The Turner Classic Movies App Is Buggy as Hell — Could It Be Zaslav’s Fault?

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman

TV Answer Man, I can’t get my movies to play on the Turner Classic Movies app no matter what I do. I click on the movie and it won’t play. It just shows a bunch of colors and symbols. Do you know what’s wrong with this thing? Is this because of that Zaslav guy? — Darlene, Madison, Wisconsin.

Darlene, you are not alone, and you are in good company. The Turner Classic Movies app, which allows TCM subscribers to watch the channel’s library of older movies via streaming, has suffered numerous technical glitches for the past two weeks, as noted by such luminaries as actress Dana Delany.

“Anyone know why no films have been added to the @tcm app in a few days? Is this part of the ongoing brouhaha?” Delany asked on Twitter on July 6.

What’s Wrong With the TCM App?

In addition to some films not showing up on the app, TCM fans have been unable to play movies on the ‘Recently Added’ list while others will start playing until the app suddenly shuts off. The TCM web site has also experienced various issues.

“I just checked the @TCM website and only about 5 of the first 70 films under “Recently Added” actually play…” writer/producer Will McKinley tweeted last night.

McKinley and others have wondered if the technical snafus are related to Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent budget cuts that forced out some top executives at TCM. Three Hollywood giants, directors Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, met with WBD chief David Zaslav on Zoom to express their concern that his company is not sufficiently supporting TCM, a longtime darling of the film community.

Zaslav released a statement saying that WBD fully supports the channel, but many in Hollywood are dubious.

“There’s something going on,” McKinley says of the TCM app issues.

TCM maintains that it’s a technical problem, and no more.

“We’re so sorry for the inconvenience. Our teams are still working on this and as you can see it’s a massive problem. We will update everyone as soon as it’s back and running properly,” the channel’s Twitter customer service team tweeted on Friday, July 14.

TCM host Ben Mankiewicz chimed in on July 6 with a tweet discounting speculation that the snafus have been triggered by corporate cuts.

“For those asking, including our pal @DanaDelany, this is a system-wide tech issue involving a number of streaming apps in the WBD family. This isn’t corporate-speak. They’re working to fix it. Apologies to all,” he wrote.

However, 11 days later, the problems continue.

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman