Streaming

The Financial Times reported last month that WBD execs considered splitting its streaming and studio business from its struggling TV networks. But now, execs have determined this may not be “the best option at this time,” according to the FT.

Instead, WBD reportedly plans on selling smaller assets, such as the Polish broadcaster TVN or a stake in its game’s business.

A new environment in the Paramount Plus app for the Apple Vision Pro transforms your surroundings into Bikini Bottom, complete with SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward’s homes. If you decide to watch SpongeBob in the environment, SpongeBob himself will join you with a bowl of popcorn.

While the platform currently cuts away from live content to display video ads, YouTube is now experimenting with live mid-rolls that will instead launch and run alongside the broadcast in Picture-in-Picture mode.

That should be less disruptive for viewers, and may also dissuade them from installing adblockers to avoid paying for YouTube’s ad-free premium service — something YouTube has been cracking down on.

The latest tvOS 18 beta enables Apple TV devices to share external links with nearby iPhones or iPads — getting around Apple TV’s lack of a web browser.

At the moment, the feature is only working with promotions for Apple’s Vision Pro, but 9to5Mac notes it should expand to allow users to share other content from their Apple TV right from the tvOS app.

In the Apple Vision Pro, that is. Disney Plus has rolled out a National Geographic edition virtual environment for its visionOS app that lets you watch movies in a snowy corridor in Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park.

The environment uses “3D models captured on-site using photogrammetry,” according to Disney’s announcement. When you watch a movie, it turns dark and shows you the Northern Lights!

Even though you can’t see Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise in this new teaser for HBO’s It prequel series Welcome to Derry, it’s pretty obvious the clown’s going to be up to his regular, degular demonic tricks when he makes his small screen debut.

It’ll be a while before before House of the Dragon is back for a third season, but HBO’s forthcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms spin-off series looks like it’ll keep Game of Thrones fans fed when it premieres next year.

Season two of HBO’s The Last of Us Adaptation will see Catherine O’Hara join the cast as someone very keen on seeing Ellie alive and well. And it looks like Joel’s going to move hell and high water to keep the girl safe in this new preview from the show’s next chapter.

The app and website for Boomerang, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service featuring classic Warner Bros. cartoons, is being shut down on September 30th in favor of Max. WBD is no longer offering Boomerang subscriptions.

However, the Boomerang TV channel will continue to be available, WBD says.

Following up on its surprise Godzilla Minus One drop earlier this summer, Netflix is now streaming the film’s moody black and white cut as well.

Peacock is no longer developing the Battlestar Galactica reboot from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, Variety reports. The show is apparently being shopped around, but given that it’s already been in the works for years, I’m not getting my hopes up for an imminent release.

While I wait, I’ll just have to watch the best moment of the show on YouTube again, darn.

Now that the first season of The Acolyte has wrapped, Lucasfilm is shifting attention to the next Star Wars spinoff, Skeleton crew. In addition to revealing the first images for the coming-of-age series, the studio also confirmed that it’ll start streaming on Disney Plus on December 3rd.

The anime Terminator Zero hits Netflix next month as part of a busy summer of streaming sci-fi. Now we have our first full trailer for the series, which takes place in 1997 just as the Skynet AI becomes self-aware. If nothing else, the new clip will likely get the Smashing Pumpkins stuck in your head.

Ahead of its debut on October 25th, Apple TV Plus has released a series of new images from Before — executive producer Billy Crystal’s new supernatural drama in which he also stars a child psychiatrist mourning the death of his wife (Judith Light) who seems to be haunting a young boy (Jacobi Jupe.)

Just in time for the summer Olympics, Netflix has launched a multiplayer athletics competition with the very on-the-nose title of Sports Sports. It’s available on mobile now (so long as you have a Netflix subscription, of course).

A report from The Telegraph reveals that Apple executives met with the UK’s ratings agency to “discuss potential options for tracking adverts” on Apple TV Plus.

It’s yet another sign Apple is planning to roll out an ad-supported streaming tier, as the company has already hired NBCUniversal ads exec Joseph Cady in March.

Interview With the Vampire’s second season finale closed out on Lestat (Sam Reid) getting together a band, and it looks like the group’s going to be the subject of a documentary when the show returns for season three.

Max has finally given The Penguin a September 19th release date, and the series’ latest trailer pits Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell) against Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) in a war for Gotham’s streets.

The fifth — and final — season of the animated Star Trek spinoff hits Paramount Plus on October 24th. Meanwhile, season 3 of Strange New Worlds starts streaming next year, and you can check out an early clip right here.

Ahead of the season two premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol in September, AMC has renewed the spinoff for third installment. The Walking Dead: Dead City, which debuts in 2025, has also been renewed for a second season, and a new trailer for the series teases how Maggie Green (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) reunite.

Technically speaking, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) not allowed to run her typical Task Force X in Max’s new animated Creature Commandos series. But monsters like the Bride (Indira Varma), Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), and Weasel (Sean Gunn) aren’t technically human, which is why you’ll be seeing them going on suicidal missions this winter.

Big pharma doesn’t want the public to know the truth in Adult Swim’s new animated comedy Common Side Effects from co-creators Joe Bennett (Scavengers Reign) and Steve Hely (Veep). And the truth very much seems to be a plant-based key to immortality in this early clip from the show, which is due out in 2025.