Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Super Mario Galaxy film targets $200M+ opening weekend
Nintendo and Illumination are positioning the upcoming "Super Mario Galaxy" movie to open with more than $200 million domestically over the Easter holiday weekend. The strategy leans on the franchise’s multigenerational appeal and a family‑focused release window, with analysts citing the 2015 "Avengers: Age of Ultron" $191 million opening as a benchmark.
Also developing:
By the numbers: K-Love seeks FCC approval to acquire WFCC
NBA viewership on ABC’s Saturday Primetime fell 21% to 2.22 million, the lowest since the series began in 2016. In contrast, the league’s Sunday Showcase rose 20% to 2.56 million, marking the first season since 2022‑23 that Sunday outdrew Saturday. NBC’s new Sunday Night Basketball package is averaging 3.7 million viewers, far surpassing previous Sunday windows. Across all national broadcasters, regular‑season games now average 1.78 million viewers, up 13% year‑over‑year and the highest seasonal average in seven years.
CP Communications has been named the official U.S. rental and sales partner for Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC). Through its subsidiary Red House Streaming, the firm has installed MRMC’s robotic camera systems in its new Studio C in St. Petersburg, Florida. Studio C...
Elevenlabs has introduced a music marketplace that lets users upload and sell tracks generated by its ElevenCreative AI model. Creators receive revenue when their songs are downloaded, remixed, or licensed across three tiers—Social Media, Paid Marketing, and Offline. The platform...
In #China’s #BoxOffice, after local #SpringFestival releases holding the #1 since #ChineseNewYear, Hollywood is ready for a comeback with #Pixar animation #HOPPERS & sci-fi #ProjectHailMary fighting for the #1 On final pre-sales day #HOPPERS finished with strong $1.3M total (vs #Elio’s...
Active Radio, a noncommercial station broadcasting classic and Red Dirt country music, operates a Class C2 FM signal and an FM translator in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The station is slated to change hands, with a prospective buyer awaiting Federal Communications...
Guideline is launching Local Dynamics Quarterly, a subscription report that provides transaction‑level advertising intelligence across more than 175 DMAs and multiple media channels. The service arrives just weeks after Nielsen announced the shutdown of its SIGMA radio‑monitoring platform, leaving a...
Magellan AI released its February rankings of podcast advertisers, highlighting both the highest spenders and the fastest spend growth. Quince and McDonald’s topped the list of total spend, while sports podcasts captured the majority of investment across the top fifteen....
Sony Music has identified over 135,000 AI‑generated deepfake songs impersonating artists on its roster and is urging streaming platforms to remove them. The deepfakes, which include tracks attributed to Beyoncé, Queen and Harry Styles, represent only a fraction of the...
Italy’s recorded‑music market posted $579 million in 2025 revenues, up 10.7% year‑on‑year, driven primarily by a 14.1% surge in paid‑subscription streaming that now accounts for 69% of streaming income. Total streaming revenue reached €340 million, while physical sales jumped 21.9% with vinyl...
UEFA has launched a formal tender for the official match‑ball rights of its men’s club competitions starting in the 2027/28 season, ending Adidas’ two‑decade hold on the Champions League ball. The bid process, run by Relevent Football Partners and UEFA’s...
The proposed Paramount Skydance–Warner Bros. Discovery merger will generate roughly 85% of its earnings from linear television, despite the industry’s streaming shift. The combined entity inherits more than two dozen aging cable networks, prompting executives to evaluate spin‑offs, digital rebrands,...
Applause Entertainment, the Aditya Birla Group‑backed studio, has struck an exclusive partnership with micro‑drama platform Story TV to co‑produce and distribute a premium microdrama slate, including a vertical adaptation of the romantic‑thriller "Hello Mini." The deal leverages Story TV’s 50 million‑plus...
Sweden’s recorded‑music market expanded 3% in 2025, reaching over SEK 2.3 billion, with paid‑subscription streaming shouldering most growth. Subscription‑based audio streaming generated SEK 1.95 billion, representing 85% of total music revenue and rising 2% year‑on‑year. Ad‑supported streaming increased 9% to SEK 124.3 million, while digital downloads...
