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posted by martyb on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the obviously,-Sheldon-Cooper-was-the-better-negotiator dept.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/17/20870140/big-bang-theory-hbo-max-streaming-exclusive-worth-billion-seinfeld-netflix-friends-the-office

Just one day after Netflix secured the streaming rights to Seinfeld in a deal reportedly worth more than $500 million, WarnerMedia’s HBO Max has gone one step further, acquiring the rights to The Big Bang Theory in a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion.

The deal gives WarnerMedia’s HBO Max the exclusive domestic streaming rights for five years, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That means another streaming service could carry the show in global markets. The deal also extends the syndication deal between Warner Bros. Television and TBS through 2028.


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:29AM (31 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:29AM (#895557)

    About the 85% of the 2019 CERN total budget or 30% more than the Fermilab. (Or x5 of all India's Moon missions...)

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:57AM (28 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:57AM (#895562) Journal

      Good for them, then.
      I'm sooo not interested in BigBang theory or Friends that I couldn't care less.

      Personally, I don't get how is this worthy of a story, but then again it may be only me seeing the things this way.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:14AM (13 children)

        by VLM (445) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:14AM (#895567)

        Personally, I don't get how is this worthy of a story,

        You can imagine the execs "Fine, you don't want to pay $100 for cable channels you almost entirely don't want... well... we'll let you pay for ten $15 streaming services instead"

        Also I'm not sure the middlemen are providing a useful service anymore... pretty close to being the case where it'll be cheaper and more convenient to pay the studios directly. In the old days in the 80s setting up a network meant buying microwave relay towers and satellite BW and early exotic fiber tech and crazy expensive capitalist stuff where middlemen made sense. Now a days a middleman can be replaced by a small expensive shell script generating a RSS feed or something like that, which is why we have WAY too many middlemen right now, soon to mostly disappear.

        Also on a tangent, both those shows suck and exist mostly so dudes can watch ultra soft core PG-ish pr0n with their wimmens without her complaining (mostly). Like those reality TV game shows that boil down to "lets watch hot 20-something women in bikinis for an hour". The problem with that business model is in the 70s you could get millions to watch braless "Threes Company" sitcoms because it was that or the Gimbels Department Store Womens Lingerie Catalog, but now a days dudes just pick up the phone and browse the pr0n subreddits or 80 bazillion online pr0n sites. Why watch a shitty modern version of "Threes company" when you can watch a threesome on pr0nhub? So bye bye mass media and their streaming services. Can you really sell a billion bucks of ads based on Penny's boobs (or whatever her name is)? I mean they're nice, but not a billion bucks nice...

        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:35AM (2 children)

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:35AM (#895575) Homepage Journal

          pretty close to being the case where it'll be cheaper and more convenient to pay nobody, directly

          FTFY

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:05PM (1 child)

            by VLM (445) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:05PM (#895591)

            Admittedly, some stuff out there is getting pretty propagandistic and I could see going "PBS" and simply accepting PAC contributions while ignoring audience input could be the future...

            Like in the paper publishing industry, theres a fine line between an advertising funded magazine full of complementary copy, and a mere catalog containing some editorial content. Like the ole playboy lingerie issue vs the ole victorias secret catalog...

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:44AM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:44AM (#895581)

          Nobody I know subscribes to them all. Most people pick a total of 2 or 3. After a few months - once you have binged everything you care about on service B or C, you drop that one and pick up service D or E for a few months. Lather, rince, repeat.

          • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:03PM (3 children)

            by VLM (445) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:03PM (#895588)

            Doesn't customer service shit all over them at cancellation time, like cable or satellite radio services? I donno if I'm willing to spend three hours arguing on the phone with some dude in India named "Bob" just to watch crappy sitcoms for three months.

            I mean, its not impossible, but does sound implausible.

            • (Score: 3, Informative) by Fnord666 on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:44PM (1 child)

              by Fnord666 (652) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:44PM (#895610) Homepage

              Doesn't customer service shit all over them at cancellation time, like cable or satellite radio services? I donno if I'm willing to spend three hours arguing on the phone with some dude in India named "Bob" just to watch crappy sitcoms for three months.

