☀️WB, UNI Pics Dominate U.S. NETFLIX Movie Viewing
NFL ratings show broadcast TV's power / WBD grows board / Saudis find next sports 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 WEDNESDAY, January 15, 2025.
Where there’s nothing quite like the morbidity of a death row watch for an app, amirite?
Although predictably, a U.S. Senator (Ed Markey, D-MA) introduced an Extend the TIKTOK Deadline Act yesterday, which would give the company another 9 months (270 days) to finish its term paper find a buyer (should the Supreme Court not save TIKTOK’s neck).
See Hollywood? You’re not the only one adept at kicking one’s inevitable business problems down the road as much as possible!
AND: You’re also not the only one having a tough time nailing the CEO succession thing, Hollywood:
JP MORGAN just appointed a new 54-year-old COO who already said she doesn’t want 68-year-old Jamie Dimon’s CEO job. Wouldn’t that be fun if that’s how the DISNEY thing worked out?
BLACK ROCK’s COO just left, leaving $8M in stock options on the table with no new job lined up, seemingly because his 72-year-old CEO Larry Fink’s attitude about leaving is probably best summed up in this quote from him: “When I do believe the next generation is ready, I’m out.” Keep us posted, Larry!
SO: META is planning its next round of job cuts, GE-style . . . cutting 5% of employees (or about 3,500 folks) that it considers ‘weak performers’ according to The Information. Okay — everyone to the jujitsu dojo to settle this once and for all! 🤼
BTW: Elon, Zuck and Bezos will be seated together on the platform at the Inauguration on Monday. Nothing quite like a powwow between 3 powerful men . . . on how best to kiss another guy’s ass.
Although sorry, fellas — I think the COKE guy has you beat. Know your audience, folks. Now, where’s the MCDONALD’S guy FTW . . . 🧐
BUT: Don’t you worry — yes, Snoop Dogg will be in D.C. too . . . performing as the headlining act at the “Inaugural Crypto Ball” ($5k a ticket to get in — no word if they’ll accept your shoddy American currency).
OH: The SEC is suing Musk for securities fraud around his failure to disclose that he’d acquired an active stake in TWITTER shares in 2022. Sure the case will proceed fairly and with little government interference.
FINALLY: Kinda hard to believe this 👇 is an article headline from 2025 . . . and yet, here we are — way to keep the dream alive, WALMART! Are you selling pants there too, or do people still not have legs there yet?
PLUS: SONY’s ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE chain is laying off 9% of its corporate staff (15 folks), as well as several part-time folks at locations across the company (no number was given) due to an expected slow Q1 at the box office.
AH: The Critics Choice Awards have been postponed again until February TBA.
AND: WARNER MUSIC and SONY MUSIC also canceled their Grammy week events.
LOOK: Here are your BAFTA Film Award nominees.
THEN: Lest you worry about the draw of the NFL — the queue for any Super Bowl spots that may open up on FOX is about 15 brands deep, according to Ad Age.
HMM: Gotta love this chart — which way do you think these numbers go in the next 3 years? “Herd immunity” needs about a 92% rate to maintain effectiveness before outbreaks become more likely.
AND: Just a reminder for what the realities are like out there for female athletes — a 55-year-old Texas man was arrested for stalking Caitlin Clark, including setting up shop in an Indianapolis hotel.
This is a few months after a 40-year-old man was convicted of stalking UCONN star Paige Bueckers.
OH: NETFLIX will not be releasing weekly WWE RAW ratings for the U.S. audience, which RAW has had for pretty much its entire existence on linear TV. Well, so much for streaming transforming sports audience data reporting for the better.
RAW week 2 was up against the NFL Wildcard game on ABC/ESPN Monday night.
But, if a RAW episode merits enough viewing hours to make the weekly NETFLIX Global Top 10 TV list in a given week, we’ll see it there . . . so I’ll keep you posted if it makes the week 2 cut next week (and beyond).
NOTE: The Jan. 6 RAW premiere added 1M views globally from Wednesday thru Sunday last week.
SO: Of the 5.9M RAW week 1 total views — about 17% were after roughly the first 24 hours (including the live show).
FINALLY: Apparently Adam Scott and the Severance cast didn’t look close enough at their APPLE TV+ contracts, and missed the “Appear at all Grand Central Terminal live pop-ups for the series” clause. Gotta say, nice way to make a splash though.👏
NETFLIX Films Weekly Viewership Breakdown
