| Despite persistent rumors that Netflix will make a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery — mirroring past chatter about Paramount — co-CEO Greg Peters made it abundantly clear at Screentime last week that his company isn’t very interested. That doesn’t mean Netflix hasn’t looked. The company considers buying everything that’s on the block. Management discusses these deals internally and sometimes holds exploratory talks. But megadeals in media have a terrible track record, and Netflix prefers to build businesses rather than buy them. The company also has no use for most of Warner Bros.’ assets. It doesn’t want cable networks or HBO Max. It would take the studio (and that glorious lot). Unlike Peters, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is far more enthusiastic about industry consolidation. He said there are too many streaming services, and combining studios under one owner would give a company like his more firepower to compete with tech giants. Ellison declined to address Warner Bros. specifically, though I tried asking him a few different ways. Warner Bros. rejected Ellison’s initial entreaty, as we reported late Saturday, though the two sides continue to talk. Paramount has roped in Apollo Global Management, whose role isn’t exactly clear. The private equity company controls Legendary Entertainment, which owns a piece of several Warner Bros. franchises. Paramount’s new CEO remains the only person who we know is interested in buying all of Warner Bros. There have been stories of other suitors, but those reports sound more hopeful than real at this point. - AI is coming and nobody knows when or where
The CEOs of three different media companies all expressed cautious optimism about the impact of artificial intelligence on the media business. Netflix’s Peters, Paramount’s Ellison and Warner Music Group’s Robert Kyncl all portrayed AI as an opportunity and a potential tool. Kyncl was the most optimistic, insisting it would increase the value of copyrights. Peters and Ellison were more guarded in their language. They all expressed vague skepticism that AI would fundamentally undermine their business, though Peters did compare the dawn of AI to the dawn of the internet. The internet gave rise to Netflix and YouTube, which radically altered the entertainment business and didn’t make the existing media companies more valuable. (I regret not asking about this as a follow-up.) Perhaps, there’s a distinction between the value of the companies and the value of the copyrights. While Spotify is worth more than all the major record labels combined, music libraries have never been more valuable. I am not sure the same can be said for film catalogs, however. Kimmel recounted a moment early in his career when his show was taken off the air in Detroit over comments he made about the 2004 NBA Finals. A top executive at ABC said the program wouldn’t survive if it didn’t get back on the air in the city. So when Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair, two broadcasters with ABC affiliates in dozens of markets, pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air over his Charlie Kirk remarks, the network’s late-night host wasn’t sure if he could recover. But he did, and he told us the full story of how he and ABC parent Walt Disney made peace. Kimmel insisted his initial comments about Kirk were mischaracterized. He also backed TV chief Dana Walden in the Disney succession bake-off, not that his vote is likely to sway the board. - Frank Sinatra is coming back to Las Vegas.
Iconic, one of many companies led by music mogul Irving Azoff, has acquired the name, image and likeness rights to Frank Sinatra from the singer’s estate. Iconic works with heritage acts like the Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to help the groups or their heirs revitalize their catalogs and look after their estates. Azoff mentioned the Sinatra deal as an aside, but he plans to create a Rat Pack-themed venue in Las Vegas. David Ellison said his family has a positive relationship with the Trump administration, and that he speaks with his father, billionaire Larry Ellison, just about every day. He also explained why he bought Bari Weiss’ The Free Press, a controversial deal in the news business. Coogler and his business partner Sev Ohanian spoke about their ambitions for their company, Proximity Media. Coogler discussed his favorite contemporaries and his relationship with Christopher Nolan. Ohanian said they are developing a comedy. - Warner Bros. film chiefs take a victory lap
Not too long ago, CEO David Zaslav was looking to replace his top film executives, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. He worried they were spending too much money on original movies. Then they went on a tear, with several hits in a row, led by A Minecraft Movie and Sinners. Zaslav renewed their contracts this past week. No contract ever stops CEOs from firing people they don’t like. But De Luca and Abdy took heat for movies they either didn’t buy in the first place or hadn’t released yet. Sinners was their first big swing and it worked. Weapons did, too. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another isn’t a big hit commercially but looks like an Oscar contender. Their next big test comes with Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights in February. The best of Screentime (and other stuff) | YouTubers aren’t movie stars (yet) | Dude Perfect: The Hero Tour, a film following the titular YouTube stars, grossed about $537,000 during its two weeks in theaters. An entertainment ensemble best known for trick shots, Dude Perfect partnered with the Regal theater chain to release a documentary about the members’ latest tour. It played in about 1,000 locations over Week 1 and then 300 for Week 2, according to Regal. The numbers are tiny — about 10% of what you’d expect from movies you’ve likely never even heard about. This is no Taylor Swift or Kpop: Demon Hunters stunt. This was a test. Dude Perfect wanted to extend its family friendly brand into theaters, and Regal wanted to see if YouTubers can pack theaters and create a new kind of alternative programming. We’ll see what Regal tries next. The US loses ground Part IIStreaming customers are watching less US programming, according to new research from Digital i. Customers of Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video in 19 international markets spent 7% less of their TV time on US programming in the second quarter of 2025 than they did five years ago. As these streaming services initially grew abroad, they started by signing up wealthier, tech-forward customers in big cities who were more likely to watch US shows. But they are now extending deeper into these markets, signing up customers who want more local fare. This mirrors trends in music. It also echoes our piece from a few weeks ago describing how US-produced programming is losing ground to local content. The biggest spender in the US is…Comcast? That’s according to KPMG for the year 2024. I appreciate their latest report because it compares spending across industries and does away with the fallacy that YouTube doesn’t spend anything on programming. It is the second biggest spender after Comcast, outpacing Disney, Netflix and Amazon.com. The No. 1 network on TV is…Fox News, at least in terms of advertising impressions. The conservative news network earned the largest share of advertising impressions in the third quarter, narrowly eclipsing CBS, according to iSpot.tv. While CBS still had more viewers, Fox aired more advertising per hour. Deals, deals, dealsThis new record from Haim is my favorite they've released, and their live show delivers as well. | 
