☀️NETFLIX’s WBD Deal Interest Tea Leaves
WBD's options as PAR rejections continue / CHARTER sets layoffs / SKYSHOWTIME's big red ink
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, October 22, 2025.
Where NBC giving a full hour to the NBA launch for a pre-game show last night starting at 6:30 p.m. ET — with a tip-off finally at . . . 7:45 p.m. and no local news or Tonight Show given the doubleheader — says all you need to know about the value that NBC is putting on sports for the future of the network’s business over . . . pretty much everything else.
AND: I’m also sure you’re hearing plenty from the sports die-hards in your life today about how awesome it was to hear the “Roundball Rock” NBA on NBC theme song again. You totally missed it, bro! Ok fine, yes, Janice — it was pretty cool, and I’m sure NBC is loving the double overtime East Coast game result. 🤯 Free of charge in the NBA deal!
BUT: Given that the WSJ cited sources “familiar with the matter” putting NBCU annual losses between $500M to $1.4B in the early years of the deal . . . it’s gonna need all of the double OT games it can get.
ALTHOUGH: NBC is at least getting higher ad rates at $130k per commercial vs. TNT’s estimated $50k in addition to other revenue boosts described by the WSJ in the piece.
HOWEVER: The ROI on the “Return of MJ! 😱” money is gonna need some work — that 3-minute thing at halftime was . . . I’ll just say,
overhypedbrief. Lotta commercials to work in to pay off a $2.5B a year NBA deal.
BUT: At least Hollywood isn’t the only industry OPENAI is looking to crush enhance . . . by far.
OPENAI has hired over 100 former investment bankers to create a better AI tool for the banking community, to help them get better at
firing peoplebuilding financial models. And the bankers are making a smooth $150 an hour for sitting there and running prompts with the AI and building financial models that they can create in their sleep because . . . ya know, they had thousands of hours of training to do so. Ahem.Tho, just me — or does $1,250 a day (8-hour day) seem like an insult to an ex-investment banker? Then again, I’m sure they got the best ones to do this.
NEXT UP: Step aside SORA 😏, and Meet ATLAS! That’s OPENAI’s new cutting-edge product called a . . . “web browser” (🤷♂️) that is 100% coming for GOOGLE’s Chrome business. Here’s a demo video which makes ATLAS seem to be part browser, part chatbot.
ALTHOUGH: Don’t you worry, Hollywood . . . Sam Altman still somehow has room to eat your lunch too.
Anyone who was wholly reassured by OPENAI’s broad statements this week in the new SAG statement about SORA, like “OpenAI has strengthened guardrails around replication of voice and likeness when individuals do not opt-in,“ — without any further details about those guardrails — well, I’ll just at least point out here that creators (and microdrama makers) have no such stated protections, or an organization to at least fight for them.
In the meantime, I really hope the Hollywood studio message in return to the company continues to be 👇.
OH: “Ticket fees” are 29% of the total face value of concert ticket prices in New York, according to a new analysis of 68 venues by the NATIONAL INDEPENDENT TALENT ORGANIZATION.
Bump that up to 39% for tickets sold on 3rd party reseller sites. So yes, I’ll just continue enjoying the experience economy in my house.
WELL: At least you can always count on a solid bargain from Hollywood! Ah dammit 🤦♂️ . . . HBO MAX is doing its previously alluded to #pricehike now for new customers, and current customers will see the price hike in your next bill starting Nov. 20.
Ad tier: $11
Ad-free: $18.50 (note — this is in the same month that the product is losing CNN and does not have the NBA returning. #boldchoice)
Bougie: $23
Annual plans are +$10, $15 and $20 a year, respectively.
NOTE: WBD did this on the same day of its “For Sale” announcement, just as DISNEY did its #pricehike news on the day it was restoring Kimmel. #WeSeeYou 👀
THUS: 6 of the 7 big streamers (HBO MAX, NETFLIX, APPLE TV, PEACOCK, DISNEY+, HULU) have raised their prices this year.
Gotta say kinda surprised AMAZON PV still has not — oh no, I’ve said too much. 🙇♂️
Just wait until America sees the value proposition when Ellison merges HBO MAX and PAR+!
SO: Yes, I think we can finally finish the “Streaming Era Pricing Hustle” tombstone, and etch “c. 2016 to 2026. Suckers!” onto the face of it.
NOW: Meet the “Streaming Bundle Gambit” era! Which, yes, looks just like its grandfather on its mother’s side (don’t tell it about the balding gene), “The Cable Bundle” — its tombstone is 2 down to the left next to the “Streaming Era Price Hustle,” can’t miss it 🪦.
PEACOCK & APPLE TV: Regular cost, $24; Bundle cost, $15.
DIS+, HULU, HBO MAX: Regular cost: $35; Bundle cost, $20.
AMAZON PV: Free with AMAZON PRIME (or $9)
PAR+ or PEACOCK: Free with WALMART+
Note: You now also get 5 of these free with a good ol’ SPECTRUM cable TV subscription (no APPLE or AMAZON), along with AMC+, BET+, DISCO+ and VIX.
STARZ is also not included, but it has plenty of bundle action out there.
NETFLIX: Still on its own at just $8 a month, tying PAR+ for the lowest monthly price of the major streamers.
All with ads, just like ‘Pa’s Cable TV bundle.
ALSO: FOX will air 69 FIFA World Cup ⚽️ next year — 34 on FOX like it did in 2022, plus 35 on FS1. All will stream on FOX ONE.
THEN: AMAZON’s Black Friday NFL game (EAGLES vs. BEARS) will stream globally on PRIME VIDEO in November, a la NETFLIX’s Christmas NFL games.
FINALLY: Just a shout-out to Jersey’s own, and a longtime GIANTS fan, Tommy Pelphrey, for keeping it real in Philly while promoting his PA-based HBO series Task.
✋ WBD rejects 2nd offer by PSKY
Ya know, you schedule a knee surgery weeks in advance for a Tuesday morning, figuring — ah, Tuesday mornings are usually kinda sleepy . . . and then NETFLIX changes precedent by moving its earnings call date to that day, and WBD confirms “You’re damn right we’re for sale!” that same morning . . . and karma laughs at me in the corner (there’s a Taylor Swift song for this situation, right?)
But I digress — here’s the latest, with a big picture WBD buyer reality check breakdown that . . . well, I’m really not seeing much of out there.