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What's news: BMG and Concord are merging to create a new music major. L.A. shoot days are up in Q1 2026. Ted Lasso S4 will return in August. Netflix has renewed Stranger Things: Tales From '85. And Laura Dern has joined the cast of The White Lotus after Helena Bonham Carter exited. — Abid Rahman
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Disney "Confident" As FCC Launches Review of Broadcast Licenses►"ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules." The FCC has launched an early review of Disney‘s broadcast TV licenses, in a move that has little modern precedent. The move is sure to be seen as retaliatory after Donald Trump and Melania Trump called for late night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired yesterday, though the FCC did not cite Kimmel in its brief letter calling for the early renewal. The FCC has two open investigations into Disney and ABC, one into the company’s DEI practices, which it opened last year, and another into The View over an appearance by James Talarico over its equal opportunity rule. The new move appears tied to the DEI investigation, though details remain vague for now. "We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment," a Disney spokesperson said in a statement to THR. The story.
—Vibe shift. THR's Tony Maglio writes that Jimmy Kimmel Live! barely survived September 2025, when the outrage machine called for Kimmel’s head over a monologue joke he made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder. This time, following Kimmel’s viral “expectant widow’ joke toward first lady Melania Trump, such an uproar has not happened — not beyond social media, anyway. And crucially, ABC station owners and advertisers have not been clamoring to have Kimmel fired. The story.
—"That’s a pretty typical roast joke." Adam Carolla has come to Jimmy Kimmel‘s defense. The right-leaning comedian, Kimmel's long-time friend and former co-host of The Man Show, reacted to the late night host's remarks made at his faux White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Carolla began by noting that he was going to approach the topic “from a comedic standpoint.” About the expectant widow joke, Carolla said on The Adam Carolla Show: "It is also a trope: Any younger, beautiful woman who’s married to an older guy, especially if the guy’s rumored to be sort of a douchey, you would make that joke at any roast." The story. |
Quixote Cuts Most of Its L.A. Soundstage Business►The bad news. THR's Erik Hayden reports that Hudson Pacific is pulling the plug on its studio services supplier Quixote operating in Georgia and New Mexico as well as laying off 70 staffers in Atlanta and Los Angeles as it pares back its footprint. In Georgia and New Mexico, Quixote operated a vehicle fleet along with offering production supplies for film and TV projects. In L.A., the services firm is winding down leases at multiple soundstages including Quixote West Hollywood, as well as its Van Nuys lease at Quixote Central Valley. The operator also leases Griffith Park Studios, which has an ongoing tenant, and will keep that location. The story.
—The good news. L.A. is starting to see the impact of California’s expansion to its film and TV subsidy program, with production in the region trending upwards. After filming levels hit a new nadir last year, L.A. saw a roughly 10 percent increase in shoot days to start 2026 compared to the three month period from October to December, according to the latest report from permitting office FilmLA. Features saw a major uptick in production, logging a 52 percent year-over-year increase. Nearly a quarter of all filming in the category came from titles receiving tax credits to shoot in the state. The story.
—π€ A fourth music major? π€ BMG and Concord are merging in a major move that combines the music business’s two largest independent music companies and creates a new entity closer in scale to the major three record labels. Financial details of the agreement weren’t disclosed, though the deal could be worth as much as $7b. BMG’s parent company, the German media giant Bertelsmann, will own 67 percent of the company while Green Mountain Partners will own 33 percent. The deal’s closure is subject to regulatory approval. The new company will operate under the BMG name. BMG’s current CEO Thomas Coesfeld, who is set to become the CEO of BMG parent company Bertelsmann, will become BMG’s chairman, while Concord CEO Bob Valentine will be BMG CEO. The story.
—¡Vamos! TelevisaUnivision, which operates the ViX streaming platform across the Americas, saw overall revenue rise during the first quarter as it brought Winter Olympics broadcasts to Mexico. But higher direct operating costs for the Spanish language media giant and lower U.S. advertising sales as NBC broadcast the Milan Cortina Olympics stateside led to operating income falling to $163m for the three months to March 31, 2026, against $187m during the same period last year. Overall revenue rose 5 percent to $1.07b, while U.S. total revenue was flat at $708m, as overall revenue in Mexico grew 17 percent to $367m due in part to exchange rate impacts. The results. |
'Ted Lasso' Sets S4 Date, Releases First Teaser►π
"His biggest challenge yet." π
Three years and change after Ted Lasso wrapped its third season, the Emmy-winning comedy will step back on the pitch. Apple TV announced Tuesday that the show’s fourth season will premiere Aug. 5, with the title character (Jason Sudeikis) returning to London to coach AFC Richmond’s women’s team. The streamer also released a new image from the coming season and a teaser scored to “Rubber Band Man” by Mumford & Sons and Hozier. The teaser.
—No-brainer. Netflix has renewed the Duffer Brothers’ animated spinoff Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 for a second season. The series, from animation veteran and showrunner Eric Robles, will return to Hawkins and the Upside Down sometime this fall. The show’s renewal comes just four days after season one’s debut, which saw Tales From ‘85 take the No. 7 spot on the streamer’s global top 10 list with 2.8m views. The 10-episode first season has also officially landed in Netflix’s top 15 animated series debuts of all time. The spinoff’s renewal and season one success comes just four months after Stranger Things proper — the Duffer brothers’ original live-action series — concluded its decade-long, five-season run at the end of 2025. The story.
