\n\tWho will be the next boss of the Walt Disney<\/a> Company? What will go down when Bad Bunny<\/a> takes the Super Bowl<\/a> halftime show stage? Have the Rolling Stones<\/a> hit the end of the road because of Keith Richards<\/a>\u2018 health? With so many people out of work and production still reeling, what\u2019s on the table for the upcoming contract talks between the studios and streamers with the Hollywood guilds? When will the LA County DA decide if prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Nick Reiner<\/a>? And of course, will it be Netflix<\/a> or Paramount<\/a> who ends up plunking down billions and billions to own Warner Bros Discovery after all? <\/p>\n \n\tAll those questions will surely be answered before 2027, and probably a few more no one has considered yet \u2013 that\u2019s right AI, we weren\u2019t ignoring you.<\/a> So, in no particular order, are the stories that will really matter in the media and entertainment worlds this year, so far.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t(Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski via Getty Images)<\/p>\n \n\tTHE NEXT DISNEY CEO IS \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWith an announcement expected in the next few weeks if Dana Walden<\/a>, Josh D\u2019Amaro or someone else are getting the top gig, it\u2019s pretty fair to assume at this point Bob Iger and House of Mouse board bossJames Gorman know who will be succeeding the two-time Disney CEO atop the Magic Kingdom at the end of this year. Still, despite a rumor mill grinding harder than a Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, that person or persons will be the suddenly very public Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment or the smooth parks division running Chairman of Disney Experiences is a decision that\u2019s been kept closer to the chest that an Oscar envelope on Hollywood\u2019s big night (which BTW, won\u2019t be something any Disney CEO will have to worry about come 2029 and YouTube taking over the ceremony<\/a>).<\/p>\n \n\tBenefiting or burdening by her close friendship with Kamala Harris and her active role in Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s weeklong September suspension, Walden has publicly said<\/a> part of the CEO process is she doesn\u2019t like \u201cbeing pit against my colleagues, I don\u2019t appreciate because we have incredible relationships.\u201d At the same time, no one is going to fault the very circumspect Gorman and gang from doing everything humanly possible to avoid the fumbles, egos and backstabbing of Bob Chapek\u2019s short-lived reign as Iger\u2019s first successor from 2020 to 2022. If the AI-investing 74-year-old Iger really does exit (are you a betting person?) when his current contract is up at the end of 2026, the new CEO will face some of the biggest challenges of the industry in decades \u2013 especially if Netflix gobbles up Warner Bros\u2019 studio, HBO and streaming assets. <\/p>\n \n\tWhich is why word on the street and the Burbank lot is deep and serious consideration has gone into taking a page out of the streamer\u2019s book and installing co-CEO\u2019s like Netflix has with the carefully coordinated Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. To paraphrase, Walden, that would be an \u201cincredible relationship\u201d to see in action with her and D\u2019Amaro running the shop. It would make some history, play to everyone strengths and ensure stability in an era of anything but \u2013 so, stay tuned. \u2013 DP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tThe Washington Monument has imagery projected on to it on Jan. 2, 2026 marking America\u2019s 250th anniversary (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n \n\tAMERICA 250<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThe quarter-millennium anniversary of the United States will have a lot of the surface hoopla of the Bicentennial fifty years ago, but likely a lot of the same media contemplation of 1976: How united are we? The aftermath of Watergate and the Vietnam War threatened to color America\u2019s anniversary as forced patriotism, but the enduring image of the celebration turned out to be the beauty of the tall ships sailing in New York harbor. Likewise, Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s divisive presidency raises doubts as to how celebratory the whole of America will be. The Trump factor has raised discord even on the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, the bipartisan body set up by Congress to plan official celebrations. As divided as the country was fifty years ago, things seemed to fall into place in the months leading up to July 4, with Americans getting a nightly history refresher via CBS\u2019s Bicentennial Minutes and everything from fire hydrants to giant dams painted in the red, white and blue. What will the enduring image be of 2026? UFC fights at the White House, planned for Trump\u2019s birthday, June 14?\u00a0\u2013 TJ<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tKeith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, and Steve Jordan of The Rolling Stones onstage at LA\u2019s SoFi Stadium on July 10, 2024 (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n \n\tKEITH RICHARDS ROLLING NO MORE<\/strong>?