YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced plans to exit the company. She'll be replaced by her long-time second-in-command, Neal Mohan. More: - In a letter to staffers, Wojcicki explained that she plans to start "a new chapter" in her life focused on "family, health, and personal projects."
- Wojcicki has spent nine years at YouTube, and helped to grow it into one of Google's most important divisions; before that, she worked on other Google video initiatives.
- In 2022, the video platform generated $29.2 billion in ad sales, accounting for around 10% of Alphabet's total revenue.
- Mohan has served as Wojcicki's top lieutenant since 2015.
VOX | |
Paramount's "Top Gun: Maverick" Paramount Global plans to raise the price on Paramount+ subscriptions in the third quarter of 2023. A monthly ad-free Paramount+ subscription will increase from $9.99 to $11.99, including Showtime content at no additional charge. More: - The ad-supported plan will also increase in price, from $4.99 per month to $5.99.
- The price changes will apply to both existing and new customers, and will coincide with the formal launch of the rebranded Paramount+ with Showtime platform.
- Paramount executives told investors they expect to see some reduction in overall subscriber numbers when the price change goes into effect, in part due to a shift in how these numbers are being compiled and calculated.
- Paramount Global also announced an "impairment charge" related to content of between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion, as the company realigns its Showtime strategy.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER | |
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DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16 STAR TREK: PICARD: The "Star Trek" spinoff series follows the adventures of retired Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), 20 years after the events of "Star Trek: Nemesis." The third and final season reunites a number of other cast members from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," including LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner. [Paramount+] THE MASKED SINGER: The Fox musical competition series returned for a ninth season on Wednesday night; new episodes hit Hulu on Thursdays. Celebrity contestants perform while wearing elaborate costumes that obscure their faces, requiring a celebrity panel to guess their true identities. Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger return as panelists; Nick Cannon hosts. [Hulu] THE UPHSAWS: Wanda Sykes co-created and co-stars in this Netflix sitcom, following the ups and downs of the working-class Upshaw family. Mike Epps, Kim Fields, Page Kennedy, and Gabrielle Dennis co-star. It's back for the second half of its second season; Netflix has already renewed the show for Season 3. [Netflix] AGGRETSUKO: The Japanese animated comedy series -- based on the Sanrio character -- returns on Thursday for a fifth and final season. The series centers on a red panda who works by day as a professional in an office but performs death metal by night. [Netflix] DOUBLE CROSS: The crime drama series centers on the exploits of vigilante "Wonder Twins" Erica (Ashley A. Williams) and Erc Cross (Jeff Logan), as they continue their quest to take down child trafficking operations. The show returns this week for a fourth season. [ALLBLK] | |
Roku crossed the 70 million user mark, according to its latest earnings report figures. The company saw operating losses expand in Q4 of 2022 to $249.9 million, even as revenue hit $867.1 million. More: - Over the same time period last year, Roku reported operating income of just $21.4 million.
- Despite the significant losses, Roku shares surged in after-hours trading by 10% due to the company's better-than-anticipated revenue, which had been targeted around $803 million.
- Total streaming hours on Roku devices was up for the quarter, to 23.9 billion hours; that's a 23% increase over the same period in 2021.
- The company's hardware business declined by 18% over the previous holiday season.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER | |
"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige teased plans to slow down the company's aggressive content release schedule. While discussing plans for "Phase 5" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Feige noted that "the pace at which we're putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine." More: - Marvel released three Disney+ shows in 2022 alone: "Moon Knight," "Ms. Marvel," and "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," along with the Halloween special "Werewolf by Night" and the "Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special."
- MCU content still headed to Disney+ includes second seasons of the animated anthology "What If...?" and the sci-fi fantasy "Loki," along with debut seasons of "Echo," "Ironheart" and "Secret Invasion."
- The sprawling interview also includes Feige looking ahead to the entry of the Fantastic Four into the MCU, a potential fourth "Spider-Man" film, and the future of Jonathan Majors' villain, Kang the Conquerer.
EW | |
"Road Tripz - Starring Janky, Guggimon & Superdackel" Startup Superplastic, which designs "synthetic influencers," raised a $20 million round led by Amazon's Alexa Fund. Amazon Studios hopes to collaborate with Superplastic on a Prime Video series featuring its line-up of original characters. More: - Superplastic is behind "Janky" and "Guggimon," animated "celebrities" with popular accounts on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
- The characters release music, stream their own original content, and of course collaborate with brands on marketing campaigns.
- The round is being labeled as Superplastic's "Series A-4"; the company did not disclose its current valuation.
TECHCRUNCH | |
AMC released a trailer for "Lucky Hank," a new comedy-drama series starring "Better Call Saul" vet Bob Odenkirk. The series centers on Hank Devereaux Jr. (Odenkirk), chairman of the English Department at a struggling Pennsylvania college. More: - Mireille Enos co-stars as Devereaux's wife, a high school vice principal who -- like her husband -- suddenly finds herself questioning her life choices.
- Aaron Zelman ("Law & Order") wrote the series, which is based on Richard Russo's novel "Straight Man"; he and "The Office" vet Paul Lieberstein serve as co-showrunners.
- Peter Farrelly ("Dumb and Dumber," "Green Book") directed some episodes and executive produced.
- The cast also includes TV comedy veterans Cedric Yarbrough, Oscar Nuñez, and Diedrich Bader.
- "Lucky Hank" hits AMC and AMC+ on March 19, after premiering at the SXSW film festival.
AV CLUB | |
Apple dropped a trailer for the new film "Tetris," exploring the classic video game's origin story. As the game was initially developed by a Soviet computer engineer named Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov), distributing it in the West during the height of the Cold War proved a considerable challenge. More: - Taron Egerton stars as Dutch entrepreneur Henk Rogers, who sees the potential in the game and sets out to obtain the international distribution rights.
- A number of actors also portray real-world figures, including Matthew Marsh as Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Togo Igawa as Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi.
- Jon S. Baird ("Stan & Ollie") directed.
- The film premieres at this year's SXSW festival, then debuts on Apple TV+ on March 31.
EW | |
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- Netflix renewed its revival of the reality competition series "The Mole" for a second season.
- HBO Max posted a new trailer for "Love & Death," a scripted true-crime series starring Elizabeth Olsen as notorious Texas suburban killer Candy Montgomery; the series arrives on April 27.
- Actor Jeremy Renner posted a sneak preview of his four-part unscripted Disney+ series "Rennervations" to social media, promising fans that work continues on the show even as he recovers from his recent snow plow accident.
- Apple's half-hour comedy series "The Big Door Prize" -- based on the novel by M.O. Walsh -- debuts on March 29; Chris O'Dowd stars as a high school teacher and family man who becomes unsettled after using a machine that can determine anyone's true potential.
- Hulu's limited series adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel "Great Expectations" arrives on March 26 with a two-part premiere; "Peaky Blinders" vet Steven Knight wrote the adaptation and executive produced.
- Briana Middleton snagged the lead role in Apple's upcoming series adaptation of the 1927 silent sci-fi film "Metropolis"; "Mr. Robot" vet Sam Esmail wrote the series, and will also serve as director and showrunner.
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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 | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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