Tina Turner's music rights have switched hands for the second time in five years. 2021: Turner sold catalog + NIL rights to BMG for $50M 2026: Pophouse bought majority stake from BMG Pophouse launched the ABBA Voyage show in London. Let's see what...
Diary of a CEO grew to 14 million subscribers in just a few years. Part of the engine was Grace Miller, Flightcast's Head of Experiments. In this podcast, we'll break down the experiments they ran and how to grow on YouTube in...
David Ellison, head of Paramount, wrote to California lawmakers outlining how the planned Paramount‑Warner Bros. Discovery merger will protect and expand Hollywood jobs. He pledged each studio will maintain a 15‑film annual slate, a 45‑day theatrical window, and longer VOD windows,...
Skylar won't be the last celebrity to do virtual beings or toys like this thanks to AI. Why? I hear from the people building them that the research with consumers shows that early users fall in love with them.
Tomorrow on The Grill Room: Beehiv founder @denk_tweets This, imho, is a must-listen for creators and would-be creators thinking about building their own publishing businesses... Follow here: https://t.co/OUrgd2dr7a https://t.co/7uSZkENSc8
Epic Games announced on March 19 that Fortnite creators now have access to a suite of Disney‑licensed Star Wars assets, including characters, force powers, sound effects, and vehicles such as droid battle tanks. Creators can begin building and testing experiences immediately, but...
MELANIA generated 747,157 views on Prime Video in its debut week, big for a documentary but only 4th place on the Luminate streaming movies chart.
These media companies also have no understanding of how to work w creators well or navigate the online attention economy. Look at the creator roster at Studio71, Dear Media, or any creator-focused network…. then look at the roster for one...
Communications Director Benjamin Boiron of France’s M6 Group announced that its thematic channels Téva and Paris Première logged a combined 1.4 billion video views last year, marking a historic digital milestone. The surge was driven by aggressive distribution on Facebook, YouTube...
Just in: CNBC is launching "Morning Call,' a 5 AM program that will precede 'Squawk Box.' Morgan Brennan will host....
"Despite the high barrier to entry thanks to regulatory concerns and a high level of native competition, Ahmad is confident that international developers can succeed in the region" https://t.co/YbTBgMCeDX
Prime Video announced its largest‑ever Indian Originals slate, featuring close to 55 series and films across Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The lineup introduces diverse formats, including India’s first homegrown Hindi superhero series and new seasons of hit franchises like Farzi...
Hollywood’s recent influx of Gulf sovereign wealth has underpinned mega‑deals such as Saudi‑backed EA’s $55 billion acquisition and Paramount‑Skydance’s $111 billion bid. The ongoing Israel‑Iran conflict has forced production shutdowns across the Gulf, prompting studios to relocate projects and reassess risk. With...
PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC) announced the renewal of its exclusive sales and distribution agreement with A+E Networks for five flagship podcasts—Cold Case Files, I Survived, American Justice, City Confidential, and Ancient Aliens. The five shows have amassed more than 200 million combined...
TF1 Pub, the advertising arm of France’s leading broadcaster, unveiled a suite of performance‑focused tools for Connected TV (CTV) campaigns. The new platform combines first‑party audience data, AI‑driven bidding and real‑time attribution to turn CTV into a measurable acquisition channel....
We've released a FREE whitepaper on evergreen games. These are games built around exceptional replayability with no fixed endpoint. The paper looks at why these games thrive and what developers and publishers need to know about them. https://t.co/LrqktDsvFD
Janet Jackson has signed a long‑term global publishing administration agreement with Believe Music Publishing, transferring her entire songwriting catalog to the newly launched division. The deal, announced on March 19, 2026, adds a high‑profile legacy catalog to Believe’s portfolio, which...
DOJ Will ‘Absolutely Not’ Fast-Track Review of Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal for Political Reasons, Antitrust Chief Says https://t.co/sQogt9Eyeq via @variety
UGCon is debuting on May 21‑22 at Topgolf Las Vegas, targeting the fast‑growing user‑generated content (UGC) sector in gaming. The conference will spotlight UGC on platforms such as Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft, emphasizing brand and intellectual property integrations within virtual...
