Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Netflix hikes subscription fees to fund expanding content slate
Netflix raised prices across its ad‑supported, standard and premium plans to boost revenue amid intensifying competition. The increase is designed to offset a projected 10% rise in content costs by 2026 and support new investments in sports, concerts and video podcasts.
Also developing:
Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds have fronted a new advertising spot for the BONDS Flying Roos, co‑owned by the duo, in partnership with work‑management platform monday.com. The campaign, released ahead of the SailGP Rio Grand Prix on April 12‑13, mixes the actors' trademark banter with sailing superstitions and the pressures of elite competition. Rio marks SailGP’s first event in South America, and the Flying Roos currently sit second in the 2026 season standings, eyeing the top spot. The spot aims to boost both the league’s visibility and the sponsors’ brand equity.
TNT Sports and DAZN have formed a U.S.-only partnership to launch a monthly boxing series called "The Fight," debuting on July 4. The collaboration brings together top promoters such as Top Rank, Matchroom Boxing, Golden Boy and Queensberry, delivering marquee bouts...
Fastly and Spain’s LaLiga have launched a joint anti‑piracy project that uses AI‑driven edge detection to spot illegal live‑stream copies in real time. LaLiga estimates piracy costs its clubs $700‑$800 million annually, and the partnership aims to shrink that loss by...
The NFL is renegotiating its broadcast contracts ahead of the 2026 season, eyeing a roughly 50% revenue increase from a new deal with CBS. John Ourand warns that the league’s leverage is eroding because there are no fresh bidders for...
Netflix’s live‑action adaptation “One Piece” surged to a new series high in its second season, delivering 1.62 billion minutes of viewing and ranking No. 2 on Nielsen’s overall streaming chart for the week of March 9‑15. “Virgin River” held strong at No. 3 with...
The Ankler × NAB Show will convene top media executives in Las Vegas from April 19‑21, 2026, under the theme “AI as Creator: Who Owns the Future of Hollywood?”. The three‑day forum will feature leaders from Kalshi, Versant, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal discussing...
The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into whether the NFL breached the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which shields the league’s ability to negotiate collective media contracts. The probe arrives just as the league was signaling a...
Even though the sports media rights pie will almost certainly grow over the next decade the tippy-top of Tier 1 sports (such as the @NFL) are going consume most of that growth. That means Tier 2 and 3...
Meta Platforms is removing more than a dozen paid advertisements that law firms used to recruit plaintiffs for social‑media addiction lawsuits. The move follows a California jury verdict that found Meta negligent in fostering compulsive use of its services. Axios...
Re-bundling is picking up speed (although there's a long way to go) as connecting high cost low margin long form video to low cost high margin services is part of the solution...Strategic question is will re-bundling & consolidation be enough...
Disney Promotes April Carretta to EVP of Communications, Exec to Lead PR for Dana Walden https://t.co/wy9hbwI6GF
Portuguese tenor Rodrigo Carreto has signed with Tiben Artists for general management, adding a high‑profile operatic talent to the agency’s roster. Carreto’s résumé includes performances at Teatro alla Scala, the BBC Proms, and Lisbon’s Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. This...
#CBS has picked up comedy pilot #EternallyYours and is passing on #TheTillbrooks. Eternally Yours is single-cam & from CBS Studios; The Tillbrooks is multicam & from WB. Eternally Yours is a vampire comedy, which is believed to couple well with...
lol…Here, let me help: Having NFL rights unquestionably locked down will be a strategic asset as the industry proceeds towards future media consolidation, which is coming for everyone, eventually…
Spanish soprano Berna Perles has joined TACT Artists Management and will be represented by Emanuele Destrini. Perles brings a distinguished performance record that includes leading roles at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, Madrid's Teatro Real, and other major Spanish opera...
“I educate people on Black culture, Black lifestyle, and the influence it has on our broader community,” Louis Carr, the new President of BET tells me. He joined me to talk the business of BET, why 106 & Sports failed,...
