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 Tuesday, June 30, 2026.

Where ya gotta love 2 of the 3 World Cup games ending in shootouts yesterday, and the other decided by a goal in extra time.

Or at least if you’re FOX, you do. The German team may have other thoughts on the matter on their plane ride home.

The U.S. and TÜRKIYE also got FOX 17M viewers last Thursday (no TELEMUNDO/PEACOCK viewership numbers yet), more than 2x the size of its JAPAN vs. SWEDEN lead-in.

Having a U.S. knockout game on the night that the July 4th holiday weekend essentially starts tomorrow night should provide a . . . 🤏 boost for the numbers.

YUP: John Oliver will be doing a 3-episode arc on General Hospital this week, starting on Thursday.

AND: Letterman is doing an on-stage interview with Will Arnett at the Just For Laughs fest on July 21 in Montreal.

PLUS: Taylor Sheridan is doing a press tour! 🤯 His Bill Simmons pod appearance got some notice yesterday (for the record, he’s NYC > LA), with Stern on deck today.

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💻 The Media Biz

COMCAST Exits Media Business, Now What

For a solid decade now, the industry has been wondering when the big shakeout reckoning would eventually happen in Hollywood. It turns out it’s 2025 to 2027.

Yes, big news at KABLETOWN to start all of our holiday week off just right, as NBCU & SKY (plus impending ITV acquisition) are being put outside the COMCAST gates in Philly, alongside VERSANT. Hopefully it won’t go with NSKY as its stock ticker.

We’ll also see if NBCU and previous bird-set-free VERSANT remain tied together after this new spinoff next summer — remember that NBCU is handling VERSANT’s ad sales until around that time in a 2-year deal (that deal could always be extended).

So, if you owned COMCAST stock in 2025 — you’ll now own stock in three companies come mid-2027 when the NBCU spin is set to be finalized. Come on, what other company is gonna give you that kind of return?!

Let’s look at a few aspects of this:

• How this new NBCU comps to other players in Hollywood.
• Key dealmaking timelines to keep in mind after the split, and how M&A may figure into things.
• The case for NBCU being better for NETFLIX than WB.
• Why PEACOCK is likely going to get the most time in the spotlight come H2 2027.
• What this means for the TV and movie business volume going forward.
• How this actually presents a bigger challenge for COMCAST than NBCU with Wall Street.

But first, a little #FunFact: NBC and UNIVERSAL have never really traded as their own stocks.

• NBC was a property of the RCA CORPORATION since its inception until its sale to GE in the 1980s (and then to COMCAST).
• UNIVERSAL was part of the publicly traded MCA for decades until its sale to MATSUSHITA in 1990 — although the movie/tv studio was certainly a big portion of the business alongside the music arm.

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WHAT WILL THIS COMPANY LOOK LIKE?