General
AT&T in Talks to Resolve Elliott Management’s Activist Campaign
Corrie Driebusch et al., The Wall Street Journal
AT&T Inc. is in talks with Elliott Management Corp. to resolve the activist investor’s campaign for change at the phone and media giant, people familiar with the matter said. The two sides have held a series of wide-ranging discussions since Elliott disclosed a stake in AT&T five weeks ago and publicly urged the company to make changes aimed at igniting its lackluster share performance.
Hollywood Merger-Mania Hits Business Management
Paul Bond, The Hollywood Reporter
Disney’s purchase of much of 21st Century Fox and AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner set in motion a powerful wave of consolidation that is continuing with the pending merger of Viacom and CBS. Flying a bit more under the radar are the business managers who handle money for the executives and celebrities at those other companies and who are also consolidating — and insiders say the trend will continue.
WarnerMedia sets up podcast ad sales team as it develops Xandr relationship
Andrew Blustein, The Drum
WarnerMedia has formed a podcast-dedicated sales team to support its slate of current and upcoming projects. Jason Baron, senior vice-president of direct marketing for WarnerMedia Ad Sales, will lead the sales team within the company’s podcast network.
Taylor Swift Keeps Paying Off for Universal Music Owner Vivendi
Angelina Rascouet, Bloomberg
Fans streaming the latest hits from Taylor Swift and Post Malone propelled sales growth at Universal Music Group as its French parent company Vivendi SA tries to secure new investors in the business.
Film
The 2019 box office has 12 weeks to make more than $3 billion if it wants to beat 2018′s record haul
Sarah Whitten, CNBC
Despite a slow start, the 2019 box office is showing signs of strength. However, even with blockbuster gems like “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King” and “Toy Story 4,” it could still struggle to top 2018′s ticket sale record by year-end. A weak slate of movies in the beginning of the year put 2019 at a deficit.
MoviePass resurrects from the dead to charge bank accounts
Nadine DeNinno, New York Post
The ghost of the shuttered MoviePass appears to be haunting bank accounts this October. The movie subscription service, which shut down for good Sept. 14, has allegedly resurrected from the dead, appearing as a variety of mysterious charges on credit cards, former members tell The Post.
China Cancels Release of Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter
In a shocking twist not unlike the ending of a Quentin Tarantino film or two, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s China box office ambitions appear to be going up in flames. The critically acclaimed movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, had been approved for release in China on Oct. 25, but regulators have abruptly reversed course.
Average Movie Ticket Price Falls 4% in Third Quarter of 2019
Breanna Bell, Variety
Average ticket prices for the third quarter have dropped 4% to $8.93, down from Q2’s $9.26, the National Association of Theatre Owners announced today. However, compared with the third quarter of 2018, ticket price has risen 1.1% from $8.83.
What Do ‘Joker’ and Fox News Movie ‘Bombshell’ Have in Common? This Red-Hot Producer
Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter
When Charlize Theron phoned Aaron L. Gilbert earlier this year, she was understandably distraught. Just two weeks before shooting was to begin, Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures was pulling out of Bombshell, the Fox News/Roger Ailes movie she’s producing and starring in alongside Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie.
Parasite Is Getting Rave Reviews. When Can You Actually See It in a Theater Near You?
Chris Lee, Vulture
Back in May, writer-director Bong Joon-ho faced a tsunami of rapturous reviews, surfing to the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his pitch-black comedic thriller, Parasite. Along the way, he made history as the first Korean auteur to claim the Palme d’Or, earning a five-minute standing ovation and besting front-runners at the fest like Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory.
Television
Meet the New Face of the Trump Resistance at Fox News
Gerry Smith, Bloomberg
On Oct. 13, Chris Wallace, the host of “Fox News Sunday,” grilled Secretary of Defense Mark Esper about the administration’s response to the growing Ukraine scandal. That night, President Donald Trump jumped on Twitter and compared Wallace unfavorably to his late father.
Megyn Kelly goes home to Fox News — and trashes NBC News over Matt Lauer
Christie D’Zurilla, Los Angeles Times
Megyn Kelly has a few questions and a few suggestions. And they’re directed at her former employer, NBC News.
Kurt Sutter Fired From FX for Being an “Abrasive D***”
Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter
The Kurt Sutter era at FX — and now, Disney — has ended. The Mayans M.C. showrunner has been fired following what sources describe as “multiple complaints” over his behavior on the drama series.
‘Sunnyside’ Down, Or Why TV’s Cancelation Culture Has Been Un-Canceled
Anthony Crupi, AdAge
Cancelation culture is canceled, at least as far as the broadcast networks are concerned, but NBC’s decision to yank the flailing “Sunnyside” from its primetime schedule is a reminder that Job One of ad-supported TV is to deliver commercial impressions. Regardless of how the decision is framed by the programming department, a new series that fails to meet even today’s degraded ratings benchmarks must be removed from the sales calculus before it becomes an even greater liability.
