 Stankey AT&T released its Q4 financial report, with its WarnerMedia division posting higher than expected revenue, but lower earnings due to increased costs. The HBO Max streaming service (not including HBO, as a cable network) added 13.1 million accounts in 2021, bringing it to 73.8 million total subscribers worldwide. More: - AT&T anticipates that HBO and HBO Max will reach a combined 120-150 million subscribers by the end of 2025; previous estimates had set this number between 75 and 90 million.
- HBO and HBO Max reached a combined 46.8 million subscribers in the US by the end of 2021, up 5.3 million over 2020.
- WarnerMedia's operating expenses jumped by 38% in Q4 2021, due to higher programming costs and other incremental costs associated with DirecTV revenue sharing agreements.
- The company said it now anticipates the merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery will move forward in the second quarter of 2022; CEO John Stankey told analysts he's "encouraged with how the process for the WarnerMedia deal is progressing."
- AT&T has not yet determined whether it will hold on to the 71% stake in Discovery it would receive post-merger, or spin it off into a separate company.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 
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 Searchlight Pictures acquired the independent comedy feature "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande" for around $7.5 million at Sundance. The film, from Australian director Sophie Hyde ("Animals"), will stream in the US as a Hulu Original. More: - "Leo Grande" stars Emma Thompson as a retired schoolteacher and widow who engages the services of a young sex worker (Daryl McCormack).
- Katy Brand penned the script; she previously wrote the film "Nanny McPhee Returns," which also starred Emma Thompson.
- The film premiered on January 22 as part of this year's virtual Sundance festival; it's only the second scripted feature sale so far this year at Sundance, following Sony Pictures Classics' pick-up of the British drama "Living."
DEADLINE
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DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26 AMERICAN ROCK STARS: Four-part docuseries following the members of the world champion US Curling Team as they prepare for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Nick Offerman narrates; Scott Boggins ("The Circus") directs. [Peacock] AMERICAN DETECTIVE WITH LT. JOE KENDA: Debut true-crime series in which the former homicide detective examines surprising or logic-defying investigations from across the US, and interviews the local detectives who ultimately brought the killers to justice., [Discovery+] LET'S MAKE A DEAL PRIMETIME: Special primetime edition of the popular game show, featuring super-sized prizes, airing and streaming tonight at 8 pm ET/9 pm PT. Wayne Brady hosts. [Paramount+]
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 Disney announced plans to roll out the Disney+ service to 42 additional countries and 11 territories this summer. New markets getting Disney+ for the first time include South Africa, Turkey, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). More: - No launch dates or subscription costs have been announced.
- The full list of countries getting Disney+ also includes Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tunisia, Vatican City, and Yemen.
- Disney+ launched in the US and Canada on November 19, 2019; it had 118 million global subscribers as of the end of 2021.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
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 A message from MARKEE Looking to make team and external collaboration simple? Markee is a brandable all-in-one collaboration solution for remote and in-house teams alike, allowing you to host video meetings, chats, and share files with anyone of your choosing. For companies using Slack to communicate internally, Zoom to host meetings, and Dropbox to share documents, Markee will be a fresh start and a completely new way to collaborate. “Our goal was to take the core features that people actually need every day and make them simpler.” says Markee CEO — Craig Doig. With Markee, users can: - Create chat rooms in seconds
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 "A Madea Homecoming" NEW TRAILERS PAINTING WITH JOHN: The unscripted series from musician, artist, and filmmaker John Lurie -- which chronicles his daily life in the Caribbean, along with whimsical and meditative asides and occasional painting tutorials -- returns for a second season on February 18. Lurie vows that, after the first season made his home look like "paradise," he'll now focus more attention on "the bad stuff." [HBO Max] A MADEA HOMECOMING: Writer/director/producer and star Tyler Perry returns with the first original "Madea" feature since 2019. The new film finds the sassy matriarch attending her great-grandson's college graduation and co-stars Tamela Mann, David Mann, Cassi Davis Patton, and Brendan O'Carroll. It debuts on February 25. [Netflix] MY BRILLIANT FRIEND: Season 3 of the Italian-language historical drama series is based on the Elena Ferrante novel "Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay." The new episodes are set in the 1970s, and find Lila (Gaia Gerace) working in a factory under harsh conditions while Elena (Margherita Mazzucco) joins the Naples elite after publishing a successful novel. Daniele Luchetti ("My Brother is an Only Child") directed the new season, which arrives on February 28. [HBO Max]
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 Liu, King, and Tucker Blumhouse Television grabbed the rights to adapt the Stephen King novel "Later" into a limited series. "True Blood" vet Raelle Tucker created the series and wrote the pilot script. More: - Lucy Liu will star as Tia, a literary agent whose star client dies before completing their latest book; desperate, she taps her psychic son Jamie -- who can commune with the dead -- to contact the author and complete the story.
