Todd Spangler / Variety: Netflix says it expects FY 2026 ad revenue of ~$2.7B, under its ~$3B forecast, and its Q4 operating margin will be impacted due to costs associated with layoffs — But the streamer faces an urgent need to refresh its queue: Revenue growth in the period slowed to its lowest rate in three years …
Rebecca Rubin / Variety: Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria is leaving the company and will be replaced by former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice, who starts October 26 — In a major executive shakeup, Bela Bajaria is out at Netflix after 10 years at the streamer, most recently serving as its chief content officer.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Shareholders for both Fox Corp. and Roku approve Fox's $22B acquisition of Roku; Fox expects the deal to be finished in H1 2027, subject to regulatory clearance — At separate special meetings of shareholders Wednesday to vote on the deal, the majority of shares owned by Fox Corp. and Roku investors were in favor the deal.
Corbin Bolies / Variety: Sony Music becomes the first music company to join ARIAM, which advocates for responsible AI adoption in the creative industry and includes the NYT and Disney — Sony Music Group has joined the Alliance for Responsible Innovation in the Arts & Media (ARIAM), becoming the first music company …
Todd Spangler / Variety: Apple TV raises prices in the US, with the monthly price up by $2 to $14.99, its fourth increase in four years; the individual Apple One tier rises $2 to $21.95 — Tech giant also ups price of Apple One multi-service bundle's individual plan — It's going to cost Americans a few more bucks to watch …
Jennifer Maas / Variety: ESA and YouGov: 212.3M people in the US between the ages of 5 and 90 play video games every week, up 3% from 2025; the average age of players has risen to 37 — Two-thirds of Americans play an hour or more of video games per week, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
Todd Spangler / Variety: YouTube makes its AI content labels more prominent on desktop and mobile, and will apply them automatically if it detects “significant photorealistic AI use” — Is that YouTube video clip you're watching real or was it made with AI? — YouTube wants to make it easier for viewers …
Jennifer Maas / Variety: Star Citizen, a video game in development since 2012, has reached $1B in lifetime funding; it remains in alpha and does not have a confirmed release date — Cloud Imperium Games marked a major milestone Sunday (May 24) as the game developer's open world massively multiplayer online space game …
Todd Spangler / Variety: A look at Matthew McConaughey's novel legal strategy to fight unauthorized AI use of his image, which involves trademarking video and audio clips of him — The actor has secured trademarks covering his persona, hoping to deter unauthorized AI use. Will it make a difference?
Gene Maddaus / Variety: Dua Lipa files a $15M lawsuit against Samsung, alleging that it used her likeness to sell TVs without paying her and without permission starting in 2025 — Dua Lipa has filed a $15 million lawsuit against Samsung, alleging that the electronics manufacturer used her likeness to sell TVs without paying her and without permission.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Trump Media and Technology Group reports Q1 net sales up 6% YoY to $871,200 and a $405.9M net loss; DJT is down 35% so far in 2026 for a market cap of ~$2.47B — Trump Media and Technology Group, operator of the social media platform Truth Social, reported a massive net loss for the first three months …
Brent Lang / Variety: Amazon MGM's Project Hail Mary becomes its highest-grossing film ever, crossing $300M globally, including $54.1M just this weekend; the movie cost $200M to make — “Project Hail Mary” is officially Amazon MGM's highest-grossing film ever. — The space odyssey has grossed $300.8 million globally …
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety: TikTok partners with Apple to let users with an Apple Music subscription play full songs on TikTok without leaving the app, along with a Listening Party feature — Apple Music and TikTok have joined forces to launch a product that allows TikTok users to play full songs on the platform without having to leave the app.
