Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Nintendo and Illumination target $200M-plus Easter opening for “Super Mario Galaxy”
The upcoming “Super Mario Galaxy” film is being positioned to generate more than $200 million domestically over the Easter holiday weekend, leveraging the franchise’s multigenerational appeal. Analysts reference the 2015 “Avengers: Age of Ultron” $191 million opening as a performance benchmark.
Also developing:
By the numbers: K‑Love seeks FCC approval to acquire WFCC
Hanjin BRION announced the signing of former Cloud9 mid laner Lee “Loki” Sang‑min on a two‑year contract lasting through 2027. The 20‑year‑old will vie for a starting spot alongside incumbent Roamer as the team prepares for the 2026 LCK regular season. Loki returns to Seoul after a three‑year stint in North America, citing family reasons for his departure from Cloud9. While BRION remains a lower‑tier franchise, his international experience is expected to add firepower to a roster that struggled in the recent LCK Cup.
Julie Lamb has been promoted to Chief Talent Officer of AEG’s ticketing arm AXS, while Jason Boxer moves up to Chief Financial Officer. Both previously served as senior vice presidents—Lamb in HR and Boxer in accounting and finance. Their new...
Telia and Viaplay have signed a multi‑year content agreement to bolster Telia’s TV and streaming proposition in Sweden. The deal secures long‑term access to Viaplay’s extensive library of international series, local entertainment and premium live‑sport rights, including UEFA Champions League...
MSC Cruises has begun a major refurbishment of the MSC Poesia at Malta’s Palumbo shipyard, adding the upscale MSC Yacht Club and revamping dining, spa and fitness facilities. The upgrades, which include new specialty venues like Butcher’s Cut and Kaito Sushi...
Netflix walked away from its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, letting the bid lapse as Paramount Skydance raised its offer to $31 per share. The decision erased a major overhang, sending Netflix stock up about 8% in pre‑market trading while Warner Bros. Discovery slipped...
Martijn van Hout will leave Canal+ at the end of February, ending a 22‑year tenure that included roles as Country Manager DACH and Managing Director of Canal+ Austria. He launched HD Austria in 2010, grew it into a full pay‑TV...
Politico is making audio and video a core growth pillar through 2026, expanding its Playbook podcast network and launching a new Brussels edition. The company hired a deputy head of audio, introduced a Brussels Playbook podcast that already draws about...
PLAYzone unveiled its 2026 tournament roadmap, featuring four LAN events with a combined prize pool of roughly $96,000. The schedule includes the May Conquest of Prague LAN ($35,000), two open‑cup LANs in August and September ($13,000 each), and the November...
On Sale Live 2026, a conference for sales, marketing and communications professionals in live entertainment, will be held on 15 May at a new Kings Cross venue in London. The event gathers over 250 senior decision‑makers from theatre, festivals, sport...
wTVision has launched wMaps, a broadcast‑grade mapping platform built into its on‑air graphics ecosystem. The solution offers a standalone GUI for 2D/3D map creation and a client‑server module that supports up to ten simultaneous users via a browser. Designed for...
Spotify announced a three‑year partnership with The Push, a national youth music organization, committing A$200,000—the largest single donation in The Push’s history. The initiative builds on Spotify’s Turn Up Aus campaign, which generated an additional 223 million streams of Australian music...
Nielsen’s latest U.S. streaming charts covering Jan 26 2025‑Feb 1 2026 highlight Marvel’s new Disney+ series “Wonder Man” entering the Top 10 Originals at #8 with 618 K minutes viewed. The data underscores Disney’s dominance on the Acquired chart, where legacy titles like Grey’s Anatomy, Bluey and...
The Fallout TV series has driven a pronounced uplift in PC game sales across G2A.com from 2024‑2026. Season 1 generated a sharp acquisition spike, while sales in 2025 settled at a baseline well above pre‑show levels. The month before Season 2 premiered...
DAZN has secured exclusive streaming rights to broadcast every one of the 104 matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Italy, while public broadcaster Rai will air 35 selected games, including the opening match and any involving the Italian...
