Here’s everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, April 6th, 2026:
THE NEVER-ENDING SEARCH FOR SOMETHING TO WATCH
I watch a lot of non-English language programming on Netflix. And because I do, the streamer’s recommendation engine has noticed that fact and has slowly changed the titles it recommends. At this point, maybe 80% of the titles that show up on my home page are ones that were originally produced in a language other than English.
On the one hand, that makes a lot of sense. I watch a lot of those types of programs, and since Netflix often seems to take a passive-aggressive approach to promoting international programs, new titles will often pop up that I have previously never heard of before.
However, the problem from my perspective is that those titles are not the only ones I enjoy watching. But because my other tastes are so unpredictable, I find I really have to dig to find alternative programs. And since Netflix’s recommendation engine also leans towards promoting the most-watched English-language programs, smaller TV shows, movies and documentaries can get lost.
I have written a great deal about the challenges in uncovering new things to watch. It’s not just an issue for users. Next to cost and overall usability of the app, “I can find something new to watch” is the most-expressed statement when current SVOD subscribers are asked why they have remained subscribed to a particular streaming service. So the easier platforms can make it to find programs that resonate with subscribers, the less churn they’ll experience. Which in the end, adds to their bottom line.
One of the reasons why David Ellison is pursuing Warner Bros. Discovery is that he claims he can use technology such as artificial intelligence to make it easier for subscribers to find titles and that increase in discoverability will lower churn and encourage subscriber growth.
But it’s difficult to see how that would work in real life. Paramount+’s current tech stack is pretty terrible and content discovery seems to be limited to “here’s some stuff you watched before and some hot shows we wish you would watch.” And while the HBO Max tech stack is much better overall, it’s recommendation engine is hit-and-miss. And in saying that, I am grading on a very low curve. The HBO Max app tends to recommend titles that the service wants you to watch, along with an odd mix of high-profile HBO titles and some Guy Fieri. It’s not entirely useless, but it’s nowhere near the level where it is efficient enough to spark subscriber growth.
The other challenge for most major streaming services is that if you strip away new linear programming, there is a lack of new original programming to recommend. And the smaller number of new titles, the more challenging it is for the technology to successfully suggest new things to watch. Peacock’s original non-live sports programming is nearly non-existent. And if you are looking for something new at Paramount+ that isn’t Taylor Sheridan (or until recently, Star Trek), you’re mostly limited to new linear programming and some new documentaries.
The problems with content recommendation at HBO Max are more complicated and that is a large reason why Discovery+ has managed to survive despite all efforts by management to get rid of it. The streaming audience for linear networks such as HGTV, Food and Discovery is very different than the one for HBO or TCM. Interest in live sports does cut across that, but that doesn’t really make it any more enticing when you’re attempting to convince a large and varied audience to subscribe to one big combined app. And without a nuanced and effective AI-driven recommendation engine, you just end up with a lot of subscribers who are somewhat unhappy with their user experience.
Technology helps with a lot of things. But an AI recommendation engine can only suggest things similar to what you’re watched before. It can’t read your mind, which is really what users want.
PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE NEARS DEAL FOR GULF STATES TO BACK MERGER WITH WBD
On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount Skydance has received signed equity commitments of close to $24 billion from three sovereign-wealth funds led by Saudi Arabia to help back its merger plan with Warner Bros. Discovery. According to the story, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has agreed to provide roughly $10 billion of the nearly $24 billion worth of required funding to Paramount. The deal is expected to be announced as soon as today.
There has been a lot of speculation that the Gulf State sovereign-wealth funds might balk at providing the funding, as the ongoing war with Iran has led to the funds curtailing some new investments. But that seems to ultimately not be the case here, although the commitments are far from the only outstanding issue standing in the way of the merger’s completion.
Paramount has maintained that the transaction does not require oversight by the Committee on Foreign Investment as the Gulf funds will not have governance over the corporation. But that assurance hasn’t eased concerns from Democratic legislators, who argue a provision of the Communications Act dictates that foreign entities may not hold more than 25% of the equity or voting interest in a U.S. company that holds a license without the FCC’s approval.
