☀️ NETFLIX Doubles Down on Limited Series
MAX deep discounts for March Madness / New Yorgos-Stone pic this summer / A24 sets new rom-com
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 15, 2024.
Where it’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend ☘️, and as part of my Irish citizenship, I’m legally required to begin this newsletter with news related to Ireland. Thankfully we have two good ones!
A new project combining GUINNESS, Peaky Blinders and a splash of Succession, which, I think, are things we’re all very curious to see put together — Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is writing a series for NETFLIX about the real Guinness family in the 1800s, and what happens amongst four siblings when the family patriarch and founder of GUINNESS dies. Really hoping there’s a Cousin Liam character in the mix somewhere 🇮🇪.
The Banshees of Inisherin pub is for sale! The bar owner in Kilkerrin who saved the bar when it was set to be discarded after the movie, and reconstructed it behind his MEE’S BAR, is now looking to sell the whole outfit — anyone wanna go in halfsies?
OH BOY: The FCC passed a regulation that cable & satellite TV companies will now need to include the full price of TV subscriptions in their advertisements when they list a price, including things like “broadcast fees” and other fun surcharges they have. Yeah, that won’t be good for business.
AND: The last print edition of Sports Illustrated will be in May, according to a message sent this week to its employees.
THEN: Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle / consumer goods brand will be called American Riviera Orchard. So uh, a Florida panhandle farm? 🤷♂️ I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here.
PLUS: The next tech frontier? State by state availability differences.
UBER & LYFT are planning to leave Minneapolis due to a new driver pay requirement passed by city legislators.
PORNHUB has pulled out of Texas (make your own joke) due to a new law around age-verification there.
FACEBOOK is threatening to pull news in Illinois based on a new law under consideration which would make META, perish the thought, pay news outlets for featuring their stories. 😱
ALSO: MAX is offering a 40%-off deal on annual subscriptions through April 9 for new, returning and existing customers. So, get MAX for a year (ad-tier) for $70 (ad-free for $105) — not bad! That’s one way to get those Q1 sub numbers moving late in the quarter. . .
It also coincides with March Madness which runs through the entire period (about 75% of games will stream on MAX via the linear TV feeds on the T-Nets), so it’s also a net to catch some new subscribers in an annual plan who may just sign up to watch hoops.
TBS also has both the Final Four and Championship games this year (it alternates with CBS each year).
NBA Playoffs on TNT will also stream on MAX in late April/May.
Though gotta say when I tried to do this last night as an existing MAX monthly subscriber — navigating a pre-approval process for a medical procedure with my health insurance company was an easier experience.
WAKEUP BOX-OFFICE POLL RESULTS
Well, so much for The Ankler dog movie enthusiast crowd, but we’ll see where Arthur the King lands in a couple of days!
IN THIS EDITION
While procedurals, proven sitcom stars and “blue sky” shows may be what’s in post-strikes, NETFLIX still seems to be a believer in the limited series genre.
A big day in projects, casting and more at NETFLIX, A24, AMAZON, APPLE TV+, UNI, SEARCHLIGHT, plus SKYDANCE sets up a business in a new genre, the new things to watch and stream this weekend and more.
NEW ANKLER PODCAST EPISODE
TWO DATA CHARTS
Given it was over 70 degrees on March 14 in the NYC tri-state area yesterday (with a high of 67 forecast for today), thought I’d share this new Axios map of the spring temperature changes over the past 50 years. Any bets on what this looks like when your kids are your age? Glad to see we’re putting all of the water use-intensive data farms of the future in Arizona #goodcall🙄
This is what office occupancy rates look like, four years since Covid (across buildings in 10 metro areas). Friday office attendance in 2024? About 35%.
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