- Tucker was Emmy-nominated for her writing on "True Blood," and previously collaborated with Blumhouse on the Facebook Watch anthology series "Sacred Lies."
- Liu has recently appeared in the Netflix special "Death to 2021," the Paramount+ dark comedy series "Why Women Kill," and episodes of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
DEADLINE
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 Fox and Petersen on "CSI: Vegas" CASTING UPDATES CSI: VEGAS: Jorja Fox announced she won't return for the second season of the CBS crime procedural. Fox, a veteran of the original "CSI," had reprised her role as Sara Sidle for Season 1 of the revival series alongside long-time co-star William Petersen as Gil Grissom. In a post to Twitter, she cited Petersen stepping back from his on-camera duties (he'll remain on as an executive producer) as the key factor in her decision. [CBS / Paramount+] PITCH PERFECT: "Pitch Perfect" film stars Adam Devine and Flula Borg will reprise their roles as Bumper Allen and Pieter Krämer, respectively, for this spin-off series. The story finds Allen moving to Germany to revive his music career after one of his songs becomes an unexpected hit in Berlin, with Krämer as his inexperienced new manager. Elizabeth Banks, who appeared in the "Pitch Perfect" films and directed "Pitch Perfect 2," is on board as an executive producer. [Peacock] IMMIGRANT: Annaleigh Ashford ("Masters of Sex") signed on for the Hulu scripted true-crime series, examining the origin of the Chippendales male dance troupe and the underworld connections forged by its founder, Somen "Steve" Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani). "The White Lotus" vet Murray Bartlett co-stars in the series, which comes from "Pam & Tommy" creator Robert Siegel. [Hulu] WASHINGTON BLACK: The nine-episode limited series -- based on the 2018 novel by author Esi Edugyan -- tracks the globe-trotting adventures of an 11-year-old boy who escapes enslavement on a Barbados sugar plantation utilizing a futuristic flying machine. Edward Bluemel ("Killing Eve"), Sharon Duncan-Brewster ("Dune"), and Eddie Karanja ("After Ever After") joined the cast; Sterling K. Brown executive produces the series and will co-star. [Hulu]
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- HBO renewed the comedy series "The Righteous Gemstones" for a third season, just a few weeks after the debut of Season 2.
- According to Variety's latest Trending TV chart -- which tracks messages and engagement across social media -- HBO's "Euphoria" continues to dominate online conversations, followed by Disney+'s upcoming "Moon Knight" and "The Book of Boba Fett."
- Showtime canceled the crime drama series "American Rust" -- based on a novel by Philipp Meyer, and starring Jeff Daniels as the police chief in a small southwestern Pennsylvania town -- after a single season.
- A representative for the anti-drug education program D.A.R.E. (which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education) criticized "Euphoria" in a statement released to TMZ, accusing the show of both misrepresenting and glorifying teenage drug use, along with "addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors."
- Three streaming channels owned by Cinedigm -- Bloody Disgusting TV, Realmadrid TV, and CONtv -- will offer an augmented reality (AR) experience through a partnership with hardware designer Nreal.
- "Today" vet Al Roker optioned the book "The Personal Librarian" -- inspired by real historical librarian Belle da Costa Greene -- for development as a limited series or film.
- In Collider, Chase Hutchinson looked at the history of scripted TV series inspired by podcasts, and examines how Netflix's "Archive 81" dodged some of the common pitfalls.
- The backlash continues in South Korea against social media influencer and "Single's Inferno" regular Song Ji-a after she apologized for wearing fake designer clothing on camera; Song has been edited out of upcoming episodes of "Single's Inferno" and the Korean variety series "The Manager" due to the controversy.
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 |  | Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." |  | | Editor | Jonathan Harris is a writer for Inside.com. Previously, he wrote for The Huffington Post, TakePart.com, and the YouTube channel What’s Trending. | |
Splinterlands is the world’s #1 most played blockchain game. Play Splinterlands for free today. | |
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