‘Clueless’ Drama Series Reboot With Mystery Twist From CBS TV Studios Sparks Network Interest
Nellie Andreeva, Deadline Hollywood
A ’90s pop culture staple is eyeing a comeback. An hourlong Clueless TV series, based on the hit 1995 feature, is in the works at CBS TV Studios.
Technology and New Media
Netflix and Amazon face censorship threat in India: source
Aditya Kalra and Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Reuters
India is deliberating potential censorship on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, a senior government source told Reuters.
Quibi has partnered with T-Mobile as it prepares for April launch
Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times
Telecommunications giant T-Mobile has agreed to partner with Quibi, a Hollywood start-up that plans to distribute bite-size entertainment designed for millennials. Under the arrangement, Quibi’s upcoming streaming service will be part of a T-Mobile offering, giving it a broad distribution platform as it prepares to launch in April. T-Mobile, the third-largest mobile phone network with 83.1 million customers, plans to merge with Sprint, the largest wireless merger in the industry’s history.
Who watched the ‘Breaking Bad’ movie? All the young Netflix dudes
Zlati Meyer, Fast Company
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie came vrooming onto Netflix last Friday, and the majority of viewers who gobbled up the continuing story of drug dealer Jesse Pinkman six years after the namesake series ended were exactly who you’d think.
How ABC’s Localish is using Facebook to incubate TV shows
Tim Peterson, Digiday
Disney-owned ABC’s year-old local news video property Localish is inverting the model of TV networks cutting short clips from their linear shows to distribute online. Instead, Localish is taking the short videos it has produced primarily for Facebook and packaging them into TV-length episodes to air on ABC’s local TV stations and elsewhere.
Whistle Plans to Launch Linear Over-the-Top Channel
Jon Lafayette, Broadcasting & Cable
Sports media company Whistle said it plans to launch a linear over-the-top TV channel in the fourth quarter. The company also named Griffin Gmelich executive VP of OTT and content.
The most important Netflix series right now may not be in English
Jacob Douglas, CNBC
Netflix shares rose after its third-quarter earnings, and as domestic growth for the streaming giant has slowed, more of the growth is coming from abroad. Netflix has had success with original local language content in 17 different countries and chief among the big international push is “La Casa de Papel,” known as “Money Heist” in English.
Netflix Counters “Laughable” ‘Laundromat’ Lawsuit, Cites “Constitutionally Protected Speech”
Tom Grater, Deadline Hollywood
Netflix’s lawyers have moved swiftly to oppose the lawsuit filed yesterday against movie The Laundromat. Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca, the two partners behind now-dissolved Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co, filed a claim to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut seeking damages and to stop the film’s release on the platform tomorrow (October 18).
Netflix championed its ability to ‘create a brand almost out of thin air’ ahead of the launch of Disney Plus, citing the success of ‘Tall Girl’
Travis Clark, Business Insider
Netflix talked up its own “brand creation” compared to Disney’s collection of established IP during its third quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Disney will enter the streaming wars when its own platform, Disney Plus, launches November 12 with content across its many mega-popular franchises like Marvel, “Star Wars,” and Pixar.
Bleacher Report Producing Pilot Highlighting Pro Athletes’ Gaming Setups
Patrick Shanley, The Hollywood Reporter
Sports media company Bleacher Report is branching into more longer-form content with the development of its first pilot co-produced by creative studio Kids at Play. Battlestations, a new show that showcases the expansive (and expensive) video game setups of professional traditional sports athletes, is the first project in the company’s new piloting strategy that uses real-time data from Bleacher Report’s substantial audience base to measure performance and inform creative decisions.
Locast Adds Atlanta, Phoenix
John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable
Locast, the free TV station streaming service, has added two more markets, Atlanta and Phoenix, bringing its total to 15 markets where broadband users can watch local TV station signals over-the-top for free, though Locast asks for a donation. Broadcasters have sued Locast over the service, which relies on an exception for nonprofits in copyright law to stream the stations without asking their permission or negotiating a fee for carriage.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
“There’s Absolutely More To Be Disclosed”: Ronan Farrow On #MeToo, NBC, And What He Left Out Of ‘Catch And Kill’
Claire Landsbaum, Vanity Fair
“My mom thanks you,” Ronan Farrow told me Wednesday, as he dug into an early lunch in a Pottery Barn–style conference room in Midtown. His mom thanks me because she would want him to eat, and he hasn’t had much time for that in the past few days, hence the mid-interview salmon and asparagus.
‘The Irishman’s Mega Media Bow Designed To Establish Its Clout As Awards-Worthy, And Binge-Worthy
Peter Bart, Deadline Hollywood
The imminent multimedia opening of The Irishman is expected to defy all precedents, embracing a veritable blitzkrieg of awards screenings, streamer promotions, celebrity celebrations, podcasts and even a monthlong run at a Broadway theater. At three-and-a-half hours, The Irishman will be both ubiquitous and, on some levels, confusing (more on that later).
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