☀️APPLE Rejects Theatrical With '26 🎥 Slate
NETFLIX spec 🔥 continues / FOX beats #cordcutting in Q4 / ‘M3GAN 2.0’ shows life on NETFLIX
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, February 4, 2026.
Where we have our newest economic indicator — PEPSICO is lowering prices as much as 15% on CHEETOS, DORITOS and such, supposedly after getting “a flood of emails and voicemail messages from shoppers” according to the WSJ.
But ya gotta love this quote from PEPSICO’s CEO saying, “It became a little more expensive than we would like it to be” . . . as if management wasn’t the one instituting those very #pricehikes. ⛳️👏
Hollywood comms folks — hold onto that one for your streaming pricing mea culpas in about 3 years.
I mean, you have no idea how out of control that Chester Cheetah is! The guy just does what he wants!
PLUS: I’m glad to see the NBCU industrial complex came to its senses — one day after Olympic Spanish figure skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate was told last minute that his Minions-inspired music routine was denied due to copyright reasons (after previously getting indications it was cleared) . . . uh, somehow it was magically ok’d!
I mean, come on, UNI — he has the outfit and everything! And you have a movie to sell July 4th weekend — how did this happen?!
I’m told a guy named Stuart stepped in to right the wrong.
AND: It seems America concurred that it was a non-banger of a Grammys show on Sunday — 14.4M viewers in its final airing on CBS, -6% from last year and probably more than that as this year is using NIELSEN BIG DATA + PANEL, which has been adding a boost to the numbers this TV season.
The show’s post-Covid peak was 17.1M in 2023.
This 6% decline mirrors what the Globes saw in early January.
No PAR+ data available.
AH: Here’s a round-up of the latest statements from the WGA, PGA and DGA on the NETFLIX BROS. deal — with the WGA still holding a stance that any WBD deal shouldn’t happen, the PGA listing out some conditions that should be imposed upon NETFLIX post-deal and the DGA proposing a list of questions regulators should be asking.
YUP: The rumored large Washington Post layoffs have begun today with 300+ journalists affected. Man, if only Melania had worked!
ET TU, CRUNCHYROLL: Everyone’s favorite SONY anime streaming service is joining the #pricehike parade, bumping up prices by $2 for its 3 tiers.
The service last hiked prices about 20 months ago.
THEN: Trump will do a sit-down interview with NBC’s Tom Llamas to air before the Super Bowl — we’ll see if it’s in the vicinity of the Trump political ad buy.
Biden skipped the past 2 games (on CBS and FOX).
Trump skipped the interview when NBC had the game in 2018.
ALSO: DISNEY+ will livestream American Idol later in the season, starting on March 30, concurrent with its ABC airing.
YUP: You hate to see AI coming for . . . Silicon Valley itself. Man, I thought we were bros, AI!
The release of a new ANTHROPIC AI tool this week that can automate work like contract reviewing, legal briefings and other sales & marketing tasks caused a massive stock sell-off of various software and SAAS companies (and some PE firms invested in them), with more anticipated ahead.
AH: Ari and Shapiro’s MARI made another buy — the BUCKET LISTERS event marketing company (think pop-up restaurants for TV shows or brands, etc.). No 💰 was reported.
PAYDAY🤑: Here are the compensation package numbers at LIONSGATE for FY25, per the company’s annual meeting notice (it’ll be held March 17).
CEO Jon Feltheimer: $9.8M (down from $18M in FY24)
Vice Chair Michael Burns: $7.7M (down from $8.8M in FY24)
CFO James Barge: $7.1M (down from $8.6M in FY24)
COO Brian Goldsmith: $5.1M (down from $6.1M in FY24)
EVP/General Counsel Bruce Tobey: $2.7M (about the same as FY24)
The decreases were all pretty much in reduced cash bonuses this year, post-STARZ split.
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
APPLE TV’s theatrical-less 2026
Sorry, movie theaters, APPLE doesn’t seem interested this year.
Take a look at what’s ahead, the APPLE film volume comps over the 3-year period from 2024-2026 to see how the strategy is evolving — and just how much PSKY is involved APPLE’s film offerings.