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 Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
Where it’s nice to see #BigTech once again follow in Hollywood’s footsteps in masking “innovation” as just rebranding old stuff.
Just as talk shows video podcasts and niche cable TV networks FAST channels have been infiltrating the entertainment business the past couple of years . . . OPENAI’s long-in-the-works, first revolutionary AI product from APPLE design visionary Jony Ive sounds like basically . . . an ALEXA!
Yes, according to Bloomberg, the CHATGPT-enabled “screen-free smart speaker” (how’s that for rebranding . . . a speaker) will do things like control smart-home appliances (that the vast majority of people don’t have), play music, answer your questions and be something you can take with you from room to room in your home during your day.
Or, as we used to call it, an iPhone. But maybe SIRI can explain to me why I need to buy a new (I’m guessing very expensive) speaker for this . . . instead of just making this an app that I can use on my existing speaker-enabled devices.
Can’t wait for the launch ads.
WELL: It really is another day, another creator deal at NETFLIX as the Good Mythical Morning crew is the latest to debut new episodes on NETFLIX the same day as YOUTUBE (same as the Alan’s Universe deal announced yesterday).
- The deal starts Sept. 7 and also includes Mythical Kitchen and Last Meals.
AND: Howard Stern is shifting to a weekly show on SIRIUSXM when he returns from summer vacation in September, as part of his new agreement with the company. He’s laying off about 12 employees as part of the shift.
ALSO: Gotta love reports that the Saudi PIF’s desire to, uh, rein in costs these days may start to affect the 2034 men’s World Cup that FIFA once again curiously decided to hold in a desert.
- According to The Guardian, architecture firms that submitted plans for the new stadiums needed to, ya know, play the games in (what do you mean we don’t have several existing soccer stadiums in the middle of the desert?) have been told to basically come back with cheaper plans, and construction firms have been notified that their plans to start building them next year are not gonna start when they were planning for. And ya say you also wanna expand this thing to have 50% more teams playing games in stadiums for this tournament, FIFA?
- Hmm, I wonder if suddenly having to build oil pipelines across 1,300 miles of desert due to a U.S.-induced skirmish with no exit plan in sight is affecting one’s finances?
PLUS: As NY hits pause for up to 1 year on any new sizable AI data center projects while it develops a regulatory framework — gotta love Trump’s backyard of Palm Beach County voting today on the approval for a huge AI data center to be built across from an elementary school, that has gotten some . . . thoughts from the community. Only residents living within 1,000 feet of the project were officially notified.
YAH: It’s not just META’s AI-image-sucking policies that are getting blowback; apparently the advertising community isn’t too crazy about the AI ad-creation tools on INSTA and FB either, which can take more work to correct than just, ya know, doing the work the old way.
OH: Brendan Carr is making more moves at the FCC to help out good ol’ NEXSTAR and TEGNA, setting an Aug. 6 vote on a proposal to remove the long-held 39% reach cap for TV station owner groups . . . instead moving to a “case-by-case” assessment situation.
Once again, Carr couldn’t resist chiming in with some editorial thoughts as well in a new Breitbart op-ed, which is totally the FCC Commissioner’s remit:
- “When it comes to broadcast news, our country could do with a little less Hollywood and a little more local reporting from communities across the country.”
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to 2 folks today — former MTV host and creator of 120 Minutes, Dave Kendall, and ENTERTAINMENT 360 manager Sam Masaru Sekoff, who died at the age of 33.
📺 The Media Biz
WGA also comes for WARNAMOUNT, as TN courts PSKY
Well, there’s definitely one winner in the WBD saga — the lawyers. Here are the tactics/allegations the WGA is bringing to the table against PARAMOUNT’s purchase of WBD.
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