of online streaming services
Disney raised the curtain on a hotly anticipated video streaming service that’s aiming to topple industry pioneer Netflix, once a valuable ally of the Magic Kingdom.
The service, called Disney Plus, has been in the works for more than year, but Thursday marked the first time that the longtime entertainment powerhouse has laid out plans for its attack on Netflix and a formidable cast of competitors, including Amazon, HBO Go and Showtime Anytime.
Disney Plus will roll out in the U.S. on November 12 at a price of $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year. That’s well below the $13 monthly fee Netflix charges for its most popular streaming plan, signaling Disney’s determination to woo subscribers as it vies to become a major player in a field that has turned “binge watching” into a common ritual.
At the same time, live online-TV providers like YouTube TV, DirecTV Now and Hulu with Live TV lured users with digital “skinny bundles” that were cheaper than cable. Now, many are raising prices. The latest is Google’s YouTube TV, which is increasing its monthly fee to $50. It launched at $35 and has raised prices as it added more channels. The first of this crop of TV services was Dish Networks’ Sling TV in 2015. Its most attractive feature was price, since it offered a handful of popular, live TV channels for $20 a month. A string of other companies announced similar services in the years that followed, many priced from $30-$40 a month. YouTube TV, Hulu Live, AT&T’s DirecTV Now and others were far cheaper than a traditional cable bundle, which costs about $100.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Steven Zeitchik, reporter covering the business of entertainment for the Washington Post; he tweets
Bruce Leichtman, president and lead analyst, Leichtman Research Group based in Durham, NH, which analyzes broadband and media trends
Better focus through chemistry? Brain enhancement supplements face increasing scrutiny
Better focus, improved memory -- those are the benefits touted by a booming cottage industry of nutritional supplements.
They are called “nootropics” -- and their popularity among consumers are raising regulatory concerns, given that some of these supplements may be considered prescription drugs in other countries.
Currently, the Food and Drug Administration has no oversight of these supplements, which allows these products to flood the market.
We reached out to the American Medical Association for comment. An AMA spokesperson is not available at the time of our segment, but responded by email:
“Responding to the safety concerns generated by a growing personal use of nootropics, physicians in 2016 adopted AMA policy discouraging the nonmedical use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement in healthy individuals.”
Guests:
Andrew Shao, interim senior vice president, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a D.C.-based trade association for the supplements industry
Peter Lurie, M.D. president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit consumer-advocacy group; former associate commissioner for Public Health Strategy and Analysis at the Food and Drug Administration
Does ‘Teach for America’ harm low income schools? We debate a bill that would ban the program from CA
Teach For America (TFA) is a non-profit program that trains recent grads to teach in low income schools for at least two years. And while it may seem this wouldn’t be cause for controversy, one California assemblymember is arguing that the program actually harms the students that it aims to serve.
Introduced by Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), AB 221 would effectively ban the 30 year old organization from California. According to Garcia, TFA provides low-income students with inexperienced teachers who won’t stick around for the long haul; a band-aid fix, that exacerbates the inequality between low income and wealthier school districts and doesn’t address teacher shortages in a meaningful way.
Proponents of TFA say that it does fill the educator gap and that TFA teachers have comparable results to traditional teachers. That TFA provides help to the communities that need it most, as well as for training young people of color who want to be educators.
A new amendment to the legislation no longer specifies that it targets TFA, instead taking a broader strokes approach by prohibiting school districts from contracting with a third-party organization whose teachers are committed to less than five years of teaching. The bill comes at a time when California unions are fighting to curb charter schools. And nearly a third of TFA teachers work at charters, which is worrying to critics who feel that members form skewed opinions about education reform.
We debate the bill. Plus, if you worked as a teacher through TFA, what did you think of the program? If you had a TFA teacher, did you feel that they were an effective educator? Should TFA be banned or forced to change?
Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Julian Vasquez Heilig, professor of educational leadership and policy studies and the director of the doctorate in educational leadership at California State University Sacramento; he serves as the California NAACP Education Chair
Nick Melvoin, LAUSD Board Vice President; he represents Board District 4, which stretches from the Westside to the west valley to Hollywood; he is also a Teach for America alumnus
FilmWeek: ‘Hellboy,’ ‘Missing Link,’ ‘Little’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Christy Lemire, Tim Cogshell and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases.
- "Hellboy" in wide release
- "Missing Link" in wide release
- "Little" in wide release
- "Teen Spirit" at the ArcLight Hollywood & AMC Century City
- "Wild Nights with Emily" at the Landmark Theater
- "Dogman" at the Nuart Theater
- "A Dark Place" at Arena Cinelounge Sunset
- "Blowin' Up" at Laemmle's Music Hall
- "Penguin Highway" in select theaters (check local listings)
- "Girls of the Sun" at Laemmle's Monica Film Center, Laemmle's Playhouse & Edwards Westpark
- "Breakthrough" in select theaters (check local listings)
- "Mary Magdalene" in select theaters (check local listings)
- "William" at Laemmle's Monica Film Center
CRITICS' HITS
Christy: 'Teen Spirit' & 'Wild Nights with Emily'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRPUrnXzqZY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u36bKgONkfI
Tim: 'Dogman'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewh0lBcEb2U
Charles: 'Penguin Highway'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKdQdy_5IoA
MIXED FEELINGS
Christy: 'Little' & Breakthrough'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz65no3WnJk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go1jaIRQc-o
Tim: 'A Dark Place,' 'Girls of the Sun' & 'William'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62zQXABj9GQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKxCXMIG3Xg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeS0TrED8yU
Charles: 'Missing Link' & 'Blowin' Up'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM5VC7nCv_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGAx6OUmPLA
MISSES
Christy: 'Hellboy'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsBO4b3tyZg&t=
Tim: 'Mary Magdalene'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w47IJjuEV8o
Guests:
Christy Lemire, film critic for KPCC, RogerEbert.com and co-host of the ‘Breakfast All Day’ podcast; she tweets
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC, Alt-Film Guide and CineGods.com; he tweets
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Classic film buffs, rejoice! As Criterion Channel launches, what viewers can expect to see on the new streaming platform
Earlier this week, the Criterion Channel launched as a brand new streaming service for classic movies. It offers a library of over 1,600 titles from one of the most well-known and respected film archives around, the Criterion Collection, which partnered with WarnerMedia to develop the service.
For classic film fans, it’s welcome news after Turner Classic Movies’ platform FilmStruck, owned by WarnerMedia, folded in November of 2018 and left subscribers with no on-demand service left to scratch that classic film itch. Criterion Channel is available on most major platforms now for $10.99 a month and $99.99 a year. Like many other major streaming platforms including Spotify and Netflix, a big focus of the channel will be curation of films by the Criterion Collection staff and others.
What other content could potentially come to Criterion Channel in the future? How will the platform’s economic model keep it financially viable? And what plans, if any, are there to expand the customer base and draw new, younger fans who aren’t necessarily classic film fans to the platform? Today on FilmWeek, Larry Mantle and the critics will tackle some of these questions with Criterion Collection President Peter Becker.
Guest:
Peter Becker, president of Criterion Collection; he tweets