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Streaming

This Month

Jake Paul lands a left to Mike Tyson during their heavyweight boxing match which became the most streamed sporting event in history in November.

Netflix refines its sports plan as Jake Paul helps wow investors

The streaming service says acquiring the rights to stream full seasons of sport makes no economic sense, despite success with the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match.

  • Amelia McGuire
Golden oldies: Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi in the television series Darby and Joan.

The best Australian shows to stream this long weekend

Streaming services can seem like a sea of foreign content, but here are five islands of superior local storytelling for you to binge this Australia Day weekend.

  • Terry Pontikos
The Fin podcast - summer series

Summer special: AFR critics on best viewing, books and music

In the first of a two-part summer series, The Fin podcast talks to critics around the Financial Review newsroom to get their top picks from the past year.

Jane Andrews, left, arriving at The Old Bailey, London where she was tried for the murder of her boyfriend Thomas Cresswell.

From Buckingham Palace to jailed for murder. The downfall of Fergie’s personal dresser

The life and times of Jane Andrews proves once again that fact really is stranger than fiction.

  • Marianka Swain
Claudia Karvan, Angus Sampson and Anita Hegh in Bump.

Get out the tissues for the final season of Bump

Humour remains a constant undercurrent, but there’s also grief in the fifth series of this artful Australian drama.

  • Terry Pontikos
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Netflix added 2.4 million new subscribers in the last three months.

Classic films are big business – so why does Netflix ignore them?

The streamer has tragically flunked the opportunity to be all things to all subscribers: a continually refreshing content machine and archive of the best old films.

  • Tim Robey

December 2024

Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in season two of Squid Game.

‘Squid Game’ stocks tank on new season letdown

Expectations were high for the return of the dystopian drama, which Netflix released on December 26. But some notable reviews were less than favourable.

  • Youkyung Lee
Three of the best US podcasts, as nominated by the New York Times: Critics at large from The New Yorker, Cement City and The Nameless Man from Pushkin.

The best (US) podcasts of 2024

From chat shows to true crime, here’s a pick of the 10 best Americans series released this year.

  • Reggie Ugwu
A still from the HBO TV series based on Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend.

The best TV shows of 2024

The New York Times picks English Teacher, My Brilliant Friend, Shogun, Babylon Berlin and Somebody Somewhere among the series that stood out this year.

  • Updated
  • James Poniewozik, Mike Hale and Margaret Lyons
The Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix went down well with Coles CEO Leah Weckert.

What our top CEOs read, watched and listened to in 2024

From business books to crime thrillers and podcasts, here’s what our CEOs did in their spare time this year.

  • Anthony Macdonald and James Thomson
Tom Holland, left, and Dominic Sandbrook, hosts of The Rest is History podcast.

The podcast all of federal parliament is obsessed with

Australia’s political leaders have ambitious reading and streaming plans for the summer break, but one audio program is winning bipartisan support.

  • Tom McIlroy
Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall (with Colin the dog) in season two of Colin From Accounts.

Our streaming reviewer’s top picks for a holiday binge

The best Australian comedy series in years, Larry David’s swansong and reboots of classic source material like Fargo and The Watchmen will keep you submitting to the “play next episode” option this holidays.

  • Terry Pontikos
Ted Danson in A Man on the Inside.

Ted Danson’s new show is less ‘Cheers’, more tears

The veteran sitcom actor’s new series “A Man on the Inside” mixes laughs with a serious look at how society views ageing.

  • Terry Pontikos

We check into the next White Lotus resort

The third series of the streaming hit is set in the exclusive Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. Here’s what it’s like.

  • Ute Junker
Lachlan Murdoch has put Foxtel up for sale. DAZN is one company that is taking a look.

Foxtel’s UK suitor calls in Bank of America for advice

The group, backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, is understood to be working with BofA’s telecommunications and media team.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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It’s oh so tempting to settle for the algorithm’s choice.

Bugger Spotify, I’m going to make my own playlist

Even by the internet’s grim standards, Spotify Wrapped is a wretched gimmick.

  • Tom Gatti
Cate Blanchett with Charles Dance and Denis Menochet in Rumours.

Cate Blanchett swears she’s not Angela Merkel in zombie movie

She’s played a monstrous maestro, elf queen and bounty hunter – now the Oscar-winning actress is taking on our narcissistic world leaders.

  • Julia Llewellyn Smith

November 2024

Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in a scene from the upcoming second season of Squid Game.

How the world’s most popular TV show is made

Hwang Dong-hyuk wrote Squid Game, the biggest Netflix series ever, in the depths of despair. He’s back for season two. What can we learn from its success?

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Colin Farrell in The Penguin.

The Penguin makes Batman’s world get real

The waddling villain gets new depths of characterisation in this gritty HBO spin-off from Matt Reeves’ 2022 Hollywood blockbuster.

  • Terry Pontikos
David Tennant as Lord Tony Baddingham in Rivals.

Why screen villains always play golf

Short of kicking a puppy, there’s no more reliable signifier of utter rottenness than a man – and it is always a man – playing golf.

  • Peter Swain

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/streaming-62b