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| Wednesday, August 19, 2026 |
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Welcome back from the weekend to the media’s first morning read! Here’s what you need to know today:
- Another Director Turns Down HBO’s “Harry Potter” Project
- Stuart Will Fail To Save The Universe For Another Season
- Even More NBA Games Are Coming To Television
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In The News
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Pricey as a Peacock? NBCUniversal’s Peacock is raising its prices for the fourth time in four years, the streamer announced on Tuesday. Starting immediately for new customers – and on or after Sept. 17 for current customers – the ad-supported Peacock Premium tier will increase from $10.99 to $12.99 per month; the Peacock Premium Plus will jump $3 from $16.99 to $19.99 per month; and Peacock Select, which excludes movies, live sports and Peacock originals, will go from $7.99 to $8.99 per month.
- While not a unique move – Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV, Paramount+ and YouTube Premium have all bumped their prices up within the last two years – the timing is strange for Peacock, considering it just reached profitability as of its Q2 earnings.
- Meanwhile, Peacock also recently launched a beta membership program for select Premium and Premium Plus subscribers, which offers a series of exclusive deals and discounts to both partner brands and NBCU events.
- The Takeaway: Trying to entice viewers into a higher subscription tier with retailer perks is a pretty bold strategy for overcoming churn. It also makes sense that Peacock announced this budding membership program first, to soften the blow of these price hikes.
ABC is suing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for challenging broadcast licensing and “The View,” alleging a violation against freedom of speech.
- Earlier this year, the FCC called in the Disney-owned network’s eight broadcast licenses for early renewal. ABC, which is cooperating with the FCC’s requests (albeit unwillingly), claims that the FCC has not ordered license renewals ahead of schedule in more than half a century.
- The FCC initiated a separate proceeding targeting “The View.” The commission argues that the show is not technically a news program and, thus, not exempt from the equal opportunity rule mandating that a program featuring an interview with a political candidate must also offer equal airtime to qualified political candidates from opposing parties.
- The FCC’s proceedings follow the Trump administration’s objections to Disney’s DEI initiatives and TV programming, including a joke that Jimmy Kimmel made about President Trump, who called for ABC’s license to be revoked.
- As a result, ABC argues that the FCC is trying to strongarm the network into emulating programming and editorial decisions that are more palatable to the administration.
- The Takeaway: This particular tiff highlights the growing tension between the federal government and the media and broadcasting industry, including how much control or influence the former should have over the latter.
Mr. Stranger Things Goes To Washington. According to Puck, Netflix now lobbies the federal government more often than any other streaming service or media business in the United States.
- Netflix first launched its own in-house lobbying operation in 2010 but also continued to hire outside help, most frequently Monument Agency. Starting in 2025, the company began spending almost three times as much, outpacing even the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which is the largest trade association associated with movie and TV studios.
- Unlike the MPA, which mostly concerns itself with copyright issues and trade with China, most of Netflix’s lobbying activity between 2010 and 2024 revolved around broadband policy and net neutrality. (Perhaps coincidentally, 2010 also marked the launch of the FCC Open Internet Order, a series of regulations that banned telecom providers from preventing access to competitors such as Netflix.) Since 2025, however, the company has beefed up its lobbying efforts related to tax, trade, consumer interests and antitrust regulations.
- Also worth pointing out is how media powers lobby for and against AI tools, which first started in early 2022. The studios, evidently, are more likely to lobby for the freedom to use AI tools, while labor unions like SAG-AFTRA and the WGA are petitioning the government for stricter regulations.
- The Takeaway: All lobbying activity in the US requires some form of public documentation. But not many of these conversations filter down to the general public – at least not until they inevitably influence larger government policy on a wide range of issues.
Whoops, nevermind. Movie trade organization Cinema United has reversed its opinion on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Although President and CEO Michael O’Leary previously spoke out against the deal, he and other trade org leaders sent an open letter on Tuesday calling for Paramount CEO David Ellison and California Attorney General Rob Bonta to settle the lawsuit.
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New & Returning Series
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For sneak peeks, check out Cynopsis Trailer Park.
Netflix released the premiere date for “East of Eden,” an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s celebrated novel written and executive-produced by Zoe Kazan. The series, which debuts Oct. 1, stars Florence Pugh, Mike Faist and Christopher Abbott.
