TIKTOK expanding with $5 Billion loan, HULU lifts prices in Oct
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TIKTOK expanding with $5 Billion loan, HULU lifts prices in Oct
Susan Sarandon stars in FOX Country music show / New Jake Gyllenhaal NETFLIX trailer / Trump doing guest Boxing commentator gig
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY September 8, 2021.
Where APPLE will do their next big reveal of new iPhones, Watches and other things that can only be later repaired at APPLE Stores for some reason this Tuesday Sept 14.
ALSO: The Elizabeth Holmes trial begins today and is expected to last 13 weeks… so look, uh, forward (?) to that coverage.
AND: BRITNEY fans mark Wed Sept 29 as the next court date to note… her father filed a petition to end his conservatorship, so that’ll be addressed in 3 weeks.
Otherwise I have to get ready for all of my FASHION WEEK appearances which starts today - so this should be a quick read.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Pacino + Freeman + DeVito + Mirren for pic going out to buyers at TIFF
No real news here yet other than many people will be bidding on this project at TIFF this weekend (CAA repping sales), and it just sounds pretty awesome.
Film noir-style project called “SNIFF” directed by Taylor Hackford (“Ray”, “An Officer and a Gentleman” - also Helen Mirren’s husband).
2 people die at a high-end luxury retirement facility, a retired detective & his former partner (Morgan Freeman & Danny DeVito) get on the case, uncovering an illicit world at the Senior Nursing Institute & Family Foundation (SNIFF) run by “kingpin” Al Pacino and his enforcer Helen Mirren. So - more here soon I’m sure. /Deadline
ALSO IN MOVIES
AMAZON’s “Cinderella” gets 1.1 Million US viewers on opening weekend according to the usually rather accurate tracking firm SAMBA TV. In comparison, “The Tomorrow War” had 2.4 Million on July 4th weekend, and the “Borat” sequel had 1.6 Million last year. /Deadline
In further comparison - about 6.5 Million people paid to go see “Shang-Chi” in theaters this weekend in the US.
📺 THE TV SET
FOX sets Susan Sarandon & Anna Friel to star in Country music drama “Monarch”
About a family who is Country music royalty, headed up by legendary star played by Sarandon who faces a scandal when it turns out the foundation of her success is a lie. Anna is the daughter looking to protect the family legacy. And guessing there is a song about whiskey in there somewhere. Or 5.
Show is already set for a huge 2-night premiere at the end of January after the NFL NFC Championship game. /Variety
ALSO IN TV
“Grey’s Anatomy” continues the cast reunion… bringing Abigail Spencer back for as “Megan Hunt” in a recurring role this season. /Variety
Here are your new ABC “Dancing With the Stars” contestants, including Brian Austin Green, Mel C, and America’s favorite sensei - Martin Kove from “Cobra Kai”.
ABC NEWS re-hires Van Scott as their head of Comms at a key juncture for the division amid the uproar over how they handled previous sexual assault allegations. Van left ABC for VICE last Spring. /Deadline
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
HULU prices going up a buck as of Oct 8
Ad-supported will now be $7 a month, and Ad-Free $13 / month… just a dollar less than NETFLIX’s $14. I mean you didn’t think you’d be getting those Bollywood movies from HOTSTAR for free did you?
DISNEY still makes more money from the US-only HULU than the Global DISNEY+ business.
So this looks to be a bid to not only pay for increased HULU programming, but also to raise overall streaming division income to account for the low DISNEY+ ARPU (avg $$ per user), which is less than 1/3 of HULU’s.
With HULU now $13 and NETFLIX at $14… the 2 most-established video streaming services keep getting closer to the decades-long traditional $15 / month HBO price as time goes on. Well hey - at least we got rid of the need to also “rent” a shitty cable box for $20 a month after all these years.
VOX MEDIA buys podcast biz newsletter HOT POD
Wait people can buy newsletters? Anyone wanna hook an Irish guy up? HOT POD will live under VOX’s tech-focused brand THE VERGE.
It’ll become a paid-only subscription email (it currently has a free option + a $7/month subscription option for more content), and subscribers will get free 3 months of NEW YORK magazine. Ah synergy.
However… the guy who founded and writes HOT POD, Nick Quah will no longer be involved (he also does a separate podcast reviews email for VOX-owned VULTURE). Instead in a curious move, VERGE senior reporter Ashley Carman will take over HOT POD. So essentially it seems like they just bought the brand and readership list and are gonna revamp the content. No price disclosed. /The Verge
ALSO IN MEDIA
TIKTOK’s parent company BYTE DANCE is borrowing $5 Billion dollars to refinance debt, and fuel overhead expansion in the US, Europe & Latin America signaling a major push to continue growth trends. /The Information
HBOMAX launching in Nordic countries & Spain on October 26. HBO / HBO GO already exists in the countries, so HBOMAX will be a free add-on for those customers as it was here, in addition to a new streaming service for non-HBO subscribers. No price indicated
They’ll also be adding 22 Eastern European countries in 2022 TBD.
AUSTRALIA’s highest court rules that News Media companies are liable for the comments people make on their FACEBOOK posts/stories. FB has given them an option to turn of Comments on posts… which of course affects the likelyhood that the posts will surface in someone’s feed… making the whole thing pretty much a waste of time. /WSJ
Trump breaks ground again - will become first US President to… give guest commentary on a Boxing Match. On 9/11. He and Don Jr. are doing a special streaming “Gamecast” feed on Saturday night for a PPV boxing match with 58 year-old Evander Holyfield, sponsored by former TIK TOK wannabe TRILLER.
TRILLER seems to have shifted or at least expanded into building a business featuring boxers from the 80’s returning to the ring for matches - Tyson and Roy Jones Jr have have done recent matches, and DeLa Hoya was supposed to be in this one but got Covid. /Deadline
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
Quiet day except for AMC THEATERS which was up over 8% because it was Monday.
And place your bets…err ‘investments’ in GAME STOP - they report their latest earnings late afternoon today.
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
HULU “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” Season 2 - First 3 episodes go up today. Click Here to Watch or Add to Your List
DISNEY+ “Doogie Kameāloha MD” premieres - Click Here to Watch or Add to your List
VICE TV “Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11” documentary - Premieres at 9p
If you were sent this newsletter or… just kinda found it:
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
NETFLIX “The Guilty” trailer. Jake Gyllenhaal as a 911 operator brought into a plot that isn’t what it seems involving an Ex who calls while in distress. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (“The Equilizer”) and written by Nic Pizzolato (“True Detective”). Premieres Fri Oc 1
NETFLIX “Sex Education” Season 3 trailer. Premieres next Fri Sept 17.
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
RADIOHEAD is dropping a special Anniversary combo edition of “Kid A” and “Amnesiac” with previously un-released songs from those recording sessions about 20ish years ago on Friday November 5.
Here’s one of the un-released songs from “Kid A” called “If You Say the Word”
Listen to the song on Spotify or:
If you need new tunes:
Email me anytime - just reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.
-Sean McNulty
@theseanmac on TWITTER
@TheWakeupNews on INSTAGRAM
or I’m also here on CLUBHOUSE