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
Screen Australia has appointed acclaimed filmmaker Rachel Perkins as its inaugural Director of First Nations Strategy, effective 2 March 2026. Perkins, an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman and co‑founder of Blackfella Films, brings over three decades of experience creating Indigenous‑focused television and film. In her new role she will steer policy, funding and partnership decisions for First Nations content across the agency. The move underscores Screen Australia’s commitment to amplifying Indigenous voices in the national screen ecosystem.
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.
Elon Musk's X has launched a new ad feature that lets advertisers upload existing social‑media creatives and automatically apply expanded aspect ratios, including 4:5 and 2:3, without needing AI‑driven editing. The tool is available through Media Studio, Composer, and the...
Hostile M&A is always bloodsport, but I can't remember an acquirer coming out of a process this bloody. Netflix has a shareholder problem (which doesn't understand why it wanted to buy a legacy studio), a Hollywood talent problem (which doesn't...
Samba TV’s H2 2025 advertising report shows a sharp pivot toward essential and infrastructure categories, with utilities ad impressions jumping 48%, insurance up 18% and pharma rising 12%. Discretionary sectors such as career services, apparel and food & beverage posted double‑digit...
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, has leveraged giveaway‑centric videos to set new viewership records on YouTube. In the past 90 days his "Subscribe For An iPhone" clip topped U.S. charts with over a billion views, while a holiday $100K giveaway...
Sphere Entertainment reported a profitable 2023, but earnings relied on debt restructuring rather than operational cash flow. The Las Vegas‑based immersive venue generated $1.2 billion in 2024 revenue, giving it a 2.1× enterprise‑value multiple of roughly $2.5 billion. Analysts struggle to find...
Edison Research, now part of SSRS, will unveil The Infinite Dial 2026 in a March 12 webinar backed by SiriusXM Media. The annual survey, the longest‑running study of U.S. digital‑media behavior since 1998, now includes unprecedented data on AI usage alongside metrics...
#WonderMan debuted to 10.3M U.S. hours, per @nielsen. As a ~half hour binge release, that's not awful but it's not great. Longer hit shows tend to premiere to 20M+ hours. I hope it has legs and can stay on the...
Backyard Ventures announced that the comedic history podcast Softcore History, hosted by Rob Fox and Dan Regester, has joined its creator roster as the exclusive representative for premium brand partnerships. The deal covers both audio and digital platforms, positioning the...
Podcast Movement announced its flagship conference will move to New York City, hosting the 2026 event at Terminal 5 from September 14‑18. The program splits into a two‑day Sounds Profitable Business Summit for executives and media buyers, followed by creator‑focused sessions and networking events....
Australian creator Sam Ramsden’s independent podcast Silly Stories for Kids logged 2.47 million monthly listens, 1.373 million downloads and over 21.8 million listening minutes in the last 30 days. Audience composition is roughly 52% North America, 26% Australia‑New Zealand and 13% United Kingdom, underscoring its...
ATSC has named Indian broadcast veteran Anil Bhardwaj as its Technology & Strategy Director for India and Emerging Markets, reinforcing the group’s push for next‑generation standards. Bhardwaj will lead ATSC’s engagement with the Telecommunications Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI) and...
Swedish esports organizer Black Molly Entertainment (BME) announced a strategic partnership with ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) extending through 2026. ROG will serve as the main partner for BME’s flagship properties, including the Glitched LAN festival, Esportstudion channel, Red Bull...
SiriusXM will broadcast every IndyCar race, practice and qualifying session for the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series on its IndyCar Nation channel, covering all 18 events starting March 1 in St. Peterburg. The satellite‑radio service will also continue weekly shows like Brick‑by‑Brick with...
The New York Times introduced a new subscriber‑only "Midi" crossword, a 9×9 puzzle that sits between its Mini (5×5) and Daily (15×15) offerings. The move expands the Times Games portfolio, which already serves over one million games‑only subscribers and generates roughly $50 million in...
California State University, Northridge (CSUN) will assume ownership of KSBR’s FCC license, consolidating it with KCSN’s under the CSUN University Corporation, pending FCC approval. The move formalizes a simulcast partnership that began in 2017, covering Orange and Los Angeles counties, while...
Suno, the AI‑generated music platform, has reached $300 million in annualized revenue and 2 million paying subscribers in under two years. Investor C.C. Gong publicly said she shifted most of her listening from Spotify to Suno, claiming AI music offers a personalized, infinite...
The Houston Chronicle is testing creator collaborations, beginning with food‑video creator Shawn Singh, to drive newsletter sign‑ups, pay‑wall subscriptions and social follows. Success is measured both by hard metrics and by the willingness to experiment and adopt a creator mindset....
Chyron has launched Weather 2.3, the newest version of its broadcast‑grade weather‑visualization suite. The update adds UHD, 4K DCI and 2K DCI SDI outputs, a Virtual Globe 3D playlist, and support for custom aspect ratios such as square and portrait. Automation capabilities are...
Telestream unveiled a suite of production‑ready AI features across its Vantage, Vantage Cloud, EDC, Stanza and Qualify platforms. The rollout adds AI Caption with support for 128 languages, AI Qualify for automated lip‑sync and subtitle validation, AI Speech for real‑time...
