Trump's NFL Antitrust Push Likely Backfires via Streamers
Rethinking the NFL antitrust freakout: the streamers are in it, the real battlefield isn’t the FCC, and Trump’s enforcers will likely talk tough before blinking. My latest. https://puck.news/how-trumps-anti-nfl-crusade-could-backfire/
Netflix Nets $2.8 B Breakup Fee After WBD Pullout
I did not know this till today about $NFLX Following the high-profile bidding war that concluded in February 2026, Netflix walked away with a $2.8 billion breakup fee (also called a termination fee) paid by Warner Bros. Discovery Netflix's Payout: Because...
Paramount+ Renews The Madison for Season 3
#ParamountPlus has renewed Taylor Sheridan’s #TheMadison for a third season. S2 has already been filmed but has not yet been given a release date. #streaming $PSKY
CBS Simulcast Delivers UFC’s Biggest Audience in a Decade
CBS simulcast once again pays off for @ufc with the most-watched telecast for the MMA outfit in 10 years 2.65 million viewers for UFC 327 on Saturday. That tops the 2.47 million for the UFC 326 simulcast
Activist or Journalist? Buttons Spark Merger Debate at Cinemacon
Activist or journalist? That in a nutshell is the question raised by @richardrushfield's bringing a bag of "Block the merger" buttons for others to hand out at the entertainment industry massive gathering of exhibitors #Cinemacon. Rushfield is a vocal advocate...
Chris Branch Turbocharged My Reach and Earnings
Chris Branch does an incredible job. On a personal note, he was beyond generous to me by putting a ton of my media stories in The Pulse. I will always believe he was a part of me getting paid on...
AI Cuts Costs in Bollywood, Undermining Actor Unions
The Writers Guild just folded on AI for health and pension funding. SAG is next with a proposed “Tilly Tax” on AI actors. But Bollywood shows the real AI savings are dubbing, recuts and catalogue revival—none of which need actors. https://t.co/nP80lTN6gL
Tiny Podcast Nets $200M Thanks to Clip Economy
A podcast with just 7k viewers per episode just sold for $200M. My latest newsletter, “The Clip Economy”, dives into the details: bit.ly/ClipEconomy
CinemaUnited CEO Vows to Block WB‑Paramount Merger
If the #GameOfThrones saying “never attack a guest under your roof” was a real world thing, #CinemaCon 2026 would be our #RedWedding. Even though WB tonight & Paramount on THU are set for panels at the exhibition convention, its organiser, ...
Spotify Earns Revenue From Every Free User
Day 4 of 30: How $SPOT Spotify actually makes money 476 million people use it completely free Spotify still makes money from every single one of them Here's how 🧵
Pluribus Boosts Light Viewer Engagement Over The Morning Show
When it comes to understanding the value of programming on streaming, Netflix wrote the manual. One of their key metrics is "Adjusted View Share". Do at-risk subscribers overindex as viewers of a given title? If yes, adjust the value of...
Studios Finally Admit Theatrical Windows Still Matter
As finally after 6 years Post-Covid even studios started to realise that theatrical windows DO MATTER, exhibitors union #CinemaUnited (formerly known as #NATO)’s CEO #MichaelOLeary went harder than ever in his “State of the Union” speech at #CinemaCon 2026, citing...
Most Miss How Social Media Marketing Operates
Wild to see how many people didn’t know how social media-based marketing works. The point of that Geese expose is in the last paragraph when the artist who “exposed” the marketing plan said she’d do it too. Fair to not...
NBA League Pass Needs All-Streaming Service Bundle
NBA league pass should offer a bundle that includes all the streaming services. I think they will get to this when they can.
Impactful Analysis Beats Follower Counts, Prevents Panic Selling
On one hand @gCaptain is clocking all time highs in revnue and pageviews. On the other hand we lost some marketshare to European publications written by doomers. I defintly didn't get the hundreds of thousands of X followers the worst...
Surprising Subscriber Count Needed for a Million‑dollar YouTube Business
I asked @TintinSmith how many subscribers you actually need to build a million-dollar business from YouTube. His answer might surprise you. Search "Nathan Barry Show" to watch the full YouTube masterclass. https://t.co/onYCQZo0yl
Disneyland Vacation Now Eats Up Entire Vacation Budget
In past 5 years, price for top Disneyland day pass up 2x to $224. About 1/2 of guests also pay $30+ per person for Lightning Lane passes. Cost for family of 4 for 4 days in park is now ~$4,500 (vs....
