Each week, DT’s newest show Between the Streams is your guide to all of the hottest, most important, and (of course) dumbest new developments in streaming and entertainment to recap the week that was. (You can listen to the podcast below, or add us via RSS or Stitcher to take BtS on the road!)
Topics for our first show ever include a full dissection of the Captain America: Civil War trailer, Kit Harington’s maddening maybe-death in Game of Thrones season six, and so much more. The podcast above has the real goods, but we’ll also break down the talking points below.
As Batman v Superman readies for theaters next week, Marvel’s latest superhero mashup, Captain America: Civil War, is heating up online thanks to the latest trailer. We got everything in this snapshot of the film, including Ant Man being catapulted at Iron Man from Hawkeye’s arrow, Black Panther making his (apparently) bulletproof debut, Spider-Man’s latest reincarnation, and more. But the big question we tackle from the trailer is: Why the hell is Iron Man on the government’s side?
Kit Harrington again promised he’s not on Game of Thrones season six last week, while also promising he is in the new season — as a corpse. The latest trailer for the series (which comes back April 24) seems to back up his claim, showing his character Jon Snow’s bloody corpse on the ground with an ominous voice all but promising he’s gone for good. Still, fans are holding out hope for what seems to be the show’s best-loved hero in the making — and new footage released at SXSW seems to back up their long-held beliefs. For our part, we think he’s coming back.
J.K. Rowling showed us her Harry Potter properties are nowhere close to being through with the silver screen, as we ramp up to the latest film taken from the pages of her notes for the Potter books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Now Rowling has invited fans to learn more about North American wizard schools, which could (in theory) open up worlds of possibilities for the franchise to go on for generations to come.
We also talked a bit about why Netflix seems to be pulling CBS-style network TV series into its original content horde. The network has already renewed the bizarre nostalgia series Fuller House for a second season, and it’s now prepping to air a new multi-camera sitcom from Ashton Kutcher called The Ranch in April — with a laugh track. As Netflix continues to widen its net, strange things are afoot at the big red streamer.
And that’s just some of the topics we covered this week, so check out the show and come on back to Between the Streams next week for more insight on the wild world of streaming and entertainment.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.