Hollywood Buzz: June 2024
By Natalie Lifson, Agent Trainee at Buchwald and your co-Editor-in-Chief at THA
News
Lionsgate’s MovieSphere Becomes First Major FAST Channel To Be Measured By Nielsen -Deadline, 6/4
Circle Of Confusion Rebrands As Circle Management And Production -Deadline, 6/5
Amblin & Bad Robot Board PGA Health Insurance Initiative; “Just The Beginning,” Guild Bosses Declare As 20 More Companies Sign On -Deadline, 6/11
Sony Pictures Acquires Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Landmark Deal That Puts Studios Back in Theater Game -THR, 6/12
Diversity In TV Down 12% With Hispanic Representation Particularly Low, Samba TV Reports -Deadline, 6/13
NBCU, Group Black Plan to Launch Multicultural Content Hub E!+ on Peacock -Variety, 6/16
Lionsgate & DirecTV Ink New Licensing Agreement; Five Of Studio’s FAST Channels Added -Deadline, 6/20
Streaming viewership reached a record high share of TV usage in May, with 38.8%. YouTube was the most-watched platform for the 16th consecutive month with a 9.7% share, followed by Netflix (7.6%), Hulu (3.1%) and Prime Video (3.0%). Broadcast accounted for 22.3% of total TV time, while cable accounted for 28.2%. -Cynopsis, 6/20
Disney Owns Both Hulu and ESPN. A Court Considers Whether That Violates Antitrust Laws -THR, 6/25
IATSE Reaches Tentative Agreement on Basic Agreement With Studios and Streamers -THR, 6/25
CAA Launches Media & Entertainment Partnerships Division for Dealmaking -THR, 6/27
After Selling CAA Stake, Private Equity Giant TPG Launching New Company in Talent Management and Representation Business -THR, 6/28
Social media ranked as the most “meaningful” channel in people’s lives in “2024 Society Say,” a Havas Media survey about consumer perspectives on culture and media. Social media was followed by TV, search, websites and newspapers. -Cynopsis, 6/28
Netflix, Amazon International Original Content Orders Outpace U.S. -THR, 7/1
Paramount Sale
Paramount, Skydance Agree on New Merger & Acquisition Deal Terms -Variety, 6/3
Shari Redstone, Paramount End Merger Talks With Skydance As Two Sides Unable “To Reach Mutually Acceptable Terms” -Deadline, 6/11
Paramount Chiefs to Staff: We’re Cutting $500M in Costs After “Unacceptable” Profit Drops -THR, 6/25
With Paramount Assets In Play, There’s Chatter About A Sale Of Its Hollywood Lot -Deadline, 6/25
Paramount Global Co-CEOs Have Hired Bankers to Evaluate Asset Sales, Tell Employees They’ve Identified Areas for Job Cuts -Variety, 6/25
Paramount Cuts Nearly All Content on Comedy Central, TV Land, CMT and MTV Websites -THR, 6/26
Unions
Actors’ Equity Ceases Development Contracts As Negotiations With Producers Stall -Deadline, 6/17
Apple Studios VFX Workers Move To Unionize Under IATSE -Deadline, 6/21
Writers At iHeartPodcast Network Ratify First Contract More Than 2 Years After Unionizing With WGA -Deadline, 6/24
IATSE Reaches Tentative Agreement on Basic Agreement With Studios and Streamers -THR, 6/25
IATSE Agreement Clears the Way to Use Artificial Intelligence as a Tool -Variety, 6/30
Helpful Articles
WGA Negotiator John August Reveals What He Believes Is The Biggest Artificial Intelligence Threat To Writers -Deadline, 6/11
Streamflation Alert: Why Subscription Prices Are Suddenly Spiking (Again) -THR, 6/12
What Went Wrong: Inside Paramount’s Failed Merger Talks and the Battle to Salvage the Company -Variety, 6/19
Streaming Profits Are Tough to Find. Niche Movie and TV Platforms See a Way Forward -THR, 6/26
IATSE Has a Deal. Will It Spark a Rebound in TV and Film Production? -THR, 6/26
Awards
