☀️ What WBD Is Really Telling PSKY & NETFLIX
NETFLIX Films slow ’26 start / DIS top Comms exec leaving / SPC makes Sundance buy
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.
Where I never actually thought I’d watch a TGL indoor simulated golf match . . . and yet that was literally the best option basic cable had left to offer me after about, oh, I’m figuring minute 78 of the 108-minute SOTU “speech” last night when the KNICKS game was over.
Thanks, ESPN!
THEN: Not quite KPop Demon Hunters here . . . but NETFLIX will screen the first 2 episodes of One Piece via its new BFF, the movie theater business! Catch them in about 200 locations in the U.S., Canada and Japan on March 10. All major chains are participating.
AH: Gotta love The Hill nosing around in the 1,600+ complaints that the FCC got from America about the Jimmy Kimmel fiasco from the fall . . . and noting that the vast majority chastised Brendan Carr and the FCC for bowing to Trump’s will.
AND: Sundance 2027 in Boulder will be from Jan. 21 to 31, with the list of screening venues announced as well (covering middle schools to college!)
THEN: Good news for 2005! APPLE will now make its, uh, highly cherished MacMini computers in America in 2026. Let the American production revival roar!
KUDOS: To Kim Kardashian for becoming a co-founder of the paraxanthine-based energy drink UPDATE, a beverage that was already founded and launched 4 years ago. 🤔
PLUS: NBC/PEACOCK got 18.6M live viewers for the U.S. men’s hockey game at 8 a.m. on Sunday, the biggest hockey audience since the 2010 men’s hockey gold medal game (which was in the afternoon).
NBC: 14.9M
PEACOCK: 3.7M (note — this is via ADOBE ANALYTICS, not NIELSEN)
NOTE: The 20.7M total viewer number being reported for the hockey game includes repeat airings on USA and NBC later in the day.
The U.S. men’s hoops 🏀 gold medal final game at the 2024 Summer Olympics got 20.3M.
The Oscars got 19.7M viewers last year on ABC & HULU.
ALSO: The U.K. has put the big streamers (NETFLIX, DIS+, AMAZON PV — any reaching over 500k viewers) under the same regulations as TV broadcasters in the country regarding statutes around providing accurate / impartial news and protecting audiences from harmful or offensive material, enforced by OFCOM.
🙄 THE WBD AUCTION 🤦♂️
You know we’ve reached the fun part of the dealmaking process when the latest developments are described as things that could “reasonably be expected to lead” to a deal.
Ah, reason finally enters the picture — sweet! Ya know, like attending Trump’s SOTU speech in D.C. for moral support.
Remember when “David loves movies!” was the lead PR tactic being pushed regarding the Ellison family’s forays into Hollywood dealmaking?
Eh, I’m sure that’s the first thing we all still think of.
So, what exactly is WBD telling its 2 potential bidders with its statement yesterday and what are NETFLIX’s likely options ahead? Let’s interpret the satements — and also get a reminder of the harsh reality that’ll set in after this whole thing settles out come 2027.