—π All filled out. π A Netflix series adaptation of the Harlan Coben novel The Woods will star Tom Bateman as Paul “Cope” Copeland and Michelle Keegan, who previously starred in the Coben Netflix hit Fool Me Once, as Lucy Silverfield. The show will be the 14th Coben series produced for the streaming giant. Coben serves as an executive producer via his company Final Twist Productions. Danny Brocklehurst is the lead writer and also an executive producer. The story.
—π€ Rights deal. π€ WWE and The CW announced Tuesday that NXT’s premium live events will now air exclusively on The CW, which already has the WWE minor leagues’ weekly episodic show each Tuesday. The CW was in pole position for the PLEs. Starting with The Great American Bash this summer, the multiyear deal will mark the first time NXT’s PLEs, formerly referred to as pay-per-views due to their one-off rental revenue model, will air on broadcast television. Under the terms of the deal, The CW exclusively gets 20 PLEs live on both coasts "over the next several years." The story. |
Dern Boards 'White Lotus' After HBC Exit►No waiting around. HBO has quickly found a new guest to check in to The White Lotus after the exit of Helena Bonham Carter. Oscar and Emmy winner Laura Dern has joined the series, whose fourth season is filming in France. She steps in for Carter, who exited after “the character which Mike White created for [her] did not align once on set,” per an HBO statement late last week. Dern will play a new role written for her rather than just taking over the part Carter was to have played. The story.
—π Congrats to all! π The Gotham TV Awards have revealed this year’s nominees, with Big Mistakes and Death by Lightning leading the way with four nods. A number of series landed three nominations apiece including I Love LA, Beef, DTF St. Louis, Alien: Earth and Pluribus. The 2026 Gotham TV Awards, the third year in which the Gotham Awards have broken out TV honors with a separate ceremony during Emmys season, is set for June 1 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. The nominees.
—π Chuffin' Nora! π The U.K. dramedy Alice and Steve emerged as the big winner at this year’s Canneseries, taking the top prize for best series and anchoring a strong showing across the board at the French TV festival’s ninth edition. Created by Sophie Goodhart and produced by Clerkenwell Films, the series also picked up the High School Award and a special jury nod for its ensemble cast. The awards were handed out Tuesday evening at the Palais des Festivals following several days of screenings and industry events. The winners.
—Awards rethink. THR's Scott Feinberg has the scoop that Landman, Taylor Sheridan’s hit Paramount+ drama series about people in and around the West Texas oil business, has locked its season two Emmys submissions. The show’s first season was egregiously snubbed by the TV Academy, but its second has caught on with other major awards groups and its cast has been hitting the campaign trail hard in recent weeks, suggesting its category submissions could have major Emmys implications. Thornton will, of course, be pushed for best actor in a drama series. But unlike last year, when Ali Larter also campaigned as a lead, this year Larter — and everyone else in the cast — will go supporting. The story. |
Neon Nabs Bong Joon Ho's Animated Family Film►π€ Sold! π€ Neon has picked up the North American rights to writer-director Bong Joon Ho’s debut animated feature film, Ally. The Korean filmmaker returns to Neon after the release of Parasite, which earned four Oscar trophies, including for best picture. Ally is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2027, with Neon giving the film a wide theatrical release across North America later next year. In the works since 2019, Ally marks Bong’s first foray in 3D animation. He co-wrote the screenplay with 36-year-old filmmaker Jason Yu, a protΓ©gΓ© who directed the well-received Korean horror feature Sleep from 2023. The story.
—π
Dated! π
Greta Lee and Wagner Moura‘s forthcoming sci-fi thriller has found a home on Netflix‘s release calendar. Director Louis Leterrier‘s film The Last House, which is newly titled after having previously been known as 11817, is set to hit the streaming service Aug. 7. Riley Chung, Emma Ho, Noah Alexander Sosnowski and Gabriel Barbosa round out the cast. The Last House focuses on a family of four who find themselves trapped inside their home and facing dwindling resources and a looming presence that is preventing them from escaping. The story.
—"A tunnel through the current distraction of ‘volume content'." THR's Steven Zeitchik reports that Justine Bateman’s no-AI film festival is going streaming. The Credo 23 Film Festival, the gathering Bateman launched last year devoted to handmade human work, will now make its films available via a digital “room” through July 10 at RoomC23.com, Bateman says. Among the titles are a diverse array of shorts that played the fest; features like the Lukas Haas-starring Crystal Gross and Bateman’s own David Duchovny-toplined feature Feel; and special talks with the likes of Sean Baker, Reed Morano and Matthew Weiner, all of whom support Bateman’s human-centric mission. Some 44 films and events are available in all. The story. |
'Every Brilliant Thing' Hits $1.6M on Broadway►One-man Dan FTW. Every Brilliant Thing, starring Daniel Radcliffe, continues to climb the Broadway box office rankings, bringing in $1.65m last week, its highest gross yet. The one-person play, which involves a large degree of audience interaction, was the fourth highest grossing show in the industry last week, with the the highest average ticket price at $208.93. The show played to 100 percent capacity. Moulin Rouge! is still seeing elevated grosses thanks to the presence of Megan Thee Stallion in the cast, with the musical bringing in $1.64m last week, as the fifth highest grossing show in the industry. The Broadway box office report.