🎙️Tomorrow on The Grill Room: A special OpenAI-TBPN deal omnibus featuring back-to-back conversations with: * OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer @chrislehane * TBPN President @DylanAbruscato Follow here: https://t.co/OUrgd2dr7a @PuckNews https://t.co/LNZpsHUAkd
The Electronic Frontier Foundation announced it is leaving X after nearly two decades, citing a dramatic drop in post impressions. In 2018, EFF’s tweets generated 50‑100 million monthly impressions, but by 2024 the same volume of posts yields only about 2 million....
LOUD WOMEN’s DIY guide walks independent musicians through every step of releasing a single without a label, from finalizing recordings to uploading via a digital distributor. It stresses having all assets—high‑resolution artwork, multiple audio formats, a short bio, and optional...
The LA28 Olympic ticket presale, the earliest in Games history, opened with prices ranging from $28 to $5,519. Nearly 50% of tickets were under $200 and 75% under $400, but a 24% service fee inflated final costs. Fans faced technical...
Meta has removed more than a dozen Facebook and Instagram advertisements placed by U.S. law firms that were recruiting plaintiffs alleging harm from social‑media use as minors. The ads, from firms such as Morgan & Morgan and Sokolove Law, were...
iHeartMedia Las Vegas revamped Neon 93.1 from classic rock to a Variety Hits format in February and has now bolstered its lineup by appointing UNLV graduate Sammi Tempesta as the afternoon drive host and assistant programming director. Tempesta arrives after a...
Thai Randolph Launches NILE & Co., Creator-Driven Media Company That Has Acquired BuzzFeed’s As/Is and Goodful Brands https://t.co/XyY5sffSyU via @variety
Issa Rae’s Hoorae Media has teamed with TikTok to launch the micro‑drama series *Screen Time* on the platform’s PineDrama app, marking Rae’s return to short‑form digital storytelling. The partnership includes a slate of additional vertical dramas, positioning TikTok as a...
AdsWizz is hosting a webinar on April 23 titled “Scaling Podcast Advertising: Unlocking Growth with Context and Confidence,” aimed at helping advertisers break through scale ceilings caused by over‑filtering and brand‑safety constraints. The session will cover where scale is lost, episode‑level...
Los Angeles will charge admission for its World Cup Fan Fest events, a first for the traditionally free FIFA watch parties. The opening celebration at USC’s Memorial Coliseum and ten additional regional zones will require tickets for anyone 12 and...
AllCity Network announced a strategic partnership with the Kansas City Sports Network, becoming its exclusive sales representative while collaborating on content and distribution. KCSN will retain editorial and production control, leveraging its 33,000‑subscriber YouTube channel and 20,000 Substack followers. The...
Billionaire David Hoffmann has amassed control of 131 U.S. newspaper titles, directly owning 42 and holding a 53% stake in Lee Enterprises. Since 2022, every paper he acquired outright has become profitable, a rare feat amid a sector where 40%...
I always love going on @PeterHamby's great The Powers That Be podcast. This week, we hashed out ESPN's job cuts and offered a Masters preview. https://t.co/LXZeklVwQZ
ZOOTOPIA 2 debuted with a monster 1.7B minutes viewed in its first five days on Disney+, per Nielsen. That's nearly double the #2 movie that week, WAR MACHINE on Netflix.
Portland’s new WNBA franchise has launched Portland Fire+, a direct‑to‑consumer streaming service priced at $5.99 per month or $59.99 annually. The platform, built with Kiswe’s streaming technology and featuring live game broadcasts by Chime, offers original series, player features, and...
The goal is to target young men everywhere. Its deeper than sports. Nearly every hip-hop podcast is now sponsored by sports betting or some gambling app. I miss the days of Mail Chimp and Casper
Sony has inked a first‑look deal with directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, tasking them with helming the long‑awaited Metal Gear Solid film. The duo arrives fresh from the $317 million worldwide success of Final Destination: Bloodlines, which they directed...
