APPLE TV enters Sports streaming biz with MLB
ZUCKER sets š°š°CNN exit agreement / PARAMOUNT folds PLAYERS pic division / HULU orders Patinkin detective show
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and hereās the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY March 9, 2022.
Where itāll be a #dontsaygay olā time at the DISNEY Annual Company meeting this afternoon⦠with all eyes on what CEO Bob Chapek says to the troops and investors about the companyās essentially non-response to FLORIDAās āDonāt Say Gayā law that passed the State Senate and went to the Governorās desk yesterday for signature.
ALSO: Jeff Zucker & WARNER MEDIA have come to an exit agreement - no exact terms released (other than an agreement not to sue), but the payout is said to be in the Tens of Millions. And a lifetime guarantee for that discounted $3 a month rate for CNN+.
AND: Author Cormack McCarthy (āNo Country for Old Menā, āThe Roadā) is dropping 2 books this Fall, one in Oct and a prequel to that book in Nov.
š½ THE SILVER SCREEN
Florence Pugh may join āDune: Part 2ā to play āPrincess Irulanā
Wellā¦pending a final script⦠and whether or not she gets the role in the MADONNA biopic thatās in the works at UNI thatāll also shoot this year. /THR
PARAMOUNT folds its (mostly) lower budget film division PARAMOUNT PLAYERS
Projects will now just fall under the overall PARAMOUNT PICURES purview #alliterationBonus. PLAYERS head Jeremy Kramer is leaving the company. /Deadline
ALSO IN MOVIES
APPLE TV+ will debut Dakota Johnson SUNDANCE winner āCha Cha Real Smoothā on June 17ā¦. the same day FOCUS set for their SUNDANCE pickup āBrian and Charlesā. /Deadline
HOLLYWOOD BUSINESS AFFAIRS
Former MGM head Jonathan Glickman forms PANORAMIC MEDIA production co. UTA & SPYGLASS are 2 primary investors. Separately, Glickman is currently in production on āCreed IIIā and the Addams Family series āWednesdayā at NETFLIX. /THR
WME not holding OSCARS party this year, will donate money to UKRAINE support instead. /Deadline
WMEās VP of Comms Brandon Shaw joins HULU as VP of Publicity. /THR
šŗ THE TV SET
HULU orders āCareer Opportunities in Murder and Mayhemā mystery drama series with Mandy Patinkin
10 episodes, called āKnives Outā-esque: a detective and his protege must solve a murder on a Mediterranean yacht filled with rich folks. /Variety
PEACOCK adds Nick Offerman to āThe Resortā limited series from āPalm Springsā writer
William Jackson Harper and Cristin Milioti already set as the leads in the time-spanning comedic thriller about a teacher couple who get caught up in a 15 year-old mystery in the Mayan Riviera.
Sam Esmail (āMr Robotā) directing, currently shooting. /Deadline
AMC casts Giancarlo Esposito as lead for new series āThe Driverā
Heāll play a cabbie who becomes the chauffeur for āa New Orleans-based Zimbabwean gangsterā who exploits undocumented immigrants.
6 episode order. Based on a BBC miniseries. /THR
ALSO IN TV
NETFLIX orders 4th and final season of āNever Have I Everā. Season 3 will drop this Summer. /Deadline
IMDBTVJA renews āJustice Judyā for a season 2. And yes I threw an extra two letters in there to help them complete the full eyechart. Seriously - how long can a name rebrand take? Season 1 finishes up April 15. /Deadline
š» THE MEDIA BIZ
APPLE TV+ is getting into the Sports biz - makes big MLB deal for weekly doubleheader
Get ready for āFriday Night Baseballā in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the UK as soon as⦠well, thereās a season to be had.
Will be free to stream for an initial undisclosed period.
HOWEVER: No word how long the deal is, a price, or if there will be ads⦠(and if so - who would sell them š¤).
No local market blackouts, and a live pre & post-game show too. Plus a nightly MLB highlights show all season long on the service⦠giving Cable companies further reason to question why theyāre paying MLB to carry the MLB NETWORK. /Apple
PARAMOUNT+ shifts to a new movie every other week strategy
Previously had announced a new movie every week approach, but apparently movies are pretty expensive. /Deadline
4.7 Million households cut the cord in 2021
At least according to research firm Leichtman Research Group. But hey it least it wasnāt the 5.1 Million who dropped their Cable TV subscription in 2020⦠š¬.
Basically re-re-reconfirms that companies reliant on Cable company affiliate fees & advertising for their core revenues are not exactly in a growth business #AMC #Paramount #Discovery. /NextTV
DIRECTV lost 400k subscribers in Q4, now estimated to be down to 14.6 Million subscribers (incl DirecTV Stream, and AT&T U-Verse).
ALSO IN MEDIA
NETFLIX CFO says ānever say neverā in regards to some sort of Ad-supported version of NETLFLIX someday. Kinda falls in the Lloyd Christmas āso youāre sayin thereās a chanceā¦ā category, but still a slight shift from the flat No Way Jose (paraphrasing) given by company principals in the past to the question. But the CFO did specify itās ānot in our plans right now.ā /Deadline
UTA launching Podcast analytics division AUDIO IQ, meant to give clients & agents a leg up in negotiating deals. /THR
AMAZONās ālive radioā app AMP has launched for iOS, though there is a waiting list for some reason š¤·āāļø. Itās basically their CLUBHOUSE ripoff, with the exception that theyāve licensed millions of songs so you can also DJ essentially your own radio station, as well as ātake callersā / do live Talk radio like CLUBHOUSE. Theyāre also paying celebs to do live shows there in the near future. /Amazon
MARCH MADNESS Ad inventory is sold out, earliest in recent tourney history, and setting a new record. Obviously up significantly from 2021. Field of 64 kicks off next Thurs. /Deadline
š¦ STOCK NOTES:
ENDEAVOR +5% ($26.61) but basically a quiet day overall.
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š©āš» NEW TO WATCH:
PARAMOUNT+ āScreamā is now avail to watch⦠2 months post-theatrical release - STREAM HERE
CBS āSurvivorā - New season at 8p
FOX āThe Masked Singerā - Season premiere 8p, followed by āDomino Mastersā at 9p
FREEFORM āGood Troubleā - Season 4 at 10p
NETFLIX āThe Andy Warhol Diariesā docuseries - STREAM HERE
š„ TRAILER HOUSE
š²
š§ PLAYING ME OFF
New KANE BROWN āLeave You Aloneā
If you need some new tunes:
Email me anytime - just Reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.
-SEAN MCNULTY
@theseanmac on TWITTER
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