              I mean, its not impossible, but does sound implausible.

              That's what throwaway IDs and prepaid debit cards are for.

            • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:25PM

              by Mykl (1112) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:25PM (#895849)

              Doesn't customer service shit all over them at cancellation time

              No.

              I just cancelled a streaming service last month (the kids and I are going through the Marvel movies, and they're all being pulled from that streamer in advance of Disney+). I went into "My Account", clicked "Cancel", clicked "Yes, I'm sure" and I was done.

              I guess this is the upside of the gutting of call centres. But I also think that the streamers realise that people are going to have to come and go as more services arrive. If you can make it easy to unsubscribe, you're more likely to have someone come back later than if you made their lives hell by clinging on to them.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:58PM (1 child)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:58PM (#895615) Journal

          "Fine, you don't want to pay $100 for cable channels you almost entirely don't want... well... we'll let you pay for ten $15 streaming services instead"

          No need for those either. There are a couple of public services that broadcast for my entire need of movies, paid from taxes and (one, the SBS) a modicum of ads.
          That's enough for me most of the time. For anything else, there's the movie theater, especially the independent [cinemanova.com.au] ones [rooftopcinema.com.au]

          Also on a tangent, both those shows suck

          I almost liked the first season of BBTheory. Didn't want to watch it again when it came out on disc, wasn't interested to watch from season 2 onwards.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:23PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:23PM (#895655)

            The Pirate Bay is still broadcasting from wherever the hell they do their thing. They may be "illegal" in every nation on earth, but you can't stop the signal, Mal!!

        • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:23PM

          by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:23PM (#895654) Journal

          So I need HBO Streaming for Big Bang, CBS Online for Star Trek: Discovery, Netflix for Orange is the New Black, and Amazon Prime for Carnival Row....

          ... The new middleman will be the one who works out a deal for a multi-pass using one logon and/or portal for all these services for just less than you'd pay individually for a huge streaming platform. In other words, new on-demand cable. (My Comcast box already allows me to do Netflix and YouTube, and not sure about the others....)

          "Middleman" is just a term for someone who sits in between and either adds value or serves as a gatekeeper. They have always existed, even before television and radios were things, and it wouldn't surprise me if it is pre-Gutenberg as well. (Someone who buys feathers and/or birds and warehouses the feathers for selling en masse to copyist houses). They always will.

          --
          This sig for rent.
        • (Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:38PM

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:38PM (#895664)

          Or, you know, do something with your life that doesn't involve laying on a couch passively consuming an AV stream...

          $1B for 5 years of domestic streaming rights (to a population of 350M, with 54M subscribed... https://www.statista.com/statistics/329288/number-of-hbo-domestic-subscribers/ [statista.com] ) 200M per year, ~$4 per subscriber per year, for one show.

          Last time I had HBO was when I bought a house where the previous owners had HBO and the cable company didn't get around to turning it off for 3 months... that was 1992, and I don't miss it at all. I guess I tried a free trial of HBO go once, watched about 2 shows and dropped it too.

          But - for all the people bitching that CERN or NASA or your local animal shelters could use the money better, it's all about the numbers, baby... 54 million domestic subscribers @ $15/mo is nearly $10B per year, domestic. The people have spoken. If 54 million people would donate even $4 per year to your favorite cause (that's one Starbuck's latte, per year...) your cause, too, would get this kind of funding. Instead, they chose to send their money to the people who give them the Big Bang Bundle.

          --
          🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:47PM

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:47PM (#895895)

          Wow!

          That Soft-Core Porn Theory* is awesome. I mean it's a little mad, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.

          I had never thought of it before, but it kind of makes sense in a twisted sort of way. I don't actually find the actress who plays Penny particularly attractive, and certainly would not pay money to see her naked, but I am sure there are people who would.

