☀️Top WBD, DIS Exec Shakeups as Next PAR Layoffs Loom
Oprah buys back APPLE doc / What DISNEY can learn from NIKE debacle / HBO gives 'Industry' more life
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED-IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY, September 20, 2024.
Where let’s start today with just a small reminder for our blue-chip advertiser friends 👋 as the hallowed Broadcast “Fall Premiere Week!” arrives on the calendar — we here in Hollywood promise not to put your product next to any shows about eating pets . . . unlike some of our competitors, ahem. 😏
Yes, despite several years of developing rock-solid “protections” against such things — ads for such brands as ADOBE and MAZDA are being given prime “adjacencies” to YOUTUBE videos featuring rock-solid insights like Ohio Haitian migrants are “eating ducks on the side of the road,” according to the NYT.
So instead — advertisers with big 💰 to spend, join us for Doctor Odyssey on ABC next Thursday night . . . where we promise you the most controversial element of the show will be determining just how dreamy Josh Jackson’s bedside manner is, and the only contentious debate will be over how sexy those blue eyes are.
AND: Metallica announced that its current tour will go into its . . . third year, with a new set of dates in the spring — tix go on sale here next Friday (pre-sale starts on Monday), with Pantera and Limp Bizkit among the supporting acts.
YUP: HALLMARK CHANNEL told NETFLIX to hold its beer 🍺, and is debuting 47 new holiday 🎄 movies this Christmas season. What’s that? Yes I’m serious, and don’t call me Shirley.
OH: OPENAI is now turning down money. According to Bloomberg, the company is capping the next round of investment at $6.5B, which Axios says is still the largest venture capital fundraising round of all time (the total valuation would bump up to $150B for the company).
Josh Kushner’s THRIVE CAPITAL would be the leader of this round with $1.25B of the $6.5B, which may also include APPLE, NVIDIA and MICROSOFT. Big tech is nothing if not insular!
YA KNOW: It’s nice when a massively overpaid sports contract actually, ya know, pays off for the team paying it . . . unlike, oh, some NFL quarterbacks this season, ahem 🤌 — but kudos to Shohei Ohtani for setting a new MLB record with 51 homers and 51 stolen bases in one season, which is the first season of his $700M, 10-year contract.
ALSO: SLACK — it’s you, not us. DISNEY is dumping the SALESFORCE product later this year after the big hack, and will use “streamlined enterprise-wide collaboration tools,” which may have greater security but 💯 loses in a branding battle.
WAKEUP POLL RESULTS
Count me in with the 40% optimists this weekend on Transformers One, think the word of mouth will give this a boost . . . plus let’s keep this box office magic going.
NEW ANKLER PODCAST EPISODE
Wherein we discuss how the longer the Bob Iger: Legendary (and Irreplaceable) Executive myth builds . . . the harder it gets to replace him. DISNEY doesn’t just have an executive challenge in replacing Bob Iger on its hands — it has a larger perception challenge that it will need to address simultaneously.
IN THIS EDITION
I guess it should be comforting to see another major, blue-chip company which can’t get its CEO succession right . . . except that one of the key figures in the NIKE debacle is also playing a major role in DISNEY’s succession process. 🤦♂️
BUT: There are some key lessons DISNEY should pay attention to in what went wrong at NIKE, and why DISNEY really needs to find a new marketing campaign for this whole process (note I didn’t say ‘dial in the choice to replace Bob Iger').
Lots of executive tumult in the division leader category to know, including former DISNEY favorite Zenia Mucha amassing more power in her next chapter gig.
Plus some project developments at WBTV, HBO, APPLE, NETFLIX and more — and of course, your guide to the new things to stream and watch this weekend.
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
