Steve Pond's Blog, page 159
May 8, 2025
Where to Watch the 60th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards
Reba McEntire makes her return to host the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards.
The awards show has partnered with Prime Video to make the stream free for a global audience across 240+ countries, airing from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
The 16-time ACM Award winner is back to host the awards show for the 18th time. She first hosted the show in 1986 and most recently led the awards broadcast in 2024.
Ella Langley led this year’s nominations with eight, followed by Cody Johnson, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson with seven, Chris Stapleton with six and Riley Green and Post Malone with five each. See the full list of nominees here.
To celebrate six decades of country music, several icons of the genre and newcomers will perform on the broadcast, including Blake Shelton, Shaboozey, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert and Jelly Roll, to name a few.
Keep reading for a full breakdown of how to watch the ACM Awards:
What time are the Academy of Country Music Awards?The show will air Thursday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
Where can I watch? Is it streaming?The ACM Awards will be available to stream live on Prime Video and the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch. A Prime membership will not be required to watch live.
The full rebroadcast will be available following the stream on Prime Video starting Friday, May 9, beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
Who is hosting the award show?Reba McEntire will return to host the awards show for 18th time, the most of any artist. She also holds the most nominations for Female Artist of the Year and 16 ACM Award wins.
Who are the presenters?This year’s group of presenters includes:
Blake SheltonCarly PearceClint BlackCrystal GayleERNESTGabby BarrettGretchen WilsonJordan DavisLee Ann WomackLionel RichieLittle Big TownMartina McBrideParker McCollumRiley GreenRita WilsonSara EvansSugarlandThe Oak Ridge Boys Wynonna JuddWho will be performing?To celebrate six decades of country music, several icons of the genre and newcomers will perform on the broadcast:
Alan Jackson Backstreet BoysBlake SheltonBrooks & DunnChris StapletonClint BlackCody JohnsonDan + ShayElla LangleyEric ChurchJelly RollKelsea BalleriniKeith UrbanLainey WilsonLeAnn RimesMegan MoroneyMiranda LambertBrothers OsborneRascal FlattsReba McEntireShaboozeySugarlandWynonna JuddZach TopThe post Where to Watch the 60th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards appeared first on TheWrap.
Paramount Ad Chief on Trump’s Tariffs Hitting Upfronts: ‘Everything Continues to Be Redefined and Fluctuating’
President Donald Trump’s continuously changing tariff policies have introduced “a tenor of uncertainty” going into this month’s upfronts presentations, Paramount advertising president John Halley told TheWrap, complicating an already high-stakes process involving billions of dollars in ad commitments.
Multiple ad buyers have previously said they were taking a “wait and see” approach to the 2025-26 season, emphasizing how the economic instability caused by Trump’s actions could potentially add to the pressure faced by the declining linear TV business, which has already watched ad dollars shifting towards streaming services and tech giants like Amazon and YouTube.
Those forces were at work before Trump created chaos among Hollywood giants this week, specifically with talk of imposing tariffs on films produced internationally while providing no insight into the mechanics of that or the TV side of the business.
When asked about what the media giant is experiencing, Halley said advertisers’ plans remain “all over the place” and are ultimately dependent on what each brand, agency and category is looking for.
“Everyone involved in this landscape that is defined by tariff fluctuations, inflation, regulatory uncertainty and shifting go to market are all grappling with that in a time period where we’re talking about longer-term commitments. Everything continues to be redefined and fluctuating,” he explained. “It’s not happening in unity, it’s a bunch of individual assessments going on that are impacting individual advertisers within the individual marketplaces.”
In addition to tariffs, Paramount is facing regulatory uncertainty as its pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media awaits approval from the FCC due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses. The deal, which was initially expected to close on April 7, recently triggered its first 90-day extension.
“I think there’s curiosity about it, obviously, but it doesn’t impact our discussions in the short term,” Halley said. “Advertisers want to invest in media assets to drive their businesses, and who owns the company is not relevant to that.”
Advertisers prioritizing streaming, live events and sportsUnlike its competitors, Paramount opted to scrap its traditional upfront presentation in favor of smaller, more intimate gatherings with its advertising clients and their ad agency partners — a move that’s been beneficial for the company in the current environment.
