Netflix will continue its partnership with prolific producer/writer Tyler Perry with the October 24 premiere of original drama series Beauty in Black.

The 16-part series, part of the multi-year, first-look production deal reached last year between Netflix and Perry, follows two women on very different life trajectories on a course toward each other, according to the streaming service. Taylor Polidore Williams and Crystle Stewart star as strangers entangled in each other’s lives.

Beauty and Black also stars Amber Reign Smith, Ricco Ross, Debbi Morgan, Richard Lawson, and Steven Norfleet.

The first-half of the 16-episode series will debut October 24, with the second half premiering at a later date. The series follows Perry’s original movie, Mea Culpa, which streamed on Netflix this past February.

Jeremy Saulnier’s fast-paced thriller Rebel Ridge continued to put up big numbers for Netflix, ending the week of September 9-15 with 38.6 million views and 84.9 million viewing hours.

The film placed No. 1 among Netflix’s English-language film rankings for the second consecutive week, building its audience nearly 25% from its first week of distribution.

It’s the third strongest film debut for Netflix this year, behind only Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F in July and Damsel in March.

Rebel Ridge also earned the praise of RottenTomatoes critics, who bestowed the film a 96%, “certified fresh” ranking.

Also Read: Nicole Kidman's 'The Perfect Couple' Is Good Enough -- Netflix Weekly Rankings for September 2-8

The film even drew praise from celebrated American author Stephen King, who called the film “a thinking man’s Rambo.” 

Also performing well was Joey King’s Uglies, which debuted as Netflix’s second most watched English-language film, with 20.8 million views and 35.4 million viewing hours.

Based on the eponymous book series, Uglies was also the most-watched new arrival on Netflix’s platform last week.

Only one title outpaced Uglies in terms of engagement.

White Lotus-esque limited series, The Perfect Couple, starring Nicole Kidman, ended the week with 21.9 million views and 111.6 million viewing hours.

The series saw a slight increase of about 8% in engagement between weeks.

Also notable was the arrival of the second half of Emily In Paris: Season 4, which bumped the series back up to No. 2 among Netflix’s English-language series.

The fan-favorite drama ended last week with 11.5 million views and 68.7 million viewing hours.

That’s noticeably less impressive than the debut of its first half of season 4, which landed at No. 1 with 19.9 million views and 56.5 million viewing hours during the week of August 12-18.

Netflix has revealed details about the third season of its Ryan Murphy-created true-crime anthology series, Monster.

The streaming company said Tuesday that the next installment will focus on Ed Gein, with Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam starring as the notorious 1950s murderer.

It was Murphy who actually first leaked the details, making the announcement onstage during a promotional event for Monster: Season 2, which focuses on Erik and Lyle Menendez and drops Thursday.

It’s the successor to Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which premiered in 2022 and reached 1 billion viewing hours in its first 60 days of distribution.

By the end of its first 90 days on Netflix, more than 115.6 million people had watched the series.

Currently, Dahmer is Netflix’s third most popular English-language series of all time, behind only Wednesday and Stranger Things: Season 4.

Production on the unnamed third season will begin in October, according to a subsequent announcement sent by Netflix.

At present, no other cast has been revealed, nor have any writers.

Born in 1906, Gein earned the nickname of the “Plainfield Ghoul” when authorities discovered he had not only killed multiple people, but had dug up graves and used human remains to fashion clothing, furniture and jewelry.

Gein’s case served as an inspiration for several popular horror characters, including Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Norman Bates in Psycho and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs.

Netflix will launch a new sports documentary series in October featuring a behind-the-scenes look at five NBA players during the 2023-24 season. 

The 10-episode documentary series, Starting Five, follows the on and off-the-court lives of the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards, the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, the Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum throughout the 2023-24 regular season and playoffs, according to the streaming service. “The series captures all five athletes in their battles on and off the court as they chase greatness, push through injuries, and balance the demands of family and legacy,” Netflix said. 

James’ Uninterrupted production company will produce the series along with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. Executive producers include James, the Obamas, Manning, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, Philip Byron, Randy Mims, Vinnie Malhotra, Ethan Lewis, Jamie Horowitz and Sam Pepper.

Starting 5 continues Netflix’s move into the sports documentary arena, which includes such series as Quarterback, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, and Simone Biles Rising. 

Netflix spy thriller The Union generated a solid 40 million views and 73.8 million viewing hours in its second week on the streamer, ranking as the No. 1 title on the platform for the week of August 19-25.

The Mark Wahlberg-Halle Berry paint-by-numbers action film grew its audience over week 1. Collectively, the movie has garnered 73.7 million views since premiering on August 16.

Also Read: Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry's 'Union' Draws A Crowd -- Netflix Weekly Rankings for August 12-18

On the TV side, the Mexican-produced Spanish-language drama series The Accident pulled in Netflix’s best engagement metrics for the week, generating 76.7 million viewing hours and a more modest 10.4 million views. 

Not as strong was Season 4 of English-language series Emily in Paris, which drew 42.1 million viewing hours and 14.9 million views in its second week on Netflix. 

That’s a 25% decrease in viewership from almost 20 million views the week prior, although it’s important to note that only the first five episodes of the season are currently available to stream.

Part two of Emily in Paris: Season 4 is scheduled to release on September 12.

American Murder: Laci Peterson secured the No. 2 spot among English-language series, generating 28.2 million viewing hours and 10.6 million views.

Just last Tuesday, Netflix said that it closed the second year of its upfront with ad sales commitments up as high as 150% year-over-year.

But according to a report published Monday by Digiday, despite its progress, the streaming service’s position in the advertising market is still fraught with “underlying challenges … from competition to limited scale.”

Netflix, which recently discontinued its cheapest ad-free tier in order to push customers towards its advertising business, has historically pursued ads with a relatively conservative strategy.

Also Read: Netflix Says It Closed Upfront With 150% Increase in Sales

Until now, the platform has maintained high costs for its ads -- $65 cost per thousand impressions (CPM), compared to $45.11 CPM for competitor Disney Plus. Netflix has also limited the number of ads shown on its service and made those ads opt-in, rather than the default.

That’s compared to competitors like Amazon Prime Video, which quickly garnered the largest number of ad-supported viewers among all major U.S. streaming providers in January, by converting more than 85% of its subscriber-base to an ad-supported version.

Since then, Amazon has reported an expected OTT ad revenue of $4.72 billion this year, more than 11% of the corporate giant’s total ad revenue.

But Netflix has begun to catch on, and slashed its CPM prices from the initial $60 in 2022 to just $29, much closer to Amazon’s low $30s offering.

Even so, the streaming service’s 40 million monthly active ad-supported users cant’t yet match the marketing appeal of Amazon's 200 million users.

From the outside, it looks like Netflix is struggling to entice advertisers to its platform, all while maintaining viewer satisfaction for its global audience.

Compound that with fierce competition from streaming services like Prime Video, with larger ad-supported reach, or Hulu, which offers ads for just $23.62 CPM, and it puts Netflix in a tough situation to grow its ad business.

But the company might find some headway in the advertising economy by leveraging the remarkable impact of many of its titles.

Take, for example, the sixth season of fan-favorite dating series Love Is Blind, which spent four consecutive weeks on Nielsen’s weekly streaming top 10, and earned more than 6 billion minutes of watch time in the month of March.

“Streaming accounts for 40% of total TV time in the U.S. today, with Netflix and YouTube the clear leaders in direct to consumer entertainment,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in the company’s second quarterly earnings report. “So looking to the future, we believe our biggest opportunity is winning a larger share of the 80%+ of TV time that neither Netflix nor YouTube has today.”

Also Read: Netflix Solidly Beats Revenue Forecasts With 17% Growth in Q2, Adds More Than 8 Million Subscribers

However, Netflix still doesn’t have a firm handle on the tech to seamlessly integrated targeted ads during its broadcast

Just last week, Netflix announced partnerships with cloud data platform Snowflake, data broker LiveRamp and clean-room technology company InfoSum all in an effort to further grow its ad business.

Access to digital clean rooms, a relatively young privacy technology that allows advertisers to share data across platforms, would allow the streaming service to more closely monitor audience overlap and refine its ad tech, something Netflix needs if it wants to entice advertising partners.

Presumably, the partnerships will offer advertisers more tools and expand the ways in which they can reach their audiences.

Netflix said that it closed its upfront with sales that were up 150% from the year before.

The streaming leader entered the advertising business just last year and got off to a halting start, slowing building the number of subscribers to its ad-supported tier and seeking prices higher than a saturated market would bear. Top sales execs left.

The year’s upfront built on a small base–the company previously said advertising wouldn’t be a "primary revenue driver" in 2025–but Netflix’ president of ad sales Amy Reinhard said the company’s upfront results were “in line with our expectations.”

Reinhard said that marketers in the consumer packaged goods, tech & entertainment, auto, quick-service restaurant and retail business all made commitments. 

She also said that Netflix drew sponsors tied to some of its most popular shows.

For example, L’Oreal, Pure Leaf, Amazon Audible, Puig, Booking.com, Stella Artois and Hilton have signed on as international on-screen title sponsors for Season 3 of Bridgerton.

When Emily In Paris returns, LVMN, Coty, Gucci, Kaiku Caffee Latte, Aeromexico, L’Oreal, Google and Rakuten will be on board.

