☀️ PSKY Board Approves CA Exit Move

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 Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

Where aspiring YOUTUBERS, it’s time to start upping your game.

YOUTUBE just increased the barrier to getting paid on the platform, as new creators looking to get into the YT Partner Program now have to hit metrics 2x the size of the previous minimums:

• 8k qualified watch hours (in the last year), or 20M qualified Shorts views (in the last 90 days).
• YT is also rolling out the ad-light PREMIUM LITE tier to all countries where YT PREMIUM exists.
  • 60% of the revenue from PREMIUM LITE and 30% of the revenue from PREMIUM goes into a pool that’s paid out to its partner creators based on view counts/engagement based on established rev share splits.

So, it’s nice to see an industry finally making it harder for the nepo baby generation to earn its keep.

PLUS: Here are your latest California tax credits, this time on the TV side. $146M of credits going to 9 shows:

• DISNEY: $45M (untitled detective series)
• PAR: $38M (for the Clueless series and Viola Davis’ Ascent, plus Matlock, Tracker and NCIS).
• UNI: $27M (Rockford Files and Newlyweds)
• SONY: $16M (S.W.A.T. Exiles)
• AMAZON: $12M (untitled comedy series)
• NETFLIX: $1M (animated series)

KUDOS: To Jon Hamm and his wife, Anna Osceola, who are expecting their first baby together.

YAH: Ari & Shapiro’s MARI made its purchase of Broadway & West End theater owner WTG street legal — the final price that MARI is paying PROVIDENCE for the asset was not disclosed, but the deal size was previously reported to be about $6B.

PLUS: The full TIFF schedule is now set. The NYFF also announced a world premiere for Tom McCarthy’s A Statement, and NY premieres of Club Kid and The Debut from A24.

THEN: The NFL’s Hall of Fame game got 7M viewers on NBC & PEACOCK on Thursday(no breakout number for either, but I’ll have it on Friday) — reminding all other sports that a pre-season NFL game that means nothing with 2 teams in small markets can beat the audiences for the majority of the games in all other sports, including playoffs.

• The audience was basically flat with last year, and 2021’s game was larger even though NIELSEN methodology counts more audiences now (out-of-home, BIG DATA + PANEL).

THEN: DIS+/HULU is the next streamer to make a syndicated video podcast deal, licensing 6 IHEART talk shows video pods for streaming on the platforms.

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The WARNAMOUNT Q2 Earnings Report*

*Which May Not Be Filed in CA Next Year

Yes, I think I’m officially having some earnings season withdrawal symptoms, as lo and behold, I’m creating another report to break down.

But, this one didn’t have an earnings call! Rather, now that we have both PSKY and WBD’s Q2 numbers, we can see how a combined WARNAMOUNT company would have fared in Q2 — aka the quarter which PSKY was really hoping would be WBD’s last full quarter as a public company.

However, now Zaz will likely be reporting quarterly numbers to the street for at least another 3 quarters.

So, how did WARNAMOUNT do in Q2?

Well. Yeah, I don’t think “stock pop” is exactly the reaction one gets looking at this . . . but the numbers do give insights into:

• Where WARNAMOUNT will be looking to free up money to attack the massive debt
• What it’ll need to focus on executionally in the near and long term, and yes — job loss is job #1. There is basically only 1 group at both of these companies that does not have overlap at the other company — so, kind of a reverse Noah’s Ark situation.
• How the new threat to move PSKY (and thus WARNAMOUNT) corporate headquarters out of CA actually would affect the elements at play here #FollowTheMoney.