☀️ The Studios Just Lit the Fuse to Blow-up the Cable TV Bundle
What it means for PAR, COMCAST, and new jobs / PAR picks up Robbie Williams pic / NFL confirms commitment to broadcast TV
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY Feb 7, 2023.
Where I’m not saying the news industry has a severe New York/East Coast bias… but LA, I feel for you.
The LA flooding and damage got almost zero extreme weather top coverage on the morning and mid-day national broadcast news shows yesterday… while you folks always have to sit through several national reports every time it snows ❄️ more than 3 inches in the NYC tri-state area.
OK: Yes, we’ll be inundated with celebrities in ads on Sunday for ‘the big game’ (absurdly so), but gotta say this UBER EATS ad with Aniston & Schwimmer was great — even though Jelly Roll really steals the show.
ALSO: The amount of credit card and auto loan balances that are over 30 days delinquent has hit a high not seen since around 2012.
SOLD: NETFLIX set their first global advertiser deal with EXPEDIA, rolling out across 9 countries.
PLUS: The sentencing of Jonathan Majors was pushed to April 8.
FINALLY: The NHL’s Winter Classic will finally be played at a classic location again next January, coming to Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
HUH: The CHIEFS and NINERS are both staying nowhere near the Las Vegas strip… rather staying at resorts 25 miles outside of town.
OH: This is a good one — per FIFA rules, all stadiums hosting World Cup ⚽️ games in 2026 will have to cover up their corporate name signage, unless the brands cut a deal 💰 with FIFA.
i.e. MET LIFE Stadium will be listed as the New York New Jersey Stadium — now, why New York is even in that name… is a travesty. Stadium’s in Jersey FIFA! 💪
THEN: A crew member died on the set of the MARVEL Wonder Man show starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II — no real details avail other than it wasn’t a shoot day/the crew was working but not the cast.
AND: Usher is doing a 24-city tour this year, starting August 20.
IN THIS EDITION:
What the new ESPN/WBD/FOX sports super-streamer means for upcoming studio spending that no one seems to be addressing, the job market, the PARAMOUNT situ, COMCAST, and even potentially Byron Allen.
I’ll dive into many other aspects as to how this affects the business, the potential for even more revenue for this business besides just subscribers for the service and more on this huge development in the history of the cable business.
WAKEUP MID-WEEK POLL
Lotta context to consider around the new sports super-streamer from WBD, FOX and ESPN (full details and analysis below, including how this could even help Byron Allen).
But — whaddaya thinking on what they’ll charge for the service per month?
Best comp I got for ya — the skinniest virtual bundle out there with the ESPN channels, T-Nets, FS1 and ABC & FOX is SLING TV at $60 a month (plus NBC, and a bunch of other cable networks not included in this new service).
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