           

          * See what I did there?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:01PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:01PM (#895617)

        The story could be irrelevant to you if you just generally don't care about TV. If you care about consuming this type of content, even if not those specific shows, it's probably relevant. HBO also has the exclusive rights to stream shows that would be of interest to nerds, shows like Doctor Who.

        The executives at these companies are betting that the rights to these shows will bring in more revenue than what they're paying for the rights. HBO has a five year deal for over $200 million per year for Big Bang Theory. The rights are limited to the US, so they won't bring in revenue globally for this show. HBO Max may be more expensive than most streaming services with speculation that it will be $15/month. That works out to $180/year, so HBO would need to attract ~1.11 million customers to subscribe for a full year in order to break even. It's a big risk, particularly when they're also competing against syndication.

        The rights to broadcast sports are also very expensive, with lots of multi-billion dollar deals for the Olympics and leagues like the NFL. Many of the networks are regretting the agreements they've committed to and are looking for ways to make the deals more profitable. NBC has moved content behind paywalls that was once freely available to cable subscribers. Advertising is becoming increasingly obnoxious in most sporting events. If the networks don't pay enough, there's the risk that no network will get the rights and sports will only be available through subscription. If networks were unwilling to pay enough for the rights to the NFL, the league could simply not sign any agreements and just make the games available through NFL Sunday Ticket or a similar service.

        For streaming shows, it probably means advertising will be inserted into these shows or the price of the service will increase. At some point, customers will be unwilling to pay for a large number of streaming services and the market won't continue to grow. We may well be close to that point already. I suspect that the market will eventually consolidate and many of these streaming services will fail or otherwise cease to exist. Until that happens, I think we'll see more advertising, higher prices, and tactics to increase revenue that are generally very annoying to consumers.

        You might not care about Big Bang Theory, but if you're a nerd who wants to watch Doctor Who, you might have to pay higher rates to stream it.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:25PM (4 children)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:25PM (#895628) Journal

          The story could be irrelevant to you if you just generally don't care about TV.

          Oh, I do care about TV. Just not about BigBang Theory, Friends and the like.
          News, investigative reporting, foreign correspondence, world cinema (this terms automatically excludes Disney and Marvel)
          HBO does have some interesting productions now and then, but it's not enough for me to want to be hooked on them.

          HBO also has the exclusive rights to stream shows that would be of interest to nerds, shows like Doctor Who.

          You mean exclusive right on that pommy show available on national public TV here [abc.net.au], the one free of ads? Somehow I don't think their exclusivity is that exclusive as you say.
          But yeah, I'm past the age when I just can't wait for the next episode or series.

          The executives at these companies are betting that ...

          Those executives may be quite desperate to take this gamble. Thanks God I'm not in the entertainment industry.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:26PM (1 child)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:26PM (#895656) Journal

            Damn, that's almost worth moving to Oz for. I could watch British television for free, without spoofing through a proxy? Awesome. Can I get you to spray for spiders before I move in?

            • (Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:53AM

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:53AM (#895923) Journal

              Can I get you to spray for spiders before I move in?

              Why should I?
              A good pair of Vegemite sandwiches** at breakfast keeps them spiders away for the whole day.

              ** if you smear them behind your ears or in your armpits. Works for drop bears too [wikipedia.org].
              A small price to pay for watching Pommy TV for free, especially that a Vegemite jar is cheaper than a good size can of insect spray and keeps you going for months.

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @07:13PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @07:13PM (#895779)

            world cinema (this terms automatically excludes Disney and Marvel)

            https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/13/20864305/gundala-review-indonesian-superhero-film-bumilangit-cinematic-universe [theverge.com]

          • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:50PM

            by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:50PM (#895896)

            Those executives may be quite desperate to take this gamble.

            I would be prepared to bet you a whole dollarydoo that the executives in charge have no real clue what they're doing, now that their industry is changing really quickly.

