Netflix 

• Netflix Inc. is expected to spend around $17.3 billion on content in 2020 after spending close to $15.3 billion last year, according to an estimate from Wall Street firm BMO Capital Markets. The firm anticipates that most of the content spend – which it forecasts will increase to more than $26 billion by 2028 – will be focused on original content. 

• British think tank Tax Watch released a report alleging that Netflix has funneled between $327.8 million and $430 million of its international profits into low-tax jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands, even as the company receives more than $1 million in tax relief from the United Kingdom. A spokeswoman for Netflix said that the company respects individual countries’ tax rules but that it’s ultimately the role of governments “to decide the rules when it comes to tax.” 

• For the second consecutive year, AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas will not show any of Netflix’s Oscar-nominated films, which this year include Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” Despite the boycott from Regal and AMC, the Netflix originals have been shown on more than 1,000 screens in various independent movie theaters around the world. 

ViacomCBS

• ViacomCBS Inc.’s CBS All Access and Showtime OTT streaming services now have a combined 10 million subscribers, according to ViacomCBS Chief Digital Officer and CBS Interactive Chief Executive Marc DeBevoise, who said that subscriber numbers have been growing at a rate of 60 percent year over year. DeBevoise added that churn numbers are in the single digits, and that the company is in position to meet its target of 25 million subscribers by 2022.

• George Cheeks has resigned as vice chairman of NBCUniversal Content Studios and is planning to take a senior CBS role at ViacomCBS, where he could eventually succeed current CBS Chief Executive Joe Ianniello, according to people familiar with the matter. Sources said that the talks of Ianniello’s potential departure – which would be the most significant among executives since the ViacomCBS merger – came as a surprise.

Streaming 

• Comcast Corp. shared details about its Peacock streaming service, set to debut for Comcast Xfinity subscribers April 15 before launching nationally July 15, including its three pricing tiers: a $9.99 ad-free option, a $4.99 ad-supported option and an option featuring limited programming that will be free for Comcast and Cox cable customers. In addition to library content and originals, Peacock will stream live sports – including exclusive Premier League soccer matches and 2020 Olympics coverage – as well as live news and early releases of late-night shows. 

• Fox News is expanding the content offerings of its Fox Nation streaming platform, adding true crime shows and a month of programming focused on outdoor sports. The service, which costs $5.99 a month, has previously found success outside of political content, as pointed out by Fox Nation head John Finley, who noted that some of the most viewed content includes a Mark Fuhrman-hosted crime show, as well as a history and travel show. 

Cinemax

• WarnerMedia’s premium cable channel, Cinemax, is moving away from the original content game, with HBO Max Chief Content Officer Kevin Reilly telling people at the Winter TCA press tour not to expect more originals from the channel. Cinemax will continue to be available as a cable channel and offer movies, but the brand will not be a part of HBO Max. 

Oscars

• Golden Globe winners Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger and Laura Dern are among the 92nd Academy Awards acting nominees and “Once Upon a Time… Hollywood” and “Parasite” among the Best Picture nominees, though “Joker” earned the most nods with 11. After the Golden Globes failed to nominate a woman in the screenplay and directing categories, Greta Gerwig and Krysty Wilson-Cairns earned Oscar screenplay nominations for their respective work on “Little Women” and “1917,” though the Academy did not nominate any women for the Best Director category. 

E3

• Sony Corp. will not attend this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, with a spokesperson for the company saying that Sony didn’t think “the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year,” but that the company is looking forward to “a year of celebration with our fans.” Sony, which plans to launch the Playstation 5 later this year, also skipped last year’s conference. 

Music 

• Grammy nominee Billie Eilish has written and will perform the theme song for the upcoming James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” becoming the youngest artist to do so. Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film’s director, said that Eilish and her brother Finneas, who serves as the song’s co-writer, will bring “a fresh new perspective.” 

• Recording Academy Chief Executive and President Deborah Dugan has been placed on immediate administrative leave just over a week before the Grammy Awards, after a senior female member of the Recording Academy team made “a formal allegation of misconduct” against Dugan, the academy said in a statement. Recording Academy Board Chair Harvey Mason Jr. will serve as interim president and chief executive while third-party investigators conduct independent probes of the allegations against Dugan.

DVDs

• Comcast’s Universal Pictures and AT&T Inc.’s Warner Bros. are planning to combine their DVD and Blu-ray disc distribution operations – for new and old film titles, as well as television shows – in the United States and Canada, as disc sales have fallen by nearly 80 percent since their peak in 2005. The venture, which requires regulatory approval, could help the companies save money as they look to invest in streaming services.

• The Screen Actors Guild Awards are tonight. One the film side, “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,” “The Irishman” and “Bombshell” tied for the most nominations with four each. Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” leads nominees on the television side with four nods. 

• The Annual Arthouse Convergence Conference will get underway today and run through Thursday. It will feature a number of sessions, including distributor presentations and a workshop on how to navigate the exhibition space after the sunsetting of the Paramount consent decrees. 

• Netflix will report Q4 2019 earnings on Tuesday, while Comcast Corp. will do the same on Thursday. 

• The Sundance Film Festival will begin Thursday and run through Feb. 2. Films of note include the premieres of Netflix’s “The Last Thing He Wanted” and “Lost Girls,” as well as the streamer’s Taylor Swift documentary, “Miss Americana.” 

• The Grammys are Jan. 26. Lizzo, who will perform during the Alicia Keys-hosted telecast, earned eight nominations, more than any other artist this year.

1) Oscars: Full List of Nominations
Kimberly Nordyke et al., The Hollywood Reporter 

2) Critics’ Choice Awards: The Complete Winners List
Angelique Jackson, Variety 

3) The Two Biggest Pop Radio Stations Barely Played Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’
Elias Leight, Rolling Stone 

4) NBCUniversal’s Peacock Will Look More Like Cable Than Like Netflix
Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan, The Information 

5) ‘No Time to Die’: A Rare In-Depth Interview With the Keepers of James Bond
Brent Lang, Variety 

6) Abby Huntsman to Leave ‘The View’ to Help Steer Her Father’s Gubernatorial Campaign
Variety Staff

7) Oscars Math: Does Playing a Real Person Increase an Actor’s Odds?
Ben Zauzmer, The Hollywood Reporter 

8) The Sex Scene Evolves for the #MeToo Era
Lizzie Feidelson, The New York Times 

9) Stephen King ignites online fury over controversial Oscars tweets
Ben Cost, New York Post 

10) Entertainment Companies Spend $121 Billion on Original Content in 2019
Gavin Bridge, Variety