Movie Mondays: Netflix Signs with BARB

Welcome to The Modern Day Renaissance Man newsletter. I, Trey Layton, write about the things that interest me, often covering topics such as startups, sports, and entertainment. If you'd like to receive these newsletters directly in your email a few times a week, go ahead and subscribe to never miss an email!

Happy Monday, folks.

After years of buildup and anticipation for both series, The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon have finally wrapped up their first seasons. The last episode of the former aired on October 14th, finishing with an 85% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes despite all sorts of controversy and polarization. The season finale of the Game of Thrones prequel aired its final episode last night, clearly separating itself from the Lord of the Rings prequel with an... 85% review.

Among Hollywood rivalries, this one might go down as one of the greatest, up there with Kanye and Drake, Vin Diesel and The Rock, and Leonardo DiCaprio and 25th birthdays.

Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of Uncut Gems. I prefer my Sandler with a stupid accent and sub-80 IQ. However, I can recognize the critical appeal of Sandler's foray into the high-stakes drama category as the hustling jewel dealer. The project came from the brilliant minds of the Safdie brothers, the writing/directing duo behind similar stress-inducing indie films like 2017's Good Times starring Robert Pattinson.

Luckily for those that did enjoy this grimy flick, a follow-up is in the works, adding another chapter to the partnership between Sandler and Netflix. The untitled project has begun production, and if initial reports are accurate, the movie sounds like a quasi-sequel. The movie will apparently be taking place in the lucrative trading card market, another anxiety-inducing field which will leave audiences gasping for breath by the end. Be prepared to watch Sandler getting fried chicken grease all over a platinum Pikachu card.

Even for those of us who prefer some Lenny Feder to Howard Ratner, there's plenty of hope. The aforementioned partnership between Sandler and Netflix was initially penned in 2014 and positions the streaming giant to be the exclusive home of a pipeline of projects out of his production studio, Happy Madison Productions. This original deal has been so successful that it was even extended a few years ago. Sandler is now signed on to make four more yet-to-be-determined movies for a whopping $270 million.

Predictions on which iconic Sandler character gets the reboot first? Smart money is on a sequel to either Murder Mystery or Happy Gilmore, but what I would do for a return of Hubie...

There was actually even more big news from the king of streaming. The company reported earnings this past week, and given the company's past two updates in which it experienced declining subscription numbers for the first time ever, CEO Reed Hastings was feeling the heat. Luckily, the company beat its own expectations and was back to growth, adding 2.4 million followers over the past three months. The stock shot up about 8% following the news.

There were also a few updates on some of the company's previously announced initiatives, namely ads and password sharing. Netflix announced that it would be introducing an ad-supported tier a few months ago but it has now also revealed the price, running consumers $6.99, just under half that of the typical ad-free tier. Fans can expect to remember what commercials are again in just a few short weeks when the offering goes live on November 3. The company hopes that the new low price option will bring in millions of new customers that see the new price tag as worth it to finally binge The Circle.

The password sharing update will likely prove more contentious among users. Starting early next year, customers will no longer be able to have multiple profiles on a single account without an additional cost. The move is meant to crack down on password sharing by restricting accounts to one household. Now, each additional profile will cost $2.99. If it's any consolation, users will be able to transfer their existing profile histories over to new accounts. Hooray?

I understand the desire to maximize revenue, but given the backlash the move has received on social media, this feels like the type of decision that could come back to bite Hastings and Co. Just ask Zuck and Facebook about all of the warm and fuzzy feelings they have gotten with all of their "improvements" over the past few years...

We might also be in for a shock when it becomes public information that Love is Blind's biggest demographic was 18-29 year old males.

Not really, necessarily, but Netflix had more interesting beans to spill relating to future viewership metrics. It was announced that for Netflix in the UK, the company would be signing on with BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board) to provide independent viewership numbers, joining the likes of BBC, ITV, and Disney+.

What this means is that BARB will be responsible for measuring and releasing in-depth statistics and metrics about Netflix's viewership numbers for all of its movies and shows, something which the streaming service has been notoriously (and understandably) reluctant to provide. This will allow journalists, competitors, and really bored others to see just how much money the company is wasting on terrible content like Red Notice only for it to be far less popular than cheaper shows like Squid Games.

Though the company is allowing these numbers to become public knowledge voluntarily, it likely also had to do with pressure from British lawmakers looking to even the playing field between traditional broadcasters like BBC, which have been legally required to share these numbers, and the streaming services which haven't been required to operate with such transparency.

Beyond legal requirements, though, there are actually a few potential financial considerations behind the choice to pop the hood. Likely, the rollout of advertisements in its new cheaper tier played a major role in the decision. Prior to the partnership, advertisers looking to spend their ad dollars on Netflix commercials had to rely on self-reported viewership numbers from Netflix itself, kinda like when you got to give yourself a grade for group projects back in high school. Be honest. You probably gave yourself like an A-, didn't you?

With the partnership, though, advertisers will be better able to utilize BARB's metrics for an independent audit of viewership. This will allow for more transparency, and companies will be more confident in their decisions to spend their marketing dollars on this particular streaming service.

It will likely also mean that they will carefully choose to advertise on certain movies or shows because of the insights that can be gleamed from the reports. Companies will be able to see that certain demographics watch certain content, allowing for more careful and planned ad targeting. Be prepared to see Lululemon commercials for the 24-35 women watching The Crown and cotton candy-flavored Juul pod plugs for 13-18 teens between scenes of Riverdale.

Having an independent auditor to report on these numbers and statistics allows Netflix to fully embrace its transition to being yet another ad-dependent company. For consumers, it also opens up yet another avenue, although as of now an optional one, for brands to infiltrate our lives to try to shake us down for our last dollar.

It's ironic for the company that exists to disrupt traditional cable has very quickly become another Comcast.

A round of applause for Black Adam. The latest DC blockbuster opened to $67 million, quite the margin of victory over Ticket to Paradise in second place. I guess the fellas won out on this week's date night movie choice.

The rest of this past week's box office numbers:

Mediocre week of releases this week. Perhaps this gives you some time to attack the 47,927 shows on your HBO Max watch list!

• Cabinet of Curiosities (10/25 via Netflix; a horror anthology series created by Guillermo del Toro from 8 big-time directors)

• All Quiet on the Western Front (10/28 via Netflix; appears to be a war drama released in time for awards season)

• Wendell & Wild (10/28 via Netflix; animated horror comedy from Key and Peele)

Cheers to another day,

Trey