            What they do have is access to a whole lot of money though, hence the billion for Big Bang Theory.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:13PM

        by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:13PM (#895646) Homepage
        The problem is that the large media companies control more than just what TV shows they offer: https://www.geke.us/MediaVenn.html https://www.geke.us/DisneyVenn.html . If they get people to think "nothing bad must happen to [this company], or I'll lose my [favourite TV show]", then that gives them popular support and more weight when they are arm-twisting the government. We're the good guys, right, we provide you with your circuses (while Perdue pharma provide you with your bread substitute pills, presumably, they're just as embedded).
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 5, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:19PM (2 children)

        by bzipitidoo (4388) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:19PM (#895684) Journal

        Star Trek more your thing? Or are you post TV? Cord cutter, or cord never? I've always found it baffling that so many people are willing to pay so much for cable TV.

        What strikes me about this is, where's the whining about piracy taking all the profit out of the entertainment biz? Shouldn't TV shows be worth close to $0, if piracy is the big problem they claim it is?

        • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday September 18 2019, @06:24PM

          by Pino P (4721) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @06:24PM (#895763) Journal

          I've always found it baffling that so many people are willing to pay so much for cable TV.

          That depends on the nature of the bundle that a cable ISP offers to its Internet subscribers as enticement to subscribe or stay subscribed to TV. Some reportedly even pay their Internet subscribers to take TV.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:22AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:22AM (#895910) Journal

          Star Trek more your thing?

          Was. I lost interest in it.
          The only full collection of TV series that I chose to buy on discs is MASH

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:04PM (3 children)

        by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:04PM (#895833) Journal

        Go over to CNN: they gots breaking news like this https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/18/business/lays-redesigns-potato-chip-bag/index.html [cnn.com]

        Yeah.
        News!

        Yeah.

        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:17AM (1 child)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:17AM (#895908) Journal

          I can congratulate myself I chose to emigrate into a country where one gets a good quality national news service (among others) paying for it with the taxes.

          (see https://news.abc.net.au [abc.net.au] )

          (or, in other words, sucks to have only commercial news services)

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:31AM

            by Gaaark (41) on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:31AM (#895916) Journal

            Me too!

            CBC.ca
            :)

            --
            --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @05:30AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @05:30AM (#895993)

          Now that story may actually be true.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:58AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:58AM (#895563)

      Or only 0.00347% of that other tv show - the apollo programme.

      http://www.planetary.org/get-involved/be-a-space-advocate/become-an-expert/cost-of-apollo-program.html [planetary.org]

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by oumuamua on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:18PM

      by oumuamua (8401) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:18PM (#895596)
      There may be a silver lining: anything that gets the hoi polloi interested in science or to actually learn some science is GOOD.

      Neither the STEM and non-STEM participants thought they learned much science from the program, either because they already thought they knew the content or because the main topic of hard science and theories were not seen as useful to their daily lives. Yet, both groups were able to clearly recall specific science-related content present in the program and many reported that they search online to better understand the science presented as jokes within the plot of the program.

      how audiences interpret science on The Big Bang Theory [iastate.edu]

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by theluggage on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:17AM (1 child)

    by theluggage (1797) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:17AM (#895568)

    a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion

    Sorry, I've only got college-level bullshit, so I'm not a native speaker - does "a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion" mean "HBO are cutting someone a $1bn check as we speak" or does it mean "if you carefully cherry-pick various quid-pro-quo exchanges of intangible assets with arbitrarily assigned values involved in a complicated deal, you can get a figure of $1 billion for 'the value of the deal'"?

    Or, to put it another way, is that the figure for the shareholders or the figure for the people who calculate royalties/residuals... (although ISTR that, again 'reportedly', some of the actors got paid enough per episode for most of us to retire on...)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:31AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:31AM (#895573)

      "HBO are cutting someone a $1bn check as we speak" or does it mean "if you carefully cherry-pick various quid-pro-quo exchanges of intangible assets with arbitrarily assigned values involved in a complicated deal, you can get a figure of $1 billion for 'the value of the deal'"?

      They literally cut a cheque, or at least wire the cash. But instead of $1 billion, it probably comes in over time.

      They are not investing in production of something. They literally just buy the exclusive rights to legally be able to stream it on their platform. It's a *cash* transaction.