“This is a very good year to be having two-way conversations and be doing our upfront presentations in rooms where there’s a lot of air and it’s not linear and bombastic. There’s a lot of conversation back and forth,” Halley said. “We’ve been able to focus and listen in a very constructive way to what our clients and agency partners are telling us.”
Paramount is doing a total of nine events with advertisers this upfront season, including Chicago and Los Angeles, with the remaining seven in New York.
Halley said the events were unlike upfronts week, “where people have to worry about getting in and saving seats and that highly impersonal cattle call,” adding that there has been “a lot of appreciation for our format,” allowing the sales team to spend more time with its most important buyers.
John Halley speaks during the Paramount New York Upfront Partnership Event 2025. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount)Citing “strong demand” across Paramount’s portfolio, Halley said advertisers understand streaming is a “central tactic to brand building, targeting and performance.” He also said live events such as the Grammy Awards and the VMAs remain a “big-time priority” as brands look to stay culturally relevant and “cut through saturation in a very crowded media marketplace,” especially with Gen Z and Millennial audiences.
Halley also highlighted Paramount’s sports portfolio with the NFL, college football, March Madness, the PGA Tour, the Masters and UEFA.
Measurable impactBeyond the focus on content, Halley emphasized that advertisers are scrutinizing every dollar they’re spending and demanding “measurable impact.”
In order to help advertisers measure their spending decisions’ performance, Paramount launched a new Outcomes at Scale platform in partnership with iSpot.tv to offer more transparency into consumers’ responses to ads. It will allow brands to see which programs, day parts and audience segments generate the best response to ad campaigns, while providing an almost immediate view into how ad impressions connect to a brand’s key sales-performance metrics, such as store visits, online activity, ticket purchases and more.
“The degree to which you can report not just on impression delivery but also engagement metrics is very, very important to assure your place in advertisers’ process,” he said. “We’re very well positioned, given our investments in content, our investments in scale and our investments in measurement to differentiate ourselves and stand out in this marketplace.”
(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount)Paramount reaches a total of 115 million ad-supported viewers per month across its streaming footprint, half of which are Gen Z and millennials, and 165 million unique viewers per month on broadcast and cable. Together, Paramount accounts for 9% of all U.S. viewing.
Per Nielsen, ad-supported platforms across the media landscape accounted for 72.4% of TV viewing in the first quarter of 2025, compared to 27.6% for ad-free platforms. Cable and broadcast made up roughly 28.9% and 28.7% of ad-supported viewing, respectively, while streaming accounted for the remaining 42.4%.
“Certainly, the amount of viewing share in ad-supported environments has increased notably over the last couple of years. It’s very, very important in those kinds of environments to really differentiate yourself around content, which is what we’re doing,” Halley said. “The product itself is easier for buyers to understand. They know what they’re getting. There are very, very few places with the reach and the brand safety and the impact of our digital properties.”
Paramount recently renewed its measurement partnership with Nielsen following a four-month standoff in contract negotiations, as well as with its partner during the dark period, VideoAmp. Despite its new agreement with Nielsen, Halley emphasized the company’s views on a “multi-currency future” remain unchanged and that Nielsen’s move to big data panel measurement will come with “marketplace turbulence.”
“People tend to conflate our contractual dust up and resolution with a change in point of view of the currency marketplace and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “We really do see a place for multiple players.”
“We have really built ourselves to be as facile and inter-operable as we can possibly be,” he continued. “I think that Nielsen’s move into a big data product portends a lot of evolution in the measurement space. It’s not just about change. It’s about bringing better fidelity and something that is closer to the truth, so that buyers can understand the value of our products in a better way.”
The post Paramount Ad Chief on Trump’s Tariffs Hitting Upfronts: ‘Everything Continues to Be Redefined and Fluctuating’ appeared first on TheWrap.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sees Content Revenue Drop 27% to $1.9 Billion in First Quarter on Lower Box Office, Home Entertainment
Despite posting a narrowed quarterly loss, Warner Bros. Discovery missed Wall Street expectations for its first quarter of 2025 on Thursday as revenue tumbled 10% to $9 billion.
