HBO Delays Posting ‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’ Clips to YouTube in Hopes of Signing Up More Max Subscribers

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor WWE has sold sponsorship rights to a prime piece of real estate: the center of its ring. On Friday, WWE announced a “record-setting” pact with Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime Hydration beverage brand to become the wrestling entertainment company’s exclusive “official hydration drink partner” and the first partner to ever appear on the center of the WWE ring.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Marilyn Monroe, who died 62 years ago, has been reincarnated as a “hyper-real” AI-generated digital avatar that lets fans engage in a conversation with the late actor — who can answer questions “in Marilyn’s signature voice and style,” according the company behind the project. AI technology firm Soul Machines unveiled Digital Marilyn, an interactive experience in which she “shares anecdotes and even delivers personalized greetings, creating an unforgettable experience for Marilyn fans.” The AI-generated chatbot lets you interact with the late actor “in real-time using advanced natural language processing, deep learning and GPT 3.5,” Soul Machines said in announcing the project Friday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor When Hollywood accurately depicts work-family and gender-equity scenarios on screen, it’s good for business by driving up viewership and engagement, according to a new research study. The vast majority of engaged streaming viewers in the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor J.J. Abrams is taking a look back at “Felicity,” the beloved series he co-created that premiered 25 years ago, in a difference kind of rewatch podcast featuring guest appearances by the show’s stars, including Keri Russell, Scott Speedman and Scott Foley. “Dear Felicity,” from Abrams’ Bad Robot Audio and Spotify’s The Ringer, is set to debut Wednesday, March 13.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vince McMahon, the founder of WWE who resigned from the board of TKO Group earlier this year amid sexual assault allegations against him, filed to sell $411.95 million worth of TKO stock, according to a regulatory filing. McMahon’s sale comprised 5.35 million shares of TKO, per an SEC filing Monday. That came after he sold 8.4 million shares of Class A common stock in TKO — in sale worth $670.3 million — last November.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that the company is behind Netflix in terms of technical capabilities — and that the Mouse House is in the process of catching up. “We need to be at their level” of technical capability, in order to reduce marketing expenses and cut churn rates, Iger said about Netflix, speaking Tuesday at the 2024 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Iger reiterated that Disney is on track to achieve profitability in the streaming business — which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — by the fiscal quarter that ends September 2024.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The “face with tears of joy” emoji represents “a crying with laughter facial expression,” according to Wikipedia. “The emoji is used in communication to portray joking and teasing on messaging platforms.” Elon Musk, the multibillionaire tech baron who owns X (formerly Twitter), on Monday was sued by four former Twitter executives, whom Musk fired immediately after (reluctantly) closing the $44 billion takeover of the company in October 2022.

Zoey Deutch is showing off her new haircut at a Paris Fashion Week event!

John Oliver has some ideas for DC co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran as to who should be their next Batman.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dwayne Johnson now officially owns title to the sobriquet “The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment.” The actor and entertainment mogul, who broke out as a star in the WWE ring two decades ago, has gained rights to a number of nicknames, insults and catchphrases from his time in the ring in the 90s and early 2000s — including “Candy Ass,” “Jabroni,” and “If you smell what The Rock is cooking.” The transfer of the intellectual-property rights to the names and phrases to Johnson came under his deal to join the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the company formed by Endeavor that merged WWE and the UFC. As announced last month, Johnson officially has the rights to his famous ring name, “The Rock.” In its 10-K filing Feb.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor David Duchovny is diving deep into screwing up in “Fail Better,” marking his first foray as a podcast host. The actor, writer, director, author and singer-songwriter’s seasonal weekly series is produced by podcast network Lemonada Media. “Fail Better” is slated to premiere in May 2024, to be available across all major audio platforms.

Tom Sandoval of Vanderpump Rules continues to be the punchline of jokes for late-night shows and John Oliver took a swipe at the Bravo star on the latest episode of Last Week Tonight.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s the end of the road for Warner Bros. Discovery‘s MotorTrend+ automotive streaming service. The media company announced that MotorTrend+ will be shut down after content from the service is fully migrated to Discovery+ and Max at the end of March.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Timothée Chalamet’s magical, musical candyman is coming to Max. “Wonka” will make its streaming debut exclusively on Max on Friday, March 8, Warner Bros.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix says its ad-supported plan includes “the vast majority” of TV shows and movies available on the standard no-ads tiers — but more than a year after the streamer introduced the cheaper option, several popular titles remain unavailable to customers with the ad plan. Most recently, Netflix customers noticed that Eli Roth’s horror film “Thanksgiving” (pictured above), added Feb. 17 for subscribers on ad-free tiers, is unavailable on the ad plan.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced today that Diane Warren will be the 2024 recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala in June.

Whitney Cinkala Variety’s annual Power of Comedy event will return to SXSW on March 8 at ACL Live, celebrating honorees Samantha Bee, John Leguizamo, Nick Kroll, Lilly Singh, Andrew Rannells, Hannah Einbinder, Pamela Adlon, Jaboukie Young-White, Robbie Praw and Cazzie David. Variety Power of Comedy is part of the official SXSW Comedy lineup. At the event, Bee will receive the Comedy Innovator Award, presented by Brooke Shields, recognizing her accomplishments as a comedian, writer, author and trailblazing late-night TV host and producer.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Kevin Hart‘s Hartbeat has appointed Jay Levine, who previously spent more than a decade at Warner Bros. and WarnerMedia, as CEO. Levine takes over the chief executive role from Thai Randolph, who exited Hartbeat last fall after seven years with the company.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Pinterest is readying the launch of its first-ever streaming show, cooking and lifestyle series “Deliciously Entertaining” — aimed at whetting the appetite of users to engage with the image-sharing social platform. “Deliciously Entertaining” is one of Pinterest’s biggest original productions to date, developed and produced in partnership with media company Tastemade.

On Mondays while HBO‘s Last Week Tonight is in season, host/executive producer John Oliver takes to Twitter to post the main story segment from the previous night’s episode as it becomes available on YouTube.