  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:20PM (10 children)

    by looorg (578) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:20PM (#895599)

    So since apparently now money is how we calculate how good things are they are saying that "The Big Bang Theory" is, more then, twice as good as "Seinfeld"? I guess there is little room for taste or actual humor in their equation ...

    Seinfelt could be hit and hit and miss from episode to episode but it was usually somewhat funny, something that Big bang theory rarely if ever was. But then there is just no or little room for taste or personal sense of humor -- perhaps I just don't have any.

    • (Score: 2) by theluggage on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:44PM (2 children)

      by theluggage (1797) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:44PM (#895611)

      Seinfelt could be hit and hit and miss from episode to episode but it was usually somewhat funny, something that Big bang theory rarely if ever was.

      Like many comedies, I find 5 minutes of TBBT quite amusing, but I don't think I've ever sat through a whole episode (even a comedy needs a reasonably strong plot). It would make a good recurring sketch on a longer, more varied, show - you know, like those animated shorts with the yellow people in The Tracy Ullman Show...

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by RedGreen on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:39PM (1 child)

        by RedGreen (888) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:39PM (#895665)

        "Like many comedies, I find 5 minutes of TBBT quite amusing, but I don't think I've ever sat through a whole episode (even a comedy needs a reasonably strong plot). It would make a good recurring sketch on a longer, more varied, show - you know, like those animated shorts with the yellow people in The Tracy Ullman Show..."

        I think the same way about most of these hit shows today, I have never seen a complete Seinfeld and have never found him at all funny, leading to me having no desire to watch it or many of the other greatest since sliced bread shows now. I find them mostly unwatchable, I have seen all the recycled jokes and stories a hundred times in my life. Now get off my lawn...

        --
        "I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
        • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:07PM

          by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:07PM (#895836) Journal

          What gets me is when people say, "I hate that George guy", but then proceed to tell you their favorite 'skits', all involving George.

          Whaaaaaat!

          --
          --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    • (Score: 2) by inertnet on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:48PM (4 children)

      by inertnet (4071) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @12:48PM (#895612) Journal

      You're not alone, I've never even watched TBBT, because just from the title alone I already knew that their humor just wouldn't be funny to me. And every time I happen to see it when flipping channels, the way that they dress up those actors as nerds confirms this.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:53PM

        by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:53PM (#895670) Homepage
        I just found a "best of" and spent a whisker over half an hour cringing at how terrible it was. Thank god I don't have HBO, I just wish I could forget what torrents and youtube are so that I never have to see any more in my life!
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 3, Touché) by Mykl on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:39PM (2 children)

        by Mykl (1112) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:39PM (#895854)

        I've never even watched TBBT...

        My pet peeve: People who are so indifferent to a show that they will open and (maybe) read an article about it, then participate in the comments section and take the time to write a post about how they don't care.

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by inertnet on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:03PM (1 child)

          by inertnet (4071) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:03PM (#895883) Journal

          Well, I'm not going to post about the many other shows that I'm indifferent about. But this particular show appears to make tons of money off ridiculing nerdy types. I have never liked humor at the cost of others, and this show attempts to make fun of a group that many people would put me in. You cannot make me watch it, but I can certainly have an opinion about it.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by Mykl on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:36AM

            by Mykl (1112) on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:36AM (#895918)

            Fair enough.

            FWIW, I see the jokes as more of a roast of Nerd Culture than denigrating nerds.

            I seem to recall that Chuck Lorre created TBBT as a passion project, and was only given the green light to write a Sitcom about nerds because of his success with Two and a Half Men (I suspect that TBBT was also an attempt to wash the taste of Two and a Half Men out of his mouth).

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:31PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:31PM (#895658) Journal

      You can get a new sense of humor form Amazon, overnight. Or, if you're willing to laugh with a pre-owned sense of humor, there is Ebay. Ebay also has bargain priced senses of humor, if you don't want to waste a lot of money.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:44PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:44PM (#895694)

      Seinfeld has been of the air for 20 years. BBT had only gone off the air this year and it probably has more costs associated with it and fewer people have seen the episodes a dozen times. Plus the royalties are probably more due to the increases in salary over the years.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:05PM (#895619)

    I was watching TBBT for a while in the beginning. I did enjoy it, but it wasn't the best show on television. People at work were also watching it, and I think talking about it added to the show. That wore off though, and I finally gave up on this show in season 5, with no desire to continue watching it. IMO Community was much better. I never liked Friends. I could watch Seinfeld if it was on and others were watching it, but I never chose to watch it on my own. I found it funny at times, but not enough that I looked forward to tuning in.

    I do not like the trend of all these streaming services starting up. Luckily I have such a back log of shows archived, I can just stick with one or two streaming services that I can benefit from the most.

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:08PM (7 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:08PM (#895620) Journal

    Moves like this one and acquiring the streaming rights to Seinfeld read like an exit strategy for cable. Who would be interested in TBBT? Anyone who is a fan of that show has already watched all the episodes and probably won't again, except for one or two. Same with Seinfeld. Same with any other series that people have already watched. Maybe they'll pick up one or two new viewers who have already binged everything else in the streaming catalog, but those numbers are small.

    So there must be deeper reasons to bring such content over for such sums. I surmise they're doing it to make current cable customers comfortable with the idea of dropping cable and coming over to the streaming service. They are trying to transition those audiences to streaming by bringing in older shows that were popular back in the day in order to bring over older audience cohorts who enjoyed those shows back in the day.

    I give traditional cable three years before that industry falls off the cliff.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:18PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:18PM (#895623)

      They are trying to transition those audiences to streaming by bringing in older shows that were popular back in the day in order to bring over older audience cohorts who enjoyed those shows back in the day.

      So, you found the reason? And maybe you've met my mother? Watching the same shows over and over again ... kind of like watching STNG over and over again for those fans ;)

      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 18 2019, @08:35PM (2 children)

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @08:35PM (#895802) Journal

        You know, part of me wonders whether passive consumption of video a la television hasn't run its course. I read Millennials and younger don't really watch TV, preferring to spend their time on social media instead. I'm Gen-X and the bloom is definitely off the rose; you mentioned Trek, which I loved for decades, but now can't be bothered.

        Maybe TV will really die with the Baby Boomers?

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:15PM (1 child)

          by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:15PM (#895843) Journal

          I don't watch TV anymore: I search for "Best British comedies", etc, and then acquire them...errrr...with ways.

            Watching Misfits currently.

          When I do watch TV now....oh Dog, the COMMERCIALS! KILL ME!

          Shows acquired with...ways...I'd sit through some commercials.

          --
          --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
          • (Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:49PM

            by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:49PM (#896067) Journal

            I hear you. Commercials killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. The way the jacked up the volume to top-notch was the straw that broke the camel's back for us. We asked DirecTV several times to stop it, but of course they didn't. So we cut the cord, got fiber & Netflix streaming, and never looked back. They spent the next 6 years begging us to come back.

            Actually the fiber company reps were mystified when we told them clearly and directly and with an increasingly firmer tone that, no, we did not want Cable bundled into our package, even if it only cost $5/mo more, because we did not want that crap coming into our home.

            Voting with your feet and dollars is the only kind of voting that still matters.

            --
            Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:21PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:21PM (#895625)

      I find it strange that so much is being spent on old shows too. A billion dollars could be used to make really good new content to draw people in.

      However, I'm not sure I would trust HBO with new content after what happened with Game of Thrones.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:33PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:33PM (#895659) Journal

        I'm not sure that a billion dollars could create new content. There's little talent out there, and what there is, is usually stabbed in the back by management. Management doesn't WANT talented people around, because they might expose management as a bunch of posers and losers.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 18 2019, @08:42PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @08:42PM (#895810) Journal

        What show has wrapped up nicely, in the last decade? I didn't watch Game of Thrones, because the nihilism turned me off from the beginning, but now that everyone panned the end I am doubly sure I never need waste my time. However, I don't think Game of Thrones was unique in that. I remember the remake of Battlestar Galactica with the hot Asian cylon ending with a whimper. Lost was panned. Breaking Bad was depressing. Babylon 5 had a great story arc that they lamely tacked another season onto when the studio threw money at them to keep it going. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was so strong for so long, and then had a sucky ending.

