The Hollywood Reporter

Naomi Osaka A month after launching her own talent agency, the tennis star lands financial backing from LeBron James’ SpringHill to build a production banner. Pete Docter Pixar, led by the CEO, saw its return to theaters with Toy Story spinoff Lightyear underwhelm among families, grossing $50.6 million in its domestic bow. David E. Kelley Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, exec produced by Kelley, hits No. 1 on Nielsen’s streaming chart with 1.85 billion minutes viewed as it receives a speedy season two renewal. Vince McMahon The WWE CEO steps back from his executive roles amid a misconduct probe spurred by a Wall Street Journal report alleging hush-money payments to women. Showbiz Stocks $108.68 (+4.3%) AMAZON (AMZN) The tech giant poached the Obamas from Spotify via a multiyear Audible podcast deal with their Higher Ground Productions. 149,500 won (-11%) HYBE CO. (352820 on…

Hollywood has come to accept that content is the primary weapon in the streaming wars. Quietly, as legalized online sports betting spreads across the country, content also has become the weapon of choice for digital casino operators and betting firms looking for that edge in what has been an expensive grab for consumer dollars. And content creators are cashing in. Online sports betting has been on a steady expansion across the U.S. since a 2018 Supreme Court ruling paved the way for states to permit the practice. Gaming operators have jumped into the space, both digital-native firms like DraftKings and legacy casino brands like MGM and Caesars. Even media companies have entered the fray, with Fox launching Fox Bet in partnership with Flutter (now owner of FanDuel). But the expansion has proved…

The notices came in rapid succession the week of June 6: Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen and Come From Away, both of which opened in the 2016-17 season and were largely sold out before the pandemic, as well as Tina — The Tina Turner Musical, which had also posted strong sales after opening in 2019, were closing. All were caught in the middle of a trend impacting most shows this season, in which there have not been enough attendees to support the number of running productions. When Broadway theaters reopened in fall 2021 after an 18-month shutdown, all productions were starting from scratch. This put new and returning shows in competition with global brands such as Hamilton, Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. Lower tourism numbers exacerbated the challenge — New York…

With economic anxiety at a boiling point, media and entertainment giants are beginning to feel the heat. In any downturn, advertising is often one of the first expenditures that big companies look at to trim costs, and with worries about a recession growing, Hollywood firms that rely on ad revenue are starting to take a careful look at the marketplace. CEOs, CFOs and ad sales executives insist that they aren’t feeling any pain yet, though as one top executive tells THR, “you can’t ignore” the macroeconomic environment. And while executives insist that their 2022-23 upfront negotiations are looking good, with high-single-digit increases year-over-year — at a Credit Suisse conference this week, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was “thrilled” with the results and Fox CFO Steve Tomsic said the network “achieved what we set…

On June 13, Disney passed on renewing its streaming rights to Indian Premier League cricket. Investors and analysts largely cheered that decision, deeming the rights to the most popular sport in the world’s second-most populous nation, which ultimately sold at auction for $2.6 billion for a period of five years, simply too pricey given the relatively low revenue per user in the Indian marketplace. But as Disney let the cricket streaming rights go (it kept linear TV rights), a formidable new rival stepped in — Viacom18, a joint venture formed by Reliance Industries, operator of India’s largest telecom, Jio; Paramount Global; and Bodhi Tree Systems, an investment vehicle backed by media industry veterans James Murdoch and Uday Shankar. Viacom18 operates a suite of 38 TV channels in India, produces and distributes…

The U.S. market that includes streaming services is expected to slow the next five years, according to PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook, unveiled June 20. In 2021, the market for over-the-top video services, which refers to streamers such as Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max, as well as platforms that allow users to buy or rent content, jumped 19.9 percent from the previous year. That growth rate is expected to drop to an average of 6.8 percent in the next five years as consumers become choosier about streaming subscriptions and as inflation and concerns about the economy play into personal spending habits. “The dollars are, in some ways, starting to move around,” says PwC’s CJ Bangah, who authored the report. “And there are only so many hours in a day…