Turn One Hour Podcast Into Three Short Episodes
Another podcast hack I'm trying that seems to be working well: Instead of a 1 hour block, I will record 30m with a guest, then two 15m episodes on different topics. So we have 3 episodes versus 1. There's a market...
Podcast Explores NBA Playoffs Streaming Shift and Masters Coverage
NEW PODCAST: @paulsen_smw, @AustinKarp and @JoshACarpenter join me to discuss Prime Video and NBC joining ESPN for the NBA playoffs, CBS’s Masters coverage and the Russini-Vrabel story. TO LISTEN: https://t.co/ldSOoKDIvD
Seeking CBS Exec Who Licensed “60 Minutes” To Australia
I'd really like to know who at CBS licensed the "60 Minutes" name to Australian TV in the 1970s. https://t.co/iZUDdwkQ59
Ally Shifts Ad Spend From Cable to Women's Sports
Financial-services firm Ally wanted to increase the ad dollars it spent on women's sports. To do so, it cut the commercials it ran on traditional entertainment-focused cable networks.... https://t.co/BmFwrCvBNw via @variety
Music Charts Are Manipulated by Paid Album Purchases
I remember friends being paid to buy albums release week at Hollywood tower records, since that was one of the chart reporting stores. The music business has always been a psyop.
Legacy TV News Must Evolve as Linear Viewership Declines
🎙️ NEW POD: Former NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim returns to The Grill Room to assess the slow fade of linear TV news—and what legacy players like NBC, CBS, and CNN can do to stay relevant. Listen: https://t.co/1eirU7syNu @PuckNews https://t.co/NmK46593Oc
Streaming Wars Threaten NFL’s Sunday Night Broadcast Future
The Varsity * Russini-gate underscores underlying tension between NYT and The Athletic. * NBA ends its season of tanking. Plus, ahead of NFL Kickoff in September, the streaming wolves are circling Sunday Night Football—so media-industry equity research analyst Michael Nathanson stopped by to...
Netflix Exec Meets AMC, Regal, Cinemark to Explore Partnership
Barely got to #CinemaCon when came across a pretty big scoop: #Netflix's Ted Sarandos quietly came Sunday night to meet the big theater owners AMC, Regal, Cinemark & "find a way to work together,” as one participant told me. https://t.co/JvuBqhZ10t
AMC's Lengthy Pre‑show Ads Waste Cinemagoers' Time
Sony’s Tom Rothman went after 30 minute pre-shows tonight at CinemaCon. He’s not wrong. The problem is, it’s AMC and Regal driving this and the bosses from those companies were not in the room. AMC runs ads 5 minutes after...
Industry Fears News Consolidation Turning CNN Into Fox
"They're also very concerned about the consolidation of the news. They look at what has happened at CBS—and many of them have said, is CNN going to turn into Fox News?" https://www.status.news/p/hollywood-actors-directors-david-ellison-paramount-warner-bros-merger
TCM Picks Up Latino Representation Documentary
Turner Classic Movies Acquires Documentary Feature ‘Beyond The Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood’ – Film News in Brief https://t.co/tKIP420nUc via @variety
New Podcast Episodes Discuss NBA, Masters, NHL Media
PODCASTS: Out now: Joe Buck. Tomorrow: Roundtable with @AustinKarp, @paulsen_smw and @JoshACarpenter. Topics: New NBA playoff media partners, our thoughts on Russini/Vrabel, the Masters TV coverage and which NHL teams can draw nationally. TO SUB/LISTEN: https://t.co/jq91gZ7Mmt
Consistent, Well‑formatted Music Builds Sync Licensing Success
If you want to break into sync licensing Write music that’s easy to use Format it properly. Pitch it consistently. Build your catalog over time. Yes, it's tiring But it works. I promise.
DIRECTV Users Stream Former
MLB TV Now Allows DIRECTV Subs to Stream Ex-FanDuel Teams For Free https://t.co/pfaMsfSOYz via @TVAnswerMan
From Stanford to Bootstrapped Comedy Empire, No VC Needed
In 2021, @zoyagarg_ had a Stanford CS degree and Silicon Valley at her feet. She walked away from all of it and built a bootstrapped family comedy empire to multi-7 figures instead. No VC. No safety net. Just vision. 🧵...
Eric Church to Celebrate 20 Years with Unique July Shows
Eric Church announces three nights at Red Rocks and two at Lake Tahoe this July, each night a different set celebrating 20 years of his catalog. Tickets on sale April 17 and details here: https://t.co/bCe1XowZUa
YouTube Gifts Now Available on Horizontal Mobile Streams
YouTube is expanding Gifts to include Horizontal streams (on mobile devices). It had previously been limited to vertical streams on mobile.
Snap Must Cut Costs, Yet Boost Engagement
Snap should slash cost structure, no activist required, but can it grow engagement? $SNAP The LightShed Podcast, Ep. 308. With @BrandoLightShed and @WaltLightShed https://t.co/S37PMFGrq1
Twitch Adds Advertiser Data‑sharing Clause to Streamer Agreement
Twitch has updated the Monetized Streamer Agreement to include new language on how it shares user data with Advertisers.
Penske Supports FCC Protecting Local Broadcast Sports Ecosystem
Indy racing legend Roger Penske, winner of the 2019 Presidential Medal of Freedom from @POTUS Trump, backs @FCC Chairman @BrendanCarrFCC on “the need to wisely connect the availability of professional sports on broadcast television to the societal benefits ......
20th Century Studios Secures Film Rights to Roblox Hit
News: 20th Century Studios picks up the movie rights to popular Roblox video game 99 NIGHTS IN THE FOREST https://t.co/qS8OcfUXcx
Netflix Ad Tier Set to Double Revenue, Price Target $700
Netflix's ad-supported tier is crushing it. Analysts now project its ad revenue will DOUBLE to ~$3B this year. Bullish outlook has one firm raising its price target to $700. 📈 Streaming
Is DIRECTV MySports $65 Worth 25 Channels?
DIRECTV’s MySports: 25 Channels For $65 a Month - Is It Worth It? https://t.co/X8qWQyqmTg via @TVAnswerMan
YouTube Live Adds Gifts to All Formats, Expands Globally
Live streaming is a massive part of YouTube, and that’s because of the @youtubecreators who build incredible communities on our platform. We’re rolling out some major updates to YouTube Live to improve the experience and help creators make more money: ↔️We're expanding...
New Xbox Chief Calls Game Pass Too Pricey
scoop: Xbox Game Pass "has become too expensive," says Microsoft’s new Xbox chief in an internal memo. Asha Sharma wants a "better value equation" for Xbox players. All the details here 👇https://t.co/9WBXgl9r1T
CNN Appoints NYT Chief Data Scientist to Lead AI Team
CNN Hires New York Times Chief Data Scientist Chris Wiggins to Head AI Team https://t.co/RfOgCzIkbu via @variety
Netflix Halves Original Movie Output yet Still Leads Industry
Netflix has cut back its output of original movies by more than 50% from four years ago. (It still releases the most original movies of any company.) https://t.co/62UYKNMzD7
Predicting This Year’s CinemaCon Studio Showdown Winner
Which Studio Will Take the Biggest Victory Lap at This Year’s CinemaCon? https://t.co/aZtPQG4fMA via @IndieWire
Tucker Carlson's
Sewage for ink. Tucker Carlson to launch publishing imprint with books by Russell Brand and Milo Yiannopoulos https://t.co/OgtWe3p0EJ
Meta's Muse Spark Bridges Consumer Ads to Enterprise AI
Contextualizing Meta’s Muse Spark "Whether this API pilot emerges as a direct enterprise opportunity or not, there’s clear applicability to the Manus agent use case (which has already been brought to Meta’s ads manager), Meta’s off-platform Business AI initiative, and other...
Streamers Won’t Spend $20M for John Waters Film
Amazing that none of the streamers would throw $20 million at him just to have a John Waters movie in their library.
Paramount Defends WB Deal, Claims It Boosts Competition
Paramount Responds After 1,000-Plus Hollywood Names Sign Open Letter Opposing Studio's WB Deal: It 'Strengthens Both Consumer Choice and Competition' https://t.co/1uGZPIVoSq
King of Ads' Update Could Disrupt Traditional Agency Model
An update worth checking out from "the king of ads." This could upend the traditional agency model.