NBA Vice President Michelle Auguste explained how audience insights have shaped the league’s new 11‑year media rights agreement, positioning the NBA as a growth property despite overall TV declines. The data highlighted the league’s nightly reach, youthful and diverse fan...
Peacock will stream the award‑winning drama Hamnet exclusively starting March 6, 2026. Directed by two‑time Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, the film adapts Maggie O'Farrell's bestseller and has earned a 93 % Rotten Tomatoes rating. It already secured two Golden Globe wins and...
TV5MONDE announced that its three free‑ad‑supported streaming (FAST) channels—Chefs, Voyage, and Info—are now available on Plex across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. The rollout covers Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Mexico, with...
Disney Cruise Line has appointed Tracy Wilson as senior vice president and general manager of operations, succeeding Sharon Siskie. Wilson brings more than 30 years of Disney experience, most recently serving as senior vice president of finance for Disney Signature...
Hilary Duff’s sixth studio album “Luck… Or Something” debuted at No. 1 on Australia’s ARIA Albums Chart, marking her first chart‑topping album in the market. The record also led vinyl sales for the week, underscoring a resurgence in physical formats. While...
New Antenna data shows U.S. premium SVOD subscriber growth has markedly slowed, with seasonality now influencing churn as users cancel before adding new services. Bundling emerges as a critical growth lever, especially for Disney’s streaming portfolio. Meanwhile, Paramount‑Skydance secured the...
Spanish broadcaster Atresmedia posted €1 billion in net revenues for FY 2025, a marginal decline from €1.01 billion in 2024, despite a 4.4 percent contraction in the domestic TV advertising market. EBITDA fell sharply to €87.7 million, but the company noted that, excluding redundancy‑related provisions,...
WPP announced a strategic pivot toward outcome‑based agency fees, linking compensation directly to client sales and brand performance. The move is anchored by a pending global creative contract with Jaguar Land Rover that would tie fees to measurable results. WPP’s data platform,...
Content marketplaces are emerging as a way for publishers to monetize their articles and protect against AI scraping. Microsoft and Amazon are backing these platforms to boost Azure and AWS adoption, while licensing standards from groups like the BBC coalition...
I’d say yes overall, but arguments can be made to the opposite as well. In #TedSarandos case for instance, truth is that #Netflix didn’t need WB, it’s already miles ahead of everyone else even without WB. And he walks away with...
After two decades on free‑to‑air television, the Shannons SpeedSeries will move to Fox Sports starting in 2026. The new deal places all six championship rounds live on Fox Sports and on‑demand via Kayo Sports, ending its partnership with the Seven...
DAZN reported a 24% year‑on‑year increase in NFL Game Pass subscriptions, continuing double‑digit growth since its 2023 partnership with the league. The premium Ultimate Tier saw more than 300% growth as fans embraced HDR, Dolby 5.1, and multiview features. International...
California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned that the Paramount‑Warner Bros. Discovery merger is not finalized, citing an open state investigation. Paramount’s $31‑per‑share offer has been deemed superior, prompting Netflix to step aside. Regulators must still clear the deal amid concerns...
Warner Bros. Discovery will abandon the planned Discovery Global spinoff if its pending merger with Paramount is finalized, keeping TNT Sports under the combined umbrella with CBS Sports. Paramount, after raising its offer to $31 per share, reaffirmed confidence in...
Paramount Skydance announced a presumptive offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of CNN, after Netflix withdrew its competing bid. The announcement was made live on CNN’s "The Lead" by Jake Tapper, highlighting immediate relevance to the network’s staff. Political figures, including former...
Begin, the UAE‑based OTT platform, has signed a one‑year exclusive deal for the Indian Super League’s digital rights in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. The agreement grants live streaming access for the 2026 ISL season, which runs through...
Sen. Adam Schiff: “What was true for Netflix is still true now for Paramount. The merger of two of Hollywood's biggest studios must be subject to the highest levels of scrutiny, free from White House political influence, to determine...