<\/p>\n \n\tThe mid-December missive that the Rolling Stones were pulling the plug on a planned but not officially announced 2026 UK and European tour sent shutters that not only had the greatest rock\u2019n\u2019roll band of all time had reached the end of the road, but that mortality had caught up with the seemingly indestructible Keith Richards. Having just turned 82 and suffering from arthritis gnarled hands, the guitarist\/legendary hedonist apparently informed Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood that he just wasn\u2019t up for the rigors of another multi-city stint. Even though the \u201cHuman Riff\u201d had showed up in fine form for a Bruce Willis honoring mini-set at NYC\u2019s Soho Sessions in November, worries that Richards was in dire health ran rampant. <\/p>\n \n\tTo that, to defang the obit writers, a smiling and sturdy Keef posted a \u201cone love\u201d affirming NYD greeting online the other day.<\/p>\n \n\tOn the flip side, the Stones, including the world\u2019s greatest still living rhythm guitarist Richards, have laid down new music to be released this year in a follow up to 2023\u2019s acclaimed Hackney Diamonds \u2013 which the band toured behind in 2024. So perhaps, the six-string pirate and the old boys are planning a special one-off to show they can still blow everyone\u2019s wigs off. Time might just still be on their side \u2013 DP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty Images<\/p>\n \n\tCAA<\/a>\u2018S HOME NOT ON THE RANGE<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIn our ever shaking and quaking media landscape, the foundation and future of the agencies often gets overlooked \u2013 which is more than okay with the self-styled masters of the universes at CAA, WME, UTA \u2026and Range. The dealmakers prefer to do most of their business under the cover of darkness, for better or worse. However, this year we may see a seismic shift in both the agency biz, who controls the purse and what an agency actually is. For the long warring Bryan Lourd and Peter Micelli run firms in particular that change will come courtesy of the courts. Locked in dispute both behind the closed (but much leaking) doors of arbitration and in the public sphere of LA Superior Court, CAA & Range Media Partners<\/a> (which has some very sharp ex-CAA staffers among its upper ranks) have abandoned the ubiquitous air of Marquess of Queensberry Rules everyone likes to pretend to adhere to in public and gone bare knuckles.<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tWill the arbitrator decide David Bugliari, Michael Cooper, Michael Sullivan and\u00a0Jack Whigham<\/a>\u00a0are due the \u201ctens of millions of dollars of the former agents\u2019 vested equity\u201d that CAA clawed back when they jumped ship back in 2020? Will a jury decide the \u201cunlawful\u201d (according to CAA\u2019s initial 2024 lawsuit) and seemingly fully loaded Range are actually a talent agency masquerading as a management group? Will the same jury also find Range guilty of\u00a0poaching staff, talent and intel for its creation,<\/a> as CAA alleges, or will they cut CAA down to size for violation of unfair competition law and tortious interference, as Range\u2019s November 2025 countersuit <\/a>claims?<\/p>\n \n\tCertain to go through rounds of appeals regardless of how wins first in the coming months, the results will likely also see rivals-down-the-road WME gloat at what some have called a CAA self-inflicted wound. Either way, no matter the final cost and verdict, there will be a culling and there will be blood. \u2013 DP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty<\/p>\n \n\tNETFLIX BE DAMNED, PARAMOUNT\u2019S PURSUIT OF WARNER BROS DISCOVERY ISN\u2019T OVER<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWarner Bros. Discovery heads into 2026 with a Netflix deal in hand and Paramount Skydance pounding at the door in a high stakes takeover battle with momentous consequences for TV, film, theatrical exhibition and streaming. Netflix\u2019s accepted offer of $27.75 in cash and stock for Warner Bros. Studios, HBO and HBO Max. has an equity value of $72 billion\u00a0and an enterprise value (including net debt) of\u00a0$82.7 billion As the would-be parters seek necessary approvals, WBD<\/a> is moving ahead with a spinoff of its linear television assets into a new company called Discovery Global.<\/p>\n \n\tDavid Ellison launched his WBD offensive shortly after closing the Paramount Skydance merger in August with a trio of unsolicited offers for the entire company, all rejected. Warner opened the process to other bidders and chose Netflix. The table was set for this showdown in 2022 when Zaslav-led Discovery acquired much larger Warner Media for $43 billion. That saddled the combined company with an untenable $50 billion in debt even as cable networks cratered and viewers flocked to streaming.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThese are big numbers. Paramount\u2019s $30 a share all-cash bid reflects an equity value of $77.9 billion and enterprise value of $108.4 billion. Rebuffed, David and his father Larry Ellison went hostile and have taken two offers directly to WBD stockholders, who have until Jan. 21 to tender their shares.\u00a0WBD rejected the first and looks set to dismiss the second at a board meeting next week.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Netflix and Paramount offers may not be that far apart financially. Paramount insists it has a better shot at regulatory approval.\u00a0It has hinted at legal action<\/a>, accusing WBD\u2019s board of abandoning \u201cthe semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders,\u201d which WBD denies. Entertainment insiders are at a bit of a loss over who to back in this horserace.