☀️ PSKY Eyes Austin, PAR-WB L.A. Job Damage Numbers

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 Thursday, August 20, 2026.

Where Rushfield always tells me there’s no better way to start a morning than with learning something new about the economy — so, welcome to the “Doom Loop”!

Yes, that’s apparently the term for the situation the American economy is on the precipice of entering (or has already entered), as U.S. debt crossed the $40T mark.

That’s notably driven by the 2008 financial collapse bailout money and 2020 Covid spending that was never meaningfully re-accounted for — but most recently was augmented thanks to Trump’s #BigBeautifulBill tax cuts, increasingly pricey Iran war and high oil prices . . . with no end in sight other than $50T potentially by 2032.

So, welcome to the doom loop — where interest rates go up because the U.S. government needs to raise more debt to pay interest on existing debt . . . thereby raising risk for investors and thus raising interest rates again.

I’m gonna suggest maybe switching to a Word of the Day to start our mornings from here on out.

BUT: At least Gen Z dudes can still afford 70mm IMAX tickets (and this group 👇 seemed like, well, mostly dudes). Ya just gotta love a line wrapping around the entire city block at the 68th street UWS AMC theater in NYC like it’s 1984 to buy Dune: Part Three IMAX tickets with . . . everyone looking at their phones and not talking to each other. Look, one step at a time with the IRL thing, folks.

AND: To be clear, despite all the talk of yearning for IRL — American 17-25 year olds are still spending over 4 hours a day on social media apps, according to new data from APPTOPIA.

• It’s worth noting that the number falls to 3 hours for 26-35 year olds — the generation that grew up on social media apps — proving once again that habits change when your life changes . . . so maybe there’s still hope for you, broadcast TV!
  • Note that the over-46 crowd is down to nearly 2 hours a day (where does everyone find this time!?).

OF NOTE: CHARTER’s acquisition of COX is now official, and the company will have service in 45 states and be known as COX, although the services will all be called SPECTRUM and it’ll still be headquartered in Stamford, Conn.

• The deal was announced 15 months ago and has just finished all necessary regulatory processes, including approval in CA (the FCC approved it about 10 months after it was announced).
• Just as a comp — PSKY’s deal for WBD was announced about 6 months ago.

THEN: This piece on the alarming state of affairs at 20 landfills in America (mainly on the East and West Coasts — including one very close to the Santa Clarita River) was quite a read.

• Temperatures in the landfills often exceed 170°F (you really want these below 145°F), and some hit over 200°F, which creates a huge, uh, watershed-polluting “trash juice” problem. Pretty fascinating.
• And no, the EPA isn’t doing much to enforce remedies. Much like the federal deficit, the “Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine with a few small adjustments” approach is generally favored.

AND: ESPN is adding Pat McAfee to the Monday Night Football pre-game show.

AH: IATSE has suspended the leadership at Local 479 in Georgia & Alabama over corruption concerns.

WAKEUP Box Office Prediction

SONY Insidious: Out of the Further is looking at about $23M to $28M if you’re feeling adventurous, which I am to a degree — so I’ll go $25M to $28M this weekend.

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🎥 The Silver Screen