Disney+ enters its cancel period, plus Netflix spends $18 billion

In the case of the most recent and best on streaming, we’re fairly passionate right here at Pocket-lint. From the best movies to TV shows we can’t stop obsessing over, there may be a whole lot of leisure to like within the streaming period. Nonetheless, it may be powerful to remain updated along with your favourite media, particularly with rising pricesand a constantly-shifting constellation of apps and companies to maintain monitor of.

Enter “The Streaming Scene.”

This brand-new weekly column goals to provide you a single place to learn extra about not solely the most recent and best content material on streaming, but additionally maintain you updated on the most recent reductions and offers that can assist you stream for much less. That is the primary version, however stay up for this column each Thursday, and as a part of our newly launched streaming newsletter on Fridays.

So with out additional ado, let’s discuss streaming!

Disney+ axes all long-form animation

You possibly can blame the success of Moana 2 for this one

Disney+

Earlier this week The Hollywood Reporter reported that that Disney has scrapped all plans for a Tiana, a Disney+ animated collection, which was set to observe the titular character after the occasions of 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. And sadly, this cancelation is a part of a broader technique shift by Walt Disney Animation away from animated long-form content material created completely for Disney+.

Although I am personally unhappy to see the Tiana venture scrapped as I am an enormous fan of Princess and the Frog (particularly as a hand-drawn animation fanatic), this transfer away from content material created particularly for Disney+ does make sense, particularly within the wake of Moana 2, which was initially conceived as a Disney+ collection however was transformed right into a theatrically-released film that went on to gross over a billion {dollars} worldwide. Hopefully, one thing related occurs with Tiana, as I might like to see what this venture might have been, both as a theatrically-released movie, a collection of shorts, or one thing else.

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Netflix is spending 18 billion on content material this yr

They usually stated they’re able to spend extra

freestocks / Pocket-lint

Throughout this week’s Morgan Stanley Tech, Media & Telecom Convention, Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann made the surprising revelation that the streamer was anticipating to funds an eye-watering $18 billion in 2025 for brand new content material, including that Netflix was truly planning to spend extra sooner or later and this quantity was “not anyplace close to a ceiling.”

In case you have been questioning, this $18 billion content material funds for this yr is up round 11% from the $16.2 billion spent on content material in 2024 per Variety and comes because the streamer is going through elevated criticism for its dialogue-heavy movies and cheap-looking exhibits. Maybe, with more cash to spend in 2025 Netflix would possibly cancel one or two fewer exhibits this yr. Then once more, they may simply spend the additional cash on the NFL as an alternative.

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The Traitors wraps up its greatest season but

A profitable actuality TV collection

Peacock

The Traitors (US)

Launch Date

January 12, 2023

Showrunner

Stephen Lambert

Writers

Lee Grant, Christine Rose

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I am not the largest fan of actuality TV. Nonetheless, even I can admit when producers discover a profitable method, and I’ve been completely loving this newest season of The Traitors on Peacock. Broadly talking, this competitors collection takes former actuality sport present contestants from the likes of Survivor, Massive Brother and The Problem and mixes them with various Bravo-lebirites (members of the casts of Actual Housewives, Beneath Deck, Vanderpump Guidelines, and so on.) and challenges them not solely to take part in bodily challenges so as to add to a prize pot, but additionally an overarching psychological sport the place they have to work out who amongst them are “traitors,” gamers that secretly remove others throughout “homicide” rituals to allow them to declare the prize for themselves.

Although the present’s first season made for terribly watchable tv, the second season faltered a bit as some unlucky new components have been added to the sport that altered the tempo of play. Nonetheless, season three has gone again to fundamentals, and with an especially robust solid that features Survivor mainstay Boston Rob, Massive Brother alums Danielle Reyes and Britney Haynes, Vanderpump Guidelines villain Tom Sandoval, and even Britney Spears’ ex-husband Sam Asghari, this season has been must-watch TV for me. The ultimate episode of the season drops tonight, and if you have not checked in with this present but, do your self a favor, and boot up the Peacock app, keep off the Web (you positively don’t need this season’s twists spoiled for you) and prepare to expertise probably the most compulsively watchable actuality TV in years.

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