☀️ HBO’s First Series Order in SKYDANCE Era

Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026.

Where on many days, people still derisively scoff at me for not having VENMO and keeping a handwritten bank account ledger (for some reason, my bank continues to think I have $2,000 more than I think I have, and I’m 100% fine with that).

But on days like this, I channel my inner Johnny Drama.

Yes, ya gotta love the founder of a software development firm who began using a “team” of personal AI bots agents to analyze his personal finance spending and send reports to him each month to suggest things he could do better . . . until one month, one of the bots agents mistakenly posted all his personal financial information in his company’s Slack for his employees to read.

And yes, before you ask, the exec was using GROK for this.

AH: Jimmy Kimmel Live! TV audiences for his Brooklyn week were +21% YoY at 2.66M, and the biggest average for the episodes in 11 years.

YAH: USA TODAY is the latest company to sue OPENAI over, as I believe the legal term goes, stealing its shit without paying for it, yo.

OH: Good news, BLEECKER STREET! Your Musk ads were not the only campaign that META banned from the platform . . . as the company has now banned BYTEDANCE / TIKTOK from advertising on the platform, basically saying “Why would we advertise Home Improvement during Friends?”

THEN: MLB is proposing a shift to a 154-game season from 162 games in its players’ association deal negotiations, which would give players a weekly day off (looking at you, Monday, traditionally a low day for game attendance), as well as a Divisional playoff round consisting of 7 games instead of 5.

SO: Add Gigi Pritzker / MADISON WELLS to the list of investors kicking the tires on LETTERBOXD, which The Wrap reports now has close to 35M users — although no indication about how many of those are active on a weekly or monthly basis.

GOOD NEWS: The U.S. government spent more on debt interest payments in FY26 than on Medicare. Spending growth also outpaced revenue growth by 2x. Corporate income tax revenue was -16%. And you say the bond market is a mess this year? (The worse your debt situation is, the more folks charge you for it.)

• FWIW: The 2025 #TrumpTariffs definitely raised prices for Americans last year (ex. fuel, housing costs, etc), according to the NY Fed. Without them, it projects costs would have fallen.

PLUS: NFL games accounted for $1.8B of the entire $3.3B total amount bet “predicted” on the “non-gambling” apps during the NFL’s opening weekend, or 55%. The NFL is currently asking the Supreme Court to let states regulate apps like KALSHI and POLYMARKET.

AND: DOCNYC announced its lineup of pics for the festival, taking place Nov. 11 to Nov. 29.

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💼 Get A Job

Well, seems like a good day for a new job board.

If you’re looking to hire someone — drop me a note to be included here! seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com or connect with me on LINKEDIN here.

• DOW JONES — Head of Programming & Content ($275k to $330k)
• APPLE FILMS — Production Exec ($156k to $299k)
• FOX CREATOR STUDIO — SVP, Development ($296k to $350k)
• BOX TO BOX — VP, Development ($200k to $250k) and Director, Development ($140k to $160k)
• PEACOCK — Director, Multiplatform Strategy & Planning ($130k to $150k)
• CNBC — Director, Podcasts & Digital Shows ($175k to $200k)
• PARAMOUNT — Director, Global Title Mktg, Kids & Family ($124k to $155k)
• GQ — Global Video Programming & Strategy Director ($180k to $210k)
• NY TIMES — Managing Producer, Shows ($145k to $175k)
• AMAZON MGM — Comms Publicity Lead, TV Series ($126k to $171k)
• NETFLIX — Manager, Comms, Non-Fiction & Standup ($186k to $317k)
• TUBI — Sr. Manager, Publicity ($129k to $185k)
• NETFLIX — Manager, Sports Production Management ($201k to $343k)
• PAR+ — Sr. Manager, Social Media ($86k to $107k)
• GOLDEN STATE VALKYRIES — Manager, Comms ($89k to $95k)
• LA CLIPPERS — Social Media Manager ($90k to $105k)
• CNN — Comms Manager ($84k to $156k)
• MORNING BREW — Supervising Producer ($125k to $130k)
• MARVEL — Biz Dev Coordinator ($56k to $73k)
• WHALAR GROUP — Development Casting Producer ($2k/week)
• SONY TV / B17 — Coordinator, Development ($52k to $60k)
• FX — Assistant to Prez, Original Programming ($66k to $88k)
• AMAZON MGM — Assistant to Head of Film ($72k to $129k)
• UNI GLOBAL TV — Assistant to EVP, Production ($56k to $65k)
• MRC — Assistant to Co-Head of Film ($21 to $22/hr)
• PARAMOUNT TV STUDIOS — Assistant, Business Affairs($52k to $62k)
• ANONYMOUS CONTENT — Assistant to CCO ($20 to $23/hr)
• THE-TEAM — Assistant, Co-Head of Music ($47k)

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💼 The Executive Suite

NETFLIX layoff talk builds as dreadful Q4 looms for Hollywood job cuts