<\/p>\n \n\tBut expect fireworks including a possible bidding war in 2026. Or, it could all go sideways. An unpredictable President Donald Trump, who has a serious beef with the news media including Paramount\u2019s CBS and WBD\u2019s CNN, has said he plans to be involved in a decision. The FTC and European regulators will weigh antitrust issues. The DOJ and state AGs may weigh in. So, there are massive breakup fees here. Both Netflix and Paramount agreed to pay WBD $5.8 billion if a deal fails to get regulatory approval. \u2013 JG<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Rob Reiner<\/a>, Michele Singer Reiner, Romy Reiner, Nick Reiner, Maria Gilfillan & Jake Reiner at Spinal Tap II: The End Continues LA Premiere in September 2025 (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty<\/p>\n \n\tNICK REINER & THE DEATH PENALTY<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tRight now, pending a last minute pause, the January 7th scheduled hearing in DTLA for Nick Reiner for the December 14 killing of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner<\/a> is still on the calendar. However, three unknowns still linger in this tragedy that has seen the addiction addled youngest child of the Misery director and his photographer spouse accused of two counts of first-degree murder with \u201cspecial circumstances.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n \n\tThe first is what the 32-year-old\u2019s mental health is evaluated to have been at the time of the fatal attacks, and is he competent to stand trial? In now sealed medical records,<\/a> Nick Reiner is said to have inflicted \u201cmultiple sharp force injuries\u201d on his parents in their Brentwood home on the day of their deaths. The second, depending on what plea the Alan Jackson defended Nick Reiner enters next week, is when and whether there actually will be a trial? And, thirdly and lastly, when will the LA County District Attorney\u2019s office decide if they are going to seek life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the Being Charlie co-writer or the death penalty? <\/p>\n \n\tDA Nathan Hochman said when announcing the charges against Nick Reiner on December 16 that he wanted to discuss the possible choices with the family before coming to any conclusions \u2013 as it is, that many have to occur sooner rather than later. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe are prepared for the arraignment whether it happens or not will be decided by a judge,\u201d Venusse Dunn of the DA\u2019s office told Deadline. \u201cWe are communicating with the victim\u2019s family. As with all victims of crime, we maintain ongoing contact with those affected to keep them informed throughout the legal process and to provide support during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIndeed. \u2013 DP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Bad Bunny performs onstage in LA on March 17, 2025 (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n \n\tNFL<\/a> VS MAGA: BAD BUNNY PLAYS THE SUPER BOWL<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMan, did MAGA lose their sh*t when the NFL, Jay-Z\u2019s Roc Nation, and Apple Music revealed in September that Bad Bunny would be headlining the halftime show at Super Bowl LX<\/a> on February 8. <\/p>\n \n\tIn fact, with Donald Trump and various aides and cabinet members pouring anti-immigrant, ICE threatening and racist fuel on their own fire<\/a>, the MAGA meltdown continues. As NFL chief Roger Goodell found himself in October having to publicly back\u00a0\u201cone of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world\u201d<\/a> being in the Super Bowl spotlight, the now Erika Kirk-run TurningPoint USA have organized their unironically named All-American Halftime Show to counter program Bad Bunny on stage in Santa Clara, CA next month. <\/p>\n \n\tHere\u2019s the thing, MAGA really stepped in it here. <\/p>\n \n\tThe leading contender to sweep this year\u2019s Grammys, the Puerto Rico-born Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio hasn\u2019t shied away from the controversy, nor has Bad Bunny suddenly shut up about his opposition to MAGA and its policies as his one US show of this year looms. <\/p>\n \n\tSet to perform the first all in Spanish Super Bowl set, Bad Bunny is also a Super Bowl vet. He joined JLo and Shakira in their 2020 halftime show in Miami. So, the real question has to be is MAGA opposed to capitalism, football and rewarding success? Asking for 19.8 billion streams worldwide in 2025 alone \u2026or as Bad Bunny said in Spanish on SNL on October 4<\/a>, addressing the issue and the contributions of Latinos to American culture: \u00a0\u201cIf you didn\u2019t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.\u201d \u2013 DP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty<\/p>\n \n\tAMPTP<\/a> VS. WGA, SAG-AFTRA & DGA: NEW RULES, HEALTH MONEY?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tHollywood is still recovering after the historically long writers and actors strikes that defined 2023\u2019s bargaining cycle between the major studios and the above-the-line unions. While the 100-plus-day work stoppages resulted in multiple hard-won contract achievements, they also greatly accelerated a global production contraction that has upended the film and television industry. Nevertheless, the WGA, DGA and SAG-AFTRA will sit down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers early next year to hopefully hammer out a new agreement before the current contracts expire mid-year. <\/p>\n \n\tSAG-AFTRA will head to the bargaining table first in early February. <\/p>\n \n\tPlenty of tantalizing topics, including the encroachment of AI and the pending sale of Warner Bros., are sure to grace the conversation, but they\u2019ll almost certainly take a backseat to the financial realities the guilds are facing right now.