☀️WBD Ax Falls at CNN, Streaming Future Awaits
Oscar noms & surprises / FOCUS, Eggers re-team for Christmas '26 / AMAZON dips back into fantasy
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY, January 23, 2025.
Where to those of you enjoying films and free food at Sundance this weekend — enjoy the environs of Park City, UT! A place where it is currently 7 degrees as I’m writing this morning.
Give my best to Richard if you see him on Main Street or at The Ankler’s event with UTA on Saturday (and Richard — if anyone asks you about football, just say you really like the BILLS chances this weekend).
SO: Here are your Oscar nominations — and yes, Wicked did make the list for best picture and top acting noms (among others), with The Substance also making a strong showing overall, alongside The Apprentice in acting noms to spice things up.
Katey Rich will have all of your expert insight on her Prestige Junkie pod very soon (APPLE, SPOTIFY or just search Prestige Junkie on your pod listening platform).
OR: If you can’t wait, hop on the Substack app to watch her and Richard discuss the noms live at 1:30p ET today.
PLUS: Nine Inch Nails is going on the road this summer — U.S. dates start in August. Tix avail here starting next week.
ALSO: Judd Apatow is once again your host for the DGA Awards.
AND: Here is the lineup of things premiering at SXSW (Mar. 7-15), including the APPLE Hollywood series The Studio, AMAZON MGM’s The Accountant 2, A24’s Death of a Unicorn and UNI’s Drop.
OH BOY: OPENAI is releasing a new “Operator” CHATGPT function which can automate vacation planning and reservation making. Well, I guess we add concierges onto the endangered list! Let’s just hope that “Operator” makes reservations in restaurants that are in the same city it sent you to. 😬
AH: New FCC Chair Brendan Carr is getting right on top of protecting the airwaves for the American people, reviving 3 previously dismissed claims against broadcast TV networks from the CENTER FOR AMERICAN RIGHTS (think I’ll let you figure out their worldview on your own) from last year.
Oh and look! It’s one against each of the big 3, and none involving FOX. I mean, what are the odds . . .
AND: MAX and STARZ are dating doing a bundle via AMAZON CHANNELS for $21 a month, no ads on either (a 25% discount). It’s described as being avail for a “limited time” but no real specifics there.
THEN: Ad biz measurement certification sheriff MRC completed its accreditation of NIELSEN’s Big Data + Panel measurement, which includes data from streamers, cable TV companies and more, in addition to NIELSEN’s own panel data.
AMAZON has been reporting this additional Big Data point for TNF 🏈 (typically it added about 10% onto the traditional NIELSEN number each week), and this brief video from NIELSEN does a pretty good job on getting you up to speed.
BUT: If you’d rather watch a young woman who just turned 23 make 50 of 54 from behind the 3-point line on her birthday — well, never let it be said that I don’t like to keep things varied here. Also, Caitlin Clark and I had very different 23rd birthday experiences.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
LGF’s Flight Risk seems to be tracking around $8M to $11M in most estimates out there. Wahlberg’s Arthur the King opened to about $8M last March — obviously a way different genre, but his last few pics have been on streaming otherwise.
📽 THE SILVER TV