There is also the possibility of legal action from some state attorney generals, although so far there has a been a lot of complaining, but very little action in that direction.
The WBD board is set to meet and approve the merger in an April 23rd special meeting of shareholders. Once that happens, the company will need to secure approval from European regulators, but the WSJ report says Paramount Skydance management is projecting the merger will be completed sometime in July.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOUIS C.K.’S NON-APOLOGIES
If you are interested in the modern comedy scene, especially the growth of the pod-bro comedy culture, the Seth Simons newsletter Humorism is a must-read. Over the weekend, he published a piece about Louis C.K’s history of not fully apologizing that fits in well with my piece on Friday about his new deal with Netflix:
Sincerely Louis CK was apparently the polished endpoint of a much rougher set he presented at Governor’s Comedy Club in Long Island in December 2018, scarcely more than a year after—as he put it to Adam Carolla a few months ago—the Times story put him out of the business. As you may recall, he spent this set complaining about pronouns (“You should address me as ‘there’ because I identify as a location, and the location is your mother’s cunt.”) and mocking the survivors of the Parkland massacre (“You’re not interesting because you went to a high school where kids got shot. Why does that mean I have to listen to you? How does that make you interesting? You didn’t get shot. You pushed some fat kid in the way. Now I gotta listen to you talkin’?”). Again, this was what he came up with after taking all that time to listen.
ODDS AND SODS
* The four-episode docuseries Hulk Hogan: Real American premieres Wednesday, April 22nd. Here is a first look at the docuseries and this is the extremely brief official logline: “Before he was Hulk Hogan, he was Terry Bollea. Uncover the man behind the legend in this unfiltered documentary featuring his very last interview.”
* Netflix has renewed Love On The Spectrum for a fifth season. I love this show and as a dad with a son on the spectrum, it is an eye-opening and sometimes inspirational show.
* The Runarounds has been canceled after one season by Prime Video.
* The new anthology series 4x20: Quick Hits premieres Monday, April 20th on Hulu. Here is a first look at the series. Here is the official logline: “4x20: Quick Hits is a new anthology series highlighting cannabis and the people who love it. Made up of four, twenty-minute films, each by a dope director in celebration of what is arguably the world’s most beloved plant.”
* As someone who lived in Chicago in the 1980s and early 90s, I found this tribute to the Channel Five news team that featured Carol Marin, Ron Magers, and Warner Saunders fascinating.
* The four-episode limited series Lord Of The Flies premieres Monday, May 4th on Netflix. Here is the first look at the series.
WHAT’S COMING TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
MONDAY, APRIL 6TH:
* An Observation Log Of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself A Villainess Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Bachelor Mansion Takeover Season One Finale (HGTV)
* Extracted Season Two Finale (Fox)
* Foul Play With Anthony Davis Series Premiere (TBS)
* Liar Game Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Memory Of A Killer Season One Finale (Fox)
* Sports Heaven: The Birth Of ESPN (ESPN)
* Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord Series Premiere (Disney+)
* St. Denis Medical Season Two Finale (NBC)
* The Brokenwood Mysteries Season Premiere (Acorn TV)
* The Klutzy Class Monitor And The Girl With The Short Skirt Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* The Neighborhood: A Farewell Special (CBS)
* Tropic Like It’s Hot Series Premiere (HGTV)
* Witch Hat Atelier Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
TUESDAY, APRIL 7TH:
* A Taste For Murder (BritBox)
* Eren The Southpaw Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Even A Replica Can Fall In Love Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* I Made Friends With The Second Prettiest Girl In My Class Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Lucy Worsley Investigates: The American Revolution (PBS)
* (MARRIAGETOXIN Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* My Ribdiculous Reincarnation Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Pardon The Intrusion, I’m Home Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Sheng Wang: Purple (Netflix)
* Untold: Chess Mates (Netflix)
SEE YOU TUESDAY!