• ViacomCBS is planning to rebrand CBS All Access in early 2021 with a new name and more content, yet it’s also shying away from any bold changes. Showtime will still operate as a separate streaming service, and new shows from cable channels such as Nickelodeon and Comedy Central won’t arrive on All Access (or whatever it’s called) until a year after they air on TV.
• Disney will reroute its live action Mulan remake from theaters to Disney+, where it’ll cost $30 on top of the usual $7 per month subscription fee. Although Disney will count this as a purchase instead of a rental, customers will lose access to the movie if they unsubscribe from Disney+.
• NBCUniversal announced that its Peacock streaming service will carry all eight Harry Potter films in October, less than two months after they depart from HBO Max. But the films will only stay on Peacock for about a month, at which point they’ll head to NBC’s TV channels before returning to Peacock in 2021.

If there’s a common thread here, it’s that everything is a mess. Instead of following the Netflix strategy—offer as much quality content as possible for as much money as people will tolerate—TV networks are implementing a hodgepodge of price tiers, add-ons, and content windows, all in hopes of winning over cord-cutters without shattering precious old business models. The result will be a phase of ugly experimentation as these companies figure out what they can get away with. Read the full column on TechHive.

Incidentally, Philo disclosed subscriber numbers for the first time this week, revealing that it has 750,000 customers, up 300% from this time last year. At $20 per month, Philo is considerably cheaper than other streaming bundles. It’s kept prices low by not working with Disney, NBCUniversal, or Fox, whose local channels and sports networks represent the most expensive content on television. Turns out there’s a market for cutting out those channels in service of something much cheaper.

Android TV’s upgrades: Speaking of Chromecast, Google has announced a nifty new Android TV feature that will essentially bridge the gap between Chromecast and native TV apps. Currently, if you use an app like Hulu on your phone to cast a video onto the television, it opens a video player that’s completely removed from Hulu’s Android TV app. You can’t use your remote to flip through channels or browse related programs, at least not without exiting the Chromecast stream and relaunching the actual app.

The new feature, called “Cast Connect” will at last allow app makers to properly integrate Chromecast, so you can launch a video from your phone, then grab your physical remote for additional controls. (Fun fact: Google had originally planned for this kind of Android TV-Chromecast cohesiveness way back in 2014, but then never bothered to implement it.)

In less-exciting Android TV news, Google’s also adding cinematic teasers to the top of the Android TV home screen, some of which will be sponsored with no option to hide them. It’s also launching a “Subscribe & Install” option for streaming video apps in its store, so you can download them and sign up for service through your Google account with one click. This is all part of a broader effort to overhaul Android TV and put out cheaper hardware to compete with the likes of Roku and Amazon Fire TV, so I suppose some extra attempts at monetization were inevitable.

FuboTV’s additions and price hikes: As announced last month, FuboTV has now added Disney-owned channels to its lineup, including ABC, ESPN, FX, and Freeform. It has also taken the liberty of “upgrading” all customers on its $60 per month “Standard” plan to its $65 per month “Family” plan, which includes extra DVR storage and the ability to stream on three devices at a time instead of two.

A FuboTV spokeswoman previously told me you’d be able to downgrade back to the Standard plan online, but some customers seem to be having trouble with this. I’ve also been unable to find a working way to sign up for the Standard plan as a new subscriber. (The link on this page, under “Add-ons and More” at the very bottom of the page, doesn’t seem to work.) You may just have to call Fubo’s customer service line (844-551-1005) to clear things up, but resorting to cable-style price tactics is not a good look for a service that’s already losing subscribers.

One word of caution, though: If you cancel right after signing up to avoid being auto-billed at the end of the free month, the subscription will stop immediately. But if you wait a day and then cancel, you’ll get the full month on the house. I suggest setting a reminder on your phone.

Also notable: Amazon is bundling a Fire TV Stick 4K with an Echo Dot smart speaker for $65. That brings the price to $32.50 for each device, versus the regular price of $50 apiece. The Echo Dot is often on sale anyway, but the Fire TV Stick 4K has been selling more frequently at full price of late, so this is a decent deal.