<\/p>\n \n\tTo that, the priorities are looking much different than three years ago as all three guilds will need to focus on one thing and one thing only: jobs, jobs, and more jobs. Well, and, relatedly, their dwindling health and pension funds, which we hear are in dire straits after several years of increasing unemployment around town. Deadline exclusively reported last month<\/a> that the AMPTP is willing to offer the guilds a $110M cash infusion to get the funds back in the black, but in return they\u2019re hoping to get the unions to agree to a five-year contract instead of the usual three, aiming to bring more stability to what is, at present, an incredibly unstable industry. Time will tell how things shake out, and most of Tinsel Town will watch these negotiations with bated breath, but don\u2019t expect another 12-round knockout fight in 2026. Just about the only thing that\u2019s certain in Hollywood right now is that no one can afford another strike. \u2013 KC<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tPeople cast their ballots at a vote center in Los Angeles, on November 4, 2025 \u2013 a year ahead of the pivotal 2026 midterms (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrederic J. Brown\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n \n\tTHE MIDTERMS VERDICT ON TRUMP 2.0<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tDemocrats are just a few seats away from taking control of the House, but a world away from actually achieving it. There are still 11 months until the November elections, and any major electoral cycle featuring Donald Trump as a candidate or major player is fraught with unpredictable twists and turns. That won\u2019t stop a year of polling, prognostication and punditry, as news networks and upstarts chase after potential renewed audience interest. The party out of power tends to do very well in a midterm cycle of the president\u2019s second term, but the challenge for media outlets is in explaining the variables this year, including redistricting, new voting restrictions and the potential for post-election challenges. The stakes are whether Trump will have to grapple with a congressional check on his power, but the election also will go a long way toward defining his ultimate legacy. \u2013 TJ<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Gary Oldman & Stephen Colbert<\/a> at Apple TV+ Emmy Awards Celebration for the 2025 Emmy Awards on September 14, 2025 (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n \n\tSTEPHEN COLBERT\u2019S NEXT ACT<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tPink slipped last July by Paramount on a pretty flimsy pretense of cost cutting<\/a> just before David Ellison took over the CBS-parent company, Stephen Colbert host and the Late Night franchise itself will exit the Ed Sullivan Theater and our small screens in May 2026. No one, maybe even Emmy winner Colbert himself, is saying what will come next.<\/p>\n \n\tLooking to be swinging and kicking against the pricks until the very end of his CBS run and clearly not intending to hang up his gloves, Colbert jokingly threw his availability out there in August with a \u201cNetflix, call me. I\u2019m available in June. I will also entertain offers from Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNow, with the former about to jump through various regulatory hoops to get the Colbert-hating Trump administration\u2019s approval on its WB deal, and the latter, well, deep in Melanialand, Netflix and Amazon may not be the immediate next act for the Late Nighter. However, perhaps the best indication of where Colbert could end up (and he will end up somewhere) is what the man himself said a couple of months ago.<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI love creating things and I still want to work with the people I work with. I don\u2019t know how you work with 200 people, 210, something like that, right? It\u2019s an enormous amount of people. I love them. And I want to continue to do that with them to the degree that I can. And I want to find that with other people too. I just love making things,\u201d Colbert said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fact there were two New Year\u2019s ball drops in Times Square this year, one for 2026 and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":491457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[221526,71844,56905,185,19552,7299,69,171,43452,606,211010,4659,198868,1232,206148,15329,49431,118515,43453,13895,21686,67,132,68,66550],"class_list":{"0":"post-491456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-amptp","9":"tag-bad-bunny","10":"tag-caa","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-dana-walden","13":"tag-disney","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-keith-richards","17":"tag-labor","18":"tag-look-ahead-2026","19":"tag-netflix","20":"tag-netflix-wb","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-nick-reiner","23":"tag-paramount","24":"tag-range-media-partners","25":"tag-rob-reiner","26":"tag-rolling-stones","27":"tag-stephen-colbert","28":"tag-super-bowl","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-wbd"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115836125769276682","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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