D.C. Memo: Nexstar CEO Sook – Washington Has Not Said Company Needs to Sell Stations to Close TEGNA Deal | $NXST @NXSTMediaGroup $TGNA @TEGNA https://t.co/md3Cz4tI5F
The 2026 State of the Union broadcast saw a sharp drop in ratings, posting a 0.80 18‑49 rating on ABC, down from 2025 levels. Fox News narrowly led cable coverage with a 0.81 rating and 8.87 million viewers, edging out CNN....
How Can Paramount+ Recoup Its $7.7 Billion UFC Bet? Subs Won’t Do It 👇https://t.co/zU9AQ6MVr4 via @sportico
Nothing uncertain about it: CNN is fucked. This is the last nail in the coffin of American mass media as a legitimate actor. For CNN, a Change in Ownership Means a Suddenly Uncertain Future https://t.co/JFGHcIaQYc
Horizon Sports & Experiences and women’s sports media firm TOGETHXR have launched IX to Five, a joint venture aimed at commercializing women’s sports through premium storytelling, IP development, and brand partnerships. The venture debuts with content featuring the StudBudz, WNBA...
Hollywood's mega-merger battle ends with Warner Bros. as the real winner with a 78% stock bump since September - https://t.co/Ue55w8GTQk
As Paramount Skydance Grabs Warner Bros. and Netflix Bows Out, the Mood Inside All Three: Champagne Toasts vs. ‘Gut Punch’ https://t.co/7WOc11cdK3
Warner Bros. Discovery announced that its gaming division will refocus on its flagship franchises—Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC and Mortal Kombat—with new releases expected in 2027‑28. The company described 2025 as a reset year after shutting down MultiVersus and...
WaxWord: For months Hollywood has been transfixed and horrified by the prospect of either Netflix or Paramount winning the day. On the one hand, the streaming service that has become the most dominant force in the entertainment industry was threatening...
TKO’s Zuffa Boxing is on the precipice of a media rights deal with Sky Sports for the U.K. market. The latest news in The Varsity: https://t.co/whUqSmkk1E
Comcast is bundling free, ad‑supported Disney+ and Hulu with select Xfinity high‑speed internet plans, also adding Peacock Premium, Xumo Stream Box, and a Wi‑Fi gateway. The offer applies to gigabit, 1.2 Gbps and 2 Gbps tiers and is available to new sign‑ups...
Netflix Says No to Warner Bros. After Price War, Beltway Concerns 👇https://t.co/Yhskq9nksa via @sportico @crupicrupicrupi
Bottom line: Netflix walked away from an expensive bidding war that wasn't prudent and in doing so, it conveniently leaves one competitor saddled with debt and two competitors burdened by a very long, distracting regulatory approval process — Investors agree. $NFLX...
Skydance‑Paramount’s proposal to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery is being framed as a traditional media consolidation, but analysts argue the real value lies in the combined content library as a high‑fidelity training data source for generative AI. The deal would...
At the Digital Entertainment Group’s EnTech Fest, Angel Studios and Fandango highlighted the importance of cultivating passionate, direct‑to‑consumer audiences. Angel’s 2.1 million members vote on every title, paying a monthly fee for theater tickets and streaming access. Fandango, now operating under...
Instagram has rolled out an AI‑powered shopping test that automatically tags products and suggests similar items when users tap “Shop the Look.” Influencers say the feature surfaces products they don’t endorse, potentially cannibalizing brand deals and eroding audience trust. Creators...
Tomorrow’s IN THE ROOM will have answers to all your questions about what the Paramount-WBD tie up means for CNN, CBS, Bari Weiss, etc… Sign up here: https://t.co/aUkyssMv7F
Dear Ted, Take 10% of the $2.8B breakup fee—roughly $280 million—and go hire the best investigative journalists in the world. Build a next-gen 60 Minutes. A better CNN. Think of the revenge possibilities.
Here’s what I wrote back in December, the day after the Netflix deal with WBD was announced: https://t.co/aiNBd98ACC