Revenue was dragged down by a 27% decline in content revenue, primarily driven by lower box office and home entertainment revenues due to strong performance from the theatrical releases of “Dune: Part Two” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” in the prior year period and carryover from releases in the fourth quarter of 2023, as well as no games released in the latest quarter. The decrease in home entertainment revenue was primarily due to the robust performance of “Wonka” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” in the prior year.
It was also weighed down by an 8% decline in advertising revenue as as ad-lite subscriber growth was more than offset by domestic linear audience declines and a 2% decline in distribution revenue as growth in global streaming subscribers was more than offset by continued domestic linear pay TV subscriber declines.
Here are the quarterly results:
Net loss: $453 million, down 53% from a loss of $966 million a year ago.
Earnings Per Share: A loss of 18 cents per diluted share, compared to a loss of 13 cents per share estimated by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenues: $9 billion, down 10% year over year, compared to $9.75 billion expected by Zacks.
Streaming subscribers: Added 5.3 million subscribers for a total of 122.3 million globally.
Adjusted EBITDA: $2.1 billion, flat compared to a year ago.
“While we have yet to see any material impact over the last month, numerous aspects of our business, most particularly advertising, are sensitive to overall macroeconomic conditions. Significant inflation or other factors that negatively influence consumer sentiment and expenditure could have material impacts,” WBD warned in its quarterly shareholder letter. “In the past, we have effectively managed our business through periods of uncertainty, economic turbulence, and even recession, such as the COVID pandemic. As in those cases, we have again acted swiftly, though prudently, to control costs and are preparing for all ranges
of scenarios over the months to come, while continuing to invest for future growth.”
In January, WBD’s new restructuring took effect, which separates its linear networks business from its studios and streaming businesses. The move is designed to improve strategic optionality and flexibility.
“We believe the existing ecosystem, including content producers and both networks and streaming distribution platforms, will undergo significant change,” Warner added. “With added flexibility and expanded pathways to create
shareholder value as a result of this new structure, our Board of Directors now has a greater number of tools at its disposal as it evaluates and enacts changes.”
WBD shares fell 2% in pre-market trading on Thursday following the earnings announcement.
Streaming a bright spot as Max international expansion continuesStreaming was a bright spot, posting a profit of $339 million, up from $86 million a year ago, and saw total revenue grow 8% to $2.7 billion.
Distribution revenue increased 7% to $2.33 billion as a result of a 23% increase in subscribers following the ongoing global expansion of Max, as well as new domestic distribution deals, which were offset by lower average revenue per user due to a shift in the subscriber mix. Ad revenue jumped 35% to $237 million on ad-lite subscriber growth.
Subscriber-related revenue grew 9% to $2.6 billion and content revenue declined 11% to $88 million. The decline in content revenue was driven by lower third-party licensing following the launch of Max in new international markets, including Australia.
The company has a total of 57.6 million domestic streaming subscribers and 64.6 million international subscribers. Global average revenue per user fell to $7.11, while domestic ARPU fell to $11.15 and international ARPU dropped to $3.63. The decrease in domestic ARPU was primarily driven by a broader wholesale
distribution of Max Basic with Ads.
By the end of year, Max is on track to be available in over 85 markets globally. It will launch in the U.K. and Ireland, Italy and Germany in early 2026.
WBD is targeting at least 150 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2026 and anticipates the streaming segment will deliver a profit of approximately $1.3 billion in 2025. In addition to Max’s international expansion, the company said it would focus on strategic distribution partnerships and driving higher penetration in existing markets with its ad-supported tier to reach that subscriber goal.
It also launched a $7.99 per month “extra member” add-on as it looks to crack down on password sharing.
Studios takes a hit due to lower box office and home entertainment revenuesWBD’s studios business saw profits rise 41% to $259 million during the quarter, but revenue tumbled 18% to $2.3 billion.
The revenue decline was driven by an 80% drop in distribution revenue and 75% drop in ad revenue to $1 million each, while content revenue slipped 18% to $2.13 billion and other revenue fell 8% to $173 million.