Netflix also has deals lined up for Squid Game, Wednesday, Outer Banks, Happy Gilmore 2, Ginny  & Georgia and Love is Blind.

“Our advertising clients remain excited about our highly engaged audience and the variety and quality of our programming,” Reinhard said.

Reinhard said that Netflix is offering advertisers new ways to buy ads on the streamer.

Marketers can set up private marketplace programmatic deals directly with Netflix through The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360 or Xandr–the Microsoft unit that had been Netflix’s exclusive partner when it started selling ads.

Google’s Campaign Manager and Innovid can be employed for impression verification joining DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, which monitor campaigns for fraud and viewability.

“we’ve been executing multiple programmatic campaigns with advertisers such as Expedia, Ford, T-Mobile, Mercedes-Benz, Novartis, and American Eagle,” Reinhard said.

The programmatic private marketplace buys are currently available in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Mexico.  

Netflix also said it has launched measurement a relationship with Barb's Advance Campaign Hub in the UK and in the fall with offer campaign performance metrics from NielsenOne, Lucid (or Cint), EDO, NCSolutions, Kantar, and Affinity Solutions for all buy types.

“Over the last few months, we’ve hit great milestones for our ads business including closing another successful upfront market, building and implementing an expanded programmatic suite, enhancing our global measurement capabilities, and securing impactful global ad campaigns,” Reinhard said. “We’ll continue to improve the Netflix ads plan to ensure our members are delighted by the experience while simultaneously creating solutions that deliver results for our marketers, putting brands at the center of the best shows and films in the world, to a highly valuable and engaged audience.”

Netflix announced Wednesday its Guy Ritchie-produced English gangster comedy series The Gentlemen has been renewed for a second, eight-episode season.

The first season, which debuted on March 7, garnered an impressive 81.5 million viewing hours and 12.2 million views in its first four days.

In its first full week of availability, The Gentlemen was the most watched series in all of U.S. subscription streaming, generating more than 20 million views.

Also Read: A Rainy Day for 'The Umbrella Academy' -- Netflix Weekly Rankings for August 5-11

The second season will once again star Theo James alongside Kaya Scodelario alongside Daniel Ings. 

Additional casting for the season has yet to be revealed.

Netflix's series version of The Gentleman is set in the same universe as Guy Ritchie’s eponymous 2019 Miramax film.

Filming for season 2 is set to commence next year.

The Gentlemen is produced by Moonage Pictures in cooperation with executive producers Ritchie, Matthew Read, Will Gould, Frith Tiplady, Marc Helwig and Ivan Atkinson.

Netflix has renewed its British sci-fi drama series Supacell for a second season, almost two months after its debut on the streaming service. 

The second season of the series, confirmed by Netflix via social media, will continue to follow the lives of five Black South Londoners who unexpectedly develop superpowers, according to the streamer. The six-episode first season premiered in June. 

The series’ first season was a hit for Netflix, reaching the top spot on its global TV series list, according to the service.

Supacell stars Calvin Demba, Tosin Cole, Nadine Mills, Eddie Marsan and Eric Kofi-Abrefa. Series creator Rapman told Netflix the second season will reveal more about the lives of the five characters with extraordinary powers.

“Supacell season one is my Batman Begins,“ he said. “It’s a prequel of what they’ll be like. Season 2 is when you really see what they become.”

Netflix’s new teen mystery series, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, generated the platform's biggest audience for the week of July 29 - August 4, generating 34 million viewing hours and 7.4 million views.

But the title was, conspicuously, the only movie or TV show to meet or surpass 30 million streaming hours for the week. 

Next TV reviewed the streaming service’s rankings, dating back to when Netflix first started publishing them back in 2021. It's the first time in any given week that only one show reached that 30 million-hours-viewed threshold. 

Also Read: Top Streamer Finds Audience Engagement Falling Amid Mid-Summer Slump — Netflix Weekly Rankings for July 22-28

On the film side, the newest cinematic addition to the Spongebob franchise, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, generated 18.5 million viewing hours and 12.8 million views, making it the only Netflix titles to meet or surpass 10 million views last week

That’s only happened twice (the weeks of August 7 and October 16) before since June 2023, when Netflix began publishing views in addition to their "hours viewed" engagement metrics.

All in all, the engagement numbers for the 40 top shows across Netflix's four ranking categories last week added up to a 26% overall decrease In year-over-year viewership, compared to a corresponding viewing window from the same time last year.

Netflix plans to issue a $1.8 billion debt offering, per an SEC filing published Tuesday.

It’s the company’s first debt offering since it was elevated to investment-grade status by rating agencies Moody’s and S&P Global.

The last time Netflix raised funds via debt offering was in April 2020.

Also Read: Netflix Solidly Beats Revenue Forecasts With 17% Growth in Q2, Adds More Than 8 Million Subscribers

Netflix said the move, which was also announced in its quarterly letter to shareholders, will used to refinance its existing debt, which is due next year, as well as what it calls “general corporate purposes.”

The banks designated as joint book-running managers are Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Santander US Capital Markets and SG Americas Securities.

“Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds,” wrote Netflix in its prospectus. “The purposes for which they are used may change from those described above.”

Notably, Netflix recently entered into pricey deals with the WWE and NFL in order to expand its sports offerings.

The streaming giant’s partnership with the wrestling league will cost it as much as $5 billion over 10 years, while the two NFL games set to broadcast on Christmas Day will cost a reported $150 million.

Netflix’s debt sale will occur in two parts: $1 billion due in 2034 with 4.9% interest, and $800 million due in 2054 with a 5.4% interest rate.

Netflix chairman Reed Hastings has given $7 million to a super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for president, according to a report by The Information on Tuesday.

The publication said that this was the largest donation Hastings has ever given in support of a single candidate.

Hastings was reportedly encouraged to donate by Reid Hoffman, Democratic donor and co-founder of LinkedIn.

Also Read: Netflix Co-Founder Reed Hastings Sticks His Neck Out on Biden Debate

While the Netflix co-founder and former CEO seemed initially cautious to endorse Harris, writing on X Sunday,  “Dem delegates need to pick a swing state winner." 

But after Harris won enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination Monday evening, Hastings quickly took to the app to congratulate her, stating that “now it is time to win.”

This comes just weeks after Hastings, among other media titans, publicly called for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race.

Earlier this month, Hastings even wrote an email to The New York Times saying, “Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.”

The coordinated Harris campaign reported Wednesday morning that it had raised more than $250 million in donations for the Democratic party between Sunday afternoon, when Biden withdrew from the race, and Tuesday evening.

Netflix increased it’s share of television usage by 11.4% to 8.4% in June from 7.6% in May, hopping over Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery in Nielsen’s monthly list of top video distributors.

The Walt Disney Co. retained the top spot in the industry with a 10.8% share, down slightly from 11.4% in May. Nielsen said usage of Disney Plus was up 15%.

YouTube was No. 2 with a 9.9% share, up from 9.7% in May.

NBCUniversal held onto third pace with an 8.5% share, down from 9% in May. Nielsen said NBCU is expected to bounce back in July and August as it covers the Paris Olympics.

Nielsen said that with sports and original drama content lacking on broadcast networks, cable networks owned by A+E Networks, Hallmark Media and AMC Networks gained share.

Overall, eight of the 14 companies Nielsen ranks showed increases in June.

Netflix said in last Thursday’s Q2 letter to shareholder’s that it won’t be taking part in the increasingly common practice of bundling its service with subscription streaming competitors.

“We haven’t bundled Netflix solely with other streamers like Disney Plus or Max because Netflix already operates as a go-to destination for entertainment thanks to the breadth and variety of our slate and superior product experience,” Netflix said in the letter. 

This position jibes with data released last month by Antenna suggesting service bundling presents more of a "cannibalization risk" to Netflix vs. other streaming companies. 

Also read: Disney Bundle Cuts Hulu Churn Nearly in Half (Charts of the Day)

In the Q2 version of its  State of Subscription report, published last month, Antenna tracked the effectiveness of bundling by measuring the ratio of customers who are "curious" about seeing other streaming services, vs. "committed" customers.

Also Read: Netflix Solidly Beats Revenue Forecasts With 17% Growth in Q2, Adds More Than 8 Million Subscribers

To differentiate between potentially productive bundles and what Antenna calls “cannibalistic” bundle opportunities, it’s important to determine whether both services have a large enough pool of curious customers.

According to Antenna, if one service has a greater ratio of committed customers compared to its partner, the bundle presents a cannibalization risk to the service with fewer curious customers.

And Antenna’s report says that Netflix boasts the highest percentage of committed customers, with 58%.

It’s also the only premium SVOD with more committed customers than curious ones.

That’s likely why Netflix’s has avoided partnerships involving just fellow streaming services, favoring instead collaboration with internet service providers to avoid crossing customer bases.

Just last week, Verizon unveiled a new bundling promotion for its home and wireless internet customers, offering them a year free of Netflix Premium if they also pay for Peacock Premium. 

The difference between these bundles and Antenna’s “potentially cannibalistic” partnerships is that they run through internet providers rather than directly with Netflix’s curious-customer-rich streaming competitors.

Netflix VP of global advertising sales Peter Naylor has left the company as the streamer told Wall Street not to expect a huge amount of revenue from advertising next year.

Netflix, which became popular in part because it was ad free, changed course and launched an ad-supported tier in 2022.

