Established streaming industry leaders like Netflix and Amazon are facing more competition than ever. Now legacy entertainment giants are in the game with their own subscription services, like Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and the Disney Plus / Hulu / ESPN Plus bundle, while Apple TV Plus attacks around the edges. Meanwhile, the rise of ad-supported free platforms like Roku Channel and Pluto TV has attracted enough attention that Plex, YouTube, and Amazon’s Freevee are trying to get a chunk of the action too.
It has been two months since Skydance bought Paramount for $8 billion, and — shocker — the newly merged megacorporation has already begun the process of laying off thousands of its workers. It’s almost like these big media consolidation deals invariably end up harming workers.
[The Washington Post]
The social media giants have agreed to boot users under 16 from their platforms by the December 10th deadline, but are still voicing skepticism about the policy’s enforcement and effectiveness.
Correction: YouTube has also said it disagrees with the law, but has not said it will comply.
Reuters: Their comments represented a shift in the social media industry’s response to the law, which is being watched by lawmakers around the world as concern grows about youth mental health. Under the Australian law, platforms must take “reasonable steps” to block users aged less than 16 or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million ($32.5 million).
History tells us that Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to sell itself is probably going to end in disaster.
YouTubers will be soon be able to make use of Adobe Premiere editing tools through a new hub, Create for YouTube shorts. It’s launching soon, both inside the new Premiere mobile app and built directly into YouTube itself.
Expect “exclusive effects, transitions, templates and more.”
The Breaking Bad creator is dabbling in sci-fi again, years after getting his start on The X-Files.
Taylor Sheridan — the architect of Paramount Skydance’s wildly successful Yellowstone franchise — has reportedly signed a massive film / TV deal with rival entertainment giant NBCUniversal. According to Puck, Sheridan’s move was prompted by his dissatisfaction with the way Paramount Skydance’s new head David Ellison has been running the company.
Rather than waiting for Sunday, HBO now plans to drop It: Welcome to Derry’s second episode on October 31st just in time for the end of spooky season.
Said no-one, I suspect. As Netflix shuts down another game studio, we’re not the only people questioning the streamer’s efforts to become a gaming giant.
eldinar:
It’s almost like people don’t subscribe to Netflix for games.
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Though Apple TV has had time for a surprise rebrand, the streamer still hasn’t released The Savant, its indefinitely postponed crime thriller about domestic terrorism. Apple’s site keeps changing to say that the show could debut “soon” or at some point in 2025. But with the year almost over, “soon” feels unlikely.
[The Hollywood Reporter]
Deadline reports that Netflix has tapped I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun to write and direct an adaptation of Charles Burns’ comic, Black Hole. Like the comic, the new series will tell the story of a town where a virus turns sexually active teens into strange monsters.
In an interview with NPR about his Frankenstein film arriving on Netflix next month, del Toro drew a hard line, saying he’d “rather die” than use AI, and compared today’s “tech bros” to Victor Frankenstein (the inventor, not the monster):
“I did want it to have the arrogance of Victor [Frankenstein] be similar in some ways to the tech bros. He’s kind of blind, creating something without considering the consequences and I think we have to take a pause and consider where we’re going.”
The It prequel series is a half-hearted attempt at crossing Stephen King’s opus with Stranger Things.
The Apple TV thriller returns for its second season, with eight episodes that kick off on January 14th, 2026. This time the setting shifts from an airplane to a train in Berlin. Hopefully they don’t end up in an Exit 8 situation.
It has already gotten more than 325 million views, the company says. And get ready for more from the franchise: Netflix is partnering with Mattel and Hasbro on toys and products, and the company is looking at “opportunities” in “live experiences, publishing, beauty, lifestyle, and food and beverage.”
[Netflix]
The latest iteration of Frankenstein is excellent, but due to Netflix’s complex relationship with theaters, it’s also difficult to watch at the moment for many. But if you want to squeeze in a viewing ahead of its November 7th streaming date, the director posted this handy site for finding local screenings.
We’re very excited to announce that Decoder is now officially on YouTube. So if you prefer to watch and not just listen to your podcasts, you can head over to youtube.com/@decoderpod and subscribe to our new channel, where we’ll post new full-length interviews every Monday.
Our first episode, featuring Zocdoc CEO Oliver Kharraz onstage at the TechFutures conference in New York City, is available now. Check it out, like and subscribe, and tell us what you think.
Weapons is set to make its HBO Max debut on October 24th, which might get folks intrigued about the spinoff prequel director Zach Cregger has in development.
[HBO Press Room]
The director builds on a familiar story with a new level of detail and heart.
Amazon just added a “Plus” to its Fire TV Stick 4K, but if they were looking for a rebrand they should have just followed a time-honored industry approach: copy whatever Apple just did.
spypol:
They should rename it Apple TV
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Last week Marvel confirmed that a third season of the Disney Plus revival is in the works, but now we know when the second will arrive: Born Again will be born again on March 4th, 2026.
