Ted Sarandos seems to be very good at giving us more of what we want. And after a crackdown on password-sharing, his company has come out on top in the crowded streaming wars (if you set aside YouTube, which Sarandos does not). That doesn’t mean everything is rosy all the time now — the company has had several rounds of layoffs in the past few years — but Sarandos, along with his co-chief executive, Greg Peters, has put Netflix in a dominant position. Has this been good for us? Or for culture?
Here is a guide to what’s already here, what’s on the way, and what it means for consumers and streamers.
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing drew more TV spectators this year, despite a nearly four-hour weather delay. NBC Sports said Monday that its coverage of Sunday’s thrilling Indianapolis 500 averaged 5.34 million viewers across NBC, streamer Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms in preliminary numbers. That’s up by 8% over the 2023 race and by 10% over 2022. Pictured: Josef Newgarden celebrates after winning the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26. (Michael Conroy/AP)
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor was shot and killed when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in Los Angeles, his family […]
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees wrapped up its first week of negotiations over the union’s Area Standards Agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Friday. IATSE and the AMPTP will head back to the table next Tuesday following the Memorial Day holiday.
Shields takes over from Kate Shindle, who had served as president since 2015, but decided to step down after her term ended May 23.
‘Jeopardy Masters’ Ends On High Note, ‘Survivor’ And ‘Chicago Fire’ Finales Lead Wednesday
NBC’s Chicago Fire finale (5.8 million/0.4) was Wednesday’s most-watched show, while CBS’ Survivor finale dominated the night in the demo (4.5M/0.8).
Breaking with more than a century of policy, the NCAA will pay billions in damages to former athletes and allow schools to pay athletes up to $20 million a year.
Quarterly losses shrank at Lionsgate and revenues climbed as the company’s television business rebounded from the twin strikes that had shut down production for much of 2023. Revenue at the company behind The Hunger Games and John Wick franchises topped out at $1.12 billion for the three-month period ending in March, up from $1.08 billion in the prior-year quarter.
CBS filed a motion Thursday to throw out a lawsuit challenging its diversity hiring practices for writers on the show SEAL Team, arguing that it has a First Amendment right to hire who it wants. Brian Beneker, the longtime script coordinator on the show, sued in February, arguing that he had been repeatedly passed over for writing jobs because he is a straight, white man.
The Disney CEO talks brand-building and maintaining company culture at the inaugural Canva Create event. Iger, who is an investor and board member of the privately held online design platform, commended Canva for embracing the potential of generative AI tools and other cutting-edge technologies to make high-end visual media design tools readily available to everyday users.
Collective viewership for the last day of the season hit nearly three million, and the 2023-24 season saw the first match ever to top two million viewers.
From April 22 to 28, the video game adaptation scored 1.5 billion viewing minutes across all eight episodes, according to Nielsen’s streaming report. While that was down a hefty billion minutes from the week before, it was pretty comfortably above basically everything else on streaming that week.
Charles Barkley is displeased with the situation he and his Inside the NBA teammates find themselves in: sweating whether or not the NBA will keep Warner Bros. Discover, the parent company of TNT, as a partner in its down-to-the-wire media rights negotiations. Barkley took aim at WBD CEO David Zaslav for saying the company didn’t need the NBA at an investing conference two years ago.
Entertainment Tonight anchors Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner are back to once again host the Daytime Emmys, as the 51st edition of the kudocast airs live on Friday, June 7, at 8 p.m. ET (tape delayed on the West Coast). The event airs on CBS and Paramount+.
Canadian procedural Wild Cards is coming back for a second season on The CW. It marks a bit of good news for The CW, which canceled Walker earlier this week, while Canadian drama The Spencer Sisters, which it also aired, was canceled by CTV.
The deal could help TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery shore up its position in sports as it faces the possibility of losing NBA rights.
Death and Other Details co-creator/executive producer Mike Weiss has joined the CBS drama series FBI as executive producer and showrunner. Meanwhile, Allen MacDonald has been tapped as executive producer and showrunner of NBC’s Chicago Med. Both Wolf Entertainment/Universal Television dramas are top 10 broadcast series in Live+7 Nielsen viewership.
What’s the cost of a game on the streaming giant? About $75 million each.
Live sports programming continues to deliver huge ratings for TNT and ESPN as both networks dominated last week’s primetime cable ratings chart.
