Netflix, Obamas & the Death of Vanity Deals — Yes, Writers Win
In 2018 the Obamas launched Higher Ground with an exclusive Netflix overall deal, but the streaming giant has now reduced it to a first‑look arrangement, allowing the company to shop projects elsewhere. Similar downgrades have hit Prince Harry and Meghan’s Archewell and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, which moved from a $250 million exclusive pact to a first‑look deal. The shift reflects a broader industry move away from costly vanity contracts toward leaner, execution‑focused agreements. Studios are now prioritizing experienced writer‑showrunners over celebrity‑driven production companies.
Would Ted Turner Have Prevented the Downward Spiral of Television’s Economic Value, Reputation, and Advertiser Commitment?
Ted Turner's failed 1985 bid to acquire CBS marked a turning point, as the broadcast industry chose preservation over the disruptive vision that had built CNN and cable networks. The ensuing decades saw a cascade of mega‑mergers—Viacom‑Paramount, AOL‑Time Warner, AT&T‑Time...
Comic Creators Struggling to Survive Despite a Thriving Industry
A new UK Comics Creators Research Report reveals that despite record sales, most creators are financially insecure. In 2025 the market hit £78.7 million (about $100 million), a 13.9% rise, yet 89% of creators earning from traditional publishing earn below the national...
Universal Says “General Intent” Of Congress Has No Relevance to Salt N Pepa Termination Rights Battle
Universal Music contends that the 1976 Copyright Act’s “general intent” to protect creators is irrelevant in its dispute with Salt N Pepa over termination rights. The rappers argue they can reclaim ownership of their 1980s recordings under the termination provision, but Universal...
Ted Turner
Ted Turner’s launch of CNN in 1980 introduced the world’s first 24‑hour news channel, using satellite and cable to create a continuous news stream. The model sparked a wave of superstations and reshaped how audiences consume information, offering real‑time coverage...
Is This the Future of Artist-Fan Engagement?
The DUNE app is pioneering a new model of artist‑fan engagement by allowing fans to purchase fractional stakes in musicians, turning streaming data into tradable assets. This approach blends community‑driven platforms like Patreon with speculative investment, giving fans ownership rather...
NYT Subs Surpass 13 Million, ARPU Sneaks Higher
The New York Times reported 13.08 million total subscribers in Q1, a 2.3% increase, with digital‑only subscriptions driving most of the growth. Digital‑only revenue rose 16.1% year‑over‑year, while print revenue slipped 9.8%, pushing overall revenue up 17.3% to $712 million. Average revenue per user...
Live Nation Q1 Earnings Call: 5 Big Takeaways
Live Nation reported Q1 2026 revenue of $3.79 billion, a 12% year‑over‑year increase, but its operating loss deepened to $370.5 million after a $450 million legal expense. The company reaffirmed double‑digit growth guidance despite ongoing DOJ and state litigation. Executives outlined strategic shifts,...
Playtime Handling Six Cannes-Selected Titles - Cannes 2026 – Marché Du Film
French sales agent Playtime is leveraging the Cannes 2026 market with six titles selected across the festival’s Official Selection, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week. The lineup opens with Pierre Salvadori’s The Electric Kiss, followed by Louis Clichy’s animated debut Iron...
US Copyright Office Proposes Massive Fee Hike: What It Means
The U.S. Copyright Office has proposed a 43% average increase in registration fees, eliminating the $45 single‑application option and raising the standard electronic filing to $85. Paper filings would exceed $200, reflecting a push toward electronic processing. A coalition of...
Greece Greenlights €750 Million “Greece On Screen” Strategy to Transform Its Audiovisual Sector - Industry / Market - Greece
The Greek government has approved a five‑year "Greece On Screen" strategy, earmarking €750 million (about $818 million) for 2026‑2030 to boost the country's audiovisual sector. The plan expands incentives beyond film and TV to animation, digital games and music‑related projects, and funds...
London Artists Agency Opens Creative Studio
Knight Classical, a London‑based artists agency, has launched a new Creative Studio that bundles production, branding, digital marketing and audience‑engagement services for classical musicians and arts organisations. The studio offers everything from web design and video production to visual identity...
