Hosted by Jason Snell.
Jason Snell and a rotating group of experts break down the present and future of television.
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Get Downstream+ and don't miss a segment!Latest Episodes
#52: Defying Gravity
September 7th, 2023 · 39 minutes
Does the battle between Disney and Charter augur the end of the cable business model as we know it? Is the entertainment industry going bankrupt slowly, then all at once? It's time for an all-Sports Corner episode of Downstream!
#51: Cool, Man, But What Happened After?
August 25th, 2023 · 70 minutes
The CNN streaming era re-begins--and we're still trying to figure out how TV news adapts to the streaming era. Also: Netflix makes a franchise bet on Zach Snyder, but is it shooting itself in the foot? And are streaming sports rights worth the high cost?
#50: Platform Chess
August 11th, 2023 · 48 minutes
Disney alters the deal--pray they don't alter it further. But is Disney suffering from franchise fatigue, and is aggressively bunding Hulu with Disney+ the solution? Also: Jason's sad about Apple's failed college football deal.
#49: Selling Shovels
July 28th, 2023 · 74 minutes
Did Netflix lure the rest of the streaming industry into quicksand? We explore the difference between being an entertainment retailer and wholesaler. Then it's time to talk about the man, the legend, the human topic: Disney's Bob Iger.
#48: "The Bear" Is Not a Comedy
July 12th, 2023 · 28 minutes
In a tale as old as time, we try and fail to understand the Emmy Awards. Also: Breaking down Netflix's new ratings math.
#47: My Phantom Limb
June 30th, 2023 · 66 minutes
CNN rises to the top of the conversation again, Netflix gets the ball back, Paramount sells some crown jewels, Sports Corner travels to Utah, and we answer four listener letters!
#46: The Chris Licht Conundrum
June 16th, 2023 · 23 minutes
The head of CNN is out, but the larger issue is: what's the future of TV news in the age of streaming?
#45: I Wasn't Surprised
June 1st, 2023 · 52 minutes
The Max launch and prioritizing tech stacks; Netflix's ad viewers and the future of ad-free streaming; and in Sports Corner the regional sports network collapse has begun. Also, we announce our own plus--Downstream+!
#44: Max Headroom Made a Fortune
May 19th, 2023 · 72 minutes
Julia's back at last, so we blast through discussing HBO Max becoming Max, Hulu going inside the Disney+ app, the WGA's "streaming strike", the NFL's Peacock playoff game, and ESPN plotting its inevitable over-the-top service.
#43: The Two-Episode Test
May 2nd, 2023 · 46 minutes
Jason's former co-host from another TV podcast, Tim Goodman, drops by to discuss his decision to be a TV writer at the very end of the Peak TV era, the challenges of TV criticism, and his return to writing about TV on his own terms via Substack.