☀️DISNEY Price Hikes, Movies Save Linear TV Melt
☀️DISNEY Price Hikes, Movies Save Linear TV Melt
HBO keeps ordering comedy / Key NETFLIX Film departure / MNF🏈's looming distro quandary
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, November 14, 2024.
Where ya gotta love some justice in the world when The Onion buys the Infowars brand out of bankruptcy (and yes, the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School signed off on it).
It’ll relaunch in January, focusing on uh, “certain” personalities in the internet space.
THEN: Craig Melvin will replace Hoda Kotb as co-host of The Today Show next year, starting Jan. 13.
KUDOS: To director Steve McQueen for his recovery from a prostate cancer diagnosis 2 years ago — just a reminder to ask your doctors to also check your PSA score in your annual bloodwork, fellow Gen X’ers!
OH: Ads are coming to THREADS early next year. 🥳
AND: Happy DIAMOND SPORTS bankruptcy plan hearing day! (and tomorrow too).
BTW: As of Dec. 5, you’ll be “able” to pay $7 to watch any individual NHL or NBA regular season game carried on a DIAMOND FANDUEL SPORTS NET (FDSN) in your local area.
You can also now pay to subscribe to your local FDSN via AMAZON CHANNELS. Well. At least for this NBA/NHL season — we’ll see how this whole bankruptcy hearing goes.
#FUNFACT: John Malone, Brian Roberts and Chuck Dolan are 3 of the backers & EPs of the Ted Turner docuseries that debuted on MAX yesterday (John is also on-camera in the doc).
AND: Just a chart to keep in mind about voter interests and candidate/party vote selection.
FINALLY: Just a nod to some folks trying to help grow the variety of creative perspectives in town, as the INEVITABLE FOUNDATION announced its fellowship winners this year (supported by NETFLIX), dedicated to helping those in the filmmaking community with disabilities — kudos to Zayre Ferrer, Monica Lucas, Filipe Coutinho, Alys Murray and Katherine Craft, who will receive access to $55k, industry mentors & workshops to make a short film.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
Well, AMAZON MGM’s Red One is here and looking at about $30M to $35M. Or maybe a little lower or higher. Basically we’ll just see what happens is the gist, I think.
STATE OF FILM: ‘ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES’
A couple of weeks ago, I led a panel at the Montclair Film Festival with NEON’s Dan O’Meara, WME partner Maggie Pisacane and AMC NETS film head Scott Shooman on the state of the industry, and thanks to the wonders of 2024 technology — now you can listen to it! A big thanks again to Dan, Maggie & Scott for joining me in NJ.
IN THIS EDITION
Everything to know about DISNEY’s Q3 from this morning’s earnings report, from the good news in streaming to . . . yeah that linear TV melting is unrelenting. Plus:
The state of ESPN as it gets ready for its Flagship era
The eh quarter in theme parks
How #cordcutting is really eating into the cable TV networks distro
What Iger is emphasizing in streaming going forward
Understanding just how important HULU is to DISNEY’s business and much more.
Oh and this week’s Monday Night Football numbers lay out a big question ahead for the NFL and DISNEY — take a look at the landscape.
DISNEY Price Hikes & Movies Saving Big Linear TV Decline
Overall a positive quarter for DISNEY — streaming has fully shifted into a positive story as Iger promised, as has the movie business!
Linear TV business remains the big main drag on the Entertainment division profit picture, while theme parks are seeing slight declines and ESPN is kinda toeing the even line.
Granted that line still throws off about $900M of quarterly profit. So — let’s dive into the numbers and comps to know (including a positive one for WBD!).