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Cordkillers 580: YouTube Gets the Gold Statue
🕑 Added 2025-12-24 05:30:23 +0000 UTCSummary
YouTube makes two major power moves, ditching Billboard’s charts while locking down exclusive rights to the Oscars, as Hollywood and streaming continue their slow-motion reshuffle. Meanwhile, Netflix, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery keep playing financial chess, and Peacock experiments with pushing ads even earlier into the viewing experience.
Supply Run
YouTube announced it will stop sharing U.S. chart data with Billboard starting January 16, objecting to how ad-supported streams are weighted compared to paid streams. At the same time, YouTube scored a major win by securing exclusive global broadcast rights to the Oscars from 2029 through 2033, underscoring its growing dominance in long-form viewing, including more than 700 million hours of podcast viewing in October.
Academy Partners With YouTube for Exclusive Global Oscars Rights
People Watched 700 Million Hours of YouTube Podcasts on TV in October
Search Party
A teaser for Avengers: Doomsday reveals Chris Evans returning as Captain America, with a kid-focused twist.
A Muppet Show revival special lands on Disney+ February 4, 2026, with a simultaneous ABC airing and Sabrina Carpenter as guest star.
Stranger Things 5 confirmed runtimes for its final four episodes, with the series finale clocking in at over two hours.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey debuted its first trailer as the film reportedly sold out tens of millions of IMAX tickets ahead of its July 17, 2026 release.
Several James Bond films, along with select Rocky, Creed, and Legally Blonde titles, will stream on Netflix for a limited window starting January 15.
A Labubu movie is in development with Wonka and Paddington director Paul King attached.
Heated Rivalry became the most-watched original series ever on Crave in Canada and a surprise breakout hit on HBO Max in the U.S.
Hikaru Sulu and Leonard “Bones” McCoy will appear for the first time in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds during its fifth and final season.
The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender will skip theaters and debut directly on Paramount+ next fall.
Buried Treasure
Brian: Fallout
Tom: Fallout
Scanning the Horizon
Paramount added a personal financing guarantee from Larry Ellison in an effort to sway Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders, though some investors say the revised bid still falls short of Netflix’s offer.
Netflix refinanced part of the massive bridge loan tied to its Warner deal as it prepares for closing.
Peacock began testing ads on its profile selection screen unless subscribers pay for the ad-free tier.
Google is once again supported by Movies Anywhere, though users must reconnect their accounts.
Netflix acquired avatar-creation company Ready Player Me as part of its growing push into games.
Chatter
Randy Ward shared that he watches Cordkillers on his living room TV during breakfast or in bed in the evening.
Scott Snider wrote in praising Brian’s enthusiasm for Pluribus and suggested revisiting episode seven, citing the likely cost of extensive music licensing.