Paramount Global President Jeff Shell quit his role on Thursday to focus on a lawsuit with gambler R.J. Cipriani, just as the media giant finalizes a $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The departure adds uncertainty to one of the...
Great Wolf Lodge introduced its inaugural Season Pass, granting families unlimited or weekday-only access to indoor water parks across U.S. locations from May 1 to Aug. 31, 2026. The Limited Pass costs $90 per person and restricts entry to weekdays,...
Patreon reported a 33% year‑over‑year revenue increase to $629 million, driven by 7.6 million paid podcast memberships across 47,000 creators. American Public Media and Streamguys launched the Inform Media Network, a private marketplace delivering 55 million+ monthly impressions for public‑media podcasts and livestreams....
Nine Entertainment has added the 24‑hour BBC News channel to its free streaming service 9Now, expanding the platform’s live‑news portfolio. The move builds on a suite of BBC FAST channels launched in late 2024, including BBC Comedy and Top Gear. Executives...
Netflix is set to report Q1 2026 results on April 16, projecting $12.16 billion in revenue, a 15.3% year‑over‑year increase, and earnings of $0.76 per share, matching analyst forecasts. The streamer ends 2025 with 325 million paid members and low churn despite recent price...
Beasley Media Group (BBGI) released a disappointing FY 2025 and Q4 2025 earnings report, yet its shares climbed sharply. The rally was not driven by fundamentals but by a coordinated meme‑stock campaign that urged retail investors to buy BBGI on the Nasdaq....
Comcast is continuing on its quest to kind-of, sort-of reconstitute the cable TV bundle for the streaming era. https://t.co/FiEBwSd62i via @variety
Xsolla’s Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Berkley Egenes discussed the company’s global‑first strategy on a sponsored episode of The Big Show recorded at the GDC Festival of Gaming. He emphasized Xsolla’s role in helping developers launch, monetize and scale games...
WTWH Media announced the acquisition of HealthLeaders, a niche B2B health‑care events firm, earlier this month. The deal adds HealthLeaders’ 23‑person team and its invite‑only Exchange series to WTWH’s 220‑employee portfolio, which already spans 35 live events across engineering, foodservice...
Creative Artists Agency’s Matt Galle and Mike Marquis have turned T‑Pain from a one‑off festival act into a headline‑touring powerhouse. By staging a step‑by‑step progression—from 500‑seat clubs in 2017 to sold‑out 5,000‑seat rooms, then to Red Rocks Amphitheatre’s 37,100 tickets...
Paris agency La Maison Créative Justement launched Unibet’s new "Let sport win you over" campaign, depicting robots being pulled into a spontaneous game when a ball rolls in. The spot underscores sport’s irresistible pull, juxtaposing human emotion with a high‑tech...
Google projects 1.2B people will come online for the first time by end of 2026—many through AI platforms, not browsers. Bollywood is already making AI films for them. The nightmare for Hollywood: India does not need U.S. IP, U.S. union...
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ordered StubHub to refund $10 million after finding the ticket‑reseller used deceptive "drip pricing" that hid mandatory fees until checkout. StubHub, which posted $1.7 billion in revenue last year, saw its shares dip 3% to $6.17 following...
The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into the NFL over its media‑rights distribution, citing concerns that the league’s model may limit competition and drive up consumer costs. The probe arrives as the NFL prepares to renegotiate...
DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 came on tracking today at $66 million opening, per NRG. First DEVIL opened to $27.5 million in 2006, or $44 million in today's dollars. Good news for @Lucas_Shaw, though MICHAEL (on Team Belloni) is also surging,...
⚡️ EchoStar’s Sling Undercuts ESPN DTC Pricing by 33% ⚡️ $DIS $SATS Disney/ESPN are already in litigation - unclear if this will further inflame the relationship https://t.co/UQYCc1M5nb
Niantic, the creator of Pokémon Go, has completed a major transformation by selling its gaming division and rebranding as Niantic Spatial, a pure‑play mapping and geospatial‑AI firm. At the end of last month the company appointed former IBM executive Inhi Cho Suh as...