Warner Bros. Discovery reported a 7% year‑over‑year drop in Q4 total revenues, falling to $9.5 billion. All three core segments—distribution, advertising and content—declined, with advertising down 9% and content down 10%. The company posted a net loss of $252 million after accounting...
Nexstar Media Group expects its $2.5 billion acquisition of Tegna to close by the end of the second quarter, aligning with the anticipated surge in political advertising ahead of the 2026 election cycle. The company reported Q4 net revenue of $1.29 billion,...
Jonathan Allan, who has been with Channel 4 for 15 years, will step down as interim CEO ahead of the arrival of new chief executive Priya Dogra in March. Allan’s tenure included roles as chief commercial officer, chief operating officer, and interim...
iHeartMedia has signed a multi‑year partnership with Qatar’s Government Communications Office to build a state‑of‑the‑art podcast studio and launch original Arabic shows. The deal will also bring popular global podcasts to Arabic‑speaking audiences and deliver masterclasses for local talent. iHeart...
FCC Chair Unfiltered: Protecting Local News, Sports on Broadcast TV and May Sue a Network @BrendanCarrFCC did not hold back in a wide-ranging, must-watch conversation with @semaforben yesterday. The interview came shortly after Carr issued an FCC Public Notice seeking...
PlayVS and Urban One have announced a three‑year partnership to launch a dedicated esports league for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The initiative will embed HBCU competition within PlayVS’s existing College League platform, with registration opening in fall 2026 and...
With international expansion finally in full swing, #HBOMax added another 3.5M net subscriptions on Q4 2025, ending the year with 131.6M Global subscribers. And $WBD expects an even stronger Q1 2026, thanks to #AKoTSK averaging 24M views per episode, on top...
Netflix has formally withdrawn its bid to acquire part of Warner Bros. Discovery after Paramount raised its offer to $31 per share, valuing the deal around $77 billion. Netflix’s own proposal, previously estimated at $72 billion, was deemed too costly, and the...
From YouTube to $48 million box office hit @markiplier's self-financed indie horror film 'Iron Lung' more than 15x'd it's budget and is a glimpse into how the right creators will redefine distribution in Hollywood 00:00 The Story of Iron Lung 05:54 By...
Here’s what I wrote back in December, the day after the Netflix deal with WBD was announced: https://t.co/aiNBd98ACC
Graham Media Group, a broadcast arm of Graham Holdings, reported a disappointing Q4 2025 earnings beat, driven by a sharp decline in digital advertising revenue and a notable drop in political ad spending. Digital ad dollars fell roughly 12% year‑over‑year,...
BURNING QUESTION: What did Ted Sarandos learn in his White House meetings today that ended his bid for Warner Bros? @thewrap
So Netflix ending its WBD bid means WBD's movie business and cable channels should stay together. Paramount has sought the whole package even as WBD planned to spin off its cable assets. Lots of sports media angles now with...
There goes CNN into the clutches of Bari Weiss and Scott Jennings: state media for the authoritarians. This is fucked. Netflix drops out of bidding after WBD deems Paramount’s takeover bid ‘superior’ https://t.co/BFoQBv1MBa
Confirmed: Netflix pulls offer for Warner Bros Discovery's streaming & studio assets The Ellisons look to roll up Paramount and Warner into a Hollywood behemoth Justice Department antitrust regulators have yet to weigh in... but Trump has warming ties to Ellisons
After seven years, Joe Ferencz turns the CEO job over to Ricardo Briceno. breceno https://t.co/ZjwU1hqAQD
Netflix’s stock is down ~30% since the WBD merger drama began. While losing WBD removes the last clear major growth lever, it likely reestablishes some investor confidence. Longer-term, we’ll see if they miss the lost IP. But recent major media...
As I wrote months ago, there was only one “win win win” here … 1) Netflix gets the break fee 2) WBD gets even more money from Para 3) Para gets the bone it wants
Netflix declines to match Paramount offer for WBD: We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S.
I had a good chat with Peter Moore about the Xbox transition and his advice. https://t.co/VmYujLEaQH
Warner Brothers Discover,,,board checked the boxes and declared paramount the high bidder …what will Netflix have to do.. need all cash And bid more ..or in the words of a great ceo say “they won.we https://t.co/BTEFBOV9AI! ‘’
Axios Pro Rata on Feb. 11: "It feels like the next act already has been written. The 'Davids' get over themselves, Paramount raises its bid and then Netflix has a decision to make."
To explain this in English: Warner Bros. has decided that Paramount's offer is better than its Netflix deal, but Netflix has a window to match or best Paramount. Does Netflix stick with it? Or will it bail? https://t.co/W9rTU1YRbY
WBD says Paramount bid > Netflix. Mr Sarandos, the ball is now in your court.
*WARNER BROS. SAYS PARAMOUNT OFFER IS 'SUPERIOR PROPOSAL' Seems like a good opportunity for $NLFX to graciously bow out of the $WBD bidding war and take the break fee paid for by $PSKY
Warner Bros says the Paramount deal is now superior. The ball is in Netflix’s court.
Antitrust subcommittee wants a second chance to beat up on Netflix - WBD deal and has hearing scheduled for March 4. Will they add Paramount to mix if at that point they are in driver's seat?
For the ten millionth time, the FCC is not weighing in on the approval process for Warner.
