NETFLIX now aiming to launch Ad-tier in Q4 this year
DR. SEUSS up for sale / FOX giving Tom Brady $375 Million for calling NFL games / WESTWORLD adds DeBose
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY May 11, 2022.
Where TOM BRADY is about to make more $$ at FOX for calling NFL games than he’s made in his entire NFL career #ThanksManningcast! His well publicized “when he retires” sportscasting deal is reportedly worth $375 Million over 10 years according to the NY POST. That’s gonna buy a lotta crypto.
It’s almost 2X what Joe Buck & Troy Aikman got per year for moving to ESPN. Combined. Plus - FOX has the SUPERBOWL in 2 of the next 3 years, so if Tom ain’t playin…
PLUS: Congrats to Michelle Williams, who announced in VARIETY that she’s pregnant with her 3rd child.
ALSO: AUSTIN CITY LIMITS announced their lineup for the October festival, with RHCP, P!NK, THE CHICKS, SZA and KACEY MUSGRAVES leading the way.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
JUST 3 THINGS
The 4 surviving younger cast members of “Scream” will return for upcoming “Scream 6” shooting this Summer. /Variety
Alec Baldwin teams up with fellow “Rust” producer Anjul Nigam to form production company. Duo will shop an Alec-led film at CANNES next week. /Deadline
DISNEY+ orders sequel to hit “Descendants” franchise called “The Pocketwatch”. /Deadline
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📺 THE TV SET
APPLE TV+ sets Abraham & Mary Lincoln for “Manhunt” limited series
Hamish Linklater & Lili Taylor will do the honors in the series centered on Lincoln’s Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, played by Tobias Menzies, who gets obsessed with finding Lincoln’s assassin while carrying out Reconstruction plans. /THR
KENTUCKY DERBY gets 15.8 Million viewers for NBC on Saturday
Puts it at 2nd highest audience in the last 5 years. Popped to 19 Million right after the race itself when the 80-1 longshot won the race in stunning fashion. /SportsMediaWatch
ALSO IN TV
RENEWALS / CANCELLATIONS
HULU cancels “Dollface” after 2 seasons. /Deadline
NBC renews “Law & Order” OG and “Organized Crime” for the Fall. Dick Wolf now has renewals for all… nine of his current network TV shows. (incl “FBI” shows on CBS and “Chicago” shows on NBC). /THR
STARZ renews Courteney Cox / Greg Kinnear show “Shining Vale” for a Season 2. /THR
NBCU triples down on Todd Chrisley - will host a… dating show for E! called “Love Limo” and renewed “Growing Up Chrisley”, plus “Chrisley Knows Best” was renewed on USA. /Deadline
CASTING
HBO adds Ariana DeBose to “Westworld” Season 4 in a recurring role. /Variety
APPLE TV+ adds Maisie Williams (“GOT”) to Coco Chanel / Christian Dior new / old guard 1950’s fashion limited series “The New Look”. Juliette Binoche & Ben Mendelsohn are in the lead roles. Maisie is playing Dior’s younger sister. /THR
Stallone’s PAR+ Taylor Sheridan mob series series “Tulsa King” adds Martin Starr to cast as the owner of a pot dispensary, as well as Andrea Savage as an ATF agent. /Deadline
STARZ adds Mo’Nique to “BMF” Season 2 in a recurring role. /Deadline
PROMOTED
DISNEY TV ups Charissa Gilmore to Head of Comms. /Variety
Unscripted ICM agent Denise Draper leaves to become partner at RANGE MEDIA PARTNERS. /Deadline
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
NETFLIX’s Ad-Supported version likely to could arrive before year’s end
Or at least that’s what management has shared internally. Reed had previously indicated a 1-2 year time frame for the launch when he made that announcement on the Q1 Earnings Call in April.
The TBD password crackdown practices should also hit in Q4. /NY Times
WHY SO FAST: Well besides “that’s now NETFLIX does”… NETFLIX has already given guidance that they’ll lose 2+ Million subscribers in Q2 - so an announcement of specific launch plans for the ad-supported tier on the Q2 Earnings Call in mid-late July would certainly help mitigate additional fallout from a bad Q2 subscriber story.
And a quicker launch (even if initially modest in terms of what has ads on it / actual ad revenue) will mitigate the likely number of dark quarters ahead for NFLX stock.
And And - with the news this morning that inflation is still at 8.3% in April - having a lower priced tier by late Fall (vs TBD 2022) also is probably a smart move to push internally.
WARNER MUSIC and SONY MUSIC Q1 Revenue both +10% vs a year ago
It’s almost as if… their main revenue source is the same. SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC / AMAZON MUSIC.
Streaming revenue makes up about 66% of all Revenue at both as well. (SONY still the #2 label, WMG at #3). /Variety
ALSO IN MEDIA
DR. SEUSS is for sale. The IP / brand has been privately owned for years but… looks like they’re reading the current market for known IP at media companies and feel it’s time.
No word on how much $$ they’re looking for or any leading potential suitors, but DR. SEUSS is the best-selling IP-based book series in the US. Roald Dahl’s IP sold for $600 Million last year to NETFLIX. /Axios
REDBOX (yes this still exists) sold to CRACKLE-owner CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL. Company went public via SPAC in the Fall along with a #PivotToStreaming which… shockingly has been a disaster, with the stock going from $15 to about $2 last month (it rebounded to about $5 with the sale speculation talk this month).
REDBOX still has about 38k red kiosks nationwide. /Deadline
Donald Trump is allowed back on TWITTER. #ThanksElon Or at least he will be when the TWITTER deal closes late Summer. Although “man constantly tweeting false election conspiracies… 3 years after the election” may not be a great help with Independents for a 2024 campaign. /CNN
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
BUZZFEED -13% ($4.08)
VIMEO -12% ($8.15)
CINEWORLD (REGAL Cinemas) -7% ($0.32)
ROBLOX -6% ($23.19)
LIONSGATE -5% ($12.47)
AMC THEATERS -5% ($11.84)
CINEMARK +5% (14.65)
SPOTIFY +5% ($99.17)
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👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
NETFLIX “Operation Mincemeat” - UK WWII pic with Colin Firth, STREAM HERE and also in limited theaters
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
NETFLIX “Hustle” movie trailer - A movie that couldn’t be more tailored to the Bill Simmons crowd. Or well to Bill specifically really… but count me in too! Sandler as a beleaguered International NBA scout, taking a career-defining chance on a young prospect. Drops Wed June 8… where hopefully Sandler has cleared his schedule to attend every NBA FINALS game.
HBO “The Janes” docu trailer - A pic that couldn’t be more timely or important… about a group of women in late 60’s/early 70’s Chicago that formed an underground network for women to get safe abortions. Premieres Wed June 8
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
New KENDRICK LAMAR “The Heart Part 5”
If you need some new tunes:
AND: I’ll leave today with pouring one out for the IPOD - Attention hipsters: this is your last chance to get one - APPLE has now officially discontinued the product (now called iPOD Touch apparently).
So as soon as current inventory sells thru… one of the last vestiges of embodying 2001 irony is off to its resting place next to the Walkman in the clouds. Err not that cloud - that’s why the iPOD is dead.
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-SEAN MCNULTY
@theseanmac on TWITTER
@TheWakeupNews on INSTAGRAM