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| Wednesday, November 4, 2026 |
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Good morning, readers – and see some of you tonight at our 2026 Cynopsis Top Women in Media Awards! Here’s what you need to know:
- Versant Opens Up A Mixed Bag Of Earnings
- Disney Plans To Cut More Workers
- Netflix Leans Into AI For Its Content Recommendation Engine
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| In The News |
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Versant Media, which spun off from Comcast in January, announced a 4% decline in third-quarter revenue on Tuesday. The company largely chalks the loss up to industry-wide declines in the pay TV business.
- On the bright side, Versant reported a 10% increase in what it refers to as platform revenue, or revenue coming from business beyond linear and cable TV, such as digital, streaming and direct-to-consumer products.
- Another bright spot for Versant is distribution. The company reported completing several major distribution deals, effectively securing 75% of network subscribers under contract going into 2028.
- Versant also closed its acquisition of Full Swing last quarter, building on the golf portfolio it already has from its spinoff from Comcast, including Golf Channel and GolfNow. With live sports continuing to gain traction as a competitive differentiator among networks and streaming services, Versant aims to stand out with a wide slate of golf programming.
- CEO Mark Lazarus also took the time to challenge comments made by Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch on Monday that cable news networks are experiencing “viewership fatigue.” Not so for MS Now, said Lazarus, which has reported steady growth among its viewership for several months.
It’s a small workforce after all. Even more Disney layoffs may be coming. The company is apparently planning to cut thousands of jobs and is asking its managers to target 20% in annual cost savings, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
- As Bloomberg reports, the cuts will likely “disproportionately” affect TV channels, as well as theme parks and the movie studio. However, Bloomberg’s sources also indicate that CEO Josh D’Amaro wants to reinvest the savings back into those parts of the business, as well as technology and cruises.
- The news mirrors similar reporting from the Wall Street Journal in early October, which claimed Disney was planning a massive TV restructuring that would result in hundreds of layoffs.
- Disney has already undergone three major rounds of job cuts under D’Amaro, who assumed the role of CEO in March.
The UK film and TV industry is adjusting to new harassment laws that recently took effect as part of the Employment Rights Act. According to Deadline, many production houses have updated their policies to clarify their own duty of care and provide stronger legal protections to victims.
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| Partner content |
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| New & Returning Series |
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For sneak peeks, check out Cynopsis Trailer Park.
Netflix set a release date for the Season 2 premiere of its adult animated series “Blue Eye Samurai.” The show, which has already been renewed for a third season, will return on Jan. 19, 2027.
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| Today’s Premieres |
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A&E: “Alaska State Troopers” Season 10 at 8 p.m.; “Ozark Law” Season 3 at 9 p.m.; “Southern Law” Season 2 at 10 p.m.
Apple TV: “Stick” Season 2
BET: “Church Wives” at 10 p.m.
HBO Max: “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking” Season 3
Hulu: “All’s Fair” Season 2
Netflix: “Anaesthesia”; “Taken: Natalee Holloway”
Prime Video: “The Greatest”
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| Production |
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Ron Howard
Ron Howard will direct the pilot of a series based on “Robocalypse,” the 2011 novel by Daniel H. Wilson. If that title sounds familiar, it’s because a theatrical adaptation has been stuck in development hell since 2010, when Steven Spielberg optioned the book before it was published. The series will be executive produced by Amblin Entertainment, Spielberg’s production company, and Akiva Goldsman (“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”) is attached as showrunner.
Netflix announced a straight-to-series order for “Prep,” a half-hour young adult series adapted from the best-selling novel by Curtis Sittenfeld. BAFTA TV Award-winning screenwriter Nicole Taylor (“One Day”) is attached as writer, showrunner and executive producer along with Gloria Sanchez Productions.
Impossible Dream Entertainment (“Get Out”) and Wall to Wall (“Becoming You”) are co-producing a supernatural mystery series inspired by the novels of author Wendy Webb. Titled “The Invited,” the show will adapt multiple books into a single shared universe, starting with “The End of Temperance Dare” for Season 1. Helen Black (“Time”) and Jeff Howard (“The Haunting of Hill House”) are attached.
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| Tech News You Can Use |
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Netflix is launching a new interface on its streaming platform called AI Discover, with the goal of providing more targeted content recommendations to users based on their mood, interests and other data. According to Netflix, Discover will not be used to make future programming decisions. The feature started rolling out in the US on Tuesday.
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| Coming Up |
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Disney released the official trailer for “Mickey’s Home Alone,” a new holiday special that premieres Thanksgiving Day on Disney Jr. The special will also air on Disney Channel and Freeform during the holiday season, and will be available to stream on Disney+ the day after its debut.
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| Sports Report |
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Disney and WWE are expanding their partnership to bring a couple of major wrestling events to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Disney World. The amusement park will host The John Cena Classic on Dec. 14. That will be followed by an edition of WWE’s crossover event Worlds Collide on Dec. 15 that’s themed for the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday” film. The events represent Disney and WWE expanding their tie-up to include retail and experiences, with the Worlds Collide event doing double duty to promote the new Marvel movie.
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| Ratings |
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During the week of Oct. 12, CBS secured 14 of the top 20 most-watched broadcast shows, recent Nielsen data indicates. Two of the network’s newest premieres, “NCIS: New York” and “Cupertino,” brought in 8.9 million and 9.6 million viewers, respectively.
“The One About Matthew Perry,” the docuseries about the titular “Friends” actor, garnered 9.5 million views in its first weekend on Netflix. It was the streamer’s top English-language television series for the week of Oct. 26. Season 3 of “Nobody Wants This” came in second place with 7.2 million views, and “Below” scored third for its fourth week in the Top 10.
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| Executive Moves |
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Blumhouse Atomic Monster, the film and TV production company owned by Jason Blum and James Wan, is changing its name to Blumhouse Atomic.
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What real-life, Southern-born socialite does Nathan Lane play on “The Gilded Age” (2022-present)?
Email answers to Trivia@Cynopsis.com and include your name, company and city/state (don’t forget!). Only the first four correct responses from each time zone will be included.
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YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA ANSWER
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Whoops! We accidentally reused a question from last week: On “Sesame Street,” what is the name of Elmo’s father? (The answer was Louie.) Thanks to everyone who spotted the error!
Monday’s Trivia Answer: John Turturro, who played Carmine Falcone in “The Batman” (2022), chose not to return for HBO’s “The Penguin” limited series. Who played the character instead? Mark Strong
Congrats to: Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA
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