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The Problem with Jon Stewart cancellation highlights a problem for Apple’s content
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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This would happen at Amazon or Netflix or Disney, too. Apple’s not special in not wanting to piss off the CCP
John Oliver doesn't seem to have a problem with HBO/Max
Colbert seems to struggle more with the FCC regulations on what he can't say and show more than what CBS wants. It's less often now but at the start of his Late Show he really appeared to be mean to CBS on-air specifically to prove that they didn't have a presence in his writers room.
HBO doesn’t have a hardware business dependent upon China
My guess is that it has more to do with viewership and Emmy wins. His show was frequently telling people that AT&T has terrible service. I can’t imagine AT&T would’ve let that fly if he wasn’t driving viewers and signups.
Capitalism can commercialize anything including critiques of capitalism.
Similarly, corporations can sell anything, including critiques of themselves.
Reminds me of the Beatles selling "Beatles Hater" merch.
Oliver also has a lot of Emmy wins. He might also have a larger viewing audience.
My guess is that Oliver, like Viacom era Jon Stewart, is popular enough that he can shit on his employer.
Stuart has 22 Emmys from the Daily Show and Colbert Report combined. John Oliver has 17; 3 from the Daily Show and 14 from Last Week Tonight.
I agree with others who said this is Apple's problem, not Stewart's. He can get a platform/desk anywhere he wants one.
The past wins are kind of irrelevant. My point is that viewership and wins for his new show might not be strong enough for him to push back hard.
Not trying to victim blame the guy, just saying that he’s been in stronger positions with past shows. The Daily Show was raking in emmys and was the primary reason many people tuned into Comedy Central. It was probably really easy for him to pushback on network notes back then. He had the ability to seriously hurt viewership if he bailed CC.
"That's right, Business Daddy! Bend over and get ready to take it"
Oliver shits on Business Daddy regularly.
And business daddy appreciates that it's good business. As soon as you threaten business daddy's business interest it's game over. Luckily HBO's motives are more aligned with journalism than Apple's. Apple is literally the Orwellian nightmare they mocked in ads 40 years ago.
He's been shitting on his employer pretty much since the beginning. It just seems like he went for the fuck around and find out method and I am willing to bet that him and his staff are quite surprised he hasn't found out after all these years.
He likely more power back in the day. He drove a LOT of viewership at Comedy Central. They needed him more than he needed them. That probably not the case for his Apple show. That’s Ted Lasso, Severance, or Foundation.
eh, wth would netlfix or amazon care what china thinks??
apple has major physical investment in china.... thats the conflict of interest here. a media conglomerate changing the story because businessmonies.
Netflix is a bad example, but Amazon and Disney do a lot of business with China. Amazon has e-commerce and web services offerings in china. Also they, like Apple, manufacture a LOT of shit there. Disney is simpler. They want to sell their media in China.
I’m sure most Disney merchandise is also made in China.
I wonder if this was a Youtube channel he owned... Would google capitulate? Though I can't imagine it would be worth it for Jon to be on Youtube.
YouTube is blocked in China and most other oppressive regimes. You can definitely find lots of china criticism there.
Jon could start an entire new video platform in this very moment.
The combination of long overdue hatred for YouTube, along worh our being tired of unnecessary restrictions on free speech, means someone is gonna make a kick ass video sharing plafltform soon. I hope. But they need to have a lot of existing clout, like Jon has.
Right now, nobody has found a way to make a video platform financially viable yet. The only way to ask for crazy high subscription fees, and even then it’s very risky.
Google has been trying to get a foothold in China for a couple of decades. The government there don't want Google, and Google has previously jumped through hoops to make apps and services just for that market to try to placate them. It wasn't successful before but they keep trying. I don't think Google would think twice about axing a YouTube channel if they were aware the content was anti-CCP and has a big enough audience.
They all want access to the Chinese market.
Yep, and the article says that:
"The show's cancellation is indicative of the kinds of challenges owners of platforms (like Apple, Amazon, Google, and others) face when they are producing content, too."
Netflix is for less beholden to the ccp than Apple or Amazon
I always remember, when I see Martin Scorsese throw shade at Disney in an interview, that when he made Kundun, the CCP didn't like it and made Disney restrict distribution of the film. Michael Eisner literally hired Henry Kissinger to do damage control afterwards.