Nexstar has not offered to make any station divestures to try to appease states concerned about media consolidation resulting from its deal to merge with Tegna, says California AG Rob Bonta.
Starbreeze Entertainment announced a partnership with VICE Studios to develop film and television adaptations of its Payday franchise. The deal follows an earlier, now‑unclear collaboration with Stockholm Syndrome and retains full IP ownership for Starbreeze. While Payday 3 underperformed, Payday 2 outshone...
HBO Max is set to launch in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 26, 2026, introducing a suite of discounted “Saver Plans” that bundle the streaming service with TNT Sports. The plans offer monthly savings of £8.99 to £10.99, require...
NY AG Letitia James says pay-TV prices will spike if Nexstar-Tegna deal goes through because they will demand higher carriage fees and those costs ultimately get passed on to consumers.
Viagogo unveiled Distribution Manager, an AI‑powered self‑serve platform that lets artists, sports teams and venues list official tickets directly on its global marketplace. The tool is built on Viagogo’s Open Distribution model, which has already driven an 84% year‑over‑year increase...
McDonald’s ‘Meal Ticket’ Basketball Documentary Offers Path for Marketers With Stories Too Big for Commercials https://t.co/EJVbiQi4xA via @variety
#paid has become an official execution partner for Pinterest’s Idea Ads, linking its creator‑brand matching technology and Handraise workflow with Pinterest’s creator ecosystem. The integration enables creators to self‑select campaigns and produce Idea Ads that blend organic inspiration with paid...
Indie co‑op Peak, built in roughly four weeks of intensive iteration, sold millions of copies and generated over $2 million in revenue on a sub‑$200k budget. Studio head Nick Kaman said the project forced Aggro Crab to rethink its development culture, adopting...
Freely has appointed Synapse TV to create and operate its Freely Showcase service on channel 100 of the Freely streaming platform. The IP‑only channel, available exclusively to Freely subscribers, will feature platform highlights, feature updates, and how‑to content to aid discovery....
Sky Media announced that its premium video‑on‑demand (VOD) inventory is now available through Google Display & Video 360 (DV360), extending programmatic access across Sky’s owned and partner channels. The offering includes entertainment, drama, sport and news assets such as Sky Atlantic,...
STARZ reported that the premiere of Outlander’s final season attracted nearly three million multiplatform viewers in its first week. The episode “Soul of a Rebel” secured the #1 spot among scripted cable programs, marking a four‑year series high. Season eight,...
Values Value and InGame Job have released the 10th edition of the Big Games Industry Employment Survey, tracking global labour‑market trends in game development. The study, backed by partners such as Mellow, Scorewarrior, Tribe and major industry bodies, gathers responses...
Top Rank Boxing has inked a multi‑year global streaming agreement with DAZN, bringing its fight slate and archive to the platform after parting with ESPN. DAZN will air eight to ten Top Rank events annually, bolstering its "DAZN Ultimate" subscription...
King’s Farm Heroes Saga has officially crossed the $2 billion lifetime revenue threshold, doubling the $1 billion milestone announced in 2019. Launched in 2014, the match‑3 title now boasts roughly 50 million global players and continues to receive regular content updates. The achievement...
Deron Rippey Jr., a top high‑school basketball recruit, has signed an NIL partnership with frozen‑pasta startup Ripi, receiving a modest five‑figure cash payment and less‑than‑1 % equity that vests over several years. Ripi, which has raised $1.5 million and is targeting the...
Afrime Studios, a majority Black‑owned US game developer, has closed an angel round of roughly $400,000 and is now moving into a seed funding phase. The studio is building a public demo of its debut Afrofuturistic sci‑fi RPG, Unyverse, to...
Indian paint giant Nippon Paint has signed Punjab Kings as an official partner for IPL 2026, securing jersey sleeve branding and a mascot-driven fan program. The deal features the brand’s logo on the right sleeve of the team’s kit and...
Playstack reported a 59% jump in profit before tax for 2025, reaching £12.2 million ($16.2 m), driven by record sales of the titles Abiotic Factor and Balatro. The publisher logged 20 million new installs and more than 150 million hours played, pushing its Steam...
