Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.
Where, as my mom always tells me, it never hurts to have an extra $165M lying around when your company just issued $52B of debt — something Larry Ellison apparently agrees with, too.
Yes, he’s putting his North Palm Beach, Florida, waterfront estate on the market for that low, low $165M price . . . a notable bump from the $80M he paid for it 5 years ago.
But Larry — are you sure you want to lose that locked interest rate from 2021? Mortgage rates are now up to 7.5% this week!
Buyer beware — be sure to factor in air conditioning costs for all 16,300 sq. ft. during the peak of the summer season. At least you’ll have 13 rooms where you can splash water on your face from a bathroom sink to stay cool.
WELL: The inflation-plagued, high-gas-price economy is having one benefit — DISNEY’s annual fall theme park ticket #pricehikes are at some of the smallest levels in recent history, with many tiers unchanged.
OH: DIS+ will stream the Super Bowl in February (it airs on ABC) in 55 countries. The streamer will also feature 2 MNF games later this season and stream Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve.
AH: Joe Rogan re-upped his licensing and ad sales deal with SPOTIFY in a “multi-year” agreement. His previous deal gave him an earnout of about $250M according to the WSJ.
AND: CBS NEWS is doing its next Town Hall in Michigan on Sat. Oct. 17, with JD Vance, a little over 2 weeks before Election Day.
SO: Cable company lobby groups are going to sue Brendan Carr’s FCC over its lifting of local TV station ownership limits, saying it’ll result in too much leverage as well as higher bills for consumers (sound familiar?).
PLUS: Speaking of Brendan Carr, the FCC is considering lifting parts of the ban on political robocalls to cell phones, with the caveat that the calls have to be pre-recorded messages — or better yet, come from AI bots — which I’m sure totally won’t result in another 🖕 being sent in Carr’s direction should he decide to make the change.
AH: Never count out Illinois in the state tax credit battles — a new 144k sq. ft., 6-soundstage studio is in the works in the southern part of the state, just outside of St. Louis.
- The state offers a 35% rebate, plus another 5% on wages if you shoot outside Chicago, and another 5% for certified green productions.
WAKEUP Box Office Prediction
UNI/BLUM’s Other Mommy is tracking around $20M, but this seems like it has more heat than that . . . so count me as $21M to $25M, although I think we could see higher than that.
AS ALWAYS: Connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me anytime at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com.
SKYDANCE’s Rocky Week On Wall Street Continues — What’s Ahead In 2026
The disgruntled SKYD bondholder drama at the end of last week (turns out the bond crowd is not a fan when the value of the bonds they just bought dips on day 1) is being met with a whiplash reaction of sell-off by the trader crowd so far this week . . . now with a small rebound, as JB Perrette sets some of his top lieutenants on the business side.
So, let’s take a look and dive into what’s on the horizon across movies and streaming that could cause waves for the rest of the year.
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