The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
Debra Fisher/Sarah Lampert The showrunner’s and creator’s Netflix dramedy Ginny & Georgia tops Nielsen’s latest streaming chart with 953 million minutes of view time, outpacing Disney+’s WandaVision. Mike Sievert Five months after the T-Mobile CEO unveiled a skinny cable bundle called TVision in November, the telecom giant pulls the plug on its own services. Sean McManus Bucking the downward trend for live sports, NCAA’s March Madness has been a ratings surprise for the CBS Sports chairman, averaging 3.3 million viewers. Suzanne Scott The Fox News CEO’s network faces lawsuits tied to the 2020 election, as Dominion Voting files a $1.6 billion suit after Smartmatic makes a $2.7 billion claim. Showbiz Stocks $58.60 (+3.3%) VERIZON (VZ) Now free of HuffPost after its sale to BuzzFeed, the telecom giant unveiled plans to…
Host, a 56-minute-long horror film about six friends who hold a Zoom seance during lockdown, may not have received the same broad attention as, say, the Disney+ hit The Mandalorian. But it struck a chord with subscribers of AMC Networks’ genre streamer Shudder after its July premiere. “It was lauded in those circles,” AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan told investors in November. And that is all that counts for the company’s streaming strategy, which takes a tack that’s different from those of bigger rivals. Unlike deep-pocketed Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hollywood giants, which have created mega services like Disney+, Paramount+ and HBO Max that vie for big hits and big subscriber numbers, AMC Networks has been betting on its smaller, more focused streamers. Its goal: to differentiate itself and…
On March 24, Kim Janey was sworn in as Boston’s 55th mayor. It was a history-making move, with Janey becoming the first Black person to hold that position in the city. Only one cable news channel carried it live: the Black News Channel. “That is a big deal. It is a big deal to the city of Boston, it is a big deal to the United States, it is a big deal for Black and brown communities,” BNC president and CEO Princell Hair tells THR. “That is what you get on BNC that you won’t get anywhere else.” As a startup television news channel taking on entrenched competition, BNC faces steep challenges. But Hair and the channel’s talent believe that by focusing on communities that are underserved or not served…
On March 18, the NFL unveiled massive TV rights deals with Disney, NBCUniversal, Fox, ViacomCBS and Amazon set to pay the league more than $100 billion over the next decade. But there’s a chance it could get even more expensive. An overlooked piece of the deal could force the rights holders to pay the league even more, or allow new bidders — say, tech giants like Google or Facebook — to come in and steal those rights away. It wasn’t in the NFL’s official announcement regarding the TV rights agreements, but the league has an option to opt out of the deals after seven years (the 2029 season). The TV partners don’t have the same ability, a source confirms to THR. In other words, if the NFL thinks it can…
Winter is coming — to Broadway. As HBO keeps expanding its Game of Thrones franchise with a greenlit series and five more spinoffs in development, George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world is looking to conquer the stage with a big-budget live play, THR has learned. The project is from producers Simon Painter and Tim Lawson (The Illusionists), in partnership with Kilburn Live, with a story by Martin, who is working alongside playwright Duncan Macmillan and acclaimed U.K. director Dominic Cooke. The team’s goal is to eventually have productions in New York City, London’s West End and Australia. The first show is expected to launch in 2023, long after Broadway’s anticipated recovery. The play includes a unique story element that should be a major draw for fans. While there are many GoT…
Picture Nomadland Searchlight’s presumptive frontrunner sustains its triumphal march with a win of the top Producers Guild Award — which, like the Oscars, uses a preferential ballot — over a field that included six of the seven films it is pitted against at the Academy Awards. Actress Andra Day The United States vs. Billie Holiday The late-blooming contender, who landed an unexpected Globe win and was touted by Oprah Winfrey on an episode of Super Soul Sunday, is now being talked up on Twitter by everyone from Chance the Rapper to Hillary Clinton. Adapted Screenplay Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Writers are enamored of this film, even if portions of it are improvised and it lists eight writers in its credits, given that it landed a far-from-assured Oscar nom — and then…