Jeremi Gorman was named president, worldwide advertising and Naylor, who helped build Hulu’s ad business, was named VP. 

Gorman was replaced by Amy Reinhard in 2023. At that time company executives said its ad business was in the “crawling” phase of its rollout.

Netflix said it will be hiring a head of ad sales for the U.S. and Canada with Naylor gone.

“Peter’s enthusiasm, industry knowledge and relationships have been invaluable in getting our advertising business off the ground. I want to thank him for all he has done to build our team, grow the business and position Netflix for success,” said Reinhard.

On Netflix’s second-quarter earnings call Thursday evening, Netflix execs talked about making scaling its ad business a priority.

“We’re small in every measure,“ Netflix chief financial officer Spencer Neumann said. “We talk about it a lot. We’re small in share of TV time. We're small in terms of penetration of connected TV homes. We’re small in revenue market share. And we're going to grow in those areas across-the-board and ads are going to be a bigger piece of that puzzle. Just we won’t have it be primary in ’24, ’25, but it contributes. It's a meaningful contributor.”

With the ad business failing to scale quickly, Netflix said subscribers to its higher-priced ad-free tiers generate more revenue per unit than its ad-supported subscribers do. At most other streamers, ad revenue more than makes up for the lower price paid by subscribers willing to watch ads.

“Clearly the ads business is not scaling in line with original plans, and this was also likely a factor in opening to more ad tech partners sooner than we expected,”  New Street Research analyst Dan Salmon said. 

Also Read: Netflix To Launch In-House Advertising Tech Platform

“Based on our conversation with industry executives, we think the partnership with Microsoft has also been below expectations, though likely mitigated by minimum guarantees,“ Salmon said. “Opening to more demand sources like The Trade Desk and Google’s DV 360 will be augmented by a more aggressive build-out of internal ad tech capabilities, starting with a proprietary ad server.”

Despite the sluggishness of its ad business, Netflix reported a 44% increase in net income to $2.1 billion, or $4.88 a share, from $1.8 billion, or $3.29 a share year ago, at a time when legacy media companies are still hoping to turn the red ink from the streaming businesses into break-even propositions.

“This is what winning looks like,” Pivotal Research analyst Jeff Wlodarczak said.

“It is abundantly clear that Netflix is demonstrating massive scale as it continues to produce strong subscriber results and free cash flow with the ability to invest to accelerate that growth (through deals such as the ‘25 WWE agreement and the ‘24 Christmas NFL games) while its stream peers continue to generate substantial losses and generally mediocre subscriber results,” he said. 

Netflix reported revenue expansion of 16.8% to $9.559 billion in the second quarter, solidly beating guidance issued back in Q1 of 15.9% revenue growth.

Globally, the streaming giant expanded its user base by more than 8 million customers, with its ranks now swelling to 277.65 million paid members worldwide. Netflix added only around six million customers over the same period last year. Membership was up by 1.45 million in Netflix's biggest market, the U.S. and Canada, where account-sharing restrictions are still reshaping its market. 

But back on Wall Street, it all wasn't good enough. As of the typing of this sentence, Netflix shares were in decline more than 3% in after-hours trading, with investors concerned that, based on Netflix guidance, the rate of sales expansion will slow slightly to 13.9%. The stock drop leveled off within an hour of Netflix's earnings disclosure. (Here's Netflix's Q2 2024 letter to shareholders.)

A 14% bounce would still be well above the 7.8% revenue growth Netflix reported in the third quarter of 2023. 

In its shareholder letter, Netflix touted second quarter programming hits, including the third season of Bridgerton, British limited anthology series Baby Reindeer, French action movie Under Paris, and domestic films Atlas and Hit Man. Also receiving a shoutout was The Roast of Tom Brady, which Netflix said was its most watched live-streamed show ever. 

Ad-tier membership increased by 34% in the second quarter, Netflix said, 

The company also said it began in June testing "a new, simpler and more intuitive TV homepage," which it believes "will significantly improve the discovery experience on Netflix.

"This new interface provides more visible title information at a glance — including synopsis, genre and ratings,” Netflix added. “Title previews are also larger and more dynamic, with more immersive trailers and bigger box art to make browsing easier. We’ve also simplified the navigation bar and moved it to the top of the page to create quicker, easier short cuts. And this new design includes My Netflix, which has everything members have saved or watched and was previously only available on mobile.”

Meanwhile, regarding its ad-sales business, Netflix told investors it needs some time to scale that business. 

"Given this sustained progress, we believe that we’re on track to achieve critical ad subscriber scale for advertisers in our ad countries in 2025, creating a strong base from which we can further increase our ad membership in 2026 and beyond," Netflix said in its shareholder letter. "Our ad revenue is growing nicely and is becoming a more meaningful contributor to our business. But building a business from scratch takes time — and coupled with the large size of our subscription revenue — we don't expect advertising to be a primary driver of our revenue growth in 2024 or 2025."

The most aggressive bundler in the bundling business is at it again. 

Verizon is offering subscribers to its wireless and home internet products a year free of Netflix Premium, which retails for $22.99 a month, if they also sign up and pay for a year of Peacock Premium ($7.99 a month).

Peacock Premium offers subscribers the ability to have four streams going at once (vs. just two for Netflix’s most-popular $15.49-a-month “Standard” plan). It delivers select content in 4K, which is unavailable in other Netflix tiers. And it doesn’t require users to watch commercials. 

A year free of Premium breaks down to $275.88. 

Verizon has been the most aggressive user of bundled-service promotions in the consumer wireless business, having previously packaged the $6.99 Netflix Basic with Ads with the $9.99-a-month ad-supported Max for $10 a month. It also packaged Netflix Premium with Starz Play last year. 

Last month, Verizon extended the bundling opportunities available to “myPlan” customers on the unlimited wireless side to its Fios and fixed-wireless home internet customers, introducing the new “myHome” perks package.

Streaming’s share of television usage soared to a record in June, with most of the largest services showing gains, according to Nielsen.

During a month when overall TV usage increased 2.1% from May (and 1.3% from a year ago) streaming had a 40.3% share, up from 38.8% in May.

Nielsen said streaming’s share eclipsed the previous high set in June 2021, when cable had a 40.1% share.

With school out, viewers 2-17 powered double-digit usage increases for Disney Plus, Tubi, Netflix and Max. 

Netflix was the biggest gainer in terms of share,  largely to the performance of Bridgerton, which had 9.3 billion viewing minutes in June, and Your Honor (also on Paramount Plus) with 7.5 billion minutes.

Bridgeton and Your Honor were the top two streaming shows in the month.

Other shows that moved the needle for streamers included The Boys on Amazon Prime Video and House of the Dragon on Max.

Among the streamers, YouTube had a 9.9% share, up from 9.7% in May, while Netflix’s share rose to 8.4% from 7.6%.

Amazon Prime Video’s share was 3.1%, up from 3% in May; Hulu had a 3% share, down from 3.1%; Disney Plus’ share rose to 2% from 1.8%; Tubi hit a high with a 2% share, up from 1.8%; The Roku Channel had a 1.5% share, unchanged from May; Max’s share was 1.4% up from 1.2%; Peacock had a 1.2% share, up from 1.1%, Paramount Plus’s share was 1.1%, down from 1.2% and Pluto TV was flat at 0.8%, down from 0.9%.

Broadcast’s share was 20.5% in June, down from 22.3% in May, when most series finales aired.

The most watched broadcast shows all aired on ABC, including the NBA Finals, the simulcast of CNN’s presidential debate and Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final.

Sports viewing on broadcast was up 26% and news viewing rose 5%.

Cable’s share fell to 27.2% from 28.2% in May.

The top cable program was the presidential debate, which also drew 10 million viewers on CNN and another 9.5 million on Fox News Channel.

Looking ahead, Nielsen noted that the Paris Olympic Games are likely to draw sizable audiences to broadcast and cable, as the Summer Olympics has in the past, although events will also be streamed on Comcast NBCUniversal’s Peacock.

The return of Netflix's Cobra Kai for its sixth and final season, as well as the launch of Apple TV Plus drama Lady in the Lake lead the list of original series, specials and documentaries debuting this week. 

Cobra Kai, a spinoff of the Karate Kid theatrical film franchise, will debut its sixth and final season on July 18 with the first of three parts consisting of five episodes each, according to the streaming service. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka star in the series along with William Zabka, Martin Kove, Jacob Bertrand, and Mary Mouser. 

Apple TV Plus' seven-episode drama Lady in the Lake premieres July 19 and stars Natalie Portman as a Jewish housewife seeking to reinvent herself as an investigative journalist after the disappearance of a young girl in 1960s Baltimore. Moses Ingram, Y'Lan Noel and Noah Jupe also star in the series. 

Here are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting during the week of July 15-21. For some, viewer discretion is advised.

July 17, The Ark (returning series), Syfy

July 17, Simone Biles Rising (sports documentary), Netflix

July 17, Unprisoned (returning series), Hulu

July 18, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! (animation), Max

July 18, My Spy: The Eternal City (movie), Prime Video

July 18, Those About to Die (drama), Peacock

July 21, Snowpiercer (returning series), AMC

Streaming penetration increased in the second quarter despite services pulling back on original content, according to a new report from MoffettNathanson media analyst Michael Nathanson.

