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What a Health Care Crisis Looks Like on the Ground
In South Los Angeles, ER patients are cared for in a gift shop, in tents, and even outdoors. And that’s before the crushing Medicaid cuts.
🔮 The 4️⃣ emerging options for the Manchester United job
It's already a crisis!After the crushing 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League, the Manchester United hot seat is under intense scrutiny.With an apparent rift with some senior players and results...
Bose Is Buying Skullcandy. It’s Not as Weird as It Sounds
By keeping Skullcandy in Park City, Utah, Bose is betting that skate cred and budget pricing will reach listeners it’s been missing.
HCA Healthcare to Host Eighth Annual “Crush the Crisis” National Prescription Drug Take Back Day - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
October 21, 2026 – HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA), one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, today announced it will host its eighth annual “Crush the Crisis” national prescription drug take […]
The Elizabeth Holmes documentary is crushing it at the box office. See how much it's made so far.
Nathan Fielders nearly three-hour documentary about disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes is running up numbers at the box office
'You Can See Everything' is crushing it at the box office
Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder have a hit with their new film, "You Can See Everything." It's the highest-grossing documentary of the year.
The Mills-Pingree machine crushed small business in Maine. Hannah Pingree will finish the job.
To protect us against more bureaucratic overreach by Augusta, we need Bobby Charles as our next governor.
Northwest Side Burglary Spree 'Crushing' For Small Businesses Trying To Stay Afloat
A group of men drove a stolen Kia across the Northwest Side Wednesday morning, where they targeted at least 23 businesses, police and business owners said.
Rams Make Drastic Kicker Change After Crushing Loss to Bills
The Los Angeles Rams waived kicker Harrison Mevis and claimed kicker Blake Grupe off waivers from the Jets. The post Rams Make Drastic Kicker Change After Crushing Loss to Bills appeared first on LA Sports Report.
Eagles grades by position after crushing loss in London
Here are Dave Zangaro’s position grades after an awful loss to the Jaguars in London.
Annette Taddeo targets Blaise Ingoglia with corruption claims in new ad for CFO race
'I’ll lower the insurance rates crushing our families and make sure guilty politicians go to prison.'
Marlon Brando had key connection to Disney legend’s mom — whom Don Rickles also ‘had a crush’ on (exclusive)
“He’d go, ‘Julie! Admit it! You love me!’” Joe Rohde tells EW on stage at New York Comic Con.
Jim Cramer Weighs MasTec’s (MTZ) Business Against the Selling Pressure
Toward the end of the October 6 lightning round of Mad Money, a caller asked about MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ). Jim Cramer acknowledged its operating performance but remained reluctant to buy, as he said: This thing has been crushed. I mean, it’s been crushed. And you know what? It’s doing pretty well. It’s not even that […]
Huskies Crushed by Hawkeyes 41-24
Quarterback Elijah Brown led UW’s only three touchdown drives while filling in for an injured Demond Williams. His performance was the lone positive on a night when Iowa walked into Husky Stadium and rocked Washington 41-24. Friday night’s outing was Washington’s worst performance of the season thus far, and there is plenty of reason to […]
Medical Debt Is Crushing Hospital Patients in Los Angeles. Public Health Officials May Have a Fix.
In Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, a new system could screen hospital patients for financial aid, preventing hundreds of thousands from getting bills they can’t pay.
Medical debt Is crushing hospital patients in L.A County. Health officials may have a fix
In Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, a new system could screen hospital patients for financial aid, preventing hundreds of thousands from getting bills they can’t pay.
Medical debt is crushing hospital patients in LA. Health officials may have a fix
In Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous, a new system could screen hospital patients for financial aid, preventing hundreds of thousands from getting bills they can't pay.
UCF Must Get Passing Game Clicking Ahead of Oklahoma State
After a crushing collapse against Houston, the Knights must ignite their stagnant downfield attack to match a high-powered Oklahoma State offense led by Heisman hopeful Drew Mestemaker.
Skydance's $80 Billion Debt: Warner Bros., Paramount Owner's Reality
The combined company now has the scale to take on Netflix and Disney, but little room for error as it balances massive spending on film and TV with servicing its crushing financial obligations.
Steelers Reunite With Super Bowl Champion as Injuries Test Depth
Reeling from a crushing divisional loss and a depleted secondary, Pittsburgh fortifies its front seven by reuniting with veteran edge rusher KJ Henry to stabilize a thinning roster.
Opinion | Meta Is Crushing Small Online Retailers
Meta is crushing small online businesses by charging more for less effective ads, a sign of its extraordinary grip on the market.
Texas A&M Still Outside Coaches Poll After Dominant Arkansas Win
Texas A&M crushes Arkansas 34-7 behind a dominant rushing attack and strong defense, but the Aggies remain outside the latest US LBM Coaches Poll.
Jets fan confidence rises despite loss to Lions
The Jets might have lost in Week 3 to the Detroit Lions, but fans took real positives from the game. That statement is true if you believe our latest SB Nation Reacts poll. Fan confidence in the team fell to 48 percent a week ago in the aftermath of the Jets’ crushing Week 2 overtime […]
Two kickoff returns for touchdowns help FAU crush Texas Southern
Leonard Farrow returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in the first quarter, one on the opening play of the game, to help the Owls post an easy win in Boca Raton.
Jim Cramer Likes the Nat-Gas Liquids Business and Highlights This Stock
During the episode aired on September 28, Cramer mentioned Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD), as he was highlighting the disruptions and operational bottlenecks plaguing infrastructure in the Gulf. He remarked: And I like the nat-gas liquids business, which is just crushing it in America because all the problems in the Gulf. It’s Enterprise Product Partners, […]
Penn State exposed? Winners and losers from Northwestern's stunning rout
Northwestern's New Ryan Field opened in style as the Wildcats crushed Penn State, exposing major concerns for Matt Campbell's team.
👊Over 10 GOALS: La Rojita tore San Marino apart
The Spain U21 national team delivered a true rout after crushing San Marino 0-13 at the San Marino Stadium, emphatically putting their qualification for the final phase of the European Championship in...
Seedy K’s Peerless Pigskin Prognostications: Week V
Back in the day, when more pliable and adventurous, I probably would have ventured into the middle of that crush at B & B, if only to hear Red Clay Strays. But I have more awareness in my dotage of personal space and transmittable afflictions, music junkie that I remain. But, believe me, Brandon Coleman, […]
The Witcher 3 Remastered Crushes GPUs With Path Tracing, but Free Mod Claws Back Up to 30% Performance
Following its surprise announcement during this year's gamescom Opening Night Live, The Witcher 3 Remastered is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. While the number of improvements to gameplay is staggering and well thought out, what most were looking forward to was the visual uplift, which includes very demanding path tracing support on PC. Thankfully, a mod has already come to the rescue, as it did after the launch of the Next-Gen update, optimizing both ray tracing and path tracing for better performance with minimal loss of quality. "Faster RT/PT in The Witcher […]
Braves Must Crush Phillies In Atlanta To End Playoff Ghosts
The Braves face the Phillies again at Truist Park. A look at the stats, the history, and why Atlanta needs to win this series at home.
Businesses in NYC's East Harlem say MTA's endless construction is crushing them: ‘Total brutes’
Ohio farmers are getting crushed by our politicians’ failure to fight for us
I’m Joe Stimmell. I am a lifelong resident of Ashland County and farmer of more than 20 years, where I raise 25 head of beef cattle and farm about 700 acres of corn, soybeans, and small grains with my...
Commentary: Ohio farmers are getting crushed by our politicians’ failure to fight for us
I’m Joe Stimmell. I am a lifelong resident of Ashland County and farmer of more than 20 years, where I raise 25 head of beef cattle and farm about 700 acres of corn, soybeans, and small grains with my brother and uncle. I am unaffiliated with any party or candidate. I’ve been through tough times, […]
As soaring energy prices crush businesses, France rolls out a new $500 million aid package, including help with commuting and heating costs
Fuel prices that have spiked since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28 are dealing a hard blow to small businesses across Europe.
Commentary: Politicians continue campaign of dehumanizing trans people as affordability crisis crushes families
Forget about the disastrous war nobody wanted, or your wallet drained by crippling expenses. Instead, be afraid of a small, defenseless community the GOP has scapegoated and reject as extremist any candidate who dares acknowledge their humanity.
Patriots Announce Crushing Injury Update on Star Offensive Lineman
The New England Patriots are set to be without a key piece of their offensive line after making an important roster move on Tuesday. The post Patriots Announce Crushing Injury Update on Star Offensive Lineman appeared first on HEAVY.
Construction halted on Ken Griffin’s $2.5 billion Miami headquarters
A drilling rig toppled at the Citadel construction site, crushing three vehicles and prompting Miami-Dade County to stop work pending an investigation.
Rockstar Games' New Modding Policy Crushes Influencers' Dreams for Monetized GTA 6 RP Servers
Rockstar Games has outlined its policy for modding ahead of Grand Theft Auto 6's release, and it may crush the dreams of some would-be entrepreneurs.
CeeDee Lamb crushes Washington again
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb registered eight receptions for 153 yards and two touchdowns on nine targets in Week 2
Falcons searching for answers after crushing loss to Carolina
Frustration boiled over on the Falcons’ sideline during a 34-3 loss to the Panthers, but head coach Kevin Stefanski insists Atlanta’s locker room remains resilient despite mounting quarterback and offensive struggles.
Quarterback roster decisions define 2026 college football season
Decisions by coaches to retain mediocre QBs are crushing their 2026 seasons. Miami paying up for Darian Mensah is proving to be a great investment
Indiana Rolls Again With Shutout Win Over Western Kentucky
No. 4 Indiana keeps rolling. The defending national champions overcame a slow start Saturday afternoon before taking over in the second half and crushing Western Kentucky 38-0 at Memorial Stadium. The victory moved the Hoosiers to 3-0 and extended their winning streak to 19 games. The final score made the game look easy, but Indiana…
49ers news: Kyle Shanahan's 'crap' admission about Australia trip
The San Francisco 49ers delivered a dominant performance in Week 1 . San Francisco won a huge divisional matchup against LA, crushing them 27-7 in Australia . One 49ers coach was willing to admit that the transition back to a normal schedule was quite challenging for the team. Shanahan admitted that he “felt like crap” throughout the entire weekend […] The post 49ers news: Kyle Shanahan's 'crap' admission about Australia trip appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Valor Mortis Costs $40 Because of 'The Craziest Fall in the History of This Business'
Promising first-person action soulslike Valor Mortis has a confirmed $40 price point, which was settled upon by its publisher because of the fall crush fueled by GTA 6.
Ed Sheeran wants to stay out of politics. By quitting his tour, his support acts have exposed the hollowness of neutrality
By standing behind support act Macklemore, who was removed from the tour for his vocal support of Palestine, these artists are demonstrating the self-sacrifice necessary to stand against those crushing free speech
Germany: Chancellor Merz tries to rally his troops
Following the CDU's crushing defeat in the Saxony-Anhalt election, many are expressing doubts about Chancellor and party leader Friedrich Merz. But they don't appear to have any viable alternative.
Tigers Crush Jays
Tigers 10 Blue Jays 1 That was less than fun. We’ve done well on bullpen days, but the problem with bullpen days is if it doesn’t go to plan, you can’t really change on the fly. If a pitcher is having a bad day, you really have to use him anyway. Especially if it is […]
Dodgers Suffer Crushing Loss, Sullying Josue De Paula’s Big Day
The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered a 6-4 loss Sunday, spoiling top prospect Josue De Paula's first MLB home run.
Oregon freefalls in latest US LBM Coaches poll after loss
After the crushing loss at Oklahoma State, the Ducks take a massive drop in the US LBM Coaches poll.
Five-star Brighton crush 10-man Coventry
Brighton dealt 10-man Coventry a crushing 5-0 defeat to condemn them to a fourth straight Premier League loss on Sunday. The promoted Sky Blues have lost those games without scoring a goal and remain the only side in the league still to pick up a point.
Five-star Brighton crush 10-man Coventry
Brighton thrashed 10-man Coventry 5-0 on Sunday to move into fourth place in the Premier League and leave Frank Lampard's side rooted to the bottom of the table.Lampard's men are the only Premier League team without a point this season.
Rosalind Eleazar crushes 'risqué' role as Chris Rock's 'Misty Green'
TORONTO – Chris Rock draws laughs when he admits that he “likes a messy woman.” Casting for one in a movie can be serious business.
Lisa Jarvis: Healthcare costs have small businesses in an impossible bind
The healthcare affordability crisis is crushing everyone, but it has become downright calamitous for small businesses. Survey after survey after survey shows that employers expect healthcare costs to rise nearly
Will California progressivism crush Newsom presidential hopes?
Gavin Newsom leaves office in a few months, allowing him to devote all of his time to a 2028 presidential run. The question is whether he can sell a progressive agenda outside the comfortable confines of California.
Brewers explode for 20 runs as playoff ticket becomes official
The Brewers are officially headed back to October after crushing the Reds 20-0, but Milwaukee has its sights set on a much bigger prize.
Scientists got diamond's melting point wrong by more than 1,000 degrees, crushing new laser experiment reveals
Scientists blasted diamonds with lasers to get the best measurement of the mineral's melting point yet. The new, more accurate numbers could help improve fusion experiments and studies of giant planets.
The Mathematician Crushed Between OpenAI and Anthropic Over a Math Problem
Tristan Buckmaster was on the path toward an important proof when one of the A.I. giants used its staggering resources to get there first.
Brewers' Contreras Reaches Major Home Run Milestone
The Milwaukee backstop powered a dominant offensive surge against Chicago, crushing a two-run blast to secure triple digits and cement his status as the roster's premier power threat.
Scientists sent a robot two miles below California and found a bigfin squid; it was the first live Northeast Pacific sighting
Two miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, in a world of near total darkness and crushing pressure, a remotely operated vehicle glided silently through the water. Its cameras were scanning the deep for the strange and the seldom-seen when something extraordinary appeared on its screen.
Clemson Continues to Fall
Clemson continues to fall as they suffer a crushing defeat to LSU 51-10 Saturday night. It was the outcome many expected, but it looked much worse than we could’ve imagined. Dabo Swinney’s team looked completely outmatched, especially in the trenches. This was the largest deficit the program has faced in Swinney’s tenure. Lane Kiffin’s team …
Penn State Opens as Large Favorite Over Temple
Penn State faced Marshall as a 23.5-point favorite in week one, crushing expectations with a 45-0 victory. They have now opened as Temple with the same line – as a 23.5-point favorite in week two over the Owls. The Nittany Lions kicked off the Matt Campbell era with a satisfying shutout victory, with strong performances […]
Athletic Bilbao crush Simeone's flat Atletico
Athletic Bilbao thumped Atletico Madrid 3-0 in La Liga on a miserable Saturday afternoon for Diego Simeone's side.On Sunday, La Liga leaders Barcelona visit Valencia looking to move clear of Real Madrid, who lost 1-0 at Real Betis on Friday, among other fixtures. rbs/pb/dmc
Athletic Bilbao crush Simeone's flat Atletico
Athletic Bilbao thumped Atletico Madrid 3-0 in La Liga on a miserable Saturday afternoon for Diego Simeone's side.On Sunday La Liga leaders Barcelona visit Valencia looking to move clear of Real Madrid, who lost 1-0 at Real Betis on Friday, among other fixtures. rbs/pb
“Health Will Always Be The Focus”: Satou Sabally Faces Crushing Blow Just Days Before FIBA World Cup
Satou Sabally will no longer play in the remainder of this WNBA season after her second concussion. Sabally had a nasty head injury during a matchup against the Aces, after she was hit in the head by NaLyssa Smith. Sabally exited the game for a while but then returned, which made fans believe that she [...]
Rockies Suffer Crushing 7-6 Loss to Cardinals
The Colorado Rockies had a win against the St. Louis Cardinals in the palm of their hand, but it slipped through their fingers.
Jays Crush Royals
Blue Jays 9 Royals 2 Let’s get the bad news out of the way off the start. Jameson Taillon came out of the game after the second inning with right elbow discomfort. Why is it always the throwing arm that gets the discomfort? Oh right, because they are doing something very unnatural with the throwing […]
15 discouraging hours with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and 10 brilliant ones with He Who Watches
In the last few weeks, while playing some video games that I might review, I emailed two cries for help. I sent the first to a rep for Capcom, confessing that the company’s samurai game Onimusha Way of the Sword (out today for PC and console) was crushing me. “Feels like I’m playing ‘hard’ mode, not ‘normal,’” I wrote. “And I don’t want to have to knock it down to “story”. I’m exploring, trying to level my gear, but these two-phase boss fights with no mid-fight checkpoints are brutal.” I wagered I was only about halfway through the game, if that. I wasn’t sure I could keep up with the steepening difficulty curve. Was I missing something? Then, on Monday, I took some photos of some puzzles that were baffling me in the mind-bending He Who Watches (out now on PC), wrote out lengthy descriptions of how I’d been trying to solve them and asked Bobby Vanden, the game’s solo developer, for a nudge in the right direction. I told Vanden I’d spent hours on these puzzles. “I’m stuck in triplicate,” I told him. Could he tell me if the solutions I was attempting were even on the right track? I didn’t mention that the puzzles—coupled with major time pressures from other work—were stressing me out so much that playing the game was giving me headaches. This double dose of panic was unusual. I’m used to managing a workload full of reporting and reviewing, used to a crowded schedule and the need to stay calm amid the bustle. But I was stressed about these games. No one was forcing me to review them, nor even play them. I’d simply found them interesting enough to start, hoped they’d be interesting enough to write about and I’d sunk hours into them assuming I’d made the right call. Suddenly, however, I felt trapped. I was emailing for a way out. Above: This guy took me about an hour to beat. The feedback I got from Capcom confirmed my fears. They didn’t say it, but I will: Onimusha Way of the Sword is not for me. It’s a brutally hard game in need of a normal difficulty level. It’s a game that spikes so severely during its abundant boss fights—yet offers such flawed ways to improve when outside of them—that it feels like a bait-and-switch. In the new Onimusha, you play as famed samurai Musashi Miyamoto, aided by a magical soul-absorbing gauntlet that is possessed by a lady who offers advice. (Way of the Sword is a continuation of Capcom’s long-dormant Onimusha series, but that set-up had me wondering if the company was cribbing from their ill-fated Bionic Commando reboot; read about “wife-arm” when you get a chance). Way of the Sword is partially set in 17th century Kyoto, an explorable city where Miyamoto can fight demons, help civilians and eventually rescue ghostly dogs. The city evolves over time, with new mini adventures and obtainable loot on offer, all feeding into systems that promise to upgrade your gear and sword-fighting skills. Upgrades, however, are so incremental as to be imperceptible, causing the exploration of Kyoto to feel like inconsequential busywork. From that hub, players can go on linear missions into forests and old temples, where they will encounter many of the game’s tough bosses. Combat in Way of the Sword is akin to many modern melee games. Players are asked to mix attacks with dodges and parries. They’re encouraged to deplete an enemy’s stamina bar in order to do greater damage to its health bar. The old Onimusha games’ signature move was the issen, a counter-attack so sudden it’s all but pre-emptive. You strike just as they begin to strike toward you, beating them to the cut. By definition, the issen is a high risk move, leaving