☀️ DIS Q2: HULU App RIP, WWE's New ESPN 💰, DIS+ U.S. Stuck
More New PAR execs revealed / NETFLIX reviving 'TJ Hooker' / Ferrell + Shannon reunite in TV
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, August 6, 2025.
Where let’s start the day with a nice reminder to keep in mind in this business of ours, full of hits and misses, that even Warren Buffett whiffs sometimes — BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY is taking a $3.8B writedown on its KRAFT HEINZ investment.
AND: Here are your MTV VMA noms for the big show next month on CBS! (And MTV.) Gaga, Kendrick and Bruno lead the way . . . and look at that! Country is getting a category in the show’s 42nd edition.
THEN: The Emmys are moving the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) award to the main broadcast show on Sept. 14 (from the Creative Arts ceremony the weekend prior).
ALSO: Man, that NETFLIX moves fast . . . it already debuted a movie called Holy Night: Demon Hunters last week! OK fine, the South Korean pic is actually unrelated to NETFLIX’s current animated hit — it was a theatrical pic at the end of April that’s now hit streaming on NETFLIX, but still.
Sadly, it only got 1.7M views last week, about 6% of what KPop did.
IN THIS EDITION
All the important particulars to dive into at DISNEY:
The WWE 💰 and NFL deals at ESPN
What exactly is going on at HULU
How much streaming is supplanting linear 💰 at DISNEY (and how bad the linear numbers were this time)
The #notgreat movie biz Q2 and much more.
NETFLIX Films is having a late summer to remember, hitting a new all-time high record — dive into all the Happy Gilmore and K-Pop numbers, as well as how much Sofia Carson stock you should be buying.
The rest of the TV and movie deals of the day, and gotta say — I was not expecting to have to find a TJ Hooker gif this morning.
DISNEY’s Summer 2025: HULU Matures as ESPN Deals
As expected, it was a classic Iger summer Q2 banger of news headlines (sadly, from the sounds of it, he does not do this August earnings call from his yacht . . . or, he just hides the sounds of the seagulls very well).
Here are all the big moves (and key things to note behind them, more importantly), along with a dive into the health of each DISNEY business sector at the midway point of 2025 and key takeaways.
Plus, a little CEO tea leaf reading, FWIW.