—π Wunderbar! π Keira Knightley is set to lead a new West End adaptation of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others. Adapted and directed by Rockert Icke at London’s Adelphi Theatre, the Pirates of the Caribbean actress will be joined by Game of Thrones star Stephen Dillane and Bridgerton‘s Luke Thompson. From Sonia Friedman Productions, the stage show — also boasting an original score by Hamnet composer Max Richter — will premiere on Oct. 29 this year, running until Jan. 9, 2027. The story.
—π Heading to New York. π Laura Linney is returning to Broadway next season in the world premiere of the new play Montauk. The Oscar-nominated actress will star in the play, written by David Hare and directed by Tony-winner Daniel Sullivan, in spring 2027 at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Additionally, the nonprofit theater named Linney as its first artist-in-residence, in which Linney will work on developing projects for upcoming seasons at Manhattan Theatre Club and take part in MTC’s educational and community outreach programs. The story.
—Take a bow. Lily Allen brought her critically acclaimed album West End Girl to Los Angeles over the weekend, drawing in sold-out crowds at downtown L.A.’s Orpheum Theater. Lily Allen Performs West End Girl, the singer’s latest tour, is more of a one-woman show than a pop concert, reports THR's Nicole Fell. The singer-songwriter performs the entirety of her vulnerable latest album. The theater setting allows fans to fully dive into the world of the album, with elaborate sets one might find, well, on the West End instead of a pop concert. The story. |
TV Review: 'Widow's Bay'
►"Worth a visit." THR's Angie Han reviews Apple TV's Widow's Bay. Welsh icon Matthew Rhys anchors this drama set in a small island town beset by disturbing supernatural events. Also starring Kate O'Flynn, Stephen Root, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, Kingston Rumi Southwick, Jeff Hiller and K Callan. Created by Katie Dippold. The review.
—"Diverting enough for a gnarly mashup." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Renny Harlin's Deep Water. Suspect Zero castmates Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley co-star in this survival thriller about a ditched commercial airline flight that unleashes fresh hell when the surviving passengers become a mako buffet. Also starring Angus Sampson, Li Wenhan, Lucy Barrett, Molly Belle Wright, Richard Croughley, Na Shi, Ryan Bown, Zhao Simei, Kate Fitzpatrick, Lakota Johnson, Madeleine West, Kelly Gale and Elijah Tamati. Written by Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, SP Krause, Damien Power and John Kim. The review.
In other news...
—BAFTA TV special award to go to British finance journalist Martin Lewis
—Tribeca to honor Bruce Springsteen with Harry Belafonte Award
What else we're reading...
—Cecilia D'Anastasio unpacks the cynical marketing campaigns behind outrageous streamers like Clavicular [Bloomberg]
—Jesse Hassenger writes that Michael might be a cowardly, cursed biopic but Michael Jackson's fans are happy to live in a fantasy [Guardian]
—Must-read story from Ben Fritz about theaters raising their movie ticket prices (including the first $50 ticket!) despite complaints from Hollywood studios [WSJ]
—Michael D. Shear and Zolan Kanno-Youngs unpack the subtle digs at Trump made by King Charles during the monarch's state visit [NYT]
—Lucy Fisher and Paul Murphy have a remarkable story about wild leaked remarks made by the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. [FT]
Today...
...in 2011, Disney released Joe Nussbaum's Prom in theaters. The teen rom-com, which featured the song "Not Your Birthday," was a bust with critics and audiences. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Willie Nelson (93), Daniel Day-Lewis (69), Michelle Pfeiffer (68), Uma Thurman (56), Kate Mulgrew (71), Xochitl Gomez (20), Phillip Noyce (76), Hansal Mehta (58), Megan Boone (43), Jenn Lyon (46), April Telek (51), Mark Stanley (38), Katherine Langford (30), Steve Blum (66), Fares Fares (53), Anita Dobson (77), Taylor Cole (42), Paul Adelstein (57), Tyler Labine (48), Bre Blair (46), Ella Hunt (28), Darby Stanchfield (55), Eve Plumb (68), Nora Dunn (74), Vincent Ventresca (60), Derek Mears (54), Morgan Turner (27), Federico Castelluccio (62), Ellen Crawford (75), Laura Harrington (68), Grace Kaufman (24), Shahadi Wright Joseph (21), David Belle (53), Barbora Bobulova (52), Master P (56), JΓΌrgen Vogel (58), Michael Herbig (58), Callum Scott Howells (π΄σ §σ ’σ ·σ ¬σ ³σ Ώ27)
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Steve Maslow, the top-notch re-recording mixer whose seven Oscar nominations for best sound included wins for The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Speed, has died. He was 81. The obituary.
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