General
Fox Corp. Adds Paul Ryan to Board
Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter
The new Fox Corp. has added former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and long-time Rupert Murdoch ally Chase Carey to its board.
Everyone who used to run Time Warner is out the door less than a year after AT&T paid $85 billion for the media giant
Peter Kafka, Recode
In October 2016, AT&T said it would pay some $85 billion for Time Warner and praised the company’s leadership as “second to none.” Now we are going to find out what Time Warner is worth without that leadership: Less than a year after AT&T’s deal to buy the entertainment giant, all of the men who ran the company have left or are leaving.
As ‘New Fox’ Stock Begins Trading, Fox News Takes Starring Role in Murdoch Empire
Georg Szalai and Paul Bond, The Hollywood Reporter
With Walt Disney set to close its acquisition of large parts of 21st Century Fox just after midnight New York time on Wednesday, the spin-off of Fox Corporation that houses the Murdoch family’s remaining assets, including the Fox News Channel and Fox broadcast network, is being completed Tuesday morning.
Hollywood Employs More Workers Than Mining and Farming, MPAA Says
Anousha Sakoui, Bloomberg
The U.S. television and film industry has become a bigger employer than commodities and energy, according to an analysis by the Motion Picture Association of America.
Film
MoviePass is bringing back an unlimited plan, but there’s a catch
Jason Guerrasio, Business Insider
MoviePass is bringing back an unlimited plan. Despite a recent exodus of executives and managers, the movie-ticket subscription service has been working to bring back a plan similar to the one that got it so many subscribers two summers ago: a $9.95-a-month unlimited plan.
DC Films Finally Admits Marvel Studios Was Right All Along
Joanna Robinson, Vanity Fair
A lot of information has been trickling out about the future of Warner Bros.’ D.C. comics film franchise—not least of which is the fresh news that WB CEO Kevin Tsujihara is resigning in disgrace, following a report about some scandalous text messages. But long before Tsujihara’s controversy, Warner Bros. had already started to pivot its comic book movies away from the dark and dreary ethos that characterized the Zack Snyder era of films including Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Television
PBS Chief Paula Kerger Responds To Third Donald Trump Push To De-Fund
Lisa de Moraes, Deadline Hollywood
Responding to the Trump Administration’s third proposal to eliminate federal funding for public media, PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger issued a statement on Monday.
‘Late Show’ Cancels Trip to New Zealand Following Terrorist Attack
Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter
The Late Show’s trip to New Zealand this week has been canceled following the Christchurch terrorist attack.
Former DNC chair Donna Brazile to join Fox News
Caitlin Oprysko, Politico
Former interim DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile is joining Fox News as a commentator, the network said on Monday.
Technology and New Media
This executive who just resigned was in charge of HBO’s streaming platforms — HBO GO and HBO Now
Alex Sherman, CNBC
HBO’s president of global distribution, Bernadette Aulestia, has announced her resignation, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC.
More households subscribe to streaming than traditional TV, according to new report
David Ng, Los Angeles Times
For the first time, a higher percentage of households in the U.S. subscribe to a digital streaming service than to traditional pay television, according to the results of a new survey released Monday by Deloitte.
Inside YouTube’s struggles to shut down video of the New Zealand shooting — and the humans who outsmarted its systems
Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg, The Washington Post
As a grisly video recorded by the alleged perpetrator of Friday’s bloody massacres at two New Zealand mosques played out on YouTube and other social media, Neal Mohan, 3,700 miles away in San Bruno, Calif., had the sinking realization that his company was going to be overmatched — again.
As Netflix Cancels Shows Faster, Fan Favorites Quickly Disappear
Beejoli Shah, The Information
After Netflix cancelled the Naomi Watts drama “Gypsy” in 2017, a group of fans calling themselves “Easy Tigers” organized a social media campaign to get people to start watching the show in hopes of changing Netflix executives’ minds. The campaign was so organized that it directed people to watch specific episodes twice, consecutively, at set times.
Why Netflix is diving deeper into interactive storytelling
Nicole LaPorte, Fast Company
Following on the heels of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch–the social-media sensation, choose-your-own-adventure film that Netflix launched last December—the company is leaning further into interactive storytelling, seeing it as the next, innovative frontier in TV shows and movies.
New York Times Cools on Apple, Whose News Subscription App Looms
Thomas Seal, Bloomberg
The New York Times has recently cut the number of stories it’s giving to Apple Inc.’s news app, the newspaper publisher’s chief executive officer said, as the iPhone maker prepares to unveil a subscription service for news outlets next week.
All UFC Pay-Per-View Events Moving to ESPN+ Exclusively in U.S. Through 2025
Todd Spangler, Variety
The UFC — in a major jump to digital away from traditional pay TV — inked an expanded pact with ESPN under which all of the mixed martial arts promoter’s pay-per-view events will be available exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S. for the next seven years.
Google reveals the logo for its game streaming service/device at GDC 2019
Stephen Hall, 9To5Google
We’re on the ground at GDC 2019 today in the lead up to Google’s gaming event tomorrow, and we got a chance to get the first look at what seems likely to be the logo for the new product that makes up this big announcement. A game streaming service of some kind is certainly in the cards, and we’ve reported that hardware will be involved too.
Netflix, drawn to talent, boosts production in Mexico with 50 films and series
Laura Tillman, Los Angeles Times
Manolo Caro yelled “Cut,” rose from the director’s chair and pushed through the swinging doors of the kitchen. There, he gave actors Dario Yazbek Bernal and Arturo Ríos his notes on a scene from Season 2 of “La Casa de las Flores”: where they ought to stand, which line should be delivered deadpan, where to avoid a word echo.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
The New Disney Will Be a Thrill Ride
Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg
In order for Disney to get to “Disney-plus,” it’s going to have to be Disney-minus for a while. On Wednesday, Walt Disney Co. will officially complete its acquisition of 21st Century Fox Inc.’s film and TV-entertainment assets for about $85 billion, including debt.
Feeling the Churn: Why Netflix Cancels Shows After A Couple Of Seasons & Why They Can’t Move To New Homes
Nellie Andreeva, Deadline Hollywood
For decades, the success of a TV series had been measured by its longevity. The standard series regular contracts are for six years, which has been considered a threshold for a show to be deemed reasonably successful.
AT&T’s Hollywood Star Turn Comes With Baggage
Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg
AT&T Inc.’s frustrating early days in Hollywood are a reminder of an icky reality in the entertainment industry: Consensual sexual relationships can often be in exchange for getting work. While that’s not quite in the scope of the #MeToo movement — which seeks to fight sexual harassment and assault (see Harvey Weinstein, Les Moonves, etc.) — this kind of quid pro quo does hinder efforts to make Hollywood, and society as a whole, more equitable.
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