☀️ NETFLIX’s Film Engagement Issues Get Worse

Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026.

Where it turns out that outsized spending did turn out to be a key determinant in this year’s election — but from Americans’ wallets, not political billionaire donors.

In the end, it’s always nice to see winning political wisdom from when I was in high school yet again win out again in 2026.

SO: If you read this newsletter, you know I’m both a numbers guy and all about the comps — and I’ve yet to find anything to even temper my Jersey skepticism about what America told Trump 2.0 last night by vastly overtaking the Senate and House, even with tremendous redistricting efforts undertaken to skew the vote combined with exceedingly high political spending.

• If the projected 255-ish Democratic House seats hold, that’s the most for any party since the resounding Republican defeat in 2008, when the entire economy hit the brink of collapse under George W. Bush, and Democrats hit 257 seats —quite a comp for Trump 2.0.
  • Republicans had their biggest majority of the modern era in Obama’s 2nd term in 2014 at 247 seats, a time when gas was about $3.45 a gallon and the mortgage rate was about 4.3%.
  • Democrats also hit 58 Senate seats in 2008 — they’re at 54 in this election, with 2 results pending.
• In 2022, Biden kept the Senate (Democrats actually added 1 seat), and Republicans gained only 10 House seats, but that was enough to take narrow control at 222.
• In 2018, Trump kept the Senate (Republicans actually gained 2 seats), but the Democrats got 40 seats in the House to hit 235.
• And I think overall, while obviously not all states went to the polls yesterday, this NY Times map just kinda sums it up well.

BUT: As David Ellison himself would probably tell you, it’s one thing to win something; it’s another thing to actually lead it — and anyone thinking this was a vote about how mad people in North Carolina were about the WARNAMOUNT deal and that Congress should get right on top of congressional subpoena hearings in late January needs to exit stage (further) left.

• Not to say such matters shouldn’t be looked at further (if there’s even anything to do at this point), but it ain’t job 1. The irony being that by late January, when the new Congress takes office, there likely won’t even be a job 1 to be had at WARNAMOUNT, which may certainly renew interest in looking at the communications between parties in the deal this year.
• Basically, keep in mind this was very likely more of a referendum against Trump 2.0’s disastrous economic, ICE and war actions than it was a huge vote of enthusiasm for the ideals of the Democratic Party. There are 2 choices, and one is very much hated right now.

HOWEVER: One could see a federal production tax incentive as an initial way for Trump and the Democratic majority to find early, bipartisan middle ground and get a U.S.-based jobs initiative on the big board of early achievements.

• Then again, the current Congress could also get it done in the lame-duck session, or there could be a “Why are we giving money to Hollywood as one of our first priorities?!” reaction. Choose your own adventure.

FINALLY: If you thought this election was considerably about AI concerns — wait 2 years. In the meantime, TBD how these results affect the immense data center buildout timelines, and the corresponding debt waiting to be repaid from those centers, ya know, once they’re finished and operational.

Wall Street is generally optimistic so far this morning, with the DJIA +2.4% and S&P 500 +1.4%.

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ELSEWHERE: Amelia Dimoldenbergh has expanded her one-night-only Chicken Shop Date theatrical engagement to the U.S. on Nov. 24, adding NYC and L.A. screenings, which will consist of the final 6-episode season, 3 days before it drops on YOUTUBE.

• Guests include Noel Gallagher, Role Model and Jorja Smith, and screening info is here for those interested.
• Shows in the U.K., Ireland and Paris previously sold out in 3 hours (more U.K. screenings have been added as well).

OH: NETFLIX has debuted an AI-backed viewing recommendation tool for some U.S. subscribers, based on viewing history . . . but oddly, it always recommends Ben Affleck movies first. 🤷‍♂️

WELL: The U.K. has filed an “intervention notice” in COMCAST’s SKY / ITV deal, which is a very British way of saying we’re opening a formal regulatory investigation across 2 government agencies.

PLUS: The WNBA had its biggest Finals game audience ever, with Game 7 on Saturday getting 3.3M viewers on USA NETWORK.

• It’s also basically the biggest WNBA game ever (the 2 first WNBA games ever in 1997 still hold the record, and an INDIANA FEVER game over the summer on broadcast TV tied this one).

AND: If you’re curious about the Venn diagrams of WNBA and NBA viewers — here’s some new data from the ISPOT folks around the WNBA Finals:

• 24% of U.S. households that watched at least 1 hour of the WNBA Finals this year also watched 1 hour of NBA regular season games per week last season.
• 3.7% of U.S. households watched at least 1 hour of the WNBA Finals this year.
• As for the WNBA Finals themselves — ad tech firm MADHIVE data showed that game 7 had about 30% of TVs in the Bay Area watching, while Atlanta had 17%, so the VALKYRIES won on both fronts.

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💼 Get A Job

If you’re hiring, please drop me a note to be included in future lists (and thanks to folks who reached out to me with a couple last week).

• SONY TV — SVP, Production, Non-Fiction ($300k to $350k)
• NBCU — SVP/Head of Studio Data & Insights ($275k to $350k)
• SONY TV — VP, Corp Comms ($202k to $245k)
• DWA — VP, Production Finance ($190k to $260k)
• AMAZON PV — Senior Manager, TV Strategy ($103k to $181k)
• CONDE NAST — Executive Producer, Audio ($145k to $185k)
• SONY PICTURES — Manager, Global Creative Advertising($92k to $120k)
• NETFLIX — Manager, UCAN Marketing, Live ($210k to $339k)
• NETFLIX — Manager, Animation Casting ($168k to $239k)
• ARTISTS EQUITY — Brand Director ($150k to $175k)
• VOGUE — Video Director ($102k to $135k)
• NETFLIX — Marketing Operations Manager ($191k to $314k)
• NBCU — Manager, Publicity Scripted Series ($80k to $105k)
• ANGEL — Theatrical Distribution Manager (no salary listed)
• AMAZON MGM — Sr. Creative Advertising Manager ($141k to $190k)
• MGM+ — Social Coordinator ($66k to $113k)
• AMAZON MGM — Creative Assistant, Animation ($25 to $34/hr)
• BLACK BEAR — Distribution Assistant ($25/hr)
• THE TONIGHT SHOW — Talent Assistant ($17 to $20/hr)
• NBC SPORTS — Assistant to Prez of Production/EP ($60k to $65k)
• LAIKA — Assistant to Prez of Live Action (no salary listed)

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Contact Me / Subscribe

Get in touch with me anytime, off the record, at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com or on LINKEDIN here.

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NETFLIX’s Fall Movie Drought Hits Another Low