☀️ DGA, IATSE Offer PSKY Deal Remedies; Iger’s LAKERS 💰 Questions

Mornin! 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 Thursday, August 13, 2026.

Where we can now add CLASS PASS to the list of businesses that AI is decimating, although not by making it obsolete — more through old-fashioned, ruthless undermining.

Yes, it seems AI bots are at it again! Although in their defense — they’re just doing what you’re telling them to do. The latest instance took place in Australia where a guy told his AI bot to book him in a highly coveted AM workout class (who knew Zumba was so in demand?).

So, as any good AI bot would do, it then hacked the gym’s booking system to put his boss’ name in a future class that was not yet publicly accepting reservations — and also kicked someone off the waiting list who was taking a spot that obviously rightly belonged to his boss.

Hollywood assistants — the game is on.

HUH: Apparently there still is money in journalism!

MEANWHILE: Bob Chapek is telling his story in a book coming out Sept. 29, with potential anecdotes about watching LAKERS games.

THEN: Add NEWSMAX to the list of entities actively looking at lawsuits against the FCC over its removal of local TV station ownership caps.

AND: A new survey from MERCER indicates that health insurers plan to raise the prices they charge companies by over 6% next year for the 4th year in a row. That number was previously about 3%.

• As a result, 2/3 of company respondents said they plan to deduct more from employee paychecks in 2027, with about half additionally saying that deductibles and copays will go up, too. Don’t worry, I’m sure the current political administration is all over it!

OH: KALSHI is now looking at a $40B valuation thanks to new investment interest by SEQUOIA and WELLINGTON. Over 80% of KALSHI volume is from sports betting predicting (sorry, political race bettors), and the World Cup helped it hit $4B in annual run-rate revenue in July.

WAKEUP Box Office Prediction

WB’s The End of Oak Street is the top dog on deck this weekend (all due respect to the Paw Patrol) and . . . yeah, no one’s really sure what to expect, with numbers out there from $20M to $30M.

The reviews seemed pretty upbeat on the whole — although I’m not sure the movie has been able to get enough oxygen as an event from all the Spidey / Odyssey hype. It’s also Anne Hathaway’s 3rd movie in 4 months.

So, count me in at $23M to $26M on this one.

KUDOS

To The Ankler for putting together a great Women Shaping Television Luncheon at Spago yesterday, with Katey Rich holding great conversations with a wide array of talent from across the TV landscape. Katey will have more from the event today in her newsletter.

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🏟️ The Sports Game

Um, How Is Bob Iger Affording a $12.5B Deal?

While most reporting out there in the past 24 hours is just saying Bob Iger and Josh Kushner are buying the LAKERS for $12.5B — there are actually quite a few particulars to break down when looking at nuggets from a select few reports as to, uh . . . what’s going on here, really?

Which is good, because Bob Iger and Josh Kushner do not have $12.5B to spend on the LAKERS.

So, let’s answer some questions as best we can.