Evenin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on SUNDAY, June 14, 2026.
Where last night’s KNICKS NBA Finals win means that this clip is now officially sealed as a Top 3 NYC Clutch Sports Highlight of all time alongside the GIANTS’ helmet catch and the METS ball through Buckner’s legs — two plays that also led to titles for those respective teams.
YEAH: While clearly ABC would have loved another game here — the audience numbers that Game 5 likely drew should somewhat make up for the series only going 5 games (last year’s series went 7 games but with far smaller TV audiences).
- More on the huge numbers that sports is attracting this month down in the TV section today.
THUS: The only playoff game that the KNICKS lost in their 15-win playoff streak after the tough start with the HAWKS was the one Trump slept through. #OnBrand
ALTHOUGH: This NYT column is a good reminder that, yes, admittedly, June 1994 gets major points deducted for KNICKS heartbreak at the end of the NBA Finals at MSG — but if you thought a 5-game NBA Finals series was stressful . . . the 1994 KNICKS played three 7-game playoff series, including the Finals.
- 1994 was also the summer that the NY RANGERS broke their own 54-year championship drought in NYC (1 more year than the KNICKS), and the World Cup was in the U.S. that year.
- Not to mention — kids, imagine if a bizarre L.A. freeway car chase with an ex-NFL player threatening to kill himself had taken place at the same time as the 2nd half of last night’s KNICKS NBA Finals Game 5. #90sRule
- BTW: If you’ve never watched the ESPN 30 for 30 doc June 17, 1994, it’s one of the all-time best in the genre (it’s here on NETFLIX).
SO: There’s nothing quite like a championship win in NYC — much less by a team whose home is in the heart of Manhattan. The amount of energy still on the streets last night at 3 a.m. when I got home was something I’ve never experienced.
FINALLY: Ya gotta love the NYC subway system presciently predicting the subsequent Sunday mood in NYC today.
NOW: Enjoy what could be the final NHL Stanley Cup game on ABC tonight at 8 p.m. in what’s also been a tremendous series.
THEN: Tom Cruise returns to the movies, Spielberg popcorn bucket in tow (along with fellow Spielberg pic alumni).
PLUS: The DGA board approved the new AMPTP deal, which now goes to members for a vote (votes due June 25). The deal includes:
- Provisions to limit the amount of episodic TV directing that actors and “affiliated hires” can do on a series, i.e., anyone who already has a job on a show that’s not “TV director.”
- Basically, protecting more TV directing jobs for its working members as the number of episodic TV directing jobs decreases (TV employment was -35% in 2024, although no 2025 data is available).
- A commitment from the AMPTP to lobby for a federal tax credit program.
- AI protections that a director must sign off on any AI work in addition to everything shot with cameras, and studios must explicitly state whether they expect a director to use AI when they hire them.
- Annual pay rate increases of 2.5% to 3% over the 4-year deal, and the biggest issue, of course — a far greater contribution from the AMPTP into the healthcare plan.
THEN: META is materially cutting payments to creators in its Content Monetization Program, particularly on FACEBOOK, according to this report from A Media Operator. That AI spend isn’t coming out of Zuck’s wallet.
AND: Just a note for my fellow NYC market folks and a shout out to a local TV legend. Longtime ABC7 news anchor Bill Ritter is stepping down after 27 years, after receiving a diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
🎥 The Box Office
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