☀️ROKU Rules U.S. Streaming, but Can't Find a Profit
DISNEY's Upfronts snapshot / NETFLIX + Ramy Youssef / AMAZON's fast 🦃 NFL sellout, Sunday Ticket overturned
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED-IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY, August 2, 2024.
Where it’s been forever since we’ve had a Friday morning coffee ☕️ together (RIP Dirt.com), but let’s change that at Rob Lowe’s pool in Beverly Hills.
If you like what you see, and have $6.6M in your checking account (mine is sadly all in Deutschmarks — it’s a long story), this estate could be yours! Just don’t change the passkey for the backyard 🙏.
AND: Gotta love AI music firms SUNO and UDIO, which are taking the legal stance that sucking up the world’s copyrighted database of music, to create their own (presumably for profit) AI music generators is totally legal. Quite an interpretation of “fair use.” Shockingly, the world’s biggest music labels have taken a different interpretation in their lawsuits.
PLUS: Lo and behold . . . the judge in the NFL Sunday Ticket case said that the jury didn’t listen to his instructions in determining the $4.7B settlement sum they rendered (juries and the math, amirite? 🙄), and overturned the ruling.
He also noted that the testimony of 2 experts called by the plaintiffs used flawed methodologies, which is also not helping matters. So we’ll see if the judge orders a new trial (which wouldn’t likely start until 2025), or the plaintiffs could appeal this judgment . . . or — well basically, back to waiting, but a big day for the NFL to be sure.
AND: The Hollywood Basic Crafts deal was approved by union members, and by a wide margin. See you in 2027.
OH: Add this to your STARBUCKS and MCDONALD’S Q2 sales drops — new July jobs numbers! The unemployment rate also hit about a 3-year high, which . . . sadly has kind of been one of the goals of 2023-24 U.S. fiscal policy in the first place — spending (and inflation) tends to cool when more folks, ya know, don’t have jobs.
Whatever you do, just don’t tell them how much they’re now spending for streaming services, mmkay? 🤫 #pricehikes. Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll still shell out more money to watch regular season NBA games next year.
Cue always jittery Wall Street (“You’re not acting fast enough!” or “You need to slow things down!” always seem to be shouted in a whiplash fashion), which is acting accordingly . . . with the DJIA -1% this morning already, after another decline yesterday. See ya in September, Fed!
HUZZAH: To WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich for landing back on American soil late last night, after a 491-day Russian jail ordeal; U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was incarcerated for over 5 years in Russia and returned alongside Evan; and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva who did the same.
WEEKEND READ: I really enjoyed this piece from Dan Oshinsky, who runs a great newsletter consulting business called Inbox Collective — but this piece offers some great advice worth remembering about business and life that he’s learned (or in some cases reminded himself about) while raising a 1-year-old.
FINALLY: Now this is how you do an Olympic sponsorship — Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa (whose team won the silver this year) is supported by the Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium. Well done, Georgia! (“Now Georgia, we just need about 25 more shots of you holding this 72 lb. wheel of cheese — you’re good right?”)
WAKEUP POLL RESULTS
Yeah, gotta say I’m going with the middle of the road folks myself, but I really think closer to $15M here than $20M. We’ll see what the word of mouth bodes for M. Night this time out!
NEW ANKLER PODCAST EPISODE . . . Will be up later today, mid-afternoon or so.
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
