Sony's niche streaming app just knocked a major player out of the top 10

Summary

HBO Max rebrands back to its original name, a smart move for brand recognition and identity.
Crunchyroll surpasses Starz in subscribers, showing value in niche content and dedicated offerings.
Peacock offers a $25 annual deal for new subscribers, a great opportunity for those interested in their content.

The biggest news this week comes out of

Max
, which has, after two years, admitted defeat and will now be once again going by its former name, HBO Max. This is certainly a smart move for the streamer, which was missing out on some crucial brand recognition by dropping the “HBO” from its name two years ago, and though there’s been plenty of jokes and

ribbing about the re-rebranding
, this overall seems like a good move not only for the streamer, but for me personally, as I actually never stopped calling the app HBO Max, and hopefully, now I never need to.

Outside of this big news however, there’s a smaller story that is worth paying attention to. Though Sony doesn’t have it’s own all-inclusive streaming service like Paramount or Warner Bros. Discovery, they do have a small streaming app you may have heard of called Crunchyroll. This anime-focused streamer has become a must-have app for animation enthusiasts, and hit a very important milestone this week, officially garnering an impressive 17 million subscribers, putting it ahead of Starz (per Digital Trends) and into the top ten streaming services in the US.

Though you could hardly describe Crunchyroll’s lineup as diverse, this just shows the value of focusing in on a dedicated market and serving them content they care about regularly. Though Crunchyroll has angered subscribers in the past with price hikes and paywalls (they used to offer much more content for free than they do now) their simul-dub efforts, which make anime episodes available in English mere hours after they are available in Japanese has been undeniably sucessful, and it looks like they have the subscriber growth to show that thier strategy is working.

YouTube is finally doing something about all those fake movie trailers

YouTube has suspended ad revenue for several prominent fake movie trailer channels.

Peacock introduces a new $25 annual deal

If you are a new or returning subscriber, this may be worth checking out

NBC/Comcast

Peacock

$25 $80 Save
$55

Subscription with ads: $7.99
Premium Subscription: $13.99
Simultaneous streams: 3
# of profiles: 6
Originals: Yes
Live TV: Yes

If you’re looking forward to the new season of Twisted Metal, can’t get enough of The Traitors, or want to check out the latest season of Poker Face, Peacock is running a pretty good deal at the moment for new and returning subscribers: one year of the streaming service’s ad-supported tier of service for $25. Just use the code SPRINGSAVINGS at checkout before May 30 to get $55 off the regular annual price of this streaming service and you’ll be set to go for a full year before you’ll have to either cancel or renew at full annual price (which is currently $80, but may go up between now and next spring).

YouTube will stream an NFL game for free this fall

On Friday, September 5, you’ll be able to watch a live NFL opening week game for free, exclusively through YouTube.

New CNN streaming service set to launch this fall

In case someone wants it outside of the HBO Max ecosystem

Warner Bros Discovery

Though HBO Max subscribers can find live streaming CNN channels as well as on-demand programming inside their app, those who want news only will have a new choice this fall. According to a report from The New York Times, CNN is gearing up to launch a new standalone streaming app before the end of 2025 that will be seperate from its offerings on HBO Max. No details were shared as far as pricing is concerned, but it is very interesting that CNN is trying to diversify its offerings in a way that is not so different from

ESPN/ESPN+
. However, only time will tell if there is enough interest in a paid cable news streaming app to justify the split from HBO Max.

The Apothecary Diaries is this week’s Pocket Pick

A historical mystery with plenty of romance

Crunchyroll

The Apothecary Diaries

Release Date: October 22, 2023
Network: Nippon TV, RAB, TVI, YBC, JRT
Directors: Jun Owada, Akira Koremoto, Kentaro Fujita, Yukihiko Asaki, Erkin Kawabata, Shintaro Itoga, Tsuyoshi Nakano, Akira Shimizu, Yuushi Ibe, Kyohei Yamamoto, Masahiro Matsunaga, Tadao Okubo, Misu Yamaneko
Writers: Yuko Kakihara, Misuzu Chiba, Hitomi Ogawa
Franchise(s): The Apothecary Diaries

Takeo Otsuka

Jinshi (voice)
Katsuyuki Konishi

Gaoshun (voice)

In honor of Crunchyroll’s subscriber milestone this week, I’ve decided to spotlight one of my favorite shows on the service: The Apothecary Diaries. Now in its second season, the series takes place in a fictionalized version of imperial China, and follows the adventures of no-nonsense Maomao, who has been trained as an apothecary and helps solve mysteries in the Emperor’s rear palace. There she uncovers secrets, subterfuge, and plenty of palace intrigue as she navigates a complex world filled with tradition, royalty and, of course, romance.

The series is based on a best-selling series of novels, and features complex characters and a surprising amount of social commentary. I mentioned the first season of this series last year as one of my

favorite things of 2024
and I’m delighted that the second season series continues to enchant me with new mysteries, characters, and twists worthy of some of the best Agatha Christie novels.