        British shows seem to have a better track record. They end shows when they should end, because the story dictates it. American TV treats everything as a mere vehicle to push more ad time.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 4, Funny) by gtomorrow on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:32PM (7 children)

    by gtomorrow (2230) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @01:32PM (#895629)

    ...is I can turn the TV on at any given moment...and The Big Bang Theory is on at least two different channels.

    I'd consider paying the same amount for them to take it off the air...but only if that includes cancelling Young Sheldon.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:57PM (6 children)

      by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:57PM (#895672) Homepage
      It's apparently nerdy. SN is a bit nerdy. Yet there so much apparent TBBT hate from soylentils. What demographic is the *actual* audience for the show?
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:18PM

        by gtomorrow (2230) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:18PM (#895682)

        You misunderstand me (story of my life :D ). It's not, at least in my case, a dislike of TBBT. It's just that it's literally on all the time on various channels. They must be making a billion dollars on worldwide syndication rights alone. Check your local listings. Last I remember on American TV, it was on its regular network, plus TBS, WGN, and various other local networks, sometimes even Big Bang programming marathons! YIKES!

        Unavoidable, I tell you!

        That said, why would anybody pay so much money for something you can see all the time for free* on OTA TV? Taking it out of circulation for the next 20 years would only do us all a favor!

        *incessant American-4-minutes-of-commercials-between-every-seven-minutes-of-programming nonwithstanding.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:57PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @03:57PM (#895698)

        They call TBBT "nerd blackface" for a reason.

        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @06:02PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @06:02PM (#895755)

          Yeah, but stereotypes exist for a reason. The one thing they missed is incessant Monty Python line reciting--but if they had actually done that I might have thrown my TV out the window. I haven't known anybody in real life as extreme as some of the characters on that show, but some have come close. There was one dude I knew back in the 90s, I swear Captain Sweatpants from the comic book store was that guy.

        • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday September 19 2019, @08:13AM

          by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Thursday September 19 2019, @08:13AM (#896012) Homepage
          Wow, that nails it perfectly. The best-of I just watched was cringe inducing, and at times uncomfortable to watch - so often it was just shouting "hey autists, you ain't even clever". I just loved how all the stooges were male, that's very fair and equitable isn't it.
          Aside: Spike Lee's /Bamboozled/ is a grimly brilliant, and I think much underappreciated, movie, it should really be called "Spike Lee vs. Blackface: The Carnage".

          However, whilst you've provided a worthy +1 response, thank you, I do notice that my question has still not been answered. That lack of answer is perhaps the answer.
          --
          Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday September 18 2019, @04:20PM

        by Freeman (732) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @04:20PM (#895715) Journal

        TBBT is a bit Nerdy like "Swordfish" the movie with John Travolta is how hacking actually works. Okay, you could just say like how Hollywood portrays hacking in pretty near every movie. Like NCIS with McGee and Abby both using the same computer and suddenly can hack anything.

        TBBT is a comedy show, generally about how people perceive "Nerds" as opposed to the real world. Real world version of a "nerd/geek", Steve Wozniak. Normal guy, who likes computers / tech. Genius, lack of social skills, etc. don't necessarily apply to being a "nerd/geek".

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Thursday September 19 2019, @10:09AM

        by acid andy (1683) on Thursday September 19 2019, @10:09AM (#896035) Homepage Journal

        It's apparently nerdy. SN is a bit nerdy. Yet there so much apparent TBBT hate from soylentils. What demographic is the *actual* audience for the show?

        I mentioned before it might be sort of geeks / dorks that like to watch it, i.e. people that identify with or are amused by the culture, rather than necessarily being into hardcore science themselves. Pseudonerds?

        --
        If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
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