In addition to the declines in box office and home entertainment revenues, games revenue fell 48% due to the prior year release of “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,”compared to no releases in the current year quarter, as well as higher carryover from “Hogwarts Legacy” and “Mortal Kombat 1” in the prior year. TV revenue fell 4%, primarily driven by higher intercompany content sales, partially offset by lower initial telecast revenue due to the timing of deliveries.
“We continue to implement both strategic and structural changes to better position our Studios for long-term growth with the goal of driving more consistent performance and greater profitability,” the company wrote in its shareholder letter. “We are very encouraged by our current trajectory and momentum, especially in TV and Film, as we advance towards our goal of at least $3 billion of Studios Adjusted EBITDA.”
In the second quarter, WBD said a large licensing renewal with the streaming segment would also benefit the studios segment, similar to the renewal in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Global linear networks weighed down by cord-cuttingGlobal linear networks continued to suffer from cord-cutting, with profits falling 15% to $1.8 billion and revenue dropping 7% to $4.8 billion.
Distribution revenue fell 9% to $2.6 billion, driven by a 9% decrease in domestic linear pay TV subscribers, partially offset by a 2% increase in domestic affiliate rates. Additionally, distribution revenues were negatively impacted by
lower international affiliate rates and international subscriber declines.
Ad revenue fell 12% to $1.8 billion, primarily driven by a 27% decline in domestic networks audiences offset by better trends in sports and international. Content revenue climbed 44% to $380 million, primarily due to the timing of third-party content licensing deals.
WBD touted a 5% improvement in year over year advertising growth over the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by its domestic sports schedule, including viewership growth for March Madness and healthy demand for sports inventory.
International ad markets, such as Polan and Italy, have significantly outperformed domestic due to continued strength of WBD’s free-to-air networks. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region now accounts for 20% of global linear advertising revenues.
Looking ahead, Warner expects a 2% year over year headwind to ad revenues in the second quarter due to the absence of the Final Four, offset by carriage of the Stanley Cup Finals. The French Open and NASCAR will debut on TNT sports in the second quarter, temporarily resulting in higher sports rights costs and production expenses on top of the annual escalation for existing sports rights.
More to come…
The post Warner Bros. Discovery Sees Content Revenue Drop 27% to $1.9 Billion in First Quarter on Lower Box Office, Home Entertainment appeared first on TheWrap.
May 7, 2025
Smokey Robinson Denies Sexual Assault Accusations, Attorney Calls Lawsuit an ‘Ugly’ Attempt to ‘Extract Money’
Through his attorney, Smokey Robinson is denying the accusations of sexual assault against him by four former employees in a lawsuit filed this week. The Motown icon’s attorney also called the lawsuit an attempt “to extract money” from Robinson.
“As this case progresses, the evidence (the crucial element that guides us) will show that this is simply an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon — $50 million, to be exact,” Christopher Frost said in a statement Wednesday.
“Through this process we have seen the bizarre theatrics of yesterday’s news conference, as the plaintiffs’ attorneys outlined vile, false allegations against Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, trying to enlist the public as an unwitting participant in the media circus they are trying to create,” Frost said also.
Four former employees accused Robinson, the storied songwriter and former record label executive, of sexual battery, assault, fostering a hostile work environment, false imprisonment and gender violence in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Monday. Robinson’s wife, Frances Gladney, was also named as a defendant.
The 27-page suit names each of the plaintiffs as Jane Does. The first states she started working for the Robinsons as their housekeeper at their Chatsworth home from Jan. 3, 2023 to February 2024, and during that time JD1 says she was forced to resign after Smokey’s repeated sexual assaults and sexual harassment against her, saying the first incident took place on March 2023 and it continued until she was forced to step out of her role last February.
The women accuse Frances of “perpetuating a hostile work environment,” which included failing to take appropriate corrective actions to prevent Robinson’s behavior, mentioning that she was aware of Robinson’s previous sexual misconduct. They also accuse her of “regularly screaming” in a hostile manner, with all four women saying Frances used “ethnically pejorative words and language.”
The plaintiffs are demanding a sum of no less than $50,000,000 in damages and a trial by jury.
The post Smokey Robinson Denies Sexual Assault Accusations, Attorney Calls Lawsuit an ‘Ugly’ Attempt to ‘Extract Money’ appeared first on TheWrap.
CBS Anchor Elicits Snickers by Calling Vatican Cell Phone Confiscation ‘Rawdogging It’ During Conclave Coverage | Video
The changing meaning of slang terms can be jarring. For example, “rawdogging it,” a term that literally since its inception nearly 50 years ago has referred to having unprotected sex. Recently, however, some people have started using it ironically to refer instead to doing any mundane or difficult task cold. And irony aside, in the vast majority of instances and for most people it still refers to, uh, the other thing.
That shifting meaning provided an amusing or, depending on your perspective, unfortunate exchange on Wednesday’s edition of “CBS Mornings.”
The moment came as reporter John Allen was explaining how the vote is being run. “One thing to understand is that all of that takes time. You know, we imagine in the Conclave that there’s always charged political debate going on. No, inside the Sistine Chapel itself, virtually the entire time that the Cardinals are inside is given over to the ritual of the ballot,” he said.
“Each ballot takes about an hour and a half, and with this extraordinary number of electors, it’ll probably even take a little longer. So they sit the whole time. They don’t stand up, and most of them, no most of them will tell you that while that’s going on, they’re sitting reading their abbreviary, that’s a book of prayers that clergy have, or praying a rosary,” Allen continued. “The one thing we know they’re not doing is checking Instagram because their devices have been confiscated.”
At this point, anchor Tony Dokoupil interjected, saying, “I believe the kids, I believe the kids call it ‘rawdogging it,’ if you’re gonna go through a long period of time with no electronic device.”
This promoted some awkward snickering from the onscreen panel, which included Vatican analyst Delia Gallagher and co-anchors Norah O’Donnell, Maurice DuBois, Seth Doane, and Chris Livesay. And, to be honest, everyone watching.
See that exchange below:
CBS on the cardinals: "One thing we know they're not doing is checking Instagram because their devices have all been confiscated. I believe the kids call it rawdogging."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-05-07T17:31:30.570Z
The post CBS Anchor Elicits Snickers by Calling Vatican Cell Phone Confiscation ‘Rawdogging It’ During Conclave Coverage | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
Chris Hayes Calls Trump Efforts to ‘Punish’ Pro-Palestine Speech ‘the Closest to McCarthyism in My Lifetime’ | Video
Chris Hayes was blunt during a commentary related to the wave of arrests and deportations of foreign nationals, calling the Trump administrations efforts to suppress or “punish” pro-Palestinian speech “the closest to McCarthyism in my lifetime.”
That assessment came while discussing Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts PhD student who was abducted by immigration agents and sent to a Louisiana prison facility over an she wrote for the school paper criticizing Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war and Tufts handling of student protests. On Wednesday three judges on the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a three judge panel ruled that Öztürk must be returned to Vermont and that her appeals must be heard there.
“She’s currently being imprisoned for her protected free speech,” Hayes said, calling her abduction “part of a authoritarian attempt to criminalize thought, criminalize political speech and protest in this country,” adding that “the Trump administration is attempting to use the full force of the government to punish those who disagree with its support for Israel’s war.”
Hayes then noted several other harrowing instances of this policy and how it’s even being applied to U.C. citizens, and said, “this atmosphere, this use of pressure and legal means to kind of render taboo an ideological tendency, it’s the closest I’ve seen the McCarthyism in my lifetime.
“It’s an attempt to take a specific, constitutionally protected ideological perspective and intimidate people away from expressing it through threats of force and banishment,” Hayes continued. “It’s gotten the point where, when I saw these viral images of musician Dave Matthews holding up signs reading ‘stop the genocide’ and ‘stop killing children,’ honestly, my first thought was to check his immigration status for fear the Trump administration would try to have him deported. Turns out, though born in South Africa, he’s a naturalized US citizen.”
Hayes then said people are protesting that “Gaza has been bombed for a year and a half. Best estimates we have are that 15,000 children have been killed. A million people have been dislocated. The entire strip has been effectively raised to the ground,” adding that much of this happened with previous President Joe Biden’s “explicit” support.
“And after all that, the Trump administration says that the real extremism, the danger is the one happening on college campuses.”
Hayes then took some time bringing viewers up to speed on recent news out of Israel, including as the New York Times reported, plans to capture more land and displace more Gaza residents. He also discussed the Trump administrations reported negotiations with other countries to take in Palestinian refugees.
