Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY May 17, 2023.

Where I felt a little in adequate at the ESPN DISNEY Upfronts yesterday as I’m not about to, or have not recently had a baby (seriously, 4 different presentations involved folks who were pregnant or just had a baby).

But thanks to DISNEY for inviting me to my first Upfront yesterday – I think I fit in well no?

CMA AWARDS: Peyton Manning and Luke Bryan will host the CMA Awards in November.

SAG AWARDS: Will be live-streamed on NETFLIX on Sat Feb 24, the day before the INDEPENDENT SPIRIT Awards, and 2 weeks before the OSCARS.

AS EXPECTED: That “28 year-old laser entrepreneur buys Forbes” story from earlier this week isn’t exactly as it seems – Sara Fischer at Axios did a great job 👏 breaking down the numbers here, and showing how it’s really just a front for some foreign players to buy it and avoid attention.

• The laser guy is only putting in $10 Million of his own money into the $656 Million deal.

UPFRONTS: WBD in the AM at Hulu Theater, NETFLIX from home at 5p (what should I make for Ted? 😬), and YOUTUBE at Lincoln Center at 7p

ALSO: Today at the MOFFETT NATHANSON Conference:

• 10a Christine McCarthy, DISNEY – listen here

• 11a Lachlan Murdoch, FOX – listen here

• 2p Perry Sook, NEXSTAR – listen here

• 3p Dennis Matthew, ALTICE – listen here

IN TODAY’S EDITION:

• DISNEY pretty much gives ABC the same treatment Jimmy Kimmel gives Matt Damon at the end of each show at the Upfronts yesterday, as ESPN/Sports & ABC News take center stage… with HULU/FX, MARVEL and STAR WARS taking the scripted spotlight. A look at the script-less Fall ABC Broadcast sched.

• JLo is NETFLIX’s new movie star, as GenX actors from the late 2000s Theatrical marquee increasingly top the Streaming Movie marquee in the 2020s. A look inside the latest NETFLIX data.

• SONY makes adjustments to their Summer Theatrical release schedule.

• COMCAST CEO Brian Roberts confirms Iger’s sentiment that HULU will likely stay at DISNEY, shares what he sees as the key to turning the Broadband business back to growth.

  • Brian also used a very troublesome word for Studios to describe how the leader of the country’s #1 Cable TV bundle provider views the business upon which Studios rely for large chunks of their Revenue.

Corrections: The BILLS play the LA CHARGERS not the RAMS on the Dec 23 PEACOCK-exclusive game, thanks to the reader who sent along the clarification!

Also CAA’s Prez is Jim Burtson (not Burton), my apologies for the error (he’ll be at MOFFETT NATHANSON tomorrow).

🪧 STRIKE UPDATES

• The TONYS will be on CBS… but unscripted (🤷‍♂️) with Ariana DeBose still hosting, but – I guess just wingin’ it? Eh I’d totally watch that. So more details again TBA. /THR

• Daytime EMMYS are postponed from June 16 to… TBA. /THR

• The WGA is putting their total rate-increase ask from the 8 primary AMPTP members combined at $343 Million a year. Or basically the fees for 3 WILDCARD NFL game Streaming rights.

  • Note: This is all WGA-computed math, and supposedly incorporates all of their asks… without breaking it down as to how much each element of their proposals would cost the AMPTP members..

  • The WGA asks also includes the minimum writing staff quota thing, which raises a lot of questions in my mind personally about how one puts a figure on that… so take it as you will.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN