Next Story: When DirecTV and Dish try to use up what’s left of the day, does it even matter?

We hold the last “Next text” in our hands. Next TVweekly musings from writers Daniel Frankel and David Bloom focused on TMT. How Next TV, hmm, “evolves” into a “curated newsletter” without the original words and sentences, our “Next Text” column will be moved to the new Next TMT newsletter starting next week. Send an email to frankeldd@gmail if you would like to take part in our first campaign.

DAVID BLOOM: Greetings, O most respected and influential Don Daniele (when you are a few hours north of Rome, do as the Romans do), from our long-standing Next Text Adjunct Bureau, located in the sun-drenched hills of Tuscany, Italy. It’s harvest time, and tractors loaded with hundreds of pounds of just-harvested grapes routinely drive past the office to the nearby vineyard, one of 19 within a few miles. Yes, the resulting Sangiovese wines are very tasty and, like me, very friendly.

David Bloom's Italian Travels — (Photo: David Bloom)

Speaking of harvest, MoffettNathanson’s Friends of the Next Text team had a long, in-depth conversation with Dr. John Malone, former CEO of TCI and DirecTV and most recently the helm of Warner Bros. Discovery, Liberty Global and Charter Communications. When asked what he thought about streaming, the doctor called it a “terrible thing.”

Key decisions made years ago are making it harder for struggling media companies to create tailored hybrid bundles of on-demand and linear experiences they really want, he said. And sports spending could destroy what’s left of media unless it breaks net neutrality rules, which allow tech giants free reign over rights deals. Solution/opportunity: International, with hybrid on-demand and line packages being rolled out in some countries. I watched exactly zero hours of Italian TV during my time here, but I promise I’ll do it for my next weekend text. I’ll let you know if I see anything other than amazing grapes and olives.

DANIEL FRANKEL: I think so Next TMT the audience may soon be offended by your best life, David. I myself am intrigued by the prospect of a potential DirecTV and Dish Network merger. Sort of Remains of the day situation. But adding DirecTV’s 11 million remaining accounts to Dish’s just over 8 million would make it the leading linear pay-TV company in America… providing all the negotiating scale that comes with it. So this deal matters. It’s not like regulators will just let it pass.

PEAKS OF THE DAY – Official Trailer (HD) – YouTube
PEAKS OF THE DAY - Official Trailer (HD) - YouTube

Keep watching

But shouldn’t the Justice Department just let these two kids be happy while they prepare to take advantage of the video industry’s sweets in the future?

FLOWER: Yes, Don Daniele, I will try to better express my pride in our overseas reach. I just hope to expand our discussion to include every day international flavor because, as you sassy, broad-shouldered Americans like to say, that’s where the action is. There is still life in Europe’s satellite broadcasting business, as evidenced by rooftop antennas, cabling costs in 800-year-old neighborhoods and the continued existence of Comcast-owned Sky. But Malone is probably right that there is room for maybe one U.S. satellite TV provider, given the insane costs of constantly throwing tons of technology into low Earth orbit.

Read also: DirecTV and Dish have been trying to merge for years. Maybe it will finally happen

My guess is that the DirecTV-Dish dial-up will happen regardless of who the next president is. Perhaps one of the conditions of approval will require DirecDish to sell wholesale access to third-party vendors, who could in turn help pay for the colossal capital expenditure.

Google TV streamer

(Image source: Google)

Speaking of delivery platforms, two high-end streaming devices arrived this week, from Google and Roku. Admittedly, the Roku Ultra is an improved version of what has been on the market for some time, with faster response times, kids zones and more sports, 4K, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, etc. Roku strengthens its top model against very interesting Google TV streamerwhich checks many of the same feature boxes and some useful smart home features, all with a Google TV interface. What do we have to do to get Roku and Google to go after the high-end market that previously belonged to the expensive and excellent Apple TV?

Daniel Frankel

(Photo: Getty Images)

FRANKEL: While replying to your message sent overnight from overseas, I realized that this was the last time I would publish anything on Future plc’s content management system. But I’ll save the goodbyes for later. I noticed it this week Fubo has launched a new multiview feature in beta on Roku devices. Ultra class devices are the only ones with the computing power to display four images at once, not just two.

Fubo multiview

(Photo: Fubo)

I think we’ve reached the point where the limited processing and memory power of the average streaming box and smart TV is becoming a limiting factor more broadly. As I mentioned last week, Synamedia has launched an HDMI dongle that allows streaming applications to be stored and processed in the cloud. There seems to be pressure from the app development community to put more power into these boxes. Google’s decision to move to a premium version (the $100 price tag for the new Google TV streamer) seems to point in this general direction. Separately, as I was contemplating major life choices last night in what turned out to be a very dynamic moment for me personally, I decided to watch Part 1 of the six-episode Netflix documentary about Vince McMahon: Mr. McMahon. I really liked the part where he says he doesn’t like talking about himself.

Mr. McMahon | Official trailer | Netflix – YouTube

Keep watching

FLOWER: This push for greater puck power ultimately creates a more interesting and engaging television experience. Wouldn’t that be nice? Roku, executives unveiled at Next TV’s farewell summit, has already added bells and whistles to its interface that add value, differentiate shows and drive revenue. It’s high time the rest of the sector caught up.

David Bloom

(Photo: David Bloom)

Services company Wurl just released a study showing connected TV viewing is approaching epidemic lockdown levelsthat is, high to the sky. The study issued one warning to greedy companies looking to make money: each additional minute of ad break results in a loss of 4% of viewers. Keep these ads light and sweet, gentlemen and ladies! So, Dan, as we prepare for the next chapter of Next Text, I can already see the future (if not the future). In London, the 197-year-old Evening Standard newspaper laid off 150 jobs and began publishing weekly. More importantly, they are considering bringing him back their notoriously caustic art critic, Brian Sewellwho has been dead since 2015.

Brian Sewell

Late Evening Standard art critic Brian Sewell. (Image: The Telegraph)

How? Sewell will now be an AI-powered online voice. I fully expect power in the rear Next TVthe collapse of the creation of artificial intelligence Daniel Frankel, equally sharp in his assessments of media, technology and entertainment, on everything that counts as the next future Next TV. You and I, of course, will speedway the old-fashioned way, somewhere else, maybe in Tuscany.

FRANKEL: I discovered the thrill of writing and editing when I was 24 at D Money, listening to Soul Asylum tapes while building the sports section Daily sundial in the CSUN Sierra North computer room and then raced to cover the school’s baseball and volleyball games. The pursuit of that electric feeling led me – and I suspect you and many others like us – down a wildly exciting but exploitative, fulfilling but empty, dynamic but disappointing career path. I had the pleasure of drinking high-end vodka on Saturday night with a musician friend of mine who was born in Coral Gables Kenny Lyonformer Lemonhead who still plays guitar in Russia for most of the year. Our chat focused on how the economic walls for “creative class” people like us are closing in everywhere we look, partly due to artificial intelligence… but also many other factors. Much of this has to do with the fact that the people who trade in our work actually have, at best, apathy for what we do and, at worst, contempt for it and us. Last week I interviewed at Montreal-based Valnet (their very green recruiter found me on LinkedIn). If I passed the exam (and I suspect my relatively old ass didn’t), they would pay me just under $70,000 a year to increase the productivity of young “job writers” making $10 a post. Unfortunately, I’m sure they’ll find someone willing to do it! Just not me. As I write my last sentence as an employee of the Future M&E group – and perhaps my last as a freelance journalist – I will say this: In the words of mid-90s Knocksville sensation superdrag, my dream was to play outside (the) rock routine.