Wednesday Briefing: Serie A Consider Media Company for International TV Rights Sale
Serie A is evaluating the creation of a stand‑alone media company to sell its international television rights, potentially bringing in financial investors while keeping governance separate from the league. The proposal is in an early exploratory phase and follows earlier...
When IP Travels, Where Does Value Go?
The column argues that intellectual property (IP) is evolving from static formats into an operating system that circulates across broadcast, streaming, FAST, YouTube and social channels. As IP travels, value can be extractive, transitional or compounding, with each movement either...
Is There Ever a Good Time to Sell?
The article examines how music catalog values surge during major format shifts, citing The Offspring’s 2016 sale for $35 million that ballooned to roughly $140 million after streaming took off. It parallels the 1990s CD boom, where Motown’s label sold for $61 million...
‘Swapped’ Hits For Netflix and Skydance Animation With 15.5M Views In Opening Weekend
Netflix and Skydance Animation’s new film Swapped opened to 15.5 M views and 26.4 M hours watched in its first three days, landing at #2 on the platform’s global weekly top‑10 chart. The debut is the second‑best Friday opening for a Netflix animated...
Goodell Praises Streamers, Suggests Netflix “Bigger” Than some Nets
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell praised streaming platforms as potentially more fan‑friendly than traditional cable, highlighting Netflix’s reach as larger than several regional broadcast affiliates. The league is actively exploring a new five‑game streaming rights package and has been meeting with...
Tea, Housing, Memberships: People Inc.’s Future Businesses Run the Gamut
People Inc., formerly IAC, rebranded to People Interactive and unveiled 19 "Inversion" projects that push the company beyond traditional publishing. Initiatives range from Southern Living‑branded tea and a potential housing community to membership clubs and a social‑shopping platform. Digital revenue...
Inside Netflix: How to Sell a Show There Right Now
The post breaks down how creators can successfully pitch shows to Netflix, outlining the streamer’s current content appetite and spending outlook. It highlights that under content chief Bela Bajaria, Netflix continues to chase female‑driven thrillers, action series, YA dramas, and...
The $100 Billion Problem Lurking Inside Digital Video Ads
The digital video ad market has morphed from a transparent, relationship‑driven TV model into a sprawling programmatic ecosystem riddled with hidden fees and fraud. Industry estimates suggest tens of billions—potentially up to $100 billion—are siphoned each year, with some insiders claiming...
RSNs Are Crumbling—Now What? The New Playbook for Local Sports
The traditional regional sports network (RSN) model is collapsing as leagues renegotiate distribution and streaming platforms step in. Local broadcast stations are attempting to fill the void, while direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) services launch their own sports streams. Madhive’s VP Anthony Campanella...
TikTok Partners with Vistar Media to Expand Out of Phone Ad Campaigns to over 1M Digital Out-of-Home Placements
TikTok has teamed with programmatic out‑of‑home platform Vistar Media to extend its Out of Phone ad product to more than 1.1 million digital OOH placements, including high‑visibility sites such as Times Square. The partnership builds on the October 2023 launch that originally...
Music Industry Welcomes Inclusion of AI Concerns in US Government’s Latest Piracy Report
The U.S. Trade Representative’s 2024 Special 301 Report added a new section on artificial intelligence and copyright, a change praised by the Recording Industry Association of America. The report reaffirms U.S. support for legal frameworks that protect copyrights in AI...
Comcast Concerned About Future of Exclusive NFL Network Games Amid Carriage Dispute
Comcast’s Xfinity has blacked out NFL Network for five days as it renegotiates carriage terms with Disney, the network’s new owner. The dispute centers on Comcast’s demand for a binding guarantee that NFL Network will continue to air at least...
NEON Charms U.S. Rights to Jeff Nichols’ ‘King Snake’ with Drew Starkey, Margaret Qualley, Michael Shannon
NEON announced it has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Jeff Nichols’ new Southern‑gothic horror, *King Snake*. The film stars Margaret Qualley, Michael Shannon and Drew Starkey and is being fully financed by FilmNation, which also handles worldwide sales. Principal photography...
