☀️CAA Sale a few weeks away, per new report
NETFLIX sets Fall Film blitzkreig / Taylor Swift concert pic set for Oct / Sports leagues increase Piracy concerns
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY August 31, 2023.
Where it looks like the DISNEY-CHARTER (SPECTRUM) negotiations aren’t going so well…
This is what greeted the very top of my (NYC-based) INSTA feed last night - nice job paying the extra META $$ for the very top feed position ESPN!
Sidebar: I know I’ve said it before, but INSTA really has turned into garbage - the first 6 things in my feed were:
2 Ads, 2 posts from people I actually follow, and 2 “suggested follows” of things I have no interest in following.
I know META still makes tens of billions a year 💰…
But when you stuff your product full of ads and crap for long enough, folks tend to think less of your product, which over time can lead to lower engagement and… ah sorry, right - back to Cable TV.
Something tells me CHARTER would love for DISNEY to take ESPN DtoC streaming for $35+ a month… first, if only so customers start to understand just how much ESPN costs.
But also, in exchange for this new ‘non-Cable TV exclusivity’ that DISNEY wants for the ESPN product… CHARTER could perhaps get to now put ESPN on a “sports package tier” and offer some lower-priced bundle packages for those who don’t care about sports, or just the ability to add/cut it whenever they want.
Thus, CHARTER could finally be done with this “Call SPECTRUM with your anger!” 💩 that happens every 3-4 years when these DISNEY Affiliate Carriage deals come up… much less in a business line that it no longer cares about (sorry Cable TV Bundle).
Now, I wonder if ESPN will come up when CHARTER’s top execs appear at GOLDMAN and BOFA Communications Biz conferences in the first 2 weeks of Sept? 🤔
AND: Richard - crank up the firehose 🚒! NETFLIX is dropping (at least) a new movie a week until the end of the year - 24 US/English-language films alone (including docs) in 4 months 🤯.
PLUS: Add “Test raising the minimum order to $35 for non-AMAZON PRIME customers to get free shipping” to the list of measures being explored to save (andpotentiallymakemore) at AMAZON in Q3.
BUT: Don’t fret HOLLYWOOD - bidding $100+ million for a new Streaming movie package still seems to be 👍👍 at the AMAZON Studios division.
ALSO: ENDEAVOR is giving back! Well, at $0.06 per share… as its official first stock dividend will be paid out on Sept 29 to folks who hold EDR shares as of Sept 15, in case you’re a WME client and want the company to pay you for once.
THEN: Here is your TELLURIDE lineup for the weekend, including AMAZON/MGM Saltburn, FOCUS The Holdovers, SEARCHLIGHT All of Us Strangers, NETFLIX Rustin and Nyad, and another A24 pic with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - a drama called Tuesday and more.
AND: Here are the docs listed at TELLURIDE, led by APPLE TV+’s John le Carré doc from Errol Morris.
OH: The Taylor Swift concert is coming to the big screen… in case you thought people breaking out their phones during Barbie showings was modest.
You can check out Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at all AMC movie theaters as well as CINEMARK theaters on weekends starting Oct 13, including Dolby PLF screens for $20 a ticket, and $13 for regular screenings.
I never thought I’d actually feel bad for The Exorcist (it opens on the same day), but uh, good luck with the Swifties 👿!
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
The one new wide major Labor Day release this weekend is Equalizer 3 of course… which likely is without a Queen Latifah cameo, to its detriment.
Tracking for the 3-day is around $28 mil to $32 mil it seems from a few different reports.
The first 2 did $34 mil and $36 mil respectively, so whaddaya got?
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Well, this 👇 is where “news” has fallen to here in the last week of August in a strike-addled business, where a decent contingency is either on vacation or currently in/soon heading to Venice, Telluride or Toronto.
But at least Sports Media is keeping active on the job cuts, piracy and Int’l rights deal fronts.
AND SOME PERSPECTIVE: Just be glad your job isn’t “Beehive Truckdriver” today, or, probably every day really - 5 Million bees fell off a truck in Ontario, CANADA (I know a guy if you want a few on the cheap - Jersey has connections everywhere), and the driver was stung more than 100 times 😳🤬, but thankfully was not seriously injured as a result.
📺 THE SILVER TV SET 🎥