Gary Oldman in “Slow Horses”
Season 6 of the Emmy Award-winning spy drama “Slow Horses” hits Apple TV on Sept. 16. Alongside series regulars Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden and Kristin Scott Thomas, the latest trailer reveals the return of Olivia Cooke (“House of the Dragon”), who hasn’t appeared since Season 1. Ironically, it will also be the last season for showrunner Will Smith (no, not that one).
“Toxic,” the nonscripted series where Elizabeth Chambers speaks with survivors of domestic abuse and intimate partner abuse, returns to Investigation Discovery with a second season on Sept. 15.
British crime dramedy “Ludwig” premieres its second season in North America on Oct. 13. The show was co-produced by BritBox and the BBC and stars David Mitchell (“That Mitchell and Webb Look”).
South Korean ‘70s political thriller “Made in Korea” launches its second season on Hulu and Disney+ Sept. 9.
All six episodes of “The Girls: A Kloé Kardashian Project,” the reality star’s newest nonscripted series, premiere on Hulu and Disney+ Aug. 21.
Meanwhile, “Team Moms: Baseball,” produced by Kim Kardashian and the makers of “Love Island,” premieres on Paramount+ Sept. 24. The reality show follows parents whose sons attend a prestigious baseball training school in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The five-part docudrama “Bucks County, USA,” co-directed by Robert May and Barry Levinson, is available to stream on the PBS app starting Sept. 20.
TODAY’S PREMIERES
A&E: “Booked: First Day In” Season 5 at 9 p.m.
Paramount+: “Average Joe” Season 2
TLC: “Untold Stories of the ER” Season 16 at 9 p.m.; “ER: Caught on Camera” at 10 p.m.
Nat Geo: “Lion” at 8 p.m.
NBC: “The Wall” Season 6
Netflix: “Love is Blind: UK” Season 3
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| Partner content |
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Production
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Netflix picked up a series order for “Weight to Date,” a dating docuseries that follows single people during and after undergoing extreme weight loss. It marks the first deal made by the Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) since the company went independent from Sony Pictures Television a few weeks ago.
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Coming Up
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MTV announced the nominations for this year’s Video Music Awards, which will air live on CBS and Paramount+ Sept. 27. Madonna and Taylor Swift led the pack with 11 and 9 nominations, respectively.
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Distribution
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In advance of this year’s Halloween season – or maybe in response to this year’s Summerween trend? – Tubi announced the launch of a new yearlong “Terror on Tubi” hub for horror aficionados. The hub incorporates Tubi’s existing 13,000 hours of horror content as well as upcoming original feature films and creator exclusive series.
The American Association of Professional Baseball has added Sports Illustrated’s FAST channel, SI TV, to its list of broadcast partners for the next 20 games in the remainder of the 2026 season.
TV network Premier Sports secured exclusive rights to the IRL Rugby League World Cup in the UK and Ireland. The event will kick off on Oct. 15 in Australia.
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Ratings
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June was a huge month for Fox, the latest Nielsen Gauge report confirms. Thanks to the 2026 FIFA World Cup boosting viewership on Fox affiliates by 73% and Fox Sports 1 by 232%, the network saw the largest gain in share of TV in June compared to May. However, the company still trails slightly behind Netflix, NBCUniversal and Versant (which Nielsen still reports together due to the networks’ combined ad sales), Disney and YouTube.
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Executive Moves
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Adam Borstein signs on as the general manager of WatchTime Studios, a YouTube video production studio within Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson’s Beast Industries.
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In Memoriam
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ESPN Co-Founder Bill Rasmussen died at age 93 of complications from Parkinson’s disease, the sports network announced on Tuesday. He first launched the channel in 1979 with his son Scott before moving on to other businesses a year later.
Scottish TV actor Phyllida Law died on July 27 at age 94, her manager confirmed to press. She accrued 140 credits, most in television, and continued to work regularly through the 2010s. She is survived by her two daughters, Oscar winner Emma Thompson and Olivier Award nominee Sophie Thompson.
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On “The Donna Reed Show” (1958-1966), what profession was Donna’s on-screen husband, Alex Stone (played by Carl Betz), employed in?
(Email answers to trivia@Cynopsis.com and include your name, company and city. Answers limited to four per time zone.)
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Yesterday’s Trivia Answer
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A Season 5 episode of “The Good Wife” (2009-2016) featured a ripped-from-the-headlines storyline about a TV show ripping off another artist’s cover of a popular rap song. What real-world TV show was credibly accused of doing the same thing in 2013? “Glee,” which musician Jonathan Coulton accused of ripping off his “Baby Got Back” cover.
Congrats to: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC; Stephen Warren-Northeastern University/Boston, MA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA
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