"The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" Renewed for Season Two
NBC has renewed the freshman comedy "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" for a second season after its debut episode drew over 14 million viewers, making it the #1 comedy telecast of the 2025‑26 season across broadcast networks. The show...
NBC and Peacock Deliver the Most-Watched First Round Game 7 in NBA History for Saturday Night's 76ers-Celtics
NBC and its streaming arm Peacock delivered a record‑breaking 11.0 million total audience for the 76ers‑Celtics Game 7, the most‑watched first‑round matchup in NBA history. The broadcast also logged a 9.2 million TV‑only average and a 1.8 million average‑minute audience on Peacock, underscoring the...
Netflix Is Buying a Hollywood Studio for 18 Cents on the Dollar. Here's What That Means for Studio City Commercial...
Netflix is in final talks to purchase a historic 55‑acre production campus in Studio City for roughly $330 million, about 18 cents on the dollar compared with its $1.85 billion 2021 sale price. The deal follows Goldman Sachs taking control after the previous...
FOX Saturday Baseball Flexes Double-Digit Season-to-Date Viewership Increase
FOX Saturday Baseball attracted 2.13 million viewers on May 2, highlighted by the Cardinals’ 3‑2 win over the Dodgers. That figure represents a 9% increase over last year’s full‑season average of 1.96 million. Across the season to date, the broadcast averages 2.16 million viewers,...
What Is the "Pastiche Exception?"
The EU Court of Justice clarified the legal definition of the “pastiche exception” for music sampling in its April 14 2026 ruling in Case C‑590/23. The court set an objective test: a work must evoke an existing piece, use recognizable elements, and create...
Maybe Stick With Sequels to Films That Audiences Liked?
The Devil Wears Prada 2 opened with a $76.75 million domestic debut, setting the biggest early‑May opening for a non‑Marvel tentpole and ranking third‑largest adjusted opening in the past 25 years. The sequel earned $124 million domestically and $327 million worldwide on a $35 million budget,...
Games and Numbers (April 22 - May 5, 2026)
The latest gaming week saw several headline‑grabbing milestones: Sandfall Interactive’s *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33* surpassed 8 million copies sold within a year, while indie title *Vampire Crawlers* moved over 1 million units in its first week and earned an 83 Metacritic score. *Cartel Pilots Wanted* attracted...
Box Office Attendance Takes Off in April with Over 16 Million Admissions
France’s box‑office attendance surged in April, with the CNC reporting over 16 million admissions, a 35.4% jump from the same month last year. The spike was propelled by high‑profile releases, notably the Super Mario Galaxy film, which drew large family audiences....
Clipping Is the Next Click Farm. Sports Can Do It Right.
Clipping—shortening long‑form video into TikTok, Reels, and Shorts clips—is emerging as the next click‑farm model, with platforms like Vyro paying creators roughly $3 per 1,000 views. Unlike AI‑generated slop, these clip farms rely on real people, making detection difficult and...
Principal Media and F.A.S.T: Agencies Are Rewriting the Economics of Advertising
The Myers Report argues that advertising agencies are abandoning the traditional media‑buying role and becoming principals that own, package, and monetize Free‑Advertising‑Supported Streaming Television (FAST) assets. This shift turns agencies into balance‑sheet businesses that generate profit through financial arbitrage rather...
Brands Need to Pump Up the Volume With Creators. But There's a Catch.
At the Possible conference Gary Vaynerchuk urged brands to increase creator‑generated content, warning many are still under‑investing. CreativeX analyzed 1.4 million ads from 176 brands in 105 countries and found creator‑produced ads that omit core brand cues perform worse on recall...
Communiqué 116: The Product Thinking Creator
On April 28, 2024, Nigerian YouTube star Korty EO staged Dreamland, a live show in Lagos that translated her popular online formats into a ticketed experience, even raffling $500. The event highlighted the untapped potential of product thinking in Africa’s...