In his All Things Streaming update, Nathanson said Netflix’s efforts to crack down on password-sharing appear to be paying off, and that he is raising his forecast for how many subscribers the platrform added for the quarter by 500,000 to 5.5 million, ahead of the streamer reporting its earnings on Thursday. The increase includes gains in North America.

The analyst also raised his estimate for Netflix’s second-quarter earnings to $22.35 a share from $22.25 a share and his target price for Netflix stock by $35 to $565 a share.

Using data from polling firm HarrisX, Nathanson said that during the quarter, streaming penetration edged up to 85% and usage increased as well for all of the key streaming services.

The biggest gainer in penetration was Comcast NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which rose to 21%. The smallest gainers were Apple TV Plus and Disney’s Hulu.

Daily usage of streaming services was also up for all of the services except Disney Plus and Warner Bros. Discovery's Discovery Plus.

The average number of streaming services per household rose to 4 from 3.8 and the average number of streaming services watched increased to 4.2 from 4.1.

“On the one hand, we expect in time this number to start ticking down as the streaming space rationalizes and consolidates, the increasing prevalence of bundles may keep users subscribed to a multitude of services well into the future,” Nathanson said. 

Nathanson said that Netflix widened its lead over the other streamers during the quarter with 40% of its subscribers using the service daily. Paramount Global's Paramount Plus and WBD's Max also showed substantial gains in daily usage.

The streaming gains came as they released less content.

Netflix released 92 original seasons, down from 97 a year ago, according to the report.

“Two years ago, Netflix released a flurry of originals each quarter to find the select few shows that would break out,“ Nathanson said. “Now the market has shifted to allow the company to drive an increasingly large share of its viewership with its competitors’ content. 

“This is reflected in acquired titles (and especially nonexclusive acquired titles) rapidly increasing share of the list of top streamed titles,“ he added. “Only two of 2Q24’s top 20 most streamed titles this quarter were an original.” 

Most of the other big streamers followed suit by releasing less content in the second quarter. Peacock was the exception, releasing the same number of new original seasons in Q2 as it did a year ago.

Looking at the increase in nonexclusive titles streaming on multiple services, Nathanson noted this is something Netflix has grown increasingly comfortable with.

“It has seen time and again that a top acquired title, even if available elsewhere, can still be a top performer,” he said.

“Whether success on Netflix trickles back to the licensee is to be seen; popularity on Netflix seems to elevate what were previously second-tier titles such as Suits and Warrior but likely has a more muted impact on already popular titles such as Young Sheldon,” he said. “Still, this arrangement will likely only continue to increase in popularity as companies seek out increased licensing revenues.”

In the HarrisX survey, the number of people citing cost as the reason for cutting the cord declined, while the share mentioning content as a motivation increased, particular for Hulu, which streamed Shōgun and The Bear in the quarter.

As the number of people who have streaming services increased in the quarter, so did the percentage of people with both pay TV and streaming, which rose to 35% from 32% in Q1.

Exploding Kittens, an animated series based on the card game, debuts on Netflix July 12, and has some heavy hitters among its producers. They include Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and Peter Chernin. 

Judge, Daniels and Dustin Davis are executive producing for Bandera Entertainment. Chernin and Jenno Topping are doing so for the Chernin Entertainment Group. 

The show sees God get fired and sent to Earth to reconnect with humanity. But he’s trapped in the body of a house cat. He moves in with a dysfunctional family and tries to solve their problems, but is distracted by the laser pointers he keeps chasing, and by the Antichrist cat living next door. 

The voice cast includes Tom Ellis, Sasheer Zamata, Suzy Nakamura, Mark Proksch and Ally Maki. 

“The result is the ultimate fight between good versus evil…except, Godcat (Ellis) is distracted by a pigeon he saw in the yard and Devilcat (Sasheer Zamata) is busy napping on someone’s laptop,” according to Netflix. 

The card game sees players try to avoid drawing an Exploding Kittens card, which are scattered in with other cards, including Attack, Defuse, Nope and Skip. 

Matthew Inman, who is behind the cartoon site The Oatmeal, created the franchise, with Elan Lee, and is creator, showrunner and executive producer, with Shane Kosakowski, on the series. Lee is an executive producer too. 

A review in the Los Angeles Times said: “Family and friendship are the themes, threaded through the mayhem, and because the central characters are underdogs — even the gods trapped in their furry feline bodies — we root for them, as disgust turns to affection, competition to cooperation, and lost love is found again. It’s corny as … hell, but it’s genuine corn. You might let your kids watch, depending, of course, on your kids.”

Judge’s credits include Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill. Daniels’ include The Office and King of the Hill. 

Chernin was chief operating officer at News Corp. before focusing full-time on production. He is co-founder and partner at The Chernin Group.  

Missouri, where the entire movement to charge streaming companies cable industry-like “franchise fees” started, has shut the door on the gambit with new legislation. 

Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday signed into a law a bill that would restrict Missouri municipalities from charging companies ranging from Netflix to DirecTV — anyone who streams video — the kind of right-of-way charges cable companies are typically dinged for by digging trenches and attaching wires to power lines. 

Missouri became the 14th state to make that restriction, following Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee. 

In order to establish their physical infrastructure, cable companies have to pay franchise fees to municipalities. And, in 2018, Creve Coeur, Missouri sued Netflix and Hulu, demanding the companies pay similar tribute. 

Also read: Netflix, Hulu, Disney Sued Again Over Cable Franchise Fees

However, as noted by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a conservative group founded by Grover Norquist: “Streamers use the internet to reach homes. This means they either use wireless, satellites, or existing cable connections to deliver content to homes and do not alter municipal infrastructure to reach customers.”

Last we checked, many of these same streamers use internet delivered via cable infrastructure. But DirecTV, which operators DirecTV Stream, lauded Missouri's decision. 

“This overwhelming and bipartisan vote by the Missouri legislature, and Governor Parson’s signing it into law, should put to rest any further notion that franchise fees apply to consumers who choose to stream their content," said Hamlin Wade, associate VP of external affairs at DirecTV, who worked on the legislation across each state, in a statement. 

As ATR noted, there are still plenty of local governments that are taxing video services via means other than franchise fees. 

Chicago, for example, imposed a 9% ding on streaming services, calling it an “amusement tax.” And of the 45 states with a general sales tax, 33 include video streaming services in their sales tax base, ATR said. 

These charges are passed on to consumers. In February, Netflix began charging users an additional 5.07% over their usual tier rate to offset state “communications taxes.” 

Comedian Joe Rogan will livestream his first Netflix standup special in six years live from San Antonio, Texas on August 3, at 10 p.m. ET.

The event, titled Burn the Boats, will be the latest livestream event for Netflix, which is increasingly carving out live windows for comedy specials, including the Roast of Tom Brady back in May, as well as last year's Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. 

Here's the Burn the Boats trailer:

Rogan, a former host of NBC's Fear Factor, already has two (prerecorded) Netflix comedy specials under his belt: 2016's Triggered and 2018's Strange Times. 

Most of Rogan's clout these days comes from his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, which will pay him a reported $250 million under a multiyear deal carved out with distributor Spotify back in February.

In many respects, it’s good not to be the king anymore.

Freed from the shackles of chief-executive life and now sitting on the board of directors, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings seemingly feels free to weigh in on controversial political matters. 

And the frequent donor to Democratic causes and candidates is messaging President Joe Biden to abandon his fraught re-election campaign. 

“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” Hastings said in an email to The New York Times. 

Hastings’ involvement in Democratic causes does extend back to his time as CEO of Netflix. 

He and his wife, Patty Quillin, have donated more than $20 million to Democratic party constituents over the last several years, including $1.5 million directly to Biden for his successful 2020 presidential campaign. 

Hastings’ message contributes to a growing chorus of Democratic backers and operatives who are asking the 81-year-old president and candidate to step aside, following his disastrous debate performance on June 27. 

Netflix has begun notifying legacy subscribers to its cheapest ad-free plan, now priced at $11.99 a month, that they need to switch their service tier or lose access to the streaming service.

“Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching,” reads Netflix’s message to one Reddit user (which was first spotted by The Verge). “Your Basic plan has been discontinued, but you can easily switch to a new one. Plans start at just $5.99 with upgraded features.”

Can't finish Netflix subscription from r/mildlyinfuriating

The news follows a January announcement in Netflix's first-quarter shareholders letter that the service would soon remove the Basic ad-free plan “starting with Canada and the UK in Q2," before "taking it from there.”

When asked for comment, Netflix directed Next TV back to that statement.

Netflix began phasing out its "Basic" plan last year, following the November 2022 launch of the $6.99 Basic with ads tier. It stopped marketing the Basic no-ads tiers to new subscribers, while upping the price for legacy customers from $9.99 a month to $11.00.

In February, Next TV reported that Netflix was no longer letting legacy users of ad-free Basic pay for the service via the Apple Store. 

Now, users need to either switch to the cheaper $6.99 tier, which also supports one user at a time and HD viewing, but requires the viewing of commercials. They can also upgrade to the $15.49-a-month "Standard" plan (which supports two simultaneous users) or the $22.99-a-month "Premium" tier, which allows four users at once and supports 4K. 

Netflix commissioned its highest number of new titles since the third quarter of 2021, while Amazon Prime Video set an all time record for its quarterly content production, according to a report from Ampere Analysis.

In fact, Netflix and Amazon commissioned more than half of all global SVOD original titles in the first financial quarter of 2024, the research company said. 

Ampere noted that the trend was spurred by investment in global content, with both Netflix and Amazon ordering the majority of their originals outside the U.S.

Also Read: Netflix Tops Among ‘Must-Keep’ TV Brands for Fifth-Straight Year

“The market saturation in North America, the growing cost of production, and the lingering impact of the Hollywood strikes have pushed Netflix and Amazon to increase investment in international productions to stimulate subscriber growth,” Mariana Enriquez Denton Bustinza, senior researcher at Ampere Analysis, said in a statement.

“While several studio-backed SVODs have made cutbacks internationally,” Bustinza added. “These two streaming giants are doubling down on their localized global strategy.”

In fact, Ampere predicts that Netflix and Amazon’s international content spending, which has already increased sizably over the past few years, will continue to rise as streamers look to combat slow domestic growth expanding internationally.

"For Netflix, this means catering to a broad subscriber base while leaning on markets whose productions offer the greatest potential for crossover appeal," Bustinza added. "Meanwhile, Amazon’s approach remains more heavily targeted towards key markets such as India, while it leverages its global position to expand further into the theatrical market to generate downstream revenues from its platforms.”

In fact, Ampere claims that Netflix’s Western European commissions already almost achieved parity with North American titles for the first time in Q1 2024.

Asia-Pacific titles also saw a significant increase in popularity, led by India, South Korea and Thailand.

Netflix, which announced in April that it would reduce the quantity of expensive big-budget films it releases, has reportedly upped its international movie orders to compensate in territories like the Nordics, Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa.

That makes sense, as a report in June by analytics firm Omdia indicated that, in some international regions like South Korea, Netflix content that's shot locally can attract nearly three times the viewership of English counterparts.

As for Amazon, the majority of its international commissions during the first quarter of 2024 came from India, with 37 total titles.

That’s more than the previous six quarters combined, and a 32% increase from Amazon’s Indian slate in Q2 2022.

Netflix was again the top choice of viewers responding to an annual Solutions Research Group survey of “must-keep” TV services that also saw a surge in consumer interest for free ad-supported streaming (FAST) channels.

The survey of 1,400 U.S. consumers age 12 and up conducted in May found Netflix was the top choice for consumers for the fifth straight year, with ABC, Prime Video, CBS and Fox all finishing in the top five. 

Hulu, NBC, Disney Plus, ESPN and Peacock rounded out the top 10 list, according to SRG. Climbing on the 2024 survey were FAST streaming brands Tubi (14) and Pluto TV (20) after debuting on last year’s list at No. 28 and No. 35, respectively. (To see the full top 20, please scroll to the bottom of this story). 

Other services showing positive momentum in the survey include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, National Geographic, Apple TV Plus, MTV and Ion, according to SRG.

Netflix also topped the list among African-American and Latinx viewers, said SRG. 

Among 18-to-34-year-old viewers, Netflix was tops for the eighth straight year, followed by Hulu, Prime Video, Disney Plus and ABC. Netflix was also No. 1 among men 18-49, according to SRG.

Netflix also extended its winning streak among women 25-54 to six years, as streamers secured seven of the top 10 “must-keep” brands in the demo, per SRG. 

SRG said the survey sample design is inclusive and balanced by geography, gender and ethnicity according to known-universe parameters for the U.S. population. 

Down to 6.26 million remaining linear satellite TV subscribers as of the end of March, Dish Network will bundle Netflix's $6.99 Standard with ads service free for existing customers who re-up for two years. 

“We’re committed to enhancing our customers’ viewing experience by offering them the best content in the most convenient way possible. Our new Dish and Netflix bundle is a testament to that commitment," said "Gary Schanman, executive VP and group president, Dish Video Services, in a statement. 

Netflix's reputation as a retention tool is somewhat unsurpassed right now. Recent consumer surveys, such as one conducted by Hub Entertainment Research, describe the streaming service as an essential component of everyday living for many folks, right up there with a mobile phone and home internet subscription. 

NBCUniversal just tapped into Netflix's bundling potential, offering Standard with ads, Peacock and Apple TV Plus in a $15-a-month package it calls StreamSaver.

For its part, Dish is touting "seamless" integration of Netflix into its UX. "Switching between live TV and Netflix is simple and uncomplicated," Echostar-owned Dish said in its press release Wednesday. 

Dish was one of the first pay TV operators to integrate Netflix into the UX of its set-tops, making the streaming service a standard part of Hopper device software starting back in 2014. 

The Netflix "Culture Memo" remains a defining aspect of co-founder and former CEO Reed Hastings legacy, a wonkish, new-agey contribution to American business that placed him on an echelon of thought leaders like former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch. 

Fifteen years after Hastings first published the document that defined Netflix as an elite employment destination where only the most talented, responsible and forthright individuals thrive, the streaming company has published a fourth iteration -- the first version with Hastings moved out of the C-suite onto the board is shorter, 2,262 words vs. over 3,800 for version 3.0, which was published in May 2022. 

You can read it here. 

"It’s been 12 months in the making, with every employee given the chance to weigh in (we call this 'farming for dissent'). In total, we received over 1,500 comments, many of which are reflected in this update," blogged Sergio Ezama, chief talent officer for Netflix. 

Besides being shorter, what's different:

The document still defines Netflix as a place where talented overachievers ("The Dream Team," as it's now referred to) come to work in an environment that's super-direct in its feedback and doesn't foster a ton of job security. 

"We model ourselves on a professional sports team, not a family," the new iteration states. "Families are about unconditional love. They can also be dysfunctional, as anyone who’s watched Ozark or Wednesday knows. Professional sports teams, on the other hand, focus on performance and picking the right person for every position, even when that means swapping out someone they love for a better player."

And there's the incumbent message about good never being good enough: "We often say Netflix sucks today compared to where we can be tomorrow. We need the self-awareness to understand what should be better, and the discipline and resilience to get there."

But there are some key changes. New York Times reporter Nicole Sperling picked up on the fact that the section formally subheaded "Freedom and Responsibility" has changed to "People Over Process." 

Netflix still values super-responsible people who can dictate on their own when they take a vacation or a parent leave. And it still wants a flat workplace where everyone is empowered to make key decisions. But there's now at least an acknowledgement that "processes" (good ones, at least) must be outlined. 

"As the company grew, the concept of freedom and responsibility, which many reduced to 'FNR,' became weaponized by some employees as justification for doing whatever they desired," Sperling noted. "One year an assistant expensed $30,000, according to a company official, because there was no rule saying that it wasn’t allowed."

Hastings gave his thoughts on the update in a video interview provided to Sperling: “We care about freedom when it generates excellence, not for its own sake. In hindsight, this is the draft I wish we had 15 years ago.”

Greg Peters, who occupies half the "co-CEOs" tandem, along with Ted Sarandos, that replaced Hastings, also shared his viewpoint on the Culture Memo to The Verge: "If you really think about what we’re trying to do with the culture memo and why it’s changed so much, we’re trying to constantly do a better job at articulating the practices we can employ as a company to grow and get better — to learn, to seek excellence, and to constantly strive for that. That’s the rationale. And then, why does it get shorter? Probably because we get better at articulating it. What’s the Mark Twain quote? If I had more time, I would’ve written you a shorter letter. It’s an investment in that. And one, understanding the things that matter. So it’s about seeking signal from noise and trying to constantly refine that articulation to have the maximum value for the time that somebody spends on it."

After agreeing to pay the NFL a reported $150 million last month for the domestic TV rights to two Christmas Day regular-season games, Netflix now faces a tedious task: Lining of production and talent to actually stream the games. 

Netflix has reportedly reached out to media companies that already have established NFL broadcast infrastructure: Paramount Global’s CBS Sports, Disney’s ESPN and NBCUniversal.

Citing unnamed sources, CNBC said Netflix’s discussions with these companies hasn't gone into much depth yet, but Netflix’s options may be “somewhat limited.” 

For one, all of these prospective contractors are very busy with their own football production obligations. ESPN, for example, doesn't just have Monday Night Football, it also has a rather vast college football rights portfolio. 

Notably, Amazon was able to partner up with NBCU prior to its first season of Thursday Night Football in 2022. 

Amazon produces all of its pregame, halftime and postgame coverage under lead producer Mark Teitelman. But NBC Sports also oversees “extensive production work” and employs most of the crew.

For its part, Netflix faces a media business that’s a bit more wary of aiding a long-term competitor, CNBC’s insiders say. 

“There aren't that many players in the space who are capable of doing this at a level that you would want to trust when you’re launching as a new partner with a league as important as the NBA or the NFL,” said Shirin Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at law firm Perkins Coie, to CNBC.

There are third-party options, however, such as Endeavor Group Holdings’ IMG, which produces Apple’s Major League Soccer coverage. 

Producer Shawn Ryan has signed a four-year overall deal valued in the “eight figures” to transition his talents from longtime home Sony Pictures Television to Netflix, according to the Penske showbiz trades. 

Notably, Ryan is the creator/EP of The Night Agent, a Sony-produced series that was Netflix’s most-watched show last year. Season 2 of The Night Agent will drop later this year, with a third season about to enter development. 

In 2017, Netflix made a splash by tying up producer Shonda Rhimes to a multiyear deal valued at between $100 million and $150 million. A year later, the streaming giant struck a five-year overall pact with Ryan Murphy valued at a reported $300 million. 

These deals have been accretive for Netflix, with Rhimes creating Netflix hits Bridgerton and Inventing Anna, and Murphy overseeing Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. All three titles are among the most watched in Netflix history. 

But in streaming’s new age of austerity, these kinds of huge multiyear payouts are harder to get. 

With Murphy in the house, however, Netflix can more closely control the franchise expansion of The Night Agent.

Movie Hit Man, with Glen Powell as a professor who moonlights as a fake hit man in New Orleans, premieres on Netflix June 7. Richard Linklater directs. 

The film had a limited theatrical release May 24. 

The cast also includes Adria Arjona, Retta and Austin Amelio. 

Netflix says of the movie, “Preternaturally gifted at inhabiting different guises and personalities to catch hapless people hoping to bump off their enemies, Gary descends into morally dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to one of those potential criminals, a beautiful young woman named Madison (Adria Arjona). As Madison falls for one of Gary’s hit man personas — the mysteriously sexy Ron — their steamy affair sets off a chain reaction of play acting, deception, and escalating stakes.”

Linklater and Powell wrote the project, which was inspired by a 2001 article in Texas Monthly by Skip Hollandsworth. 

Hit Man has an R rating. Reviews have been positive. NPR said, “As a fake 'Hit Man,' Glen Powell shows off his real star power.”

The New York Times called the film “one of the year’s funniest, sexiest, most enjoyable movies.”

CNN said Hit Man “shoots and scores (mostly)...”

Linklater’s films include Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and School of Rock. 

Netflix has greenlighted a 12-episode final season of its long-running comedy series The Upshaws.

The series, which stars Mike Epps, Kim Fields and Wanda Sykes, has been picked up for what the streaming service calls its Part 7 and last installment. Part 5 of the series launched in April and Part 6 is slated to debut in early 2025, said Netflix. The Upshaws debuted on the streaming service in 2021.

The series follows the exploits of a working-class Black family in Indianapolis. In Part 6, the series continues to follow the family as it “rides life’s ups and downs, including new jobs, bigger dreams, health struggles and some major life surprises,” Netflix said.

The series also stars Khali Spraggins, Journey Christine, Jermelle Simon, Diamond Lyons and Gabrielle Dennis. The Upshaws are executive produced by Sykes, Epps, Regina Hicks, Page Hurwitz, Niles Kirchner, Annie Levine, Jon Emerson and Mark Alton Brown.   

The postponed July Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match will now take place in November. 

The Netflix-streamed fight will now take place on November 15, nearly four months after the original July 20 date was postponed due to Tyson suffering an ucler flareup, according to boxing promotion company Most Valuable Promotions.

“Our team has worked diligently with all parties involved to reschedule this monumental fight to a date that ensures both Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are fully prepared, with equal training time, as well as allowing us to keep the event at AT&T Stadium in the midst of the Cowboys season,” Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said in a statement. 

The November 15 event will also feature the rematch between women's super lightweight champion Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.

The 57-year-old Tyson had an ulcer flare-up on May 26 during a flight to Los Angeles. The sanctioned fight against the 27-year-old Paul will be Tyson’s first since 2005.

Tyson said in a statement: “Although we had to postpone the fight, I will resume training shortly. I am thankful to the medical staff that treated me and to MVP, Netflix, and AT&T Stadium for working diligently to find the best reschedule date for all parties.”

Netflix had the top show in TVision’s Power Score ranking of programs on connected TV for the week of May 27 with its documentary series Dancing for the Devil: the 7M TikTok Cult.

Hulu’s Under the Bridge was the No. 2 show, followed by Season 3 of Bridgerton on Netflix, the previous week’s top show.

Rounding out the top 5 shows were Evil (Season 4) on Paramount Plus and Tires on Netflix.

Netflix had five shows in the Top 20 for the week. Apple TV Plus had four.

Netflix also had the top movie in May with Jerry Seinfeld’s Pop-Tart opus Unfrosted.

Other top movies and specials on CTV included The Idea of You on Amazon Prime Video and three more Netflix entries: The Roast of Tom Brady, Mother of the Bride and Atlas.

Netflix had 11 movies in the Top 20 for May.

The Power Score ranking is designed to compare streaming shows on an apples-to-apples basis. In calculating its Power Score, TVision, which measures activity across over 1,000 apps, looks at the amount of time viewers pay attention to the program, the amount of program time available for the season, the program’s reach, as well as the application’s reach.

TVision said it chose that combination of metrics to enable a neutral look at the quality of programming and its unique, inherent ability to draw in viewers — regardless of the scale of the platform or the program’s release schedule.

Netflix has sent emails to customers using older Apple TV devices that app support for second- and third-generation Apple TV models, those introduced between 2010 - 2013, will end on July 31. 

Netflix is also noting this sunsetting on its Apple TV support page. 

Of course, computational devices become obsolete all the time due to the natural evolution of the software that runs on them. Apple itself even stops supporting its gadgets with operating system upgrades after seven years. 

This particular obsolescence is notable, however, because these Apple TV devices were so groundbreaking.

Introduced in September 2010, the second generation, 720p-resolution-capable Apple TV was one of the first streaming devices to use 8 gigabytes of flash storage instead of an internal hard drive -- a configuration that became universal among streaming gadgets. It also used Apple's A4 chip instead of an Intel x86 processor. 

In conjunction with the Gen-2 release, Apple also renamed AirTunes as "AirPlay," supporting streaming video from iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. 

The 1080p-capable third-generation Apple TV, which arrived in March 2012, was identical in outward appearance to the second-generation model, but included an upgraded A5 processor, as well as support for remote access via HomeKit devices. 

Both were priced at a $150 MSRP at introduction. And both will soon be bricked by the world's biggest subscription streaming service. 

Netflix’s highly anticipated Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match on June 20 in Arlington, Texas, has been postponed less than a week after Tyson suffered a medical incident on an airplane.

The fight was postponed after Tyson suffered an ulcer flare-up on May 26 during a flight to Los Angeles and will be rescheduled for a date to be announced by June 7, according to the event’s promoter, Most Valuable Promotions. The sanctioned fight would have been the 57-year-old Tyson’s first since 2005. 

“The upcoming highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will unfortunately be postponed,” MVP said in a statement. “During a follow-up consultation on Thursday with medical professionals on his recent ulcer flare-up, the recommendation is for Mike Tyson to do minimal to light training over the next few weeks and then return to full training with no limitations."

The fighters were expected to box eight 2-minute rounds — in traditional pro fights, rounds are usually 3 minutes — and the boxers’ gloves would have weighed 14 ounces instead of the standard 10 ounces.

The fight would have been Netflix’s first foray into boxing and the latest in a number of live sports events distributed by the streaming service. Last November, Netflix distributed the Netflix Cup golf tournament pitting Formula 1 drivers against professional golfers, as well as the March 3 Netflix Slam tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. 

Netflix last month also struck a three-year deal to stream a pair of National Football League games on Christmas Day. 

Below is the full press release from Most Valuable Promotions: 

The upcoming highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will unfortunately be postponed. During a follow-up consultation on Thursday with medical professionals on his recent ulcer flare-up, the recommendation is for Mike Tyson to do minimal to light training over the next few weeks and then return to full training with no limitations.

Both Mike and Jake are in agreement that it is only fair to ensure that both athletes have equal training time to prepare for this important match and are able to compete at the highest level. The health and well-being of athletes is our top priority, and we fully support Mike in taking the necessary time to allow him to perform at the level he expects of himself.

Mike is expected to return to his full training schedule in the coming weeks and is eager to get back in the ring. MVP anticipates rescheduling the match to later this year at AT&T Stadium, and we look forward to an exciting and well-prepared contest between these two exceptional athletes. The new date of the fight will be announced by next Friday, June 7th. 

“I want to thank my fans around the world for their support and understanding during this time. Unfortunately, due to my ulcer flareup, I have been advised by my doctor to lighten my training for a few weeks to rest and recover,” said Mike Tyson. “My body is in better overall shape than it has been since the 1990s and I will be back to my full training schedule soon. Jake Paul, this may have bought you some time, but in the end you will still be knocked out and out of boxing for good. I appreciate everyone’s patience and can't wait to deliver an unforgettable performance later this year.”

“I fully support postponing the event so Mike Tyson has no excuses come fight night,” said Jake Paul. “My fans know I don’t want to face Iron Mike at anything but his best, but let there be no mistake — when he steps into the ring with me, I will be ready to claim my W with a sensational finish. Paul vs Tyson will be one for the ages, and I promise to bring my best for this once-in-a-lifetime matchup.”

Netflix’s Bridgerton (season three) repeated as the top show in TVision’s Power Score ranking of programs on connected TV for the week of May 20.

Bridgerton was one of six Netflix shows in the Top 20, including Season 1 of Bridgerton. TVision notes that earlier seasons of a show often appear in the rankings when a new season drops.

Rounding out the Top 5 were Evil (season four) on Paramount Plus, Fallout on Amazon Prime Video, Tires on Netflix, and Under the Bridge on Hulu.

Three seasons of Evil on Paramount Plus made this week’s Top 20 list.

The Power Score ranking is designed to compare streaming shows on an apples-to-apples basis. In calculating its Power Score, TVision, which measures activity across over 1,000 apps, looks at the amount of time viewers pay attention to the program, the amount of program time available for the season, the program’s reach, as well as the application’s reach.

TVision said it chose that combination of metrics to enable a neutral look at the quality of programming and its unique, inherent ability to draw in viewers — regardless of the scale of the platform or the program’s release schedule.

Film Atlas, with Jennifer Lopez as a data analyst on a mission to capture a renegade robot, premieres on Netflix May 24. Brad Peyton directs. 

Lopez is Atlas Shepherd, “a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence,” according to Netflix, who joins a mission to capture a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past. Her plans go awry, and her only hope of saving the future of humanity from AI is to trust it.

Lopez is a producer as well, as are Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schecter. Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite wrote the screenplay. 

Simu Liu and Sterling K. Brown are also in the cast. 

Lopez told Netflix’s Tudum: “I loved that this is a big sci-fi action movie, but at its core, it’s a story of friendship — and a love story, in a way. I always see everything as a love story, but this is a different kind of love between two beings who connect in disastrous circumstances, and teach each other how to be more human.”

Reviews are not so hot. One in The Guardian said, “Jennifer Lopez learns to love AI in silly Netflix mockbuster.”

USA Today wrote, “Jenny from the Block is in her Iron Man era with Atlas, a sci-fi action thriller directed by Brad Peyton that pairs two hot commodities: a pop-culture superstar and artificial intelligence.”

After making a big splash back in December with its first ever "Engagement Report," which ranked the audience performance of more than 18,000 titles on its platform from January - June of 2023, Netflix quietly published a similar report Thursday covering July - December of last year. 

This time, total run time of a show and its "views" (total engagement hours divided by run time) are added to the rankings, with a movie or TV show's ranking determined by the latter. It's very similar to how Netflix structures its weekly Global Top 10 lists. 

Netflix also separated TV shows from films in his second kitchen sink audience ranker. 

On the series side, the ratings champion this time around was Manga adaptation One Piece, which debuted back in September on Netflix and quickly generated enough audience to gain a season 2 renewal. 

There are a couple of interesting points about the rankings. 

International programming weighed in heavily, with German limited series drama Dear Child ranking second on the list, and Korean (9% of viewing), Spanish (7%) and Japanese (5%) capturing over 20% collectively of audience share. 

Perhaps most notable is Netflix's insistence on ranking its series content by season. While this is useful for gauging the audience enthusiasm for the latest campaigns, it misses when it comes to showcasing the popularity of the larger body of work. 

Case in point is off-USA legal drama Suits, which was the TV buzz story, at least domestically, last summer. 

Season 1 of Suits ranked only as the 20th most popular show on Netflix during the back half of 2023, with 247.7 million viewing hours and 26.9 million views. Add in Season 2's 249.4 million viewing hours and 21.7 million views, and Suits emerges as a more formidable audience draw on Netflix. 

In movies, meanwhile, dystopian novel adaptation Leave the World Behind starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawk ranks as the fifth most popular Netflix English-language movie of all time after 91 days on the platform, with more than 339,000 hours of viewing time. 

But since Leave the World Behind dropped on Dec. 8, only a fraction of that viewing is reflected in Netflix's half-year report. The film still registered enough audience in its first three weeks on the platform to rank No. 1.

Again, you can download the full report here. 

History’s documentary series The Great War highlights a light schedule of original shows set to debut during the Memorial Day holiday week.

The two-part The Great War premieres May 27 and chronicles the U.S. involvement in World War I in 1918, according to History Channel. The four-hour series, executive produced by Robin Roberts, concludes on May 28.

Here are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting during the week of May 20-27. For some videos, viewer discretion is advised.

May 20, Stax: Soulville U.S.A., (documentary), HBO

May 21, Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza (documentary), Paramount Plus

May 22, Trying (returning series), Apple Tv Plus

May 23, The Blue Angels (documentary), Prime Video

May 23, Evil (returning series), Paramount Plus

May 23, Tires (comedy), Netflix

May 24, Atlas (movie), Netflix

May 24, The Beach Boys (documentary), Disney Plus

May 25, Gaga Chromatica Ball (documentary), Max

May 27, Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter (documentary), ID

Netflix on Wednesday said it has ordered the undisclosed number of episodes it will take to complete the limited series adaptation of Chinese sci-fi novelist Cixin Liu's Nebula Award-winning 3 Body Problem. 

“We’re thrilled that we get to tell this story through to its epic conclusion,” showrunners David Benioff, Dan Weiss and Alexander Woo said in a statement. “Ever since we read the last page of Cixin Liu’s magnificent trilogy, we hoped we’d be able to bring the audience to the end of the universe with us. Here we go!”

Also read: Week 2 Audience No Issue for ‘3 Body Problem’ — Netflix Weekly Rankings for March 25-31

The announcement included news that Benioff and Weiss, who made their initial bones writing for HBO's megahit Game of Thrones, have re-upped their lucrative overall Netflix deal. 

Dropping on March 21, and featuring a cast of little-known mainly British actors, the eight-part UK-set 3 Body Problem production has been one of Netflix's biggest buzz generators so far this year. 

The story revolves around a group of young physicist, dealing with the threat of imminent alien invasion. 

The 3 Body Problem news came amid a Wednesday flurry of Netflix announcements, with the streaming giant now participating full on in Madison Avenue's "Upfront" presentation ritual. 

Netflix said Wednesday that it currently has around 40 million unique users worldwide on its ad-supported plans. 

Netflix shared some programming projects at an upfront presentation in New York. Those include the basketball-themed comedy series Running Point, a Mindy Kaling-produced show with Kate Hudson as the new head of a famed basketball franchise in Los Angeles; and the Kevin Williamson family drama The Waterfront. As the title suggests, that one is set in a small coastal town “with twists and turns inspired by true events,” Netflix said, as a family struggles to hold it together. 

Williamson’s credits include the Scream film franchise, Dawson’s Creek and The Vampire Diaries. 

Tim McGraw is involved in what Netflix calls “a contemporary cowboy saga,” while a docuseries will detail the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s. 

Sticking with the sports theme, Will Ferrell will star in the series Golf, where he plays a fictional golf legend. Executive producers include Ferrell, Ramy Youseff and Rian Johnson. 

Netflix is also doing three series with the International Olympic Committee: Simone Biles: Rising, a show about men’s basketball teams from around the world, and Sprint, about 100-meter sprinters. 

Films include Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2, the Keira Knightley film The Woman in Cabin 10 and another from Kathryn Bigelow. 

Happy Gilmore came out in 1996. 

Netflix also inked a deal with the NFL for a package including Christmas Day games in 2025 and 2026. 

Netflix, a newcomer to the advertising business, said it plans to launch an in-house advertising technology platform.

During this week’s upfront presentations, media and technology companies have boasted about their advanced advertising capabilities. After initially relying on Microsoft as its ad tech platform, Netflix says the platform it will build will give advertisers new ways to buy, new insights and new ways to measure the impact of campaigns.

 Also Read: Continuing Coverage of the 2024 Upfronts

“Bringing our ad tech in-house will allow us to power the ads plan with the same level of excellence that’s made Netflix the leader in streaming technology today,” said Amy Reinhard, who was named president of advertising at Netflix in October.

Microsoft will continue as one of the platforms handling programmatic advertising for Netflix, but the streaming giant will also be making its ads available for programmatic buyers via The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360 and Magnite.

Netflix said it is also working with other companies to measure and verify the impact of campaigns, including Affinity Solutions, DoubleVerify, EDO, Integral Ad Science, iSpot.TV, Kantar, Lucid, NCSolutions, Nielsen and TVision.

"We’re being incredibly strategic about how we present ads because we want our members to have a phenomenal experience. We conduct deep consumer research to make sure we stay ahead of the competition, bringing opportunities that are better for members and better for brands,” said Reinhard.

Reinhard said Netflix’s ad-supported plan now has 40 million global monthly active users, up from 5 million a year ago.  Over 40% of all signups in the ads countries now come from the ads plan.

“Our audiences are highly engaged — and by engaged I mean that they are choosing to spend their time watching Netflix,” added Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer.

“That’s important because engagement is the key to success in streaming. When people watch our shows and movies, they get more value from Netflix, they stick around longer, and they’re more likely to recommend us to their friends,“ Bajaria told ad buyers. ”And this matters to all of you because you want to be where the audiences are, too.“

Citing data from Nielsen, Netflix said that over 70% of Netflix’s ad-supported members watch for more than 10 hours a month, which is 15 percentage points higher than the nearest competitor. 

Netflix members also pay even more attention three hours into watching than they do when they first start. And because they do, they’re around twice as likely to respond to an ad compared to other streaming services and linear TV, Netflix said.

Netflix also announced tons of new series. Comedies include Golf, starring Will Ferrell and executive produced by Ramy Youseff and Rian Johnson; and Running Point starring Kate Hudson and executive produced by Mindy Kaling.

Dramas include The Waterfront from Kevin Williamson and a modern cowboy saga starring Tim McGraw.

Bajaria also announced that 3 Body Problem will be back for another season.

After landing NFL games on Christmas Day, Netflix continued to push into sports with a documentary on the 1990s Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones, and three series working with the International Olympic Committee. One is about Simone Biles, a second is about men’s basketball teams from around the world and the last follows 100-meter sprinters.

Netflix is also making Happy Gilmore 2 with Adam Sandler.

“There’s a lot to be excited about over the next year. But the story of ads on Netflix this year is pretty simple: It’s about growth and momentum,” said Peter Naylor, VP of advertising sales at Netflix.

While it may be turning down the volume a bit on expensive action movies, Netflix is maintaining the star wattage when it comes to new TV series. 

On Wednesday, the streaming giant announced that Will Ferrell will co-create and star in a new comedy about a fictional golf legend, titled Golf. 

Netflix said it has placed a 10-episode order for the show, which doesn't yet have a drop date.

Also read: Netflix Signs NFL Deal, Two Live Christmas Day Games Coming to Streaming Service

Ramy Youssef and Josh Rabinowitz will serve as co-creators, executive producers and showrunners of Ferrell's first TV comedy, with Youssef also appearing in front of the camera. 

Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Alix Taylor are executive producers for Gloria Sanchez Productions.

Netflix’s announcement Wednesday didn’t include a logline for the show, but IMDB describes the project’s story as revolving around “a professional golfer as he becomes the face of a new controversial league.”

Ferrell has long been established as one of the more reliable box office draws in cinematic comedy. But outside of the show that brought him to fame, Saturday Night Live, he has largely eschewed TV comedy. 

Netflix has officially announced a three-year deal with the National Football League that will put live games on the streaming service for the first time, starting with two Christmas Day showdowns. 

Netflix has also secured “at least one holiday game’ in 2025 and 2026, according to the official announcement. 

This Christmas, Netflix will show the defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as the Baltimore Ravens playing the Houston Texans in another AFC matchup. 

The parties didn't, of course, reveal any specific on what kind of rights fees Netflix is paying. According to the The Wall Street Journal, Netflix is paying $75 million per game for the TV rights. Bloomberg, meanwhile, described the rights fee as under $150 million per contest. 

"I would characterize each game as roughly the size of one of our medium-sized original films,” said Spencer Wang, executive VP of finance, investor relations and corporate development, during a Wednesday morning interview at MoffettNathanson’s annual media conference.

It's also not clear as to how these games will be produced for live-streamed television and what on-air talent will call them. 

The agreement gives the NFL partnerships with the three biggest streaming companies, with the league already licensing its NFL Sunday Ticket property to Google/YouTube, as well as Thursday Night Football to Amazon. 

Also read: NFL Christmas Day Games on Netflix? It Looks Like It’s Happening

For its part, Netflix has already created several documentary-style programming franchises around the NFL: series Quarterback and Receiver. Last week, it drew its biggest ratings with the comedy roast of NFL future hall of fame quarterback Tom Brady. 

“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live — tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” said Bela Bajaria, Netflix chief content officer, in a statement. “There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts. We're so excited that the NFL's Christmas Day games will be only on Netflix.”

Added Hans Schroeder, NFL executive VP of media distribution: “The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans.”

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts on Tuesday said his conglomerate will soon bundle its own streaming service, Peacock, along with Apple TV Plus and Netflix for Comcast Cable video and broadband customers at a "vastly reduced price."

Speaking at a conference conducted by equity research firm MoffettNathanson, Roberts didn't reveal what that price will be, or much in the way of any other details, although he did say the bundle will be called "Stream Saver." (Here's a Seeking Alpha transcript of Roberts' appearance.)

The announcement was immediately noted as a follow-up to last week's declaration by Disney and Warner Bros Discovery that Disney Plus, Hulu and Max will soon be available in a discounted bundle, as well. 

“Following the Hulu-Disney-Max announcement last week, it’s not surprising that Comcast is following up with its own bundling plans that can help both Peacock and Xfinity broadband, offering great value to its customers," said Jason Cohen, co-founder and CEO of MyBundle, which works with broadband suppliers to bundle streaming video services for their customers. 

"Broadband providers are in the strongest position to facilitate the re-bundling of streaming, but expect plenty more streaming-streaming and broadband-streaming bundles to come," Cohen added. 

Of course, Stream Saver's quality and popularity will rests in the key details. But here's why we think Comcast's announcement surpasses Disney's -- it's in the churn. 

Netflix, which now has more than 80 million customers in the U.S. and Canada, has maintained an annual churn rate of less than 2% over the last five years, while the weighted industry average is at 5.5%, according to figures published in February by research company Antenna. 

Antenna also measured how many subscribers stick with SVOD services over four years. With Netflix factored in, 29% of premium streaming service subscriptions are in their fourth year, on average, the research company said in its February State of Subscriptions report. Not factoring in Netflix, that number drops to 16%.

That resistance to customer quitting will undoubtedly help the $9.99-a-month Apple TV Plus, which has never published a subscriber count and has maintained one of the subscription video streaming business' highest churn rates, according to outside observers like Antenna. 

The same holds true for Peacock, which ended the first quarter with 31 million customers while also maintaining an above-average churn rate. 

Certainly, with Comcast losing 481,000 linear pay TV customers in the first quarter, hooking the monthly Xfinity TV bill to an SVOD service many American TV homes deem essential might ply some added resistance to cord-cutting, as well. 

Nielsen released a new ranking of companies in the media distribution business, including broadcast, cable and streaming, and The Walt Disney Co. was at the top of that list.

At a time when it appears that streaming is taking over the television business, the new ranking has YouTube as No. 2 followed by traditional media companies NBCUniversal, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Netflix, the streaming powerhouse with no traditional media assets, was fifth.

The news comes on the morning of Disney’s upfront presentation. Disney's media assets include broadcast network ABC, cable programmer ESPN and streaming platforms Disney Plus and Hulu.

The rankings reflect share of television usage in April.

“With more programs available across platforms, it’s vital for creators, advertisers and the industry at large to understand what and where audiences are watching,” Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said. “The Media Distributor Gauge is a perfect complement to The Gauge and serves as the first convergent TV comparison of its kind. Together, these reports paint the most complete picture of TV viewing today, which is critical as we head into the upfront.”

Nielsen also released its regular monthly snapshot of television usage, which showed streaming had a 38.4% share of viewing in April, followed by cable at 29.1% and broadcast with 22.2%.

The TVB, which represents local TV stations, groused that the new distributor report does not take into account how much of each company's viewing is commercial free.

"The Gauge reports combine all video platforms in one analysis – without separating ad-supported viewing from non-ad supported viewing – which misleads marketers into thinking their commercials can reach significantly more streaming viewers than is possible or the reality,” said TVB CEO Steve Lanzano.

“Advertisers’ commercials are only available on ad-supported video platforms. When viewing of ad-supported platforms is analyzed alone, the results are very different from what is shown in the Gauge reports because a large number of streaming viewers do not receive ads. Advertisers need these facts when considering video media investments," Lanzano said.

Netflix has hired longtime Sony movie studio executive turned producer Doug Belgrad as VP of film, reporting to recently appointed film chief Dan Lin. 

Belgrad worked for Sony and its Columbia Pictures unit for 25 years, rising to the level of co-chairman, before embarking on a producer career on the Sony lot in 2016. 

At Sony, he oversaw profitable blockbuster franchises including Spider-Man, Bad Boys and Men in Black, as well as acclaimed prestige dramas including The Social Network, Zero Dark Thirty and Captain Phillips. He also oversaw more than 20 Adam Sandler films at the studio, beginning with Big Daddy, Fifty First Dates, Just Go With It and continuing through Grown Ups 2.

Belgrad's production shingle, 2.0 Entertainment, has backed films including Will Smith and Martin Lawrence franchise title Bad Boys for Life.

He'll join Lin, who took over the Netflix film chief role from Scott Stuber back in January. Lin has embarked on a new film strategy of producing fewer movie titles and appealing to a broader spectrum of viewer tastes. 

"We will be leaning on Doug’s great creative instincts, his eye for talent, and his deep relationships across the filmmaking and talent community," Lin said in a statement.

“From the first time we met about this role, I felt we shared a vision about the future of film at Netflix,” Belgrad added. “As an executive and producer, I’ve been fortunate to work with many of the world’s most talented filmmakers and performers. There is no better place to continue that work than Netflix, whose global reach and resources are unmatched."

Puck News' serial sports-media scoop getter John Ourand reported that a "bevy of sources" has confirmed that Netflix is close to a deal with the NFL to stream multiple Christmas Day games on its platform. 

The story was first reported Wednesday by former NFL quarterback turned CBS Sports Network radio broadcaster Boomer Esiason, who suggested the reason the NFL pushed back its 2024 schedule announcement to May 15 was to accommodate the Netflix news. 

"Do not be surprised if the NFL and Netflix get in bed," Esiason said, "for nice little Christmas Day football games. I would not be surprised."

Neither the league or the streaming giant have confirmed this report. And it's unclear as to whether Netflix is negotiating for an exclusive window.. 

Notably, Netflix, which has nearly 270 million subscribers globally was able to generate around 6.2 million hours of viewing and 2 million account views on its global platform Sunday for the premiere of the The Roast of Tom Brady, which featured more than few retired NFL legends. 

The NFL, meanwhile, charged NBCUniversal $110 million to break off one post-season Wild Card game for a Peacock streaming exclusive back in January. 

The NFL is currently spreading its TV rights up between Fox, Paramount Global, NBCU, Amazon and Google.

It's not clear as to how Netflix would ramp up the infrastructure for a couple of one-off game presentations ... presuming that such a deal would be "one-off."