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| 1 | | Paramount Global laid off around 25% of its US workforce this week, largely from its cable TV networks. The company announced a complete shutdown of its MTV News division after 36 years. More: - The cuts come on the heels of Paramount merging its cable TV and streaming teams; Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios will now serve as a single "studios" unit, while nine teams will combine into one group serving all the company's TV networks.
- Paramount posted below-expectation Q1 earnings, including an 11% drop in TV ad revenue.
- Paramount Global closed out 2022 with around 24,500 employees worldwide.
- A number of top Showtime executives -- including longtime leader David Nevins and president Jana Winograde -- departed the network earlier this year.
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Writers' Earnings Are Down: Last week, we looked at some charts showing industry spending on content had remained steady or increased throughout the last few years as streamers bulked up their libraries and audiences returned to movie theaters. But from the perspective of writers, earnings started to dip with the COVID pandemic in 2020 and continued their decline in 2021. The Change is Industry-Wide: The decline in earnings impacts both film and TV writers, and results both from a decline in wages and fewer writers being compensated for union writing jobs. More than 5,900 WGA writers reported employment in all areas of work in 2021, a 6.1% decline from the year before. Total writer earnings during that period dropped 7.7%, to $1.55 billion for the year. Residuals Are Also Down: Total residuals collected by WGA writers continued rising through 2021, mostly based on what's known as "New Media Reuse." This refers to films or TV shows that were originally produced for theaters or network TV that are then moved over to streaming platforms. While other areas of residuals are way down, "new media reuse" -- particularly of high-profile TV shows and theatrical films -- are up, though writers argue they should have increased even more considering the growth of this sector of the industry. | | | |
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| 3 | | AMC Networks lost 300,000 subscribers across all of its streaming services in Q1, dropping from 11.8 million at the end of 2022 to 11.5 million in March. Subscriptions were up in Q4 of 2022, jumping by around 700,000. More: - The company's portfolio of niche streaming services includes AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK, and HIDIVE.
- AMC+ will add a lower-cost ad-supported tier later this year.
- The company has set an overall goal of hitting 20-25 million streaming subscribers by 2025.
- Ad sales on the company's cable networks dropped 20% but still beat analyst estimates.
- On an earnings call, AMC executives told investors they are "past peak content investment" and looking to spend $1.1 billion in 2023 and "in the $1 billion area" in 2024.
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| 4 | | As part of its most recent earnings report, Fox Corporation revealed promising numbers for the free ad-supported Tubi service. Advertising revenue on Tubi was up 31% over the previous year, hitting $170 million. More: - Total viewing time jumped as well by 38% over the previous year.
- Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch called the platform's growth "nothing short of stellar."
- Fox acquired Tubi in 2020 for $440 million; revenue has increased around 400% since the purchase.
- Tubi also hit a milestone in Nielsen's ratings back in February; it's now responsible for around 1% of total TV viewing time in the US.
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| 5 | | Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson announced plans to relaunch his show exclusively on Twitter. Carlson made the announcement in a video posted to Twitter, referring to the platform as "the last big one remaining" to allow "free speech." More: - Carlson didn't directly address his termination by Fox News last month in the video, but did suggest that the mainstream media is misleading its audience.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, Fox Corporation is expected to pay out the remainder of Carlson's $20 million contract in full; launching a competing show, however, could theoretically violate the terms of Carlson's agreement with Fox.
- Twitter CEO and owner Elon Musk noted that the platform had not made any specific agreement with the TV personality about the program and will not be compensating Carlson directly.
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| 6 | | A new report from Puck News indicates that Kevin Costner's negotiations about returning for the final episodes of "Yellowstone" remain ongoing. The second half of Season 5 was originally supposed to air in June but has been repeatedly delayed, at least in part due to Costner's various scheduling conflicts. More: - Paramount recently announced plans to wrap up "Yellowstone" at the conclusion of its current fifth season, and continue the franchise with a new spinoff.
