☀️ WBD Q1: Ad 💰 Drop, Gaming Bomb, $1B Loss
Powell, Sweeney set up new pics (separately) / TUBI does live-action comedy / TKO gets new NBCU check
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, May 9, 2024.
Where just a heads up L.A. — Jersey’s coming for ya! First NETFLIX is of course in the process of setting up a new 289-acre, multi-soundstage home about 5 minutes from where I grew up (don’t worry, I’ll tell you where to get the good gravy 🍝) . . . and now glamorous Bayonne, NJ was just approved by the state to get a new 23-soundstage, $1 Billion facility.
The project is expected to open sometime in 2026, so make plans now to come for the views of Staten Island . . . but stay for the scents of the oil refineries! (The site itself was a long-ago TEXACO refinery). Yeah, this isn’t going to help our rep, is it? 🤔
PLUS: SXSW is doing a London edition in June 2025 in . . . lemme guess, Shoreditch?
THEN: WBD and DISNEY are bundling themselves before someone does it to them #ZazQuote, and you’ll soon be able to get MAX, HULU and DIS+ for one still TBA price, at a TBA date this summer (what is it with these guys and the detail-less announcements? 🧐). There will be ad tier and ad-free options.
So — SPORTS HULU but with SVOD instead of linear TV (FOX shows stream on HULU). Now — how about we combine the two offerings, and we can all just call this a cable bundle again?
WBD streaming offerings have, of course, been bundled for a lower price by others, notably VERIZON which did a MAX & NETFLIX bundle.
SO: To pull out here . . . by late in the year, Americans are going to be pushed:
SPORTS HULU
MAX / HULU / DIS+ (sorry DISCO+)
The DISNEY BUNDLE (HULU / ESPN+ / DIS+)
Plus existing bundles and deals from VERIZON, T-MOBILE, etc.
Yeah, cue the “Consumers confused by bundling” headlines in about 4 months.
THUS: Just reinforcing that there are 3 ways to make money in business: bundling, unbundling and re-bundling. We have now entered the last phase — enjoy, America!
AND: Are we sure APPLE parted ways with the right marketing exec this week? This ad 👇 is a . . . curious creative choice to promote the brand new line of iPads, meant to reinvigorate the product line’s sales.
Don’t worry artists! You don’t need an actual trombone or real paint to express yourself creatively — just buy an $1,100 iPad! Somewhere PEPSI execs are having a good laugh. APPLE’s had better starts to a year. 🤦♂️
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
Okay, we have another Apes pic (I’m gonna go with . . . 4?). This one’s tracking in the $50M to $55M range, the reviews seem rather positive and the last pic in 2017 opened to $56M. Whaddaya got?
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Time for a dive into all things WBD. Are the streaming efforts making up for continued cable bundle losses? No — see the breakdowns, as well as the effects of the layoffs in the $ numbers, how the Studio is doing (mostly) post-strikes, and what the outlook is (always good when a Hollywood studio mentions AI 10 times on an earnings call).
Plus the latest look inside TKO, a bunch of series orders, the worrisome buzzword among ad execs going into Upfronts and a lot more today.
#medianerd🤓’s on a heater
WBD Q1: Building a company for the future . . . whose present is still tied to cable TV
Yeah, there’s not a lotta good news here — despite trying to spin it otherwise: