🎬 Ripping Off Hollywood

👋 Good morning! The Winter Olympics look different this year, and it's not because of the athletes. Olympic Broadcasting Services is using over two dozen FPV drones across the 2026 Winter Games, capturing chase-cam footage that tails skiers down mountains and follows lugers through hairpin turns at 90 mph. If you haven’t been tuning into Milan Cortina, the shots are genuinely stunning. To pull them off, OBS recruited former competitors like ex-ski jumper Jonas Sandell, because filming at that level requires someone who knows the sport, not just the camera. The Academy doesn't have a category for this yet, but give it time.

Welcome back to The Dailies. If you're stress-refreshing OpenTable for a Valentine's Day reservation right now, we get it. Let us take at least one thing off your plate this morning. Here's what's happening in the industry. 👇

How last week’s releases are stacking up…

Top-streamed chart (U.S.) Feb. 6 to Feb. 12. Data provided by Luminate.

⚖️ YouTube is on trial for being too addictive. A 20-year-old woman is suing YouTube and Instagram, claiming their apps were designed to be addictive and worsened her mental health. YouTube's lawyers pushed back this week in the courtroom, arguing the platform is more like Netflix than Facebook. In other words: we're not hooking you, we're just helping you find something to watch (try telling that to anyone who opened YouTube for "one quick video" and emerged 90 minutes later an expert on submarine disasters). If the court isn't buying it, the platforms could be forced to redesign their apps, and the floodgates open for similar lawsuits. YouTube captured 12.7% of all TV viewing time in December per Nielsen. That’s more than any single streamer, so forced changes to its recommendation engine would ripple well beyond tech and into how people watch TV.

🤖 ByteDance just launched an AI model that's ripping off Hollywood. The Chinese tech giant (which still holds a minority stake in TikTok after its recent U.S. divestiture) released its new AI video generator, Seedance 2.0, this week. It's going viral for repurposing major studio IP, with outputs including a Tom Cruise vs. Brad Pitt deepfake fight and 'Avengers: Endgame' remixes. What has people talking is how convincing they actually look. 'Deadpool & Wolverine' co-writer Rhett Reese said he's "shook" by the quality, martial artist Scott Adkins ('John Wick: Chapter 4') spotted his own likeness in a Seedance video without his permission, and the MPA has already called it infringement "on a massive scale." Hollywood's lawyers are presumably warming up.

📺 The ground is shifting under daytime talk shows. Both 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' and 'Sherri' announced they'll wrap by year's end, and nobody's exactly lining up to fill the void. The format's been losing ground to video podcasts, which have blown up on YouTube, are now being licensed by streamers like Netflix, and can land the same A-list guests at a fraction of the cost. On the traditional TV side, audiences have been quietly heading for the exits, and shows that once printed up to $300M a year in profit are now losing money. Stations are filling those empty hours with local news instead, which costs next to nothing extra to produce. The surviving daytime talkers, including 'Drew Barrymore,' 'Tamron Hall,' and 'Jennifer Hudson,' are all waiting to hear if they'll be back next season.

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🍎 Apple bought full ownership of 'Severance' from indie studio Fifth Season for just under $70M as it grows its in-house studio. The plan: a four-season run, S3 shooting this summer, and potential spinoffs to keep the Lumon universe expanding. 'Severance' is officially an innie now. Congrats, Tim C.—the board is thrilled.

📺 In today's CBS News news: around 11 of roughly 40 'CBS Evening News' staffers are taking buyouts offered in January, and a fresh round of layoffs could cut at least 15% of the wider staff. It's been a turbulent start as Bari Weiss recalibrates the division toward streaming and more distinctive content.

🏀 The NBA invited 200+ creators to All-Star Weekend in LA with VIP access to its events, looking to reach younger fans who aren't tuning into traditional broadcasts. More and more leagues are bringing creators into the fold. See: last week's Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics currently airing.

🤖 "AI bounty hunter" is about to start showing up in LinkedIn bios. A startup called LightBar is paying everyday internet users to probe AI models for outputs that rip off copyrighted film and TV content, then packaging that evidence for studios to use in lawsuits, settlements, or licensing deals.

🎥 THEATRICAL

📺 STREAMING

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: 'Wuthering Heights' should lead the Valentine's Day 4-day weekend with a projected $40-50M debut. Sony's animated 'Goat' steps in to fill the family-movie void now that 'Zootopia 2' has gone digital, eyeing a $20-38M opening conveniently timed to NBA All-Star Weekend. 'Crime 101' rounds out the slate with four Marvel alums (Hemsworth, Ruffalo, Keoghan, Berry) vying for adult eyeballs, projecting around $17M. If this slate delivers, February could post its first $500M+ monthly total since the pandemic.