☀️ Eisner, Powell Jobs enter DISNEY Board Fray
Joe Rogan SPOTIFY domination, charted / Who's spending March Madness 💰 / UNI sets Pharell, Gondry pic
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED-IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY, March 22, 2024.
Where I hate to say it . . . but I’m beginning to think the whole pandemic-induced “relocate to Miami” thing might not be working out so well for folks 😧.
Thankfully it’s been a few years since the “Miami could likely run out of potable drinking water” stories have surfaced (I’m sure that problem was solved), but there are other issues now coming to the fore.
First this 👇, due to increased real estate and energy costs since the pandemic:
Now folks are having trouble finding expensive private schools to send their kids to in Miami! The latest proposed $180 Million campus just fell through, when private school operator AVENUES “indefinitely suspended” its project in Little Havana (gee, I hope its sister school in Cuba is okay 😬). Great, so now where are folks supposed to spend the proposed $49k a year AVENUES tuition to send Jenny to 2nd grade?
THEN: REDDIT had a nice first day on the exchange, +48%. It’s about -7% so far this morning on day 2.
AH: As foretold, APPLE was indeed sued by the Feds for antitrust violations yesterday as I’m sure you saw, centered on 5 areas of its business: smart watches, digital wallets, cloud-based gaming, messaging apps (green/blue text bubbles) and “super apps” that bundle other apps.
Quite a set of hot takes out there yesterday on the case . . . that likely will take years to progress through the courts.
OH: Shari Redstone is apparently “unconvinced” by the $11B APOLLO bid for the studio according to the FT, preferring to pursue the SKYDANCE/REDBIRD/TENCENT thing . . . which centers on NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS as well as PAR (ish — still not a lotta info here).
PAR stock was -5% yesterday on the report.
AHA: If you’re still kinda curious how UTA’s MEDIALINK makes the kind of money that would support such extravagant expense spending as reported in the lawsuit stories last week (whether approved or not) — Adweek reports that MEDIALINK is charging $850k to have your own . . . 10’x10’ meeting space to hawk your wares or services at the company’s installation at the Cannes advertising confab this summer.
NOW: March Madness day 1 impressions
So, let’s just start with my man here:
Now, who had #14 OAKLAND UNIVERSITY in round 2 of their brackets? 🤦♂️
For the record, OAKLAND is from MICHIGAN btw 🤫. Powerhouse KENTUCKY has now won just one March Madness game in the past four years 🤯.
OTHERWISE:
Granted, I was flipping around all day like a proper March Madness fan . . . but to my rough impression — the big 3 studio spenders on opening day were in this order:
WB’s Godzilla vs. Kong (including on CBS /not just the T-Nets games)
SONY’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
DISNEYFOX Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
And some UNI Monkey Man spots
I saw an AMAZON Road House spot in the late CBS game, but if there were a lot of ad buys on the film’s release date yesterday . . . I didn’t see ‘em 👀😳 .
Plus there were short promos for WB’s Furiosa trailer.
Side note — Furiosa will premiere at Cannes on May 15 (screening out of competition).
Oh and one spot for NETFLIX’s 3 Body Problem on the late CBS game.
Again, early-round ads are going for around $200k per 30 seconds (although obviously better if you buy in bulk).
My MAX app streaming experience was smooth all day . . . although the lack of a split-screen option / being able to have 3 boxes on my screen with the T-Nets games seems like a real missed opportunity on a streaming platform in 2024. Gotta step this up in 2025 WBD, especially after PEACOCK does this for the Olympics.
Overall, great to have one of the best things on the annual sports calendar back in full force, with a big upset on day 1 to boot, so it’ll be a fun weekend — and the forecast 2 to 3 inches of rain in NYC tomorrow is the perfect pairing.
AND: Women’s March Madness begins today across ESPN networks, and you can stream it on ESPN+ if you’re a #cordcutter. ABC will also have games Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
BTW ANY WAKEUP READERS IN NORTH CAROLINA? Very curious to hear any intel on what it’s like watching March Madness with app gambling newly legalized in NC, with eight services authorized to operate in the state. How many ads are you seeing for all of the services? Who’s spending most? Drop me a note: seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com
OH: Let’s not forget — it’s also IPL Cricket time! 🏏 Yes, India’s favorite sporting event starts today at 10:30 a.m. (you can watch / stream it on something called WILLOW here in the U.S.). It’ll once again stream for free in India on RELIANCE’s JIO CINEMA, and air on DISNEY’s-but-soon-to-be RELIANCE’s STAR.
WAKEUP BOX-OFFICE POLL RESULTS
Lotta ghosts out there on SONY’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire . . . 👻
IN THIS EDITION
For an industry whose future is increasingly tied to ad tiers (and viewer data), WALMART just lobbed a sizable grenade into the picture for the streamers. Better get to know WALMART CONNECT folks.
New SPOTIFY data shows just how massive Joe Rogan is in podcasting.
A tale of 2 previously ordered series that . . . are no longer happening, plus UNI’s Pharrell pic heats up.
Latest voice to enter the DISNEY board saga — Michael Eisner, who had some pretty choice words. Plus a notable exec departure in Saudi media, and look at the new things to watch/stream this weekend and much more.
NEW ANKLER PODCAST EPISODE
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
