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I have previously mentioned that I plan to devote all of July on my website to a celebration of PBS. I’ll also be pointing to all of that content here as it’s posted.
As part of that, I’d like to hear from you. What are your memories of PBS? Either in your childhood or just some program that resonated with you as an adult. I’ll be collecting your comments to use throughout the month.
If you have anything you’d like to share, email me at [email protected]
YouTube Creator Movies Point To Another Future For Hollywood
This past weekend, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms broke the record for largest opening weekend for an original horror movie, grossing $118M. He is the youngest filmmaker ever to top the box office and was A24’s largest opening ever.
And yesterday, Markiplier’s Iron Lung was released for YouTube for rental and purchase after it did $52 million at the global box office.
That follows the success of comedy creator Curry Barker’s movie Obsession, which has grossed $148M worldwide so far.
The buzz in Hollywood is that these successes are an indication that new, younger talent are finally making their mark in the industry and some movie journalists are comparing this to the 1970s, when a wave of twentysomething directors changed Hollywood.
However, the situation is more nuanced than that, and it points to the way television is also going to change over the next several years.
There is a perception in the industry that everything is going to be okay, and that these young YouTube punks will still need Hollywood’s experience and reach to be a success:
YouTube creators have suffered from arrogance as well, believing that they don’t need traditional studios, record labels or gatekeepers. They can do it all on their own.
While creators have built businesses and followings online on their own, that doesn’t mean they don’t need any help. If you want to make a hit movie or release a No. 1 record, it helps to get support from people who’ve done it before. Look no further than recent theatrical releases from Ryan’s World and Dude Perfect. They tried to follow the Taylor Swift model and it didn’t work.
But I don’t think that is the lesson at all. Unlike those 1970s filmmakers, one difference in 2026 is that even when these creators are using the distribution and marketing heft of the old school production companies, they are retaining the IP. Today’s creators are building a business on YouTube that has the experience to take someone’s money, produce and own a project, and then let someone with experience get it in front of the public.
There was a lot of interesting news that came out of last week’s Press Publish LA, where nearly 700 creators, operators, and industry folks showed up at the Fox Studios lot.
The newsletter Open Gardens has a great round-up of the conference, but this passage jumped out at me, in part because it nicely frames the way things have changed just in the past year:
Billy Parks, who runs Fox Creator Studios, described the posture in terms you almost never hear from a legacy studio. "We’re hyper-focused on working with IP, working with formats where we can say, here’s capital, make it on your channels, you drive the creative, you produce it. We’re not hiring producers and making it for you. You’re not shooting on our stages."
That’s a studio offering up its capital and its distribution and a hundred years of knowing how to monetize a thing, and then getting out of the way on the part it used to control most, the ownership and the production itself.
Traditional Hollywood production is not going away anytime soon. But as budgets remain tight, you are going to see more people creating IP, then using YouTube and traditional production companies to finance and distribute the projects.
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The Use Of AI Chat Bots By Media Companies May Drive You Insane
You might recall that last week I posted that DirecTV is aggressively increasing the monthly subscription price on its genre mini-bundles. As an example, the MyEntertainment bundle currently costs $34.99 a month and the price is increasing $8 a month in late June.
I decided it was time to take another tour around the Live TV world and see what is the best deal that I can get right now. I’ve had a wireless broadband account with Verizon for a couple of years, and coincidentally, they were offering $20 off per month of YouTube TV for six months, if you sign up through Verizon.
Click here to read the entire painful experience, including a discussion with the Verizon AI chat bot, which stubbornly refused to answer the question I kept answering it.
Odds & Sods
Deestroying The Pitch premieres Thursday, June 4th on Tubi. Here is a link to the trailer and here is the official logline: “Deestroying The Pitch follows YouTube star Deestroying (Donald De La Haye) as he hits the streets of Los Angeles, Miami and Toronto to uncover the soul of soccer through a 1v1 competition as the World Cup lands in North America.”
It looks like Variety’s “exclusive” reporting that Dominic Fike was returning to Euphoria at some point wasn’t true.
EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert gets its streaming premiere Wednesday, June 3rd on Paramount+.
Russell Wilson is expected to accept the job to replace Matt Ryan on CBS’s NFL Today studio program. Wilson had a 14-year NFL career as quarterback of the Seahawks, Broncos, Steelers, and Giants.
The Turmoil Continues At ‘60 Minutes’
60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley apparently had a confrontation Monday morning with new show head Nick Bilton and it did not go well. Guardian US media reporter Jeremy Barr reported that Pelley pushed back on last Thursday’s firings on the show:
Some news: I'm told that 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley had a heated meeting this morning with new executive producer Nick Bilton and another company executive, pushing back strongly on last Thursday's firings.
(Pelley, notably, gave a shout-out to Sharyn Alfonsi at the News Emmys last Wednesday)
Producers were present and showed support for Pelley
In a piece just posted at The Guardian, Barr added these details:
“She’s murdering 60 Minutes,” Pelley said, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”
Forelle accused Pelley of being rude, and Pelley countered by saying that the network had been rude by the way it treated Tanya Simon, the show’s executive producer who was fired on Thursday.
Oliver Darcy at Status obtained audio of the meeting and has a fascinating breakdown of part of the confrontation:
Bilton tried to move the meeting along, but Pelley pressed on, challenging the new executive producer’s references in interviews to “60 Minutes” creator Don Hewitt’s vision for the program as he outlined his plans.
"I have another question," the veteran journalist said. "Did you at any point work with Don Hewitt, telling everybody about what Don Hewitt thought, and what his inspiration was? I worked for Don Hewitt from 1999 to 2004 and Lesley Stahl probably worked with him for 30 years. Just wondering how you have such deep insight?"
Bilton replied that he was simply quoting Hewitt’s own words from past interviews and asked Pelley whether he had any other questions. Pelley said that he did.
"I have many questions," Pelley responded. "What was wrong with Sharyn Alfonsi?"
As Bilton started to say he would "defer," Pelley interrupted: "This is not the crowd to dodge."
Bilton insisted he was not dodging.
"Nobody talked to you about that?" Pelley continued, pressing him on the firing. "They're taking one of your correspondents away and nobody mentioned to you what was wrong with Sharyn?"
Bilton acknowledged that he "had conversations with people."
"And what came out of those conversations?" Pelley asked. "They are private conversations?"
Bilton reiterated that he "did not fire" Alfonsi or Vega. Pelley pointed out that Bilton had nonetheless discussed the matter with others. Charles Forelle, a top Weiss deputy and managing editor of CBS News, interjected, telling Pelley that he was being "rude."
"This is not actually productive," Forelle said. "This is not an interview."
"It's working for me," Pelley replied.
He demanded to know why his colleagues were fired, prompting Bilton to say he wouldn't be intimidated and quickly leave.
Sources also tell me that Scott Pelley got a standing ovation from the remaining '60 Minutes' staff following the confrontation.
I’ve been told by two sources that following the meeting, Bilton told several CBS News employees that the anger from Pelley and producers on the show was an indication the show was moving in the right direction. “If they’re unhappy, then we’re doing it right.”
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
MONDAY, JUNE 1ST:
Battle On The Beach Season Premiere (HGTV)
Below Deck Down Under Season Four Finale (Bravo)
Bring Me The Beauties: A Model Cult (HBO)
Construction Fails (NatGeo)
Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders (Investigation Discovery)
Doctor On The Edge Series Premiere (Disney+/Hulu)
History's Greatest Machines With Dolph Lundgren Series Premiere (History)
Late Night Law Series Premiere (A&E)
Lethally Blonde Season Premiere (A&E)
Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express: The Movie (Netflix)
90 Day: The Last Resort Season Premiere (TLC)
TUESDAY, JUNE 2ND:
America's Got Talent Season Premiere (NBC)
Love Island Season Eight Premiere (Peacock)
Not Suitable For Work Series Premiere (Peacock)
Password Season Three Premiere (NBC)
People Magazine Investigates: Surviving A Serial Killer Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
The Proof Is Out There: Unexplained Edition (History)