☀️WBD's Big 2025 Plan: Supercharge MAX
NBC, ABC get active on TV development / NETFLIX's latest doc pickup / Layoffs hit more publishers
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED-IN if ya like or email me seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY, December 6, 2024.
Where sure, enjoy your plethora of awards this season, Hollywood . . . but we all know what the real prize is — and the verdict is in!
Yes, a kudos to beige Mocha Mousse for uh, “winning” the prestigious PANTONE Color of the Year Award. It thanked its mom & dad (leather & eggshell), but gives the real thanks to the big guy upstairs (which I’m pretty sure is CRAYOLA) . . . and told the kids to keep dreamin’ out there — one day they too could be up there on the podium.
ALSO: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer comes back to NBC tonight at 8 p.m.
AND: Here are your AFI Top 10 movies for 2024, and Top 10 TV series.
Critics Choice TV awards are here.
HUH: APPLE TV+ is looking for a Head of Global Licensing (to bring things on the platform, not license APPLE stuff elsewhere), for both film and TV.
APPLE TV+ already licenses a small amount of studio movies for short windows, but something to keep an eye on.
WELL: In case there was any doubt that AI was stealing things from Hollywood — after reports surfaced that OPENAI was adding execs to build an ad tier onto its AI bot business . . . OPENAI now also doing a #PriceHike.
The company is now charging $200 a month for a new upgraded version of CHATGPT. The current premium version is, uh, $20. DISNEY execs — don’t get any ideas . . .
GREAT: The L.A. Times will be installing a “Bias Meter” on articles “so somebody could understand as a reader that the source of the article has some level of bias,” according to Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, as well as I think if the writer leaves the toilet seat up or not. Yup, that should do it. 👍
YEAH: NVIDIA honcho Jensen Huang is using good ol’ “estate planning” loopholes to avoid paying $8B worth of taxes when he leaves the Earth (er, meaning he dies — not like, uh, a BLUE ORIGIN flight), to which even OPENAI responded “Really, bro? 😏”
PLUS: SPOTIFY CEO Daniel Ek must really not be doing well with his FANDUEL account these days (don’t get him started on how MAN CITY is due 🙄) — he sold another $37M worth of SPOT stock this week. According to MBW, this is on top of selling:
$35M on Nov. 20
$36M on Nov. 26
He has sold a total of $320M in 2024.
THEN: CONDE NAST is laying off another round of folks, but no number is out there yet.
This follows a layoff round at HEARST of around 200 folks last week.
Aaaannnd . . . VOX is also laying off some folks in its lifestyle brands, after installing a partial paywall on The Verge this month as well.
NEW ANKLER PODCAST EPISODE
I’m not in this one, so . . . I’ll be listening from London!
HBO’s Impending Narrative Change
So, a couple things to know up top before I dive in here:
I worked at HBO for most of my career, which is not news . . . but just feels like something people note in these scenarios.
I already began writing this HBO / MAX analysis before attending MAX’s special preview event in London yesterday led by Casey Bloys, with JB Perrette and Gerhard Zeiler also in attendance (always fun to have the bosses in the front row for your presentation 👋). I asked Casey if he wanted to do a pic for the newsletter but he said I was too tall (just kidding, Casey).
But even before attending the event yesterday — in evaluating the 2023 to 2025 period, it’s really worth a look at both:
How the past 2 years have arguably been notably below usual (or desired) HBO standards of cultural presence and major programming volume.
Why HBO’s buzz/share of the cultural conversation is very likely about to go up a notch in 2025.
And even more importantly — let’s look at why it’s not a moment too soon for WBD in its overall business trends narrative.