SpinCo has a chairman. Comcasts spinoff of its cable channel assets has named David Novak to be the chairman of its board of directors, working with CEO Mark Lazarus to help the company launch and execute on its strategy. SpinCo (its name is still TBD) will be comprised of most of Comcasts cable TV channels (Bravo excluded), as well as...

California is missing out on a golden opportunity to bring production back to the state while building a self-sustaining, potentially billion-dollar industry. Instead of thinking boldly, were stuck in a tired debate over incentive caps. Its time to stop playing small and startbetting big like the global film powerhouse we claim to be. California needs to invest actual hard cash...

Even as California Gov. Gavin Newsom tries to halt a production exodus from Los Angeles with a pledge to double the film and TV tax incentive from $330 million to $750 million a year, producers are finding abundant new and cheaper soundstage options in far-flung locations. Thats judging by the number of film studios, lots and facilities under construction throughout...

Acquired studio films that have benefited from a wide theatrical release offer the best bang for the buck for Netflix, providing more views per dollar spent than original features or acquired series, a new report has found. The report, Unpacking Netflixs evolving movie strategy, published Wednesday by Ampere Analysis, tracks viewership across Netflix for feature films, both originals and licensed,...

The Justice Department has charged Carl Erik Rinsch, the director of 47 Ronin who struck a deal with Netflix to make a sci-fi series he never delivered, for defrauding the company out of $11 million. In an indictment filed on Tuesday, prosecutors for the Southern District of New York said Rinsch spent funds meant for the show in risky securities...

Ryan Reynolds is arguing that he couldnt have defamed Justin Baldoni because he genuinely believes the It Ends With Us director engaged in predatory behavior. In a bid to dismiss the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Reynolds takes advantage of the high legal bar to prove defamation against a public figure in which it must be found that the allegedly libelous...

The Texas Rangers new regional sports network, Rangers Sports Network, has signed a streaming deal with Fubo TV to see its live games for the 2025 season carried across five regional U.S. states. The agreement will see Fubo TV carry Texas Rangers games, including pre- and postgame shows, to subscribers in RSNs footprint across Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and...

ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic sought to reassure staffers at the network news division that it was engaging in a thoughtful strategy to grow and expand the ABC News brand, despite the difficult layoffs that took place earlier this month. Karamehmedovic gathered ABC News employees at The Walt Disney Co.s newly-opened New York City headquarters Tuesday in Hudson Square, taking...

On March 17, Jeremy Zimmer, the co-founder and CEO of UTA, informed staff at the agency that he would be stepping aside. In a choreographed succession maneuver, 66-year-old Zimmer named the 56-year-old David Kramer (who he had elevated to president of UTA just a couple years prior) his successor at the agency. Zimmer told staff that he would stick around...

Major Hollywood figures are pushing back against OpenAI and Googles appeals to the U.S. government to allow their AI models to train on copyrighted works. Film, television and music figures including Ron Howard, Cate Blanchett, Cynthia Erivo, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Taika Waititi and Ava Duvernay have signed on to a letter expressing alarm at the tech giants suggestions in...

The record-setting audience for the Super Bowl in February wasnt enough to stop a decline in linear TV viewing for the month. In fact, streamings share of all TV use in the United States 43.5 percent came within a single percentage point of matching the combined total for broadcast (21.2 percent) and cable (23.2 percent). Despite the Super Bowl driving...

When the National Geographic Society published the first issue of its namesake magazine in September of 1888, it was, in the words of the publication, a very staid affair. There were no photos (those didnt arrive until 1905), and the articles were more akin to what you might find in a scientific journal than a popular magazine. Suffice it to...

Len Blavatniks Access Industries and Warner Bros. Discovery have unveiled a management buyout deal to cut their stake in Reshet 13, the Israeli broadcast giant, to 26 percent. As part of a proposed transaction still in the outline phase, a management group led by CEO Emiliano Calemzuk will emerge with a 74 percent stake in the Hebrew-language Israeli TV network...