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, December 1, 2024.

Where I give thanks to the GIANTS this weekend for losing on a Thursday so I could freely enjoy my Sunday evening in Ireland (where the NFL is on TVs in most pubs). A happy start to the holiday season to you all!

ALTHOUGH: I sadly learned the hard way that an ad tier NETFLIX subscription is also primarily a domestic one — my dreams of viewing Derry Girls while in Ireland were dashed, as NETFLIX doesn’t allow you to access the product outside of the 12 countries which offer an ad tier.

THEN: NBC got its $20M worth and then some once again on the MACY’S Thanksgiving Day Parade, whose audience was +10% over last year to 31.3M for all airings and PEACOCK.

• 23.6M for the initial NBC broadcast

  • Less than 1/3 were 18-49s.

• 7.7M for the replay & PEACOCK (no breakout beyond that)

The full weekend 🏈 ratings breakdown is down in the TV section today — plus important NWSL, F1 and NBA numbers to know.

PLUS: A congrats to the newly engaged Hailee Steinfeld and BUFFALO BILLS QB Josh Allen on their impending nuptials.

ALSO: NBC is joining the animated NFL game alt-cast train, doing a Madden NFL Cast video game version of the CHIEFS vs. TEXANS game on PEACOCK on Sat. Dec. 21.

OH: Yet another country taking steps to protect its kids . . . that is not the U.S. — social media is banned in Australia for kids under 16 (the law is set to go into effect in a year, and yeah I know — kids get creative, but still). Meanwhile, hope you all had fun trying to have a conversation with your nieces and nephews over the holidays.

AND: Add Canada to the list of folks telling OPENAI, “Not cool, eh?” — the CANADIAN PRESS, GLOBE AND MAIL, CBC/Canadian Radio and others have all now sued OPENAI for copyright infringement as well.

AH: Top SPOTIFY execs have sold off $1.1B of stock in 2024 according to MBW. Hope those severance packages were generous last year, former SPOTIFY employees.

WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL

Well, lesson learned — ignore early bland critic reviews and go with the 11.6B streaming minutes indicator. Kudos to the 40%.

🎥 THE BOX OFFICE

For the first time in 6 years — if you asked someone “Hey, what’d you do over Thanksgiving weekend?” chances were excellent that part of their answer would be “We went to the movies.” Plus of course “Eh, I sat around and looked at TIKTOK,” which I’m sure will also create lasting family memories.

These numbers alone say a lot . . .