• Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg blamed the mobile streaming service’s muted debut on the coronavirus pandemic in a new interview, adding that the Quibi app has been installed by roughly 3.5 million customers — though outside data places that number at 2.9 million — and currently has 1.3 million active users. Katzenberg said that Quibi users with the Apple app will be able to cast content on televisions starting this week, and that due to pandemic-related production delays, the company will start to slow its release schedule in order to offer new content through the beginning of next year. (The New York Times) 

• Comcast Corp.’s Peacock streaming service will not feature ads from rival services “at this time,” though Laura Molen, NBCUniversal’s president of ad sales and partnerships, suggested that policy may change. There is no indication that the policy would also apply to NBCUniversal’s TV networks. (Variety) 

• Fox’s newly released fall 2020 schedule includes three nights of live sports — NFL Thursday Night Football, WWE’s Friday Night Smackdown and Fox Sports Saturday — as well as renewed reality shows and animated comedies, but only two nights of scripted series. (Los Angeles Times) 

Endeavor once ruled the agency business. Then came the pandemic and whispers about its future
Stacy Perman and Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times 

When you are Endeavor Group Holdings — the biggest, brashest talent agency owner, with a constellation of famous clients, a larger-than-life founder, Ari Emanuel, who once wrote: “Nobody … up like I do, but you’ll never succeed unless you take big risks. Big ones” — being fodder for the Hollywood rumor mill is par for the course.

Hollywood Unions Lay Out Safety Guidelines for News Workers Amid Pandemic
Brian Welk, The Wrap 

Hollywood’s major unions on Monday laid out a formal set of guidelines for news organizations to follow in protecting media workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. The guilds in a joint statement said that the news industry is essential, but media companies should adhere to a list of minimum, basic guidelines and safety precautions, including testing and screening protocols.

Walt Disney Co. Plans Another Large Debt Sale To Further Boost Financial Position Amidst COVID-19
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline Hollywood 

Walt Disney Co. filed a prospectus Monday with the SEC to offer multiple tranches of senior notes maturing between 2026 and 2060 to raise fresh cash. The amount, not specified yet, will be announced later but is likely to be quite large. 

BAFTA Names Steering Group To Tackle Diversity Issues
Tom Grater, Deadline Hollywood

BAFTA has named a 12-strong steering group that will lead a review of its voting processes in a bid to address a lack of diversity in its nominations.

When ‘Valley Girl’ (and Nicolas Cage) Shook Up Hollywood
Ashley Spencer, The New York Times

With no money or clout, what started as a cheap exploitation film managed to, like, totally click with a generation — and produce an unconventional superstar.

Caesars, Eldorado Revenues Fall on Coronavirus Casino Shutdowns
Micah Maidenberg, The Wall Street Journal

First-quarter revenue declined 14% at Caesars and 26% at Eldorado.

AMC Entertainment Shares Spike On Unconfirmed Report That Amazon Is Circling
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline Hollywood 

Shares of AMC Entertainment were up a hefty 40% in early trading Monday on a report in U.K. outlet The Daily Mail that Amazon may be interested in acquiring the theater chain, which has been hard hit by COVID-19.

How Animated Pics Like ‘Tom & Jerry’, ‘SpongeBob Movie’, ‘Sing 2’, Skydance’s ‘Luck’ & More Are Working Through The COVID-19 Crisis
Anthony D’Alessandro, Deadline Hollywood

Live-action film production as we know it, from Jurassic World: Dominion to The Batman, remains shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, with myriad headaches involved in figuring out how exactly to return, from the possible elimination of group extras to paring down crew sizes.

Waiting for ‘Tenet’: As July 17 Looms, Hollywood Prays That Summer Can Be Saved
Anne Thompson, IndieWire 

No release date has ever seen the attention, or pressure, currently placed on Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which is set to open in North America, and much of the world, July 17.  If the Warner Bros. time-travel thriller can fulfill its date, it saves the summer for exhibitors.

NBA, NHL, MLB Return In July Or August Is Likely, Sinclair Broadcast CEO Says
Dade Hayes, Deadline Hollywood 

Top-tier sports, including the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, are likely to return to action in July or August, according to Chris Ripley, CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Fox bets big on return of live sports in fall 2020 schedule
Sonaiya Kelley, Los Angeles Times 

In addition to a slate of original and returning programming, Fox’s fall 2020 broadcast schedule includes three nights of sports, a hopeful and perhaps premature outlook amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Last Dance ratings are slightly down, but still average over 5 million viewers across Episodes 7 and 8
Matt Clapp, Awful Announcing

Episodes 7 and 8 of The Last Dance averaged 5.1 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2 on Sunday night, with episode 7 averaging 5.3 million viewers, and episode 8 averaging 4.9 million viewers.