you wide open to pain. It feels risky in the game, especially against bosses, who can maul you in just a few blows. A game might train you to perform an issen well by offering a variety of lesser enemies who are not as tough as the boss but get close. Or it might offer a toehold against bosses by saving or checkpointing the player’s progress when a boss’ first health bar has been destroyed and before the second health bar appears. It might offer the less skilled player a chance to over-level their character, should the player simply commit to playing through its optional sidequests. Way of the Sword does none of this. Fighting its trivially easy grunt enemies and then its ferociously adept bosses is like playing a game of chess where I’ve got a rook, while the opposing side is all pawns and five queens. Bosses simply don’t checkpoint. You may be able to clear a boss’ first phase without taking much damage. Good for you. Do it again, every time you fail the second phase. As for the the central Kyoto hub, I kept pace with all of its added side activities and never felt like I was overpowered. Bosses could still easily buckle me. The new Onimusha, I concluded, is just too discouraging to keep playing. The advice I got from Capcom had been well-intentioned. They reminded me of the game’s various systems. They alerted me to an optional assist that flashes recommended button inputs (basically: counter this move; dodge that move). It was a little helpful. So was dropping down to “story mode,” which I tried last night. Story mode turns on those button prompts by default. It makes countering and dodging way too easy, nearly automatic. I don’t consider myself a master of action games like these, but I’ve cleared the likes of God of War, Stellar Blade, Star Wars Jedi and others of sub-Sekiro difficulty and had a fun time doing so. Not here. Not yet. Unless they patch Onimusha: Way of the Sword and add a middle difficulty or just checkpoint the damn bosses when they’re between health bars, my streak of loving Capcom games released in 2026 will likely end at two. It’s a shame, because I was having a good time finding those ghostly dogs. And then there’s He Who Watches, a phenomenal first person puzzle game with Portal vibes, except instead of a portal gun you’ve got a magical bow that shoots one arrow that can activate switches or be used to drag blocks. The twist is an actual twist: you can also walk on walls and the ceiling, reorienting gravity as you do, thereby placing blocks onto those other surfaces. Walking on walls and ceilings to solve problems is really the best thing. Would that I could in reality. He Who Watches consists of locked-room challenges, each brief enough to only require about a minute to actually solving, though it will take five, 10, eventually 30 minutes to figure out said solutions. They are not obvious! It’s a game of layered mechanics and shocking solutions. For example, see if you can follow this: You can drag a block to a wall. Then you can walk on the wall, which now feels like the floor, and drag that block across the wall. Later, back on the floor, you might realize you can look up. The block is still on the wall, stuck to it. You can shoot your magic arrow to its underside. Doing so creates a tether, so that you can yank the block off the wall and carry it, as if it were a balloon, into the spot where you need it to be to solve the puzzle. Here, watch Vanden explain some of the game’s basics in this launch trailer: As with any great puzzle game, the solutions to He Who Watches’ puzzles elicit relief and amazement. Oh my god, that worked! I didn’t even think that could be possible! Learning to solve the game’s puzzles feels like learning magic. But, oh, does the game get hard. Its Steam reviews, mostly glowing, are full of players remarking how quickly He Who Watches made them sweat. Wrote one: “loving this one already although my brain is hurting!” Wrote another: “As you get further in the game it feels like you need an IQ level of at least 120+.” Vanden has shown some mercy. Each locked room puzzle includes an optional junior version of the puzzle, meant to teach you. Difficulty nevertheless ramps severely. By