“Currently we are looking at U.S. and Israeli policy that is more aggressively radical and extremist, more flagrantly in violation of international law and human rights than I think we’ve seen before,” Hayes said. “But if you point that out, or you hold up a sign, or you protest, or you write a student op-ed on campus, the Trump administration may try to label you a terrorist and enemy of the state, and have you removed from the country or put into detention for months.”
Hayes then criticized unnamed Democratic leaders who, he said, “have effectively abdicated their leadership on this issue. So what exactly are young Americans who, as almost every poll shows, have increasingly sour them Israeli policy in Gaza. What are they supposed to do? Exactly? Should students shut up and pretend that their government isn’t abetting mass civilian death and population transfer? I don’t think that’s going to happen. I can tell you this no amount of repression and bullying is going to successfully stamp out the movement against this ongoing carnage, if history is any indication it is just as likely to make the movement, stronger.”
You can watch the full clip below:
The post Chris Hayes Calls Trump Efforts to ‘Punish’ Pro-Palestine Speech ‘the Closest to McCarthyism in My Lifetime’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
‘The Masked Singer’ Crowns Its Season 13 Victor: And the Winner Is…
Note: This story contains spoilers from the Season 13 finale of “The Masked Singer.”
Last week on “The Masked Singer,” Lucky Duck used his powers of luck to advance everyone to the finals (and was unmasked to reveal none other than Taika Waititi). But still, only one person could win the competition.
The finals came down to Mad Scientist, Coral, Boogie Woogie and Pearl, and in the end, that’s actually the order they placed in. Mad Scientist came in fourth, and was revealed to be one half of Florida Georgia Line, Brian Kelley. To almost no one’s surprise, Coral was revealed to be Disney star Meg Donnelly.
Boogie Woogie came in second, revealed to be “Honey, I’m Good” singer Andy Grammer. And for the record, he really did want to win it all.
“I was not there to have fun,” he told TheWrap with a laugh. “I’m there to win. Yeah, 100%.”
But at the end of the night, it was Gretchen Wilson who took home the golden mask trophy, and was revealed to be Pearl. She also was driven to win it all, though she admitted that her competitive drive didn’t kick in until about a week into competing.
Ironically though, she herself thought Grammer had the win locked in throughout the entire competition.
“Boogie and I had a lot of time around each other. No idea who each other were, but complimented each other every performance,” she told TheWrap. “He would just high five me, ‘I’m not sure who you are, Pearl, but you’re killing it.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, boogie, you’re gonna win this thing.’ We had this love for each other as Boogie and Pearl, like it was just the sweetest thing. [He’s] really talented and a really, really nice guy.”
Grammer also enjoyed their odd friendship that was formed, especially because any interactions were simply difficult to execute.
“I mean, listen, there’s competitiveness because that’s fun. Like I love to joke around,” he said. “I remember she said ‘hi’ to me through the mask. They don’t let you talk to each other, you don’t know who the person is, and you’re not hanging out with them backstage, right?”
“So it creates these really kind of sweet, vulnerable interactions where nobody’s talking and you’re like, ‘Hey, you’re pretty good’ like, a little fist bump. Yeah, it was really sweet.”
Still, Wilson was thrilled to come out at top — mostly just so she can stop keeping the secret. But also because she proved to herself that not only could she still get out and perform, but could even do it with added difficulty.
“Today’s the day that Gretchen Wilson becomes more than just the Redneck Woman,” she joked.
Wednesday’s finale also revealed a Season 14 renewal for the series, with plans for its return in January 2026 while skipping its traditional fall run. A Fox spokesperson told TheWrap the move is aimed at giving production more time for the “supercharged” season, as well as to secure bigger names for its cast.
“The Masked Singer” will return for Season 14 in January 2026.
The post ‘The Masked Singer’ Crowns Its Season 13 Victor: And the Winner Is… appeared first on TheWrap.
SAG-AFTRA Outlines Remaining Sticking Points Over AI in Video Game Contract
SAG-AFTRA has released its latest counterproposal to the offer made by video game companies’ to end the nine-month strike on interactive media, outlining the remaining sticking points on artificial intelligence protections that have been the sole impasse between the two sides.
The counterproposal, which can be read here, comes ahead of a Wednesday evening membership meeting hosted by the actors’ guild’s negotiating committee for the Interactive Media Agreement, and two days after the companies publicly released their proposal to Variety, calling it their “best and last” offer.
“We are hopeful the union will not choose to walk away when we are so close to a deal,” Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement, said in a statement to Variety. “Our proposal includes wage increases of over 24% for SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in video games, enhanced health and safety protections, industry-leading terms of use for AI digital replicas in-game and additional compensation for the use of an actor’s performance in other games. This is our last and best offer, and we hope the union will return to the table so we can reach a deal.”
SAG-AFTRA condemned the companies’ decision to take their proposal public, saying they had no intention of walking away from talks and had sent their latest counterproposal on May 2, three days after receiving the companies’ offer.
“The statement suggesting that the union would ‘walk away’ from negotiations on this contract is absurd and the opposite of the truth. It is the employers who have threatened – through backchannel representatives – to move work to foreign countries and recast performers, in an unsuccessful effort to intimidate our negotiating committee and membership to capitulate to their demands,” SAG-AFTRA said in their own statement.
“It is the employers who have characterized their last counter as ‘their last and best offer,’ the union has taken no such step,” the statement continued.
The 17-page document released by SAG-AFTRA breaks down the union’s counterproposal on AI protections, showing where the union has reached a tentative agreement with the companies and where it has made concessions. The document is intended to help members understand how the contract language impacts them and their work.
In terms of remaining sticking points, two notable ones remain. SAG-AFTRA is seeking language that guarantees performers’ ability to withhold consent to their likeness and performance being used for digital replicas during a strike.
“Right now, employers have to find another performer to scab as placeholder or stand-in performance during a strike, but without the ability to suspend your Consent they could use your Replica to do it as you,” the guild wrote to members in the document.
SAG-AFTRA also wholly rejected a proposal from the companies that they would offer buyouts for the use of a digital replica “includes unlimited amount of dialogue and/or unlimited amount of new visual performance in scripted cinematic content.” The buyout would have a minimum of six times the applicable minimum scale for three years of unlimited digital replica use, after which time the buyout could be renewed or terminated, with the latter case resulting in the company no longer generating new material with the replica.
SAG-AFTRA says it fundamentally opposes buyouts, calling them a “purposeful discount to employers” and “make it harder for performers to make a sustainable living,” as the performers who would work enough sessions on a project for a company to want to offer a digital replica buyout would earn far less under buyout pay than they would doing all the sessions.
“We reject unlimited DR use buyouts without a strong, clear justification. Employers have urged that Real-Time Generation and visual performance outside cinematics are difficult to track and pay by specific amount of use. We have repeatedly asked for why they can’t pay by specific amount of use for performance they do typically track, meaning dialogue and visual performance for cinematics. No answer,” the union wrote.
SAG-AFTRA previously went on a video game strike in 2016 that lasted for 11 months before being resolved in September 2017. While the strike is affecting video games on a case-by-case basis, the companies that are signatories to the Interactive Media Agreement are Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 , VoiceWorks and WB Games.
TheWrap has reached out to spokespersons for the video game companies for further comment.
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Read the Top Policy Plans in Jon Voight’s Proposal to Trump to ‘Make Hollywood Great Again’
Jon Voight’s proposal to “Make Hollywood Great Again” sent to President Donald Trump on Tuesday offers a mix of tax incentives, tariffs, co-productions and a proposal to bring back the famed Fin-Syn arrangement of the 1990s.
Here are the topline proposals in the five-page plan:
Federal Tax Incentives:
10% baseline federal tax credit for all U.S.-based productions, in addition to any state credits.20% federal credit for productions in states with no state-level incentives. 5–10% bonus for productions filmed in economically depressed “enterprise zones.”Projects must pass an “American cultural test” (modeled after the UK’s system) to qualify for incentives.Tariffs on Foreign Productions:
Proposes a 120% tariff on the value of any foreign tax incentive received for productions that could have been made in the U.S.Exemptions proposed for productions primarily based in the U.S. but requiring some foreign shooting, under production treaties.Regulatory Proposals Targeting Streaming Platforms:
Reinstates the Financial Interest and Syndication Rule, abolished in 1993, which once prevented networks from owning the content they aired.Requires streamers to pay producers a premium (25–40% of production cost), scaled by the length of exclusivity for the content.The actor-ambassador and president met about the plan, designed to reverse the ongoing exodus of film and television production from the United States to other countries, over the weekend.
