General
‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Avengers’ and ‘RBG’ lead MTV Movie & TV Awards nominations
Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times
It should come as no surprise that “Avengers: Endgame” and “Game of Thrones,” the two franchises dominating pop culture these days, are leading the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
DGA Appoints Chairs for TV Negotiating Committee Ahead of 2020 Contract Talks
Jeremy Fuster, The Wrap
The Directors Guild of America announced the three co-chairs for its Network Negotiating Committee on Tuesday. The trio will lead talks with the major networks after their current contract with the guild expires in June 2020.
Film
‘Star Wars’ Entrusted to ‘Thrones’ Creators as Series Roils Fans
Anousha Sakoui and Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg
Walt Disney Co. picked quite a week to confirm that the first post-Skywalker “Star Wars” installment will be scripted by “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
How Ugly Will It Get for STX Entertainment?
Matt Donnelly, Variety
When it launched in 2014, STX Entertainment was supposed to be a smarter and nimbler entertainment company, one that could open compelling movies and launch quality television shows while keeping a lid on costs.
Television
Fox looks and talks like a traditional TV network. But it may not always be one.
Steven Zeitchik, The Washington Post
The Fox television network has been in an unusual position since its television studio was sold to Disney earlier this year. Fox is now the only of the four broadcast networks without an in-house television studio — the production unit that actually makes these shows.
John Landgraf on Sharing The Simpsons With New Disney Siblings and Why FX Won’t Go Ad-Free
Jason Lynch, Adweek
FX Networks isn’t used to having a spotlight during upfronts week, but that’s where the network finds itself today as part of new parent company Disney’s first combined upfront, which includes all the properties it recently acquired from 21st Century Fox.
“Who The F–k Knows What’s Gonna Happen Next?”: A Brave New Era At The Upfronts As Streaming Uproots The TV Business
Joe Pompeo, Vanity Fair
On May 16, 2018, Les Moonves was spotted in a stairwell in the backstage area of Carnegie Hall, huddled with several of his lieutenants, gazing down at his iPhone. Moonves had just delivered his opening remarks at the CBS upfront presentation, where the longtime company boss and media titan had received an uproarious standing ovation as he took the stage.
Upfronts Reflect Disruption and Transition at Big 4 Nets
Cynthia Littleton, Variety
There’s always a parade of new faces and budding stars at the broadcast networks’ annual upfront presentations. This week in New York, the newcomers include top executives at each of the Big Four networks.
ABC has no plans to recast Constance Wu on ‘Fresh Off the Boat’
Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times
Karey Burke knew a Constance Wu question was coming, and she had an answer ready. At a press briefing Tuesday ahead of the Disney upfront presentation in New York City, the ABC president was asked about the star of “Fresh Off the Boat.”
How Vince McMahon’s WWE Seized on TV Disruption to Become a Wall Street Champ
Joe Otterson and Cynthia Littleton, Variety
It’s the kind of comeback that would make a perfect underdog-conquers-haters storyline in the ring for World Wrestling Entertainment. The company that embodies modern professional wrestling — or “sports entertainment,” as coined by CEO Vince McMahon — has been on a growth rampage during the past 18 months.
Jimmy Kimmel Inks New 3-Year Contract Extension With ABC, Bringing His Late-Night Tenure To 20 Seasons
Nellie Andreeva, Deadline Hollywood
The new ABC leadership can breathe a sign of relief — the network’s late-night star Jimmy Kimmel has agreed to a new three-year contract extension to continue as host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! The announcement was made by ABC President Karey Burke at the network’s Upfront press conference.
Kids’ TV rarely shows same-sex marriage. PBS’s Arthur just did — and it was, wonderfully, no big deal.
Allegra Frank, Vox
Arthur was the bread and butter of a certain generation of kids’ cartoon consumption. The story of a glasses-wearing aardvark, his many animal classmates, and their elementary school adventures was a staple of PBS’s kids programing in the mid-’90s.
The Candid Chuck Lorre: Post-‘Big Bang’ Plans, ‘Kominsky’ Season 2, “Hostile” Stars and Exec Fights
Michael O’Connell, The Hollywood Reporter
Not 24 hours after The Big Bang Theory wrapped its 279th and final episode, creator Chuck Lorre whizzes by its soundstage in his golf cart, startled by what he sees. “They’re tearing the set down already?” he says.
Technology and New Media
NBC’s 2020 streaming service won’t be very compelling for cord cutters — and that’s by design
Alex Sherman, CNBC
The streaming wars — the race to launch subscription video products — has been driven by an underlying concept: The traditional pay-TV bundle is dying as millions of U.S. households cut the cord each year and shift their video consumption to services like Netflix.
At the upfronts, streaming video — and a key question about Netflix — takes centerstage
Sahil Patel, Digiday
It’s broadcast upfront season and the threat of Netflix — even if the streaming giant is not directly mentioned by big media companies on stage — has never been more palpable. As these companies get set to launch their own video streaming services, they are rethinking how they value their video libraries, especially past TV hits such as “Friends” and “The Office.”
Spotify’s Soundtrap division launches podcast production service
Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times
Swedish streaming service Spotify is delving deeper into podcasts, launching a subscription service Tuesday that makes it easier to produce and upload audio programs onto its platform.
Disney won’t push VR at its theme parks, CEO Robert Iger says
Gabrielle Russon, Los Angeles Times
In the Star Wars land, rock spires tower in the landscape and a visit to the bar means you might run into characters from the films.
How Indie Streamers Offer an Edgy Alternative to Netflix
Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter
Even Cannes, the bastion of the big screen cinema experience, knows streaming is inevitable. While the French film festival continues to defend the primacy of theatrical releases — and continues to ban Netflix from its competition — the independent film industry at the Cannes film market is scrambling to find a business model that will let them make money from streaming movies online.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
Complex Hulu Deal Simplifies Things for Disney
Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg
They say canceling cable is hard. But that’s nothing compared to the hoops Comcast Corp. is making Walt Disney Co. jump through for Hulu.
ABC’s Upfront Gets Buried in Walt Disney TV Excess
Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter
In honor of upfronts week, I’ve been working on ways to merge product integration into my columns, so let me try this.
Where will The Office, Friends, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Supernatural be in five years?
Julia Alexander, The Verge
Disney is set to take full control of Hulu, which means many beloved NBC shows currently streaming on the platform will disappear by 2024. Between that and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson confirming that some of WarnerMedia’s most popular series would leave Netflix to land exclusively on the company’s upcoming streaming service, the future of streaming is about to change.
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