- Co-creator Taylor Sheridan completed writing on the final "Yellowstone" scripts prior to the WGA strike; they apparently contain flexiblity allowing for various levels of involvement by Costner.
- Costner is reprotedly holding out for the right to pre-approve how his character, John Dutton, is written out of the franchise.
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| 7 | | Netflix released a trailer for "Arnold," a three-part docuseries profiling actor, politician, and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. The documentary debuts on June 7, shortly after the Netflix premiere of "FUBAR," which features Schwarzenegger's first major TV role. More: - Schwarzenegger participated in a new round of candid interviews for the film, which covers his entire life and career.
- Lesley Chilcott ("An Inconvenient Truth") directed; filmmaker Allen Hughes executive produced.
- "FUBAR" features Schwarzenegger as a veteran CIA operative who partners with his daughter on a mission; it debuts on May 25.
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| 8 | | Around 10.3 million Americans watched the coronation of Britain's King Charles III on TV, according to estimates from Nielsen. That's about 1 million fewer US viewers than tuned in for last year's funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, and around a third of the US viewership for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. More: - The vast majority of the coronation's viewership came from older Americans; only 360,000 viewers were in the 18-34 age group, while 8 million were 55 or older.
- In the UK, viewership peaked at around 20.4 million during the climax of the ceremony, when the King received his crown.
- That's around 9 million fewer UK viewers than tuned in for Queen Elizabeth's funeral.
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| 9 | | DAZN joined a global task force dedicated to shutting down bootleg sports streaming operations. The group is operated by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), which also includes Amazon, Apple, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros. among its members. More: - ACE was formed in 2017 as an anti-piracy division within the Motion Picture Association; it now includes 53 media companies from across the industry.
- Recently, the group worked to dismantle NitroTV, a pirate service that allegedly charged members $20/month for access to unlicensed content.
- According to ACE, sports piracy costs the broadcasting and streaming industry $28 billion in annual revenue.
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- FX's acclaimed comedy-drama "The Bear" returns to Hulu for a second season on June 22.
- Paramount+'s "Evil" wrapped production early on its fourth season after a cast member departed for personal reasons and picketing WGA members disrupted the set.
- The period comedy series "Minx" moves over to Starz from HBO Max for its second season, which bows on July 21.
- CBS announced its Fall 2023 TV schedule, including new expanded seasons of "The Amazing Race" and "Survivor."
- Amazon Prime Video's action-thriller series "Jack Ryan" returns for its fourth and final season on July 14, while Season 2 of the fantasy-comedy "Good Omens" arrives on July 28.
- Fox canceled the "Fantasy Island" revival series after two seasons.
- The Australian horror-thriller "Run Rabbit Run" stars "Succession" vet Sarah Snook as a single mother who believes her child may be possessed by the spirit of her dead sister; the film hits Netflix on June 28.
- Disney+ plans to cut off support for older Roku players, including the Roku 4.
- Apple dropped a trailer for the psychological thriller series "The Crowded Room," starring Tom Holland as a shooting suspect in the 1970s who may suffer from dissociative identity disorder.
- Peacock submitted the sci-fi drama series "Mrs. Davis" for Emmy consideration as a limited or anthology series, suggesting the show will not return for multiple seasons; the Season 1 finale appears to wrap up the storyline.
- Candice Bergen will reprise her role as Vogue editor Enid Frick for Season 2 of HBO's "Sex and the City" revival series, "And Just Like That"; journalist and activist Gloria Steinem will also make a guest appearance as herself.
- Though producers continue seeking a new home for the canceled CBS cop drama "East New York," it's looking increasingly unlikely the show will get a second season amid the writers strike.
- The new comedy film from "Saturday Night Live" trio Please Don't Destroy will skip movie theaters and premiere as a Peacock exclusive on November 17.
- A sequel the Netflix horror film "Bird Box" -- which relocates the action to Barcelona, Spain -- arrives on July 14.
- The CW canceled the Western prequel series "Walker: Independence" after a single season.
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 | Writer | | 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." | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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