🎬 Quibi, But TikTok

👋 Good morning! Netflix just dropped numbers for last week’s Tyson vs. Paul boxing match that have every broadcast exec reaching for their calculators. The streamer reports a staggering 108M global viewers tuned in live—Super Bowl-level reach without a single traditional broadcast partner. Even with widespread buffering issues (56% of all U.S. TV viewing was staring at loading screens), the numbers are forcing every studio exec to rethink their live event strategy.

Welcome aboard the Dailies. As you sip your morning brew, we’ll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywood—no need to chase down a newsstand, we’ve got everything you need right here.

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Peak TV is Now Global TV

• Quibi, But TikTok

• Coke’s Christmas AI Blunder

• Comcast Plans Spinoff

• Last Looks: 👀 Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

CLOSEUP
🌎 Goodbye Peak TV, Hello Global TV…

Just a few years ago, the idea of the average American viewer binge-watching a Korean drama or a Brazilian thriller seemed unlikely. Now? It's normal. Just yesterday, Netflix showed its hand for 2025, unveiling an ambitious international slate. But it’s not just Netflix—here are the numbers:

• Streaming platforms' non-English releases up to 33% in 2023, from 23% in 2021

• North American content spending expected to dive 21% by 2028

• On Netflix, 13% of U.S. viewing time now goes to non-English content

Each streamer’s playing this global shift differently:

• Netflix is becoming a truly global studio, spending over half its budget outside the U.S. Instead of trying to make shows that appeal to everyone everywhere, they're focusing on making great local shows that feel authentic to each country. Their strategy is working big time—80% of their users watch Korean content, and shows like ‘Squid Game’ have become worldwide phenomena. With 26 offices outside the U.S. and deals with over 1,000 producers in 50+ countries, they're proving great stories can come from anywhere.

• Disney+ is taking a different route. Instead of making tons of local shows, they're betting that everyone around the world already loves Marvel, Star Wars, and Mickey Mouse. It's like having a global language of entertainment that doesn't need translation. When they do make local content, they're super selective about it.

• Warner Bros. Discovery is playing matchmaker. Their recent deal with Korea's CJ ENM shows their strategy: partner up with successful local studios instead of starting from scratch. They'll remake Korean hits in English and vice versa. It's like a cultural exchange program, but for TV shows.

• Amazon Prime Video has a unique advantage: they already know what people around the world like to buy through their shopping service. They're using this shopping data to figure out what shows to make or buy in different countries. Plus, they bundle their video service with shopping benefits, making it a pretty sweet deal for customers.

Looking ahead… Hollywood isn’t the only place making hit shows anymore. New production centers are popping up everywhere—Seoul is becoming the K-drama capital, Madrid's churning out Spanish thrillers, and Mumbai's Bollywood is joining the streaming revolution. Each brings its own unique storytelling style.

And it's about to get even easier to watch shows from anywhere. Netflix already offers dubbing in 36 languages and subtitles in 33, with over 70% of viewing happening with one or the other. But AI dubbing technology could be a game-changer—a recent survey shows 47% of viewers would be more likely to watch foreign content if AI could match lip movements perfectly to dubbed dialogue. Who knows…maybe tomorrow’s viewers might find it quaint that we once labeled shows as “foreign” at all.

WIDESHOT
🎬 Minidramas, AI commercials, and cable spinoffs…

📱🎭 TikTok's making a play for TV-style minidramas. On Douyin (TikTok's Chinese sibling app), these bite-sized dramas—think billionaire romance tales and zombie thrillers served up in tiny episodes—are generating massive revenue. Now TikTok's plotting to bring that winning formula to the US market. Despite previous flops in this space (looking at you, Quibi and Meta), TikTok's taking a cautious approach. They're starting small, chatting with existing minidrama makers like ReelShort and Inkitt, while floating the idea of Hollywood studio partnerships—though they're not ready to write any big checks just yet. The plan? Hook viewers with free episodes, then charge for more. Internal number-crunchers at ByteDance are suggesting there's a $10B market waiting to be tapped with the 35+ crowd as prime targets. It’s a gutsy move for an app staring down a potential US ban. But hey, when your sibling app's already cracked the code, why not take your shot?

