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.
BTS The supergroup’s single “Butter” reigns atop the Billboard Hot 100 for a second frame, drawing 19 million U.S. streams in the week ending June 3, per MRC Data. Mitch Lowe (left) and Ted Farnsworth In a deal with the FTC over protecting user data, the ex-MoviePass proprietors are barred from “misrepresenting their business” in the future. Adam Silver The NBA commissioner bucks 2020’s rating declines as the playoffs’ first round averages 3.06 million viewers across multiple networks, a three-year high. Scooter Braun The mogul is hit with a $200 million suit from ex-Goldman Sachs partner Peter Comisar that claims Braun backed out of commitments to a new private-equity fund. Showbiz Stocks $29.39 (+1%) ENDEAVOR (EDR) The owner of WME and UFC revealed a slim profit in its first quarter…
Just as WarnerMedia has some hope for the future, the company is alarmingly stuck in the past. With the Discovery merger likely to take a year or more to close, the company is to some degree hamstrung: Top executives who are seen as lame ducks will be showing up on Zoom calls (or in-person meetings?) for months to come. And, after chafing at AT&T-imposed spending constraints, the wait for federal regulatory approval looks like “another year of treading water in the middle of the most competitive streaming marketplace,” as one company veteran tells THR. Dealing with the delay is the last thing the team at Warners needs, and Wall Street is nervous about it, too. “The single greatest challenge that investors are worried about is that you’re in the middle…
Jason Kilar has more than 20 million reasons to stay on as CEO of WarnerMedia for the time being as the company awaits regulatory approval to merge with Discovery. When Kilar was hired in spring 2020, he was granted more than 1.6 million shares of AT&T stock, set to vest over four years beginning Feb. 15, 2021, according to the agreement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The second tranche of shares (valued at just over $12 million as of June 7) would vest Feb. 15, 2022, if he still works at the company. In addition, Kilar’s employment agreement includes a dedicated severance payout in the event that WarnerMedia is sold and he is not retained as CEO. Critically, there is a step-up in severance benefits at…
Cable news channels are at a tipping point. Fox News, CNN and MSNBC are coming off a record-smashing news year, propelled by a wild 2020 election (and its aftermath), not to mention an ongoing pandemic. And yet, with the cable TV business in a state of decline driven by cord-cutting, all three channels are planning for a post-cable world, one in which Americans primarily stream their news. “It’s an enormous opportunity for the news brand that gets it right,” says former CNN U.S. president Jon Klein. And their strategies could not be more different, with CNN developing entirely new programming and products, Fox News leaning into its primetime programming, and MSNBC bolstering the priorities of its parent company. The effort drawing the most intrigue at the moment is CNN’s, with…
With Eric Garcetti expected to land a new role as U.S. ambassador to India, he’ll leave behind a checkered legacy as Los Angeles’ 42nd mayor. While the city’s decades-long homeless problem didn’t start on his watch, it did balloon into an out-of-control humanitarian crisis during his eight-year term. Yet Hollywood will lose an advocate who understood and relied on the media and tech industries to help define his tenure. A member of the Screen Actors Guild who’s a classically trained pianist, Garcetti counts a number of industry players, including Jenji Kohan, Joey Soloway and Jimmy Kimmel, as friends. He appointed the city’s first film czar during his first term and was integral in convincing state lawmakers to triple annual funding for California film and TV tax credits to $330 million,…
I am the showrunner of Rutherford Falls, a new comedy on Peacock. According to TV critics and my mom, the show is a game-changer for Native American representation. While doing press, I was often asked, “Do you remember ever seeing yourself represented onscreen?” For a Native woman, this is a toughie. I knew I couldn’t blurt “literally never” — because, well, it’s a bummer. And in reality, my blind love for TV and movies provides me with the mental gymnastics required to see myself in a ton of characters. The following is a list of some of my faves. (Please note: I don’t know if any of these have become problematic. I’d really appreciate your not telling me.) SALLY ROGERS THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW (1961-66) Watching this show in…
