☀️AMAZON Sets Ex-NETFLIX Exec To Lead TV Biz
Latest FOX #cordcutting loss snapshot / ROW K buys again / Mr. Beast + NBCU exec
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 Friday, September 26, 2025.
Where I hope your $1,575 helicopter rides out to the middle of Long Island for the Ryder Cup ⛳️ go smoothly this weekend — hopefully you beat Trump’s cavalcade to the course tomorrow well in advance.
Although if your $750 ticket (face value) to attend the rounds this weekend puts too much of a dent in your wallet — there’s always the “steerage” option of the $1,250 helicopter ride that puts you at a nearby airport that will then require a car ride over to Bethpage.
But, if you need any further reminder that we are absolutely living in 2 (if not more) different economies — the official “air mobility partner” #realphrase running the choppah flights is expecting approximately 3,000 🚁 passengers this weekend, according to FOS.
So, I wouldn’t expect many aghast looks at the $29 that folks will need to shell out for a mimosa (but, hey — the hot dogs are free!).
THEN: NYFF begins with AMAZON MGM’s After the Hunt tonight.
ALSO: The Tribeca Festival will be June 3-14, 2026 — its 25th year. 🥳
AND: UFC head Dana White is being welcomed to the PARAMOUNT family this Sunday with a profile on the 60 Minutes season premiere.
YEAH: It’ll be interesting to see if the heat that comedians are taking for doing the Riyadh Comedy Festival this weekend by fellow comics and industry pundits will also be thrown at the celebs who attend the Red Sea Festival in Jeddah again in December (lineup TBA), which curiously has significantly dissipated from earlier 🤨 levels — although maybe the murder of another journalist this summer in Saudi will change the tide this year.
FUN WITH NUMBERS: 49% of tweets on X amplifying calls for a CRACKER BARREL boycott in the first 24 hours after the logo controversy started were likely or definitely from AI bots, according to data tracking firm PEAK METRICS.
This was mostly done by RT’ing or re-posting of initial human tweets made on the subject, and essentially fanning the flames, if you will.
Who was operating these bot networks is not known, but I’m sure the X platform safety
teamguy is right on it.
AH: GROK is now Trump administration-approved — all government agencies are allowed to use it for official business.
It’s charging $0.42 per federal agency, vs. the $1 that OPENAI and ANTHROPIC charge, and is there anything more reassuring than the idea of “Discount AI”?
UH HUH: META’s AI app launched essentially a “VINE for AI” called Vibes, which will be a social feed consisting solely of short AI-generated videos, mostly set to popular music. Enjoy your precious time on Earth, everyone.
SO: Bad news if you’re about to do a bathroom or kitchen redesign — Trump decided it was time to tariff kitchen cabinets, furnishings and bathroom vanities next, as well as a 100% #TrumpTariff on patented drugs made by any drugmaker not currently building a production facility in the U.S.
The tariffs begin on Wednesday . . . and the EU is likely excluded due to their new trade deal. Drugs made in India are not (check the small print on your drug boxes).
OH: You may not see car prices themselves rising due to previous #TrumpTariffs — but it seems car dealers are getting creative in making up the additional costs elsewhere, which hits the bank account of Americans.
Repair costs are +15% YoY, including the biggest one-month spike on record last month at +5% according to the CPI.
Increased “destination fees” to the tune of +8.5% in 2025 (typical annual increases were +3% to +6% according to Edmunds).
Cutting the number of upgrade packages, so a “base model” is more base (and rare to find), encouraging upsells and more.
YUP: AMAZON decided to fold its hand early in its big FTC trial around allegedly using a “coercive” UI to trick users into signing up for PRIME with automatically renewing memberships that were particularly hard to cancel.
The jury trial started this week, and $2.5B seems to be the magic number:
$1B in penalties
$1.5B in payouts to affected consumers, which could be about $51 a person.
PLUS: Adding a “clear and conspicuous” button for people to say no to PRIME enrollment, and an easy way for folks to cancel vs. the . . . multi-step process it’s been accused of having.
AMAZON made $35B in profit in the first half of this year alone.
PLUS: NYC’s new Sunset Pier 94 soundstage facility with 6 soundstages and outdoor space in the low 50s streets on the Hudson River is targeting a January opening.
AH: Justin Connolly has his 2nd YOUTUBE TV carriage standoff in a month — FOX’s got resolved at the end of August, and now NBCU’s deal is up next week — it has warned folks about a potential blackout as of Oct. 1.
HMM: Wonder if Brendan Carr will make a public comment on this one like he did on the FOX standoff?
FINALLY: TIKTOK was valued around $14B in . . . whatever decree/EO Trump put out yesterday that still needs a lot more details, other than the app would have under-20% Chinese ownership, and that many folks were thinking it would be much bigger than $14B.
One industry analyst simply said “It doesn’t make sense,” citing that the $14B is the same size as SNAP — a company at least half the size of TIKTOK.
But, that would mean the (potential) new U.S. investors getting TIKTOK, including Larry Ellison and SILVER LAKE, would be getting quite a deal . . . and that would be very strange, no? 🤔
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
WB One Battle After Another — I’m optimistic . . . but honestly, I think the wide $20M to $30M numbers out there could really go either way. I’m still buying Chase Infiniti career stock after this movie, regardless.
UNI/DWA Gabby’s Dollhouse — It’s been a minute since there was a movie to bring the young kids to, going with some optimism here too x the NETFLIX factor.
NEW POD
📺 THE TV SET