🎬🎄 Coca-Cola's AI holiday ad is causing quite the stir. The beverage giant's latest Christmas commercial—an AI-generated homage to their classic 1995 ‘Holidays Are Coming’ spot—has unleashed a firestorm, with creatives blasting it as "soulless" and industry voices up in arms. Created by three AI studios using four different generative models, the ad features all the holiday tropes: snowy streets, big red trucks, and smiling people in winter gear, but critics argue it's missing that essential human touch. The video’s now sitting at 59M views and counting, though not the kind Coke bargained for.

📺🔄 Comcast is splitting NBCUniversal in two, essentially divorcing its aging cable networks from its growth businesses. Think of it like separating a thriving startup from its struggling parent company—the "new" NBC keeps the promising parts (broadcast, Peacock streaming, theme parks) while the cable networks (MSNBC, CNBC, USA) get packaged into their own company. It's a defensive play as cable TV bleeds subscribers; MSNBC alone expects to lose 3.2M viewers by 2025. Warner and Paramount already saw this coming—they took massive hits ($9.1B and $5.98B respectively) writing down their cable assets' value this year. The message is clear: those once-mighty cable networks just aren't worth what they used to be in the streaming age. It's a dramatic reversal from Comcast's $30B spending spree to build NBCU in 2011-2013. While the spun-off cable unit might get bought or do some buying itself, the real story is how streaming is forcing media giants to break apart empires built for a cable TV world that's rapidly disappearing.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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LAST LOOKS
Development 🗒️

• Josh O’Connor joins Emily Blunt in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming untitled blockbuster, set for a summer 2026 release. (more)

• Shah Rukh Khan and Aryan Khan team up with Netflix for a Bollywood series set to debut in 2025, marking Aryan’s directorial debut. (more)

• Paramount taps Javier Gullón to adapt Sarah Pinsker’s horror novella ‘Two Truths and a Lie.’ (more)

• Aaron Sorkin teams up with Warner Bros. for a film about Al Schwimmer, the mastermind behind the creation of the Israeli Air Force. (more)

• Caroline Dries has joined as co-showrunner for Amazon’s ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel series ‘Elle.’ (more)

• Jason Segel and Samara Weaving are set to star in Jorma Taccone’s comedy-thriller ‘The Trip,’ a remake of the Norwegian film. (more)

• Fleetwood Mac’s first fully authorized documentary, directed by Frank Marshall, will explore the band’s legendary history. (more)

• Tiffany Paulsen will adapt Christina Lauren’s bestselling holiday rom-com ‘In a Holidaze’ into a Netflix film. (more)

• Amazon has given a cast-contingent series order to faith-based drama ‘It’s Not Like That.’ (more)

• Netflix, Amblin, and the Obamas’ Higher Ground secure rights to adapt S.A. Cosby’s novel ‘King of Ashes’ into a TV series after a bidding war. (more)

• Emma Mackey joins Glen Powell and Jenna Ortega in J.J. Abrams’ untitled mystery film for Warner Bros, with plot details still under wraps. (more)

• Bleecker Street acquires David Mackenzie’s TIFF thriller ‘Relay,’ starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James, for a 2025 theatrical release. (more)

• David Dastmalchian, Ashley Greene, and Samantha Cochran star in ‘The Cure,’ a satirical horror thriller. (more)

• Sam Corlett, known for ‘Vikings: Valhalla,’ joins Kevin Costner’s upcoming surf thriller ‘Headhunters.’ (more)

• Will Ferrell teams up with Nicholas Stoller and Amazon MGM Studios for the comedy ‘Judgment Day.’ (more)

Renewed & canceled ✅ ❌

• ‘Star Wars: Visions’ is renewed for S3 at Disney+. (more)

Business 🤝

• Peter Chernin’s North Road and Andreessen Horowitz invest in Promise, a generative AI studio revolutionizing storytelling with cutting-edge tech. (more)

• LeBron James’ SpringHill and Fulwell 73 merge into a global studio, raising $40M to boost content creation and branding. (more)

• Netflix and Meta face a lawsuit alleging Reed Hastings and Mark Zuckerberg conspired to shut down Facebook Watch and limit competition. (more)

• Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA seal an 11-year deal, resolving legal issues and expanding international game and digital rights. (more)

• Louisiana restores its film tax credit with a reduced $125M cap, awaiting further legislative approval. (more)

Other News 🚨

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