The proposal suggests that if a production “could have been produced in the U.S., but the producer elects to produce in a foreign country and receives a production tax incentive therefore, a tariff will be placed on that production equal to 120% of the value of the foreign incentive received.”
The tariff portion of this proposal is somewhat similar to the one floated by Trump on Truth Social on Sunday, calling for “a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”
In the proposal, Voight and his team write that the proposed tariffs are “not meant as a penalty, but are a necessary step to ‘level the playing field’ while not creating a never-ending-cycle of chasing the highest incentive.” The proposal also calls on applying productions to meet a minimum requirement for an “American cultural test,” similar to the one required for British film productions to qualify for tax incentives exclusive to U.K. projects.
Voight and his team also suggest certain exemptions from tariffs for films “significantly produced in the U.S. but require work in foreign countries” via production treaties that would allow producers to take advantage of tax incentives for applicable spending in each country.
Perhaps the proposal from Voight that would get the most pushback from Netflix and other streamers is the one to restore the Financial Interest and Syndication Rule, which prohibited networks from owning the shows that they aired from 1970 to 1993.
Voight proposes new rules that would combat “draconian licensing terms,” including requiring streamers to pay producers a premium “equal to the percentage of the total cost of production,” with that percentage ranging from 25-40% depending on the length of the streamer’s exclusivity deal to stream the project.
Voight, who was named a “special ambassador to Hollywood” by Trump shortly after his return to the White House, has been meeting with unions and industry stakeholders alongside his producing partner, Steven Paul, prior to his visit to Trump this past weekend.
But Trump has said nothing about Voight’s proposal beyond the tariffs, which have become the core of his economic policy and have created global financial and trade instability.
While the Motion Picture Association and its member studios chose not to comment in response to Trump’s film tariff plans, several California politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Adam Schiff, and Burbank Congresswoman Laura Friedman, called on Washington to support a federal tax incentive.
Newsom, who has sparred with Trump on various other issues and is currently supporting a dramatic increase and expansion to California’s tax incentive program, went as far as to call on Trump and Congress to establish a $7.5 billion film and TV national tax incentive program.
A copy of the proposal was published by Deadline.
The post Read the Top Policy Plans in Jon Voight’s Proposal to Trump to ‘Make Hollywood Great Again’ appeared first on TheWrap.
‘Godzilla Minus One’ Director Takashi Yamazaki to Develop New Theme Park Ride Based on the Monster
Takashi Yamazaki, the Oscar-winning director of “Godzilla Minus One,” will write, direct and produce the visual effects for a brand‑new Godzilla ride attraction for Toho International, the Japanese studio’s U.S.-based subsidiary. The new attraction will begin rolling out this summer.
Yamazaki’s first Godzilla attraction, “Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle,” is currently showing at Seibuen Amusement Park, Japan. According to the official release, it has “earned global acclaim for its exceptional quality and epic scale, regularly seeing an outstanding audience satisfaction rate.” The new attraction will be distributed to additional locations through the iRide system developed by Taiwan’s Brogent Technologies, Inc.
“I’m thrilled to return to Godzilla’s world from the passenger seat,” Yamazaki said in a Wednesday statement. “What powerful foes will emerge? Where will this ride take us next? As a ride enthusiast myself, I can’t wait for my first spin — and I’m working day and night with our team to make this the most terrifying ride in the world.”
Specifics are being kept under wraps, but the plan is “for the scope and scale to surpass that of the original acclaimed theme park experience, offering fans once again an experience unlike anything they’ve ever witnessed featuring the King of the Monsters,” according to the official release.
Additionally, Yamazaki is working on a follow-up to “Godzilla Minus One.”
The post ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Director Takashi Yamazaki to Develop New Theme Park Ride Based on the Monster appeared first on TheWrap.
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