☀️ NETFLIX, Emmys, NFL: Understanding Our New TV Ratings World
ROW K makes 2nd movie buy / Robert Redford, Rest in Peace / DISNEY makes comics investment
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 Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
Where I’m gonna start with a stat today to keep in mind every time you hear how “The American Consumer” is still spending despite all of the other economic headwinds we see in different numbers (jobs, auto debt, etc.).
According to the latest report from MOODY’S, the wealthiest 10% of Americans accounted for 49.2% of all spending in Q2 — the highest share in the history of MOODY’S research going back to 1989.
So, define “The American Consumer” as ya like.
THEN: Yeah, I’m gonna say we shouldn’t be surprised that NBCU enlisted Stanley Tucci to do culture segments as a special correspondent for the February Winter Olympics in . . . Italy. Get those Today show cooking segment ideas ready!
AND: This story from The Cut on the uh . . . leadership issues at WONDERMIND, the mental health startup from Selena Gomez, entrepreneur Daniella Pierson and Gomez’s mother, Mandy Teefey, will maybe make you feel a little bit better about your workplace today — unless your boss is also having extensive Schitt’s Creek marathons in the middle of the workday.
SO: Obviously, no need for more Emmys talk — but just 2 of my favorite things from the event & coverage:
A big kudos to the TV academy voters for Jeff Hiller’s Emmy award win. While yes, it’s an HBO series — so, not exactly coming from the outskirts here — it’s awesome to see “a show about sweaty middle-aged people” like Somebody Somewhere get the recognition amongst all of the big shots!
This quote from Seth Rogen, after the ceremony, detailing his first meeting with Tim Cook, was just 🤌:
“I met him last night for the first time, and he said he was a fan of the show (The Studio), which was very nice. I’m on another show on Apple (Platonic). He didn’t say he was a fan of that one. So, I believed him.”
AH: Trump’s newest “brainstorm” is proposing we get rid of quarterly earnings reports (a system in place for 55 years) and shift to half-year reporting, which makes sense given how much he loves how the European business community operates.
To note, the SEC would need to be the body making such a change . . . but, ya know 😉.
Ah yes, this just in — the SEC is “prioritizing” the request.
PROS: Folks like Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon have called for the switch, saying quarterly earnings handicap companies from managing for ‘the big picture’ vs. hitting numbers every 3 months.
CONS: It would likely result in the private investor community still getting updates every 3 months, when the public / retail investors would . . . not.
CALL IT AS YA LIKE: Fewer reports likely means fewer people needed to prepare such reports working at companies.
Axios has a good full breakdown of all aspects of this for any fellow wonks. 💪
ADD: A $15B lawsuit from Trump for libel and defamation against the NY TIMES to Trump’s existing lawsuit against NEWS CORP / WSJ after the Epstein birthday missive story.
YUP: The good news / bad news from the #MAHA movement continues, as TYSON FOODS announced it’s removing high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, the preservative BHA/BHT, and a food coloring called titanium dioxide from its products by the end of the year.
TYSON owns brands like HILLSHIRE FARMS and JIMMY DEAN as well.
THEN: Ok, so this new report on ANTHROPIC AI / CLAUDE business client usage comes from a rival (OPENAI) — but it shows that employees are mainly using CLAUDE to ‘automate tasks,’ or essentially do work that would have been done by other employees . . . and not as an aid to do their own jobs. #jobloss
OH: Digiday has a good overview on how “AI is eating the agency business,” as the Executive Director of S4 CAPITAL put it bluntly, with AI agents being sold in pitches to clients not as “enhancements” to the work of its employees . . . but the replacement.
When the ad people stop trying to spin the situation — you know it’s bad.
And yes, don’t think that studio folks are not looking at all of this to find ways to reduce Marketing overhead and agency work.
YAH: Add NBCU (and ergo PEACOCK) to the list of companies offering free AI video ad creating services to advertisers as part of buying time on their platforms, as its AI Video Generator assistant tool drops next week.
META announced a similar plan this summer, with plans to fully launch by the end of 2026.
So, ad agency media buyers — congrats! You’ll now also be creative directors, sans a creative director’s salary. That PE money hasn’t been flowing into the agency business because it wanted good Super Bowl tickets.
Here’s an ad created by the U.K.’s CHANNEL 4 AI ad tools, which cut the cost of ad production by 90%. Ok, yes, it’s not winning any Clios, but again — think about where this tech will be in say, 3 years.
PLUS: Here is your August Gauge from NIELSEN, with pretty consistent TV viewing share numbers vs. July, although football should spur more changes come the September chart.
YOUTUBE again took the top slot. As always, remember that number includes all YT viewing, including:
Shorts
Music Videos
Podcasts
Nail painting tutorials
Creator videos
Sports highlights and much more
Streaming still topped the Broadcast + Cable combo share by about 5%.
Again — the viewing of PAR+, PEACOCK and HBO MAX by people who subscribe to those apps through ROKU is counted in that ROKU share.
FINALLY: A rest in peace goes out to a screen legend, as actor, director, activist and independent film champion Robert Redford, who died in his sleep at the age of 89 earlier this morning at his home in Utah.
IN THIS EDITION
Lotta new TV audience numbers out there yesterday from NETFLIX boxing, AMAZON NFL, the Emmys and more — and each of them is using different methodologies.
Yeah, I know — they’re taking the fun out of it, but it’s important to understand the difference so you can better judge for yourself, “Is this good?” So get the things you need to know about our new ratings universe . . . as underneath, we all wish it were just 1985 again.
📺 THE SILVER TV 🎥
