Adam Epstein

WarnerMedia sent shockwaves through the film world yesterday when it announced all of its 2021 films will be simultaneously released in theaters and on HBO Max. That means subscribers to the streaming service will be able to watch potential blockbusters like Godzilla vs. Kong, Matrix 4, and Dune from the comfort and convenience of their couches on the same day those films debut in theaters.

As its growth in the US stalls, Netflix is setting its sights on another part of the world: Asia.

Chess is cool again, thanks to the hit Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit. While chess retailers and app makers reap the rewards, other brands are surely taking note of the streaming service’s ability to singlehandedly drive sales.

WarnerMedia announced yesterday the superhero movie Wonder Woman 1984 will be released on its streaming service, HBO Max, as well as in theaters on Dec. 25. The company took an unconventional step to announce the big news: It had its CEO blog about it.

After nearly three decades hosting late-night talk shows, Conan O’Brien is headed to streaming. The comedian will wrap up his self-titled nightly TBS show next year, and then move to HBO Max, where he’ll host a weekly variety series.

In another sign pointing toward where Hollywood is headed, Universal Pictures agreed to a deal with Cinemark—the second-biggest movie theater chain in the US—to drastically shorten the time a film plays exclusively in theaters before it can be watched at home. The deal comes four months after Universal struck a similarly historic pact with AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema chain.

The right-wing cable TV network Newsmax is enjoying a surge in popularity this month as Donald Trump urges his followers to watch it as an alternative to Fox News. That has inevitably led to speculation that the network could join forces with Trump, who is interested in running his own media company to compete with Fox once he leaves office.

Disney tested a new movie release strategy in September when it put Mulan on its streaming service, Disney+, and required subscribers to fork over $30 to access the movie—in addition to the $7 they already pay each month. It’s unclear how successful the experiment was, but Disney revealed it was promising enough that it will keep trying it with other content.

Donald Trump spent his whole morning today retweeting random Twitter users who are fed up with Fox News.

Earlier this year, Doug Emhoff was defending movie studios in court. Now he’s America’s first “second gentleman,” thanks to his wife, US vice president-elect Kamala Harris.

Alex Trebek, who hosted the popular TV game show Jeopardy! for 36 years, died over the weekend at the age of 80 from pancreatic cancer. Known for his calming presence and wit, Trebek’s unassuming disposition belied the fact that he was partly responsible for one of the most lucrative television enterprises the world has ever known.

In 2016, Donald Trump considered launching his own TV network if he lost the US presidential election. His unexpected win squashed that possibility four years ago, but now he’ll finally get the chance.

All US presidential candidates have an ambitious list of tasks they promise to accomplish on the first day of their presidency. Whether or not they can actually fit a few hours of work between their noon inauguration and the evening galas, the promised Day One agenda is filled with items of heightened importance to their electoral base. Often, they involve reversing unpopular actions of their predecessors and can be accomplished by executive order without waiting for Congress.

TV ratings for the US presidential election were down this year compared to 2016, due to a huge decline in the number of viewers watching the “big four” broadcast networks. Cable news, however, saw no such drop-off.

A day after the US presidential election, several states are still undecided, as questions remain about when outstanding votes in certain places will be counted. But one thing was made clear, deep in the night on Nov. 3, in a CNN television studio somewhere in Washington, D.C.: John King is a machine.

Sean Connery, the Scottish actor best known for playing James Bond, died Oct. 31. He was 90-years-old.

After a disastrous year and with more rough terrain ahead, Disney really needs The Mandalorian to keep leading the way.

Most US presidential elections have had a clear winner either on election night or the following morning (the 2000 debacle notwithstanding). Networks analyze the data and call the race, the losing candidate concedes, and a winner declares victory.

Apple’s streaming service had a rough start, with few breakthrough shows and little customer adoption. But, a year after launching, that’s starting to change.

Cloud gaming lets you play video games without them using up any space or battery life on your devices. Big Tech firms think that has enormous potential to grow their access to consumers, but none have thus far unlocked it.

The world’s movie theaters are—for real this time—facing an existential crisis. Every few years we hear about the looming “death” of theaters due to a variety of factors, including rising ticket prices and the proliferation of alternate forms of entertainment like streaming. But this is different. The pandemic has taken an industry that was already fending off threats on all sides and nudged it toward oblivion.

TikTok is still relatively unproven as a business, and remains challenged by a major geopolitical hurdle. But that hasn’t stopped advertisers from investing heavily in the social platform. Its future has that much potential.

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Though the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, Netflix’s ability to benefit from it is.