☀️YOUTUBE TV hikes price, more than Doubles cost since launch
JLO doing next pic from Matt & Ben's company / IMAX prez departing / PAR+ launches mobile-only plans internationally
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY March 17, 2023.
Where Friday + St. Patrick’s Day + March Madness Day 2 = me being very glad I don’t have to write a newsletter for tomorrow. Happy St. Patrick’s Day from a (foreign born) Irish citizen! 🇮🇪
MADNESS UPDATES: The Women’s MARCH MADNESS tournament starts today, all games air across ESPN channels, with ABC airing some games this weekend as well - yet again, zero non-bundle streaming options for this tourney either #hugefail.
Out of 20+ Million brackets filled out on ESPN, only 658 of them correctly predicted all 16 games on the first day #thanksPrinceton+Furman. As I learned many, many years ago… picking against ARIZONA in the first round can often be a good call.
AND: A high recommend to read ESG’s piece from yesterday on how proposed WGA Streaming residual changes could result in more shows getting pulled from platforms.
If, like me, you get the general gist that the tactic can save costs… but are a little fuzzy on how exactly - ESG did a great job diving into the particulars - with of course some great charts to go with them as always. #goodread
PLUS: 4-6pm is the new primetime for folks in the post-Covid, WFH world according to 2 new NY Times pieces:
The most popular series on Cable News networks are now roughly in that window (The Five on FOX NEWS, Jake Tapper and Erin Burnett on CNN, and Ari Melber on MSNBC), not the primetime window as was the case previously.
A new Stanford study based on geolocating tech noted that there was a +278% increase in people playing golf at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday in August 2022 vs. August 2019.
AND: The most popular times for workout classes and salon appointments are also shifting to that 4-6p window as well.
So - how about a 4pm weekday Movie Theater matinee price stunt eh? (besides Tuesday discounts) #IncreaseTheHabit
YES: Some current and former SVB employees are now blaming WFH as a contributing factor for the bank’s collapse. Glad to learn the banking industry learned something about optics in the past 15 years. 🤦♂️
OH: MICROSOFT is integrating CHAT GPT AI into Office products (Word, Excel etc) for some customers, with further rollout over time - and cue ‘Blaming the AI’ for a embarrassing human error in a presentation in 3, 2…
Friday Wakeup Box Office POLL: Shazam! Fury of the Gods is hitting about 4,000 screens, tracking at about $35 Mil to $40 Million. In honor of MARCH MADNESS, I’m gonna go with a pure over / under on this one… and put the breaking point on the lower side here to make it a little more interesting.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
PAR+ adds a mobile-only subscription in some international territories.
AMAZON is looking at new JLo pic based on a true story.
UNI and LIONSGATE add films to their 2023 slates.
WB looking at the $$ Nancy Meyers rom-com.
IMAX Prez and another UTA Partner respectively set departures.
YOUTUBE TV passes price increases onto customers, plus the weekend preview of the new TV & Movies out this weekend, new surprise TSWIFT 😱 and more.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
