January 2024 media picks and news
Kicking off the new year, here’s a look at what media of interest is coming out in January 2024.
Netflix
A full list of material is available here.
Sonic Prime (Chapter 3), Jan. 11
Paramount+
A full list of material is available here.
The Loud House (Season 6), Jan. 10
Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City (Seasons 1-3), Jan. 31
Sports
NFL football playoffs (NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC/ESPN)
NHL Winter Classic (Las Vegas Golden Knights vs. Seattle Kraken), Jan. 1 (TNT/Max)
Other
2024 Rose Parade, Jan. 1, 11 AM ET/8 AM PT (ABC, NBC, Pluto TV; Los Angeles TV station KTLA also locally broadcasts the parade, plus streams it live via YouTube)
My thoughts
The Golden Globes are on regular over-the-air TV again in January, this time on CBS. I used to write about these awards, but after their various controversies, I’ve opted to no longer do so.
New Year’s Day brings the annual Rose Parade, which starts on the west coast at 8 AM (for those up early enough).
Warner Bros. and Paramount merger?!
News broke this week that Warner Bros. Discovery’s been in very early talks with Paramount about a possible buyout. Basically, Warner would buy out either the entire company or a controlling interest (via buying Paramount’s owner, National Amusements).
As I’ve repeatedly noted about media mergers in the past, there’s nothing good that would come of such a merger. Thoughts off the top of my head:
Less news diversity, since CBS and CNN would be under the same roof. If anything, I’d expect CBS’ news division to be dismantled and replaced by an arm of CNN. Yes, CBS News is the home of legends like Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow, but Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav probably couldn’t care less about that, versus saving money. Speaking of Zaslav, I thought Warner was “broke” based on their penny-pinching slash-and-burn antics; how do they suddenly expect to be able to buy Paramount?
The major Hollywood studios would be reduced to Comcast (Universal), Disney (Disney/20th Century Fox), Sony (Sony/Columbia), and WB/Paramount. Fewer media choices, yay?
The number of major American animation studios would basically be reduced to Disney, Comcast (Illumination/DreamWorks), and a merged WB/Paramount.
Nick’s aired WB shows before (“Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon” ran through the late 80s and 90s), and SpongeBob is probably the most popular cartoon character created in the past 25 years. However, I’d fear Mr. SquarePants and the other Nicktoons would be overshadowed by the Warner catalog: the DC Comics superheroes, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, and their former rival shows at Cartoon Network.
Warner would get control of (among other things): CBS; MTV; “South Park” (which they’ve been embroiled in lawsuits with Paramount over, making this merger talk even odder); the old Terrytoons animation library (Mighty Mouse); and the “Mission: Impossible” movies. Oh, and also “Star Trek”; the idea of “Trek” under Warner Bros. alone has Trek fans less than thrilled.
Where does this leave Showtime, HBO’s longtime competitor? There’s also the deal Paramount has with Comcast to run a joint streaming service in parts of Europe, “Sky Showtime” (combining Peacock and Paramount+).
From a streaming perspective, Paramount+ would probably be shuttered, with all of its content folded into Max. On the plus side, everyone who complains about too many streaming services or who dislikes Paramount+ might be pleased. On the negative side, I’d imagine a price hike would ensue for Max-with-Paramount-stuff; also, not everyone wants to pay for Max.
Overall, let’s hope this merger doesn’t go through. As I wrote in a previous post, Warner and Paramount are the two studios likely to be sold, but I didn’t envision merging with each other. There’s a chance the feds could step in, regardless of the next election: the Biden administration has paid somewhat more attention to antitrust rules (if not enough). Meanwhile, Trump still holds a grudge against CNN; that said, if Trump’s re-elected, we’ll have a lot more to worry about as a country than who owns “SpongeBob” and “Star Trek.”
Sports stuff
It’s January, which means it’s time for NFL football playoffs. There’s also the NHL’s annual “Winter Classic” game, an outdoor game. This year’s game, held on New Year’s Day, is between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken, held in Seattle (at T-Mobile Park normally the home of the Seattle Mariners baseball team). Given Seattle’s moderate winter temperatures (an average high between 38-48 degrees F / 3-9 degrees C) and January weather often rainy, I can’t imagine how well the ice will hold up.