NBCUniversal Eyes 15-Second Ad Reduction, Aims to Transform Industry During Pandemic
Kelsey Sutton, Adweek 

NBCUniversal, which has already moved to significantly reduce ad loads on some special programming during the pandemic, is further trimming ad loads on news programming by 2 minutes and is eyeing a reduction of 15-second ads, part of an ongoing effort to transform an industry already facing intense pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic and its related economic effects.

The CW Acquires Rights to ‘Swamp Thing,’ ‘Tell Me a Story’
Will Thorne, Variety 

With many broadcast shows in disarray as a result of the coronavirus production shutdown, a trend is emerging of networks turning to streamers and international waters for content to fill their schedule.

Univision Sets Virtual Upfront For June 16, Latest to Announce Plan For Advertiser Presentation
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline Hollywood 

Univision will be presenting its 2020-21 programming plans with advertisers and agencies virtually on June 16, the broadcaster said, the latest to announce a day and time for a upfront that replaces a traditional live event originally scheduled in May but sidetracked by the coronavirus pandemic.

Network TV announces fall schedules, but with as many questions as answers
Brian Lowry, CNN 

For decades, network TV has followed the same routine. Announce revised lineups with great fanfare in May.

Food Network, Cooking Shoots Get Cheaper, More Timely In Trend To Last Beyond COVID-19, Discovery CEO David Zaslav Says
Dade Hayes, Deadline Hollywood 

Discovery CEO David Zaslav says the challenges posed by COVID-19 have brought about an epiphany in terms of production logistics and costs, with viewers embracing lower-priced versions of staple shows.

Delayed ‘Friends’ reunion holding out for live audience over remote event
Jill Serjeant, Reuters 

Fans may have to wait until the fall for the “Friends” reunion special as HBO Max executives are holding out hopes of filming it before a live audience rather than shooting the much-anticipated get together remotely with stars under quarantine.

More ‘Tiger King’ Coming to Netflix
Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter 

The filmmakers behind Tiger King are at work on more true-life big cat content for Netflix. What may be coming, and how they’re going about it, sheds new light on the controversial hit.

Netflix’s ‘Kimmy Schmidt’ Special Brings Interactivity To Comedy
John Jurgensen, The Wall Street Journal

The series co-created by Tina Fey will return for a choose-your-own-adventure style episode, suggesting the experimental format is here to stay.

Unlike TV, Almost All Viewers Are Present for Digital Video Ads
Andrew Blustein, Adweek 

More people are staying indoors and staring at their screens, but are those people still looking at their screens when an ad shows up? According to a study from Magna, around 99% of people are present or within a viewable distance of their screen for at least one second when a video ad appears. 

Pandemic movie ‘Contagion’ is available on HBO after surging in popularity on digital rental platforms
Travis Clark, Business Insider 

The 2011 pandemic movie “Contagion” surged in popularity amid the coronavirus outbreak on digital platforms and piracy websites earlier this year. Now it’s available on HBO. 

All 201 episodes of The Office are now playing out over Slack
Julia Alexander, The Verge 

If you take out The Office’s physical interactions between characters and try to tell the same jokes over Slack, does The Office still work? It’s a question that creative collective MSCHF set to find out, recreating all 201 episodes of the series over Slack. 

Amazon Needs Movies More Than a Multiplex
Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg 

As Amazon.com Inc. approaches the third anniversary of its Whole Foods Market acquisition, there’s speculation that the tech giant could set its sights on AMC Entertainment Inc. for its next oddball deal. But modernizing an already popular supermarket and luring shoppers with discounts on avocados isn’t the same as running a movie-theater chain — that would amount to a rescue mission.

COVID-19 has changed celebrity culture—and it may never go back to normal
Yasmin Gagne, Fast Company 

Across the internet, in group chats, and on Zoom calls, people are asking, “Where is the gossip?” Click through the Star Tracks gallery of People.com, updated daily, and it looks like every celebrity is doing the same thing I did today: going to the grocery store in a tracksuit. 

What Industry Leaders Won’t Miss About TV Upfront Presentations
Jeanine Poggi, Ad Age 

To those on the outside, the upfront presentations might seem like lots of hobnobbing with celebrities and VIP access to some of the most buzzed-about content. And in part, it is.