K.J. Yossman / Variety: The UK plans to update the Media Act 2024 to bring streaming platforms with 500K+ users under “enhanced” Ofcom regulation, giving it power to investigate them — Streaming platforms in the U.K. are set to come under “enhanced regulation” from media regulator Ofcom …
Gene Maddaus / Variety: WBD joins Disney and Paramount in claiming infringement on ByteDance's AI video tool Seedance and demands ByteDance cease training AI on Warner Bros. characters — The studio's legal counsel fired off a letter on Tuesday to John Rogovin, the general counsel of ByteDance who happens …
Gene Maddaus / Variety: The MPA urges ByteDance to curb its AI video model Seedance 2.0, saying the model engages in unauthorized use of US copyrighted material “on a massive scale” — The Motion Picture Association on Thursday denounced the newest AI video generator, Seedance 2.0 …
Todd Spangler / Variety: Darren Aronofsky's Primordial Soup debuts its short-form Revolutionary War series, made using Google DeepMind's AI tools and human voice actors — Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky used AI to travel back in time 250 years ago to the American Revolution. But he tapped real-life human actors …
Alex Ritman / Variety: The BBC confirms a “strategic partnership” with YouTube to produce exclusive content, including news and kids shows, a landmark deal for the UK broadcaster — The BBC has confirmed what it is billing as a “strategic partnership” with YouTube that will see the British broadcaster …
Jack Dunn / Variety: On Joe Rogan's JRE, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck discuss Hollywood and AI; Damon says Netflix wants movies to restate the plot because viewers are on their phones — Matt Damon and Ben Affleck recently appeared on the “Joe Rogan Experience” to promote their new Netflix film “The Rip,” …
Jennifer Maas / Variety: Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood predicts “we'll see the first 100% AI-generated hit movie” within three years and discusses Roku's new $3/month Howdy streamer — Roku founder, chairman and CEO Anthony Wood has some big predictions about the pending impact of generative AI on Hollywood …
Gene Maddaus / Variety: Google has removed dozens of AI videos from YouTube that depicted Disney characters, after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter flagging the links — Disney flagged the YouTube links to the videos in its letter, and demanded that Google remove them immediately.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Spotify unveils 2025's top 50 most popular US podcasts, led by The Joe Rogan Experience for the fifth consecutive year; 24 of the top 50 now offer video content — Almost half of the most-listened to 50 shows now have video available on Spotify — Spotify, as part of the annual Spotify …
Jennifer Maas / Variety: EA and Stability AI announce a partnership to build game developer tools, including “smarter paintbrushes” to quickly generate high-quality 2D textures — Video game giant Electronic Arts has struck a new partnership with generative tech company Stability AI …
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety: Spotify partners with Sony Music Group, WMG, UMG, Merlin, and Believe to develop “responsible” AI products and is building a generative AI research lab — In a significant step towards interfacing with AI and its impact on the music industry, Spotify has partnered …
Michael Schneider / Variety: TiVo confirms that it exited the hardware business on October 1 when it stopped selling DVRs, but says it will continue to offer support for the products — The TiVo box, which sat at the cutting edge of television's early 2000s time-shifting viewer revolution, is no more.
Jennifer Maas / Variety: Amazon unveils updates to Luna, including adding AAA games like Hogwarts Legacy and new GameNight original party games, available to Prime subscribers — Amazon is revamping its cloud-gaming service Luna to offer a wide variety of top-tier games, including “Hogwarts Legacy” and Xbox's …
Brian Steinberg / Variety: Amazon and Netflix partner to let advertisers buy Netflix ad inventory via Amazon's demand-side platform, after Amazon signed a similar deal with Disney in June — Amazon and Netflix are two of the major competitors in Hollywood's streaming wars, but in at least one instance, they're ready to team up.
Jennifer Maas / Variety: Netflix plans to open its first Netflix House locations, 100K-sq-ft entertainment and shopping venues, in Philadelphia on November 12 and Dallas on December 11 — Netflix has set the opening dates for its much-hyped, 100,000-square-foot permanent entertainment and shopping destinations in Philadelphia and Dallas.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Louisiana AG Liz Murrill sues Roblox, alleging among other things that it continues to facilitate CSAM distribution and the sexual exploitation of children — Online gaming platform Roblox has faced criticism for years that it doesn't do enough to protect children using its platform.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Disney says it is “fully integrating” Hulu into Disney+ and plans to launch a “unified” Disney+ and Hulu app in 2026 now that it is Hulu's sole owner — Hulu will replace the Star brand on Disney+ internationally this fall — Say ciao to the stand-alone Hulu streaming app …
Todd Spangler / Variety: Trump Media reports Q2 net sales up 5.5% YoY to $883.3K and a net loss of $20M, and says it accumulated ~$2B in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities in July — The company raised nearly $2.4 billion for its Bitcoin treasury strategy in the three-month period
Elsa Keslassy / Variety: London- and Paris-based Animaj, a kids' media company that uses proprietary generative AI production tools to automate animation pipelines, raised $85M — HarbourView Equity Partners is leading a $85-million investment in Animaj, the AI-powered media company specializing in kids & family entertainment.
Todd Spangler / Variety: The Trump Organization teases the $499 “T1 Phone”, a gold phone “designed and built” in the US, and Trump Mobile, an MVNO that uses AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile — President Trump and his family are getting into the wireless business, in partnership with the three major U.S. carriers.
Variety: SAG-AFTRA reaches a tentative deal with Activision, EA, Epic, Take-Two, and other game companies on the Interactive Media Contract, after months of strikes — The video game actors' strike may soon come to an end. — The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists …
Brent Lang / Variety: MoviePass secures a $100M capital investment from Global Emerging Markets to accelerate the development of Mogul, a fantasy gaming service launched this month — MoviePass has secured a $100 million capital investment from Global Emerging Markets to accelerate the development of Mogul …
Todd Spangler / Variety: A look at YouTube's origins, growth, and domination as the platform turns 20, including an interview with CEO Neal Mohan, who is nearing 10 years at the company — It's a muggy morning the day before the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan is stuck in parade traffic and not happy about it.
Naman Ramachandran / Variety: Sony reports Q3 revenue up 18% YoY to $28.6B, operating income up 1% YoY to $3.05B, and gaming revenue up 16% YoY to $10.92B, driven by strong PS5 sales — Sony Group Corporation turned in a strong third quarter for 2024, riding high on gaming and music while its film unit faced headwinds.
Jennifer Maas / Variety: Brookhaven, a top title on Roblox with 120M+ monthly players, was sold by its anonymous creator Wolfpaq to game developer Voldex for an undisclosed sum — Popular Roblox life simulation game “Brookhaven” has been acquired by game developer Voldex in a deal funded by Raine Partners and Shamrock Capital.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Adobe Chief Strategy Officer Scott Belsky leaves the company to join A24 film studio as a partner; he co-founded Behance, which Adobe acquired for $150M in 2012 — Belsky is an entrepreneur, author and creator who in 2006 founded Behance, an online platform that is used by more than 50 million professionals …
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety: Drake withdraws petition accusing UMG and Spotify of inflating Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” with bots and payola; the diss track accused Drake of pedophilia — Drake has withdrawn his petition against Spotify and Universal Music Group after accusing the entities of launching an illegal …
Todd Spangler / Variety: Eight free-speech groups, including the EFF, and three members of Congress file briefs with SCOTUS in support of TikTok's appeal against the divest-or-ban law — Groups alleging China's government has engaged in human-rights violations argue U.S. Constitution does not protect TikTok as “an unregistered foreign agent”
Jennifer Maas / Variety: In a strategy change, Netflix plans to make its Squid Games battle royale game available for free to non-members for a limited time after its December 17 launch — Netflix is going against its tradition of paywalling its steadily growing offering of mobile games by making its upcoming …
Todd Spangler / Variety: Spotify says Joe Rogan was its top US podcast in 2024 for the fourth year running, followed by Call Her Daddy, and 33%+ of the top 50 podcasts were video — Streamer says more than one-third of top 50 podcasts in U.S. are now available as video episodes — Joe Rogan no longer …
Jem Aswad / Variety: YouTube blocks songs by Adele, Bob Dylan, Green Day, and others in the US, after its music licensing agreement with performing rights organization SESAC expired — Songs by Adele, Bob Dylan, Green Day, R.E.M., Burna Boy, Rush and many others are currently unplayable on YouTube in the U.S. due …
Brian Steinberg / Variety: Sources: Amazon Prime Video is in talks with veteran anchor Brian Williams to host a live Election Night special, its first entry into news-related programming — Brian Williams may have found his next TV-news job....except it won't be on traditional TV. — The veteran NBC News …
Jem Aswad / Variety: Meta and UMG sign a multiyear agreement about AI, monetization, and more for UMG artists and songwriters on Meta's apps, including WhatsApp for the first time — Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the announcement says the new agreement “reflects the two companies' shared commitment …
Todd Spangler / Variety: Disney reports Q3 revenue up 4% YoY to $23.2B and a $47M streaming business operating profit, up from a $512M loss in Q3 2023, and revenue up 15% YoY to $6.4B — Company warns weak theme park demand could extend into the ‘next few quarters’ … That said, there were some mixed emotions …
Brian Steinberg / Variety: WBD, Disney, and Fox plan to launch their joint sports streaming venture Venu for $42.99 per month initially, with a seven-day free trial, expected fall 2024 — Streaming sports on a stand-alone basis won't be cheap. … The service is expected to debut in the fall in conjunction with the start of the next NFL season.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Kamala Harris joins TikTok, following an explosion of Harris memes since announcing her presidential run; her account has attracted 1M+ followers in ~6 hours — Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now running for president in 2024 against Donald Trump, on Thursday launched her own account on social-entertainment app TikTok.
Todd Spangler / Variety: Amazon begins rolling out a new UI for Prime Video to help distinguish content included with Prime, update its navigation bar, manage subscriptions, and more — And the new UI specifically addresses something that's annoyed Prime Video users for years: Now, according to Amazon …