Many of Netflix's biggest critically acclaimed hits have been the products of its multiyear production deals with noted directors like David Fincher and Shawn Levy. In the past few weeks, though, the streamer has brought some of those partnerships to an end in a way that feels indicative of a larger strategic shift. With rival studios Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery on the verge of a megamerger that will reshape the entertainment landscape, Netflix is clearly thinking about how it can continue to hold its own in the ongoing streaming wars. But as the company charts its path forward, its plan to court subscribers might not put so much em …

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Dish-owned Sling TV will no longer be offering its Sling Pass feature that allowed people to buy a single day of cable TV programming at a time, as reported by The Desk.

The feature was announced last year and offered a day pass, a weekend pass, and a week-long pass option to be able to watch channels like ESPN and CNN without a full-month cable subscription. But soon after it launched, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery sued Sling TV over Sling Pass, though a federal judge ruled against Disney in its request for a preliminary injunction to block the feature.

"Sling was built to give our customers the ultimate control over their entertainme …

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On Monday, Variety reported that RoseBerry Media is recutting episodes of the Australian soap opera Neighbours "into microdramas." These clips will be available on Epis, a short-form vertical video streaming platform. Though Neighbours ran for 41 seasons from 1985 to 2025, at launch, RoseBerry is only recutting two storylines from the late aughts focused on a character played by the now-internationally famous Margot Robbie.

In a statement about the project, RoseBerry cofounder / CEO Guy Hameiri described Neighbours as "an iconic piece of television history" that's well suited to be adapted for vertical viewing with the company's proprietar …

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Do we really need a new version of Carrie? That's the question that plagues any attempt to reimagine the classic horror tale. Stephen King's 1974 novel remains one of his most iconic, and the film version from Brian De Palma and Sissy Spacek two years later remains unsurpassed, despite a handful adaptations that followed in the ensuing decades. Any new iteration of the story bears the burden of proving why it needs to exist in the first place. Mike Flanagan's new Carrie series on Prime Video manages to do exactly that: It not only captures the terror and drama that has made the story so enduring, but updates it in a way that feels perfectly …

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Paramount is appointing a new co-CEO ahead of the close of its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Ynon Kreiz, previously Mattel's chairman and CEO, will be joining Paramount to lead alongside chairman and CEO David Ellison.

According to Paramount, "Ellison will focus on the company's long-term strategy, creative vision and direction, including its talent relationships, strategic partnerships, technology and capital allocation. Kreiz will focus on the company's day-to-day management and integration of the combined businesses." The combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will "report jointly" to Ellison and Kreiz.

Kreiz …

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There was a call to boycott Disney last fall. The owner of the ABC network had taken Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air over comments Kimmel made about responses to Charlie Kirk's murder, sending free speech proponents into a frenzy.

Those free speech proponents include me, who, as a reporter, has clear stakes in protecting that right. Although I was on board with halting support for a company I felt had acted wrongfully, truly boycotting Disney proved harder than I expected.

Disney's ubiquity

Canceling Disney+ was simple but threw a hefty wrench into my evening routine. I tend to end many weekdays laughing at comforting sitcom reruns and adult animation. I usually associate Disney with princesses, kids' movies, and, more recently, comic heroes. But Disney also owns Hulu, which exclusively streamed many of my favorite shows for unwinding at the time, like American Dad, Futurama, Living Single, Fresh Off the Boat, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 

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The new Fire TV Stick 4K will be a little easier to set up than Amazon's previous 4K streaming sticks since it no longer requires a power adapter. You can power the device directly from your TV's USB port, like the updated entry-level Fire TV Stick Amazon launched earlier this year. The Fire TV Stick 4K, available starting today for $59.99, runs on Amazon's refreshed TV OS and includes Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and Bluetooth Low Energy.

Amazon's also simplifying its streaming stick lineup, which now includes four devices instead of five: the Fire TV Stick HD, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and Fire TV Cube. The new Fire TV Stick 4K …

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