• Paramount Global is reportedly exploring a sale of a majority stake in its BET brand, which includes the BET cable channel, BET+ streaming service and VH1, and actor and producer Tyler Perry has held discussions with the company about a potential sale, according to sources familiar with the matter. Bryon Allen, who controls several local TV stations and the Weather Channel through his Entertainment Studios firm, is also interested in acquiring BET, according to a representative for the entrepreneur. (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Sirius XM Holdings Inc. will lay off 475 positions, or roughly 8% of its workforce, due to the “uncertain economic environment,” Chief Executive Jennifer Witz said in an email to staff obtained by CNBC. Impacted by lower car sales, the satellite radio subscription company said it had 32.4 million self-paying subscribers at the end of last year and 6.8 million trial subscribers in the fourth quarter, down about 224,000 from the last quarter. (CNBC)
• In the works for more than a decade, the Hulu series adaptation of Erik Larson’s “Devil in the White City,” which was set to be executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, is reportedly no longer moving forward at the Walt Disney Co.-owned streaming service, though ABC Signature plans to shop the project around to other networks. The news arrives about six months after director Todd Field and lead actor Keanu Reeves dropped out of the project. (Entertainment Weekly)

How the ‘Less Is More’ Mindset Could Hurt Perceived Value of Major Video Streamers

Morning Consult

Warner Bros. Discovery To Boost CEO David Zaslav’s Stock Bonus Based On Free Cash Flow

Jill Goldsmith, Deadline

Warner Bros. Discovery has tweaked its CEO’s employment contract, granting a bigger pot of restricted stock units but linking them to free cash flow targets.

Imax Adds Gail Berman and Jen Wong to Board of Directors

Rebecca Rubin, Variety

Longtime entertainment and media executives Gail Berman and Jen Wong have joined Imax’s board of directors.

Village Roadshow Entertainment Bolsters Ranks With Three New Executive Appointments

Justin Kroll, Deadline

Village Roadshow Entertainment has made a wave of additions and promotions with Nic Gordon being elevated to Vice President of Feature Film for Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP), and Anne MacKay is being named as a Creative Executive at VRP. Elizabeth Elliott joins VREG as Executive Vice President of Business Affairs.

Sony CFO: Without a Streaming Platform, We’re Free to Sell Films and Shows “to the Highest Bidder”

Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter

At an investor conference, Hiroki Totoki noted that Sony Pictures is a key driver of earnings for the conglomerate.

Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters: “Member Satisfaction and Profit” Guide Company Decisions

Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter

The new co-CEO and executive chairman Reed Hastings spoke at the global streamer’s European headquarters in Amsterdam on Monday in a session moderated by Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands.

DA stands by prosecutor in Alec Baldwin set-shooting case

Morgan Lee, The Associated Press

A district attorney in Santa Fe fought back Monday against efforts to disqualify the special prosecutor pursuing manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico film set.

‘Women Talking’ and ‘Slow Horses’ Writers Win at Scripter Awards

Julia MacCray, Variety

“Women Talking” writer-director Sarah Polley and novelist Miriam Toews won in the film category, while “Slow Horses” screenwriter Will Smith and novelist Mick Herron won the episodic TV category at the 35th annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards on Saturday.

‘Three Sisters’ Starring Oscar Isaac and Greta Gerwig Indefinitely Postponed at New York Theatre Workshop

Chloe Rabinowitz, Broadway World

Scheduling conflicts arose for the artists which proved to be insurmountable in bringing the production to life during the 2022/23 season.

‘Hamilton’ fundraiser set for Hispanic Federation, Flamboyan

Glenn Gamboa, The Associated Press

“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will bring his award-winning musical back to Puerto Rico for two weeks of performances in June, including a fundraiser for the Hispanic Federation and education nonprofit, the Flamboyan Foundation.

Cartoonists criticize ‘Dilbert’ creator over racist remarks

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press

Cartoonists are pushing back against racist remarks made by “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams, with one artist even using his own strip this week to lampoon the disgraced cartoon now dropped by newspapers nationwide.