FIFA Still Has No World Cup TV Rights Deal in India, China
FIFA still has not secured broadcast rights for the 2026 World Cup in India and China, the planet’s two largest markets. In India, a Reliance‑Disney joint venture has offered $20 million, far below FIFA’s original $100 million ask, while Sony walked away...
Why Gen Z Ignored ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’
Disney’s *The Devil Wears Prada 2* opened to a $234 million worldwide haul, marking a strong box‑office debut. Yet the audience skewed heavily older, with women comprising 76 % of ticket‑buyers and only 12 % of the crowd under 25, while men under...
People Inc. Sees Higher Digital Growth—Not Enough to Offset Legacy Headwinds
People Inc., the newly rebranded IAC, posted a 2% decline in Q1 revenue to $385.7 million, with print sales down 16% and digital revenue up 8%—non‑session digital revenue surged 24%. Advertising grew modestly 1% thanks to premium health, CPG, and tech...
The CTV Journey Starts Before You Think It Does
The article argues that the true CTV journey begins the moment a TV is turned on, not when a stream starts. A TiVo Ads survey shows only 31% of marketers recognize this, while 67% plan to increase home‑screen spend. Home‑screen...
Fox Cancels Denis Leary’s Going Dutch After Two Seasons
Fox announced the cancellation of "Going Dutch," the Denis Leary‑led military comedy, after its second season concluded. The series, created by Joel Church‑Cooper, debuted in 2024 and struggled to secure a sizable audience despite Leary’s star power. Fox cited modest...
Data And The Other Walled Gardens Shine At Possible
The Possible 2026 conference highlighted how AI is reshaping marketing while emphasizing that solid data and audience insight remain the true drivers of outcomes. Panels showed brand affinity now eclipses pure ROAS as the most valuable KPI, and vendors like...
$500 PodGround Creator Micro-Grant For Podcasters (Deadline: May 15, 2026)
PodGround has launched a $500 micro‑grant aimed at independent podcasters who have been creating for three years or less. The award can be used for equipment upgrades, a year of hosting, or other production expenses. To qualify, applicants must be...
How Dow Jones Launched a New Product in 10 Days—Without Building Anything New
Dow Jones launched the free "Crisis Monitor: Middle East" newsletter in just 10 days, repurposing proprietary risk and energy analysis from its B2B brands for a consumer audience. The weekly email draws on experts from Dragonfly, Risk Journal and other...
The Party Films Sales Brings Three Wildcards to Cannes - Cannes 2026 – Marché Du Film
French sales agency The Party Film Sales is bringing three flagship titles—Congo Boy, Rehearsals for a Revolution, and Dua—to the Marché du Film at Cannes 2026. Congo Boy, a debut fiction from Congolese director Rafiki Fariala, will screen in Un...
NBC Counts Its NBA Playoff Ratings Differently than ESPN
The NBA playoffs have generated strong viewership, highlighted by NBCUniversal reporting a record 5.7 million viewers for the Spurs‑Blazers Game 1 and ESPN/ABC noting 5.2 million for the Rockets‑Blazers opener. Shortly after, ESPN’s PR feed stopped publishing NBA ratings, sharing only NHL data....
Your Morning Coffee Podcast: Music AI for Idiots, Universal Sale, Big Merger, More
The Your Morning Coffee podcast’s 300th episode highlighted four major music‑industry moves. Concord and BMG announced a merger that will combine their publishing catalogs into a roughly $2 billion entity. Universal Music Group disclosed it will sell 50% of its Spotify...
Superfan Subscription Bubble Has Burst: What Will Replace It
Superfan subscription models championed by Vault, Patreon, and Spotify are collapsing as the monthly‑fee structure proves misaligned with how musicians create and how fans spend. Vault dropped its $5‑a‑month plan after two years, Patreon shifted focus to free memberships and...
UEFA Secures Global Media Rights Deals Approaching $6B Annually
UEFA is finalizing new broadcast agreements in 19 territories that will deliver roughly $5.9 billion in annual revenue from 2027 to 2031. The deals cover the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, but exclude the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany,...