Rough week for Paramount and Netflix.
David Ellison now faces three new legal challenges to his company’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — a lawsuit filed Monday by 12 state attorneys general, a second brought Tuesday by the Writers Guild of America and a third from PSKY shareholders on Wednesday. Within hours of the AGs’ action, Elaine Low had an expert, forward-looking report on the strength of their case and how it will proceed (plus insiders’ take on the reality of the threat of the studio leaving L.A.).
Richard Rushfield followed with his take: why public sentiment has turned against the deal, and where the fight goes next.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s troubles with Wall Street — which date back to the streamer’s own bid to acquire parts of WBD — continued as its Q2 earnings report, despite revenue gains, drove another dip in its stock price (now down more than 40 percent year over year). Sean McNulty brought his keen analysis to all the numbers, while Lesley Goldberg and Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey each dug into the streamer’s latest “What We Watched” viewership data dump for a deeper look at its engagement woes — and a few surprise wins:
Things were sunnier over at NBCUniversal’s Peacock, where reality juggernaut Love Island saw big viewership increases for season eight vs. season seven, per Nielsen. Now reps are racing to snap up the show’s hottest names as they exit Fiji with huge new social followings — and some rules you might not know about who can represent them. Don’t miss Natalie’s dishy report:
And finally, do you have your Odyssey tickets yet? Christopher Nolan’s epic is finally here. Catch awards editor Katey Rich speaking to CNN about its craft, starry cast and the high Hollywood hopes:
Now, ICYMI, the rest of our best of the week:
Series Business
↑ Netflix’s Battle Over Binge: ‘It’s Forcing a Reckoning’ Industry opinions split on the streamer’s release model, Lesley reports, as Ted Sarandos sticks by his ‘core tenet’ and ‘engagement’ becomes the word (and worry) of the day.
Richard Rushfield
↑ Writer, Jr. Agent, Indie Producer: The 10 Worst Jobs in Hollywood Do you agree with Richard’s No. 1?
Crowd Pleaser
↑ The Video Game IP Boom Is About to Hit the Wall More than half the 50 best-selling franchises are taken, and Matthew Frank reveals why what’s left — amid changing habits — is worse than Hollywood thinks.
Reel AI
↑ Instagram’s 72-Hour AI Fail Exposes the Engagement Trap Muse Image, which let users generate images based on photos from any public Insta account, fell prey to backlash fast. Erik Barmack unpacks what it reveals about the battle for attention.
The Next BookTok Wave
↑ BookTok Called the Hockey Boom. Shadow Daddies Are Next In our latest dive into the reading world, Megan Vick explains why dark romances, dragons and morally ambiguous men are Hollywood’s next adaptation challenge — and big hope.
Prestige Junkie
↑ Tom Cruise, Obsession & My 10 Oscar Storylines to Watch #OscarsSoWhite again? An Olivia Wilde comeback? Katey Rich delivers a preview of the discourse about to dominate headlines.
Plus, Katey chats with Hacks creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky about a record-setting season and sticking the landing:
YouTube’s Emmy Breakthrough: ‘What We Do Is Not Webbys’ Katey talks to SubwayTakes host Kareem Rahma about being “recognized by the right people.”
The Wakeup
Sean has all the angles on Paramount’s snowballing challenges:
Thursday → ☀️ 6 States: Winners & Losers in Q2 Production; PSKY’s 3rd Lawsuit
Wednesday →☀️ Inside WGA’s Playbook to Fight PSKY
Tuesday → ☀️ Odyssey Faces IMAX’s Summer Bummer
Sunday → ☀️ Moana Misery: What Went Wrong
Podcasts
Ankler Agenda
Former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and Writers Guild of America West board member Adam Conover join Elaine to explain the states’ and WGA’s respective suits:
WSJ deputy media editor Jessica Toonkel tells Sean why, faced with lagging user engagement, Netflix’s next big thing might be… cable television:
Shows
Monday Morning QBs
Fandango’s Shawn Robbins joins Sean for an autopsy of Disney’s latest live-action miss:
Rushfield Lunch
Princess Pictures founder Laura Waters tells Richard about her work with Summer Heights High creator-star Chris Lilley and how she brought Australian comedy to the U.S.:
Like & Subscribe
New from Natalie Jarvey’s creator economy newsletter:
The Optionist
Andy Lewis’ latest IP picks:
