☀️NETFLIX ’26: Behind the Numbers
WBD’s thwarted 💰 growth projections / ‘The Rip’ boosts NFLX Gen X boom / ‘Hunting Wives’ adds Angel Reese
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, January 21, 2026.
Where ANTHROPIC’s Claude 4.5 release is giving coders / engineers a real dose of AI-induced job mortality, according to the WSJ.
A cryptocurrency tax platform CEO put it this way: “I spent my whole life developing this skill, and it’s literally one-shotted by Claude Code.”
That CEO has also now decided he doesn’t need to hire the new software engineers he was planning to hire in 2026 to meet his company’s workload goals.
Erik Barmack also recently laid out how ANTHROPIC should be causing some ‘Bad Will Hunting’ vibes in Southern California as well, in his latest Reel AI column.
YEAH: AMAZON’s CEO Andy Jassy said #TrumpTariffs are raising prices on AMAZON, as some 3rd-party vendors are unable to absorb the increased cost of goods.
THEN: Be sure to get those PARAMOUNT $30-a-share pledges in by 5 p.m. today, before the offer “ends”!
YUP: Kristen Bell is returning to host The Actor Awards this year on NETFLIX.
YES: It’s nice to hear some folks starting to point out that all of the new indoor NFL stadiums in the planning stage are . . . kinda gonna kill a lot of the fun of the supposedly outdoor game. And no, “translucent domes” do not give the feeling of being “outside.” And yes, the change is all about profits 💰 over the product itself.
WELL: Someone’s been watching Industry on HBO this month — JP MORGAN is cutting off fintech clients with “questionable customers” according to The Information.
HUH: OPENAI is pricing its initial advertising packages at under $1M in spending commitment for a several-week trial period, according to The Information, and is charging by ad exposure — not click-through rate like GOOGLE.
AWW: Who says corporations don’t care! PARAMOUNT sent out a nice survey asking folks how things are going with the whole “5 days a week” RTO thing and what it can improve. Leadership comes from the top, people!
SIGH: NOVO NORDISK is launching a new series of ads you’ll see in your social feeds and streaming TVs reuniting Justin Long and John Hodgeman #ImAMac to sell OZEMPIC, implying it’s the APPLE of weight loss drugs . . . or something.
OH: Sphere 2 (which is really MiniSphere) is coming just outside of D.C./across the river from Alexandria, VA, in 2030. And just like in Vegas — it appears to be next to a casino (just not quite as many).
PLUS: The NETFLIX Is A Joke festival is returning to L.A. May 4 thru 10. Tix go on sale here Friday, and the lineup of . . . too many events to even highlight is here.
YUP: LeBron will not be starting in the NBA All-Star game this year for the first time in 21 years. Steph Curry still made the cut.
LOL: Ya just gotta love the rarity of a . . . goalie fight. And yes, it was in Florida. I’d say this never happens, but apparently the last one was only 5 seasons ago.
AND: Sure, video podcasts are great . . . but ya know what’s really great to bump up your streaming viewership share? NFL games and Stranger Things, as NETFLIX got its highest NIELSEN % share to date in December as far I as I can tell.
As always — keep in mind YOUTUBE “viewing” includes things like:
Listening to music and podcasts
Nail painting tutorials
Other things no one else on this list does.
It is also free.
Also keep in mind that viewing of PAR+, HBO MAX, DIS+/HULU and PEACOCK that happens via subscriptions accessed through ROKU or AMAZON Subscriptions goes to those services’ share percentages.
YES: The “Inside CECOT” 60 Minutes piece aired on Sunday despite the Trump administration still not offering anyone to speak on camera — but this Minneapolis ICE piece is a must-watch if you were watching the NFL on Sunday night when it aired. Ahem.
It’s very hard to recognize America anywhere in this, especially with the guy on the right. Again, the state has a gubernatorial election coming in November.
NETFLIX Q4: Classic NETFLIX . . .
Yes, another over-deliver on projections NETFLIX quarter in Q4 ’25 . . . but welcome to the 325M global subs mark! Somebody tell Dylan to change the sign out front.
That’s +24M YoY or about +8%. No idea where they all came from.
But let’s get the predictions from the real experts out of the way to start — no, not those WELLS FARGO and MORGAN STANLEY analysts — the cool ones in the KALSHI and POLYMARKET crowd!
Folks made nearly $1.1M of bets around the call on the 2 platforms, mostly around what words would be said on the call.
Here were the 4 big losers, according to The Ankler’s Matthew Frank — these were the biggest odds on words being said on the call . . . that were alas not uttered:
Hollywood (70%)
Price Change / Price Point (80%)
Profitable (71%)
Subscriber (66%)
You’d think the KALSHI experts would know that NETFLIX refers to its subscribers as “members” . . . but try next time, fellas. Alas, the mention of a PARAMOUNT TV series licensing deal thwarted folks betting against that company being mentioned. 😢
Ok, now on to the big things to know today across:
NETFLIX Ads 💰, #PriceHikes, HBO tea leaves, live events growth and much more.
Plus a dive into some key 💰 numbers comps to give some perspective on the size of NETFLIX vs. the other players in the mix on the WBD saga, both pre- and post-deal.
AND: A look at the WBD company that would have been, given the company’s financial projections.
PLUS: Just how small DISCO+ was in relation to HBO MAX revenue and more.