☀️SPIDER-MAN shocks with Top Summer opening, as MERMAID troubles mount
DGA makes a deal / NBA Finals' troublesome start / SPOTIFY trims Podcast Biz with more layoffs
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY June 5, 2023.
Where… I think we’re all glad that we don’t work in CNN Corporate Comms this morning (and my sympathies for any readers to whom that attribution matches).
The effects of giving a reporter at The Atlantic months-long access to CEO Chris Licht in a long profile that dropped on Friday - from the Fall CNN layoffs… though the morning show/Don Lemon debacle… to the Trump Town Hall disaster - were elongated yesterday with a NY Times dive into how Jeff Zucker apparently can’t let go of CNN, as he continues to keep very dialed in behind the scenes (and is thought to be a bridge between how those behind the scenes are getting out into the public view).
Former CNN employee Brian Stelter also weighed over at New York yesterday as well on fallout from the Friday profile.
BIGGER PICTURE: Oddly missing in both pieces amongst the plentiful talk of ratings declines, personality clashes and programming ideology missteps, was any mention or acknowledgement of the fact that the Cable TV Bundle business model upon which CNN’s financial livelihood rests… is melting.
Yes, CNN’s TV ratings are down significantly from this same moment in the 2020 election cycle (roughly -30% according to the NY Times).
But the TV Bundle subscriber base that the CNN audience is based upon has also dropped by 14 Million people in that timeframe (-16%).
Also no mention of what Licht / CNN’s plan is to build a Revenue future that doesn’t have its foundation on business that’s disappearing at a -7% annual rate. Not that either piece needed any more bad news of course.
ALSO: Chuck Todd is stepping down from NBC’s Meet The Press. Kristen Welker will replace him after a 9-year run in September.
AND: If IOWA’s Caitlin Collins was the collegiate athlete to know this Spring in MARCH MADNESS… Rose Zhang is the name to know this Summer.
The 20-year-old just won the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship 2 weeks ago, and won the first professional LGPA tournament she ever played in this weekend (the first woman golfer to do so since 1951).
TODAY IS WWDC day: APPLE’s big presentation day arrives, becomming the next company to try and get you to wear a very expensive headset to escape the reality of how much the headsets cost.
And yes, the WGA will be picketing outside of Cupertino, as well as APPLE STORES in a few cities.
PLUS: TWITTER’s Ad sales were -59% in April vs. a year ago according to the NY Times, which certainly tracks with Linda Yaccarino bumping up her start date by a couple weeks.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE CREW:
Well boy genius here 🙋♂️ forgot to update the voting results on Friday before hitting send 🥴, but ya’ll were spot on with Spider-Man… as 63% of you took ‘Over $91 Million’. As for the 12% of you who took under $84 Million… not your best look. Same goes for Theatrical tracking.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Spider-Man turns around SONY’s Box Office fortunes from the past 3 months in just 3 days, as the Mermaid numbers really start to look troubling overseas, and Fast is plummeting err… faster than usual - a look at all the action in the full Monday Box Office breakdown.
SPOTIFY goes from 4 Podcast divisions… to 2, laying off another 200 people.
PEACOCK gets more exclusive College Football games this Fall, as BALLY SPORTS NETWORK is told by the Bankruptcy judge to pay up with the MLB teams they owe.
NBA Finals are off to a worrysome audience start for ABC.
AMAZON explores adding Mobile service to PRIME, in unwelcome news to “Cable” companies, and much more.
🪧 STRIKE FORCE
The DGA got their deal done this weekend
To… I don’t think anyone’s surprise. It’s set to be officially ratified tomorrow by the guild’s national board.
The deal highlights:
INT’L RESIDUALS: +76% for Dramatic programs on the largest SVOD services.
This was thought to be tops on their list going in.
WAGES:
+5% in year 1 of the deal
+4% in year 2
+3.5% in year 3
13.5% over the period.
WGA opened with 16.9%, AMPTP came back with 9.2%. So… think we can figure where this will settle out.
AI: “Generative AI cannot replace the duties performed by (DGA) members.”
Granted, “Directed by AI” is probably at the bottom of the Hollywood jobs concern list when it comes to AI… but a meaningful statement of agreement with the AMPTP nevertheless.
FILM DIRECTORS: Will now get paid for “soft prep” period, before official prep begins.
TV DIRECTORS: Get one more guaranteed shoot day per episode for 1-hour Pay TV & SVOD shows.
UNSCRIPTED DIRECTORS: Got their first set of terms for projects on SVOD services.
OTHER:
Terms set for AVOD scripted projects (TUBI, ROKU CHANNEL, etc)
ADs get one less hour of work in their day.
Elaine’s got your full roundup of all terms over here in the Strikegeist newsletter.
AND: SAG-AFTRA negotiations start on Wednesday, and final strike authorization votes due today from members.
ALSO: JLo’s AMAZON pic Unstoppable from ARTISTS EQUITY has shut down due to WGA pickets. /Deadline
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