January Jones Wants Casting Directors “to Come Back Into the Office Like Everyone Else”

Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair

The “Mad Men” star spoke out against virtual auditions on behalf of actors everywhere: “It’s time consuming, expensive, and a drag.”

Tim Robbins joins Woody Harrelson to denounce COVID protocols on Hollywood sets

Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly

Tim Robbins has joined self-proclaimed “anarchist” Woody Harrelson to call for an end to COVID-19 vaccine protocols on Hollywood sets.

‘Fences’ Producer Gets $90 Million in Funding From Investors Including Goldman Sachs

Lucas Shaw and Silla Brush, Bloomberg

Macro, the media company behind “Fences” and other films, has raised more than $90 million from investors including BlackRock Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Elon Musk Documentary Set From Oscar Winner Alex Gibney

Matt Donnelly, Variety

Elon Musk will be the center of a new documentary from the unflinching Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning director of “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.”

Richard Linklater’s Message to Fans Worried They Won’t Live to See ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ in 20 Years

Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire

The director will be in his eighties himself when the film is released in the early 2040s.

Fire TV launches a new dedicated Oscars hub that lets users predict the winners

Lauren Forristal, TechCrunch

Amazon announced on Monday the launch of a dedicated Oscars hub on Fire TV where movie buffs can get ready for the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony, including watching all the nominated movies as well as cast their votes via the interactive voting experience, “Oscars predictions,” where users can vote for Oscar winners directly on the screen.

‘The Last of Us’ Episode 8 Hits Series High of 8.1 Million Viewers, Up 74% From Season Premiere

Selome Hailu, Variety

The penultimate episode of “The Last of Us” Season 1 reached an impressive 8.1 million viewers on Sunday night.

‘Stranger Things’ Final Season Production Start Still Months Away

Charlie Mason, TVLine

It still won’t be as long as the wait between Seasons 3 and 4 of Stranger Things, but we nonetheless have quite a ways to go before we get anywhere near Season 5.

Jason Sudeikis Says ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3 “Is The End Of This Story We Wanted To Tell,” Addresses Potential Spinoffs

Rosy Cordero, Deadline

Jason Sudeikis is not ready to say his Apple TV hit Ted Lasso is ending after season 3, but he does suggest that the upcoming episodes seem to wrap up his Emmy-winning comedy quite nicely.

‘And Just Like That’ star teases Season 2 is ‘very different’ than first

Nicki Gostin, Page Six

“And Just Like That…” star Sarita Choudhury, who plays realtor Seema Patel, teased to Page Six that the second season of the HBO show is “very different from Season 1.”

Meta Plans Thousands More Layoffs as Soon as This Week

Sarah Frier et al., Bloomberg

Meta Platforms Inc., the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is planning a fresh round of layoffs and will cut thousands of employees as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.

YouTube’s Head of Gaming Outlines Exclusive Creator Deals, Strategy Under New CEO

J. Clara Chan, The Hollywood Reporter

The video giant said it hit more than 120 billion hours of watch time for gaming-related content on the platform in 2022.

Twitter Faces Second Outage in a Week, Musk Calls it “Brittle”

Max Zimmerman, Bloomberg

Twitter Inc. was recovering from its second outage in less than a week, after an “internal change” caused users to get error messages when clicking on links within tweets. 

Rebel Girls announces $8 million Series A, metaverse expansion

Steven Melendez, Fast Company

The certified B Corporation aims to reach an audience of 50 million girls by 2025 as it continues to publish new books and expand into new media and storytelling formats.

The Weeknd & Ariana Grande’s ‘Die for You’ Leaps to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Gary Trust, Billboard

The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” bounds from No. 6 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, after Grande joined for its remix.

Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey & Shania Twain’s Music to Be Featured in Apple Fitness+ Workouts

Heran Mamo, Billboard

New workouts inspired by the chart-topping artists will roll out every Monday throughout March.

SoundCloud is testing a TikTok-like feed for music discovery

Ivan Mehta, TechCrunch

A lot of music streaming services and discovery apps have followed a formula for introducing new artists and songs to their users: an AI-powered vertical feed that highlights clips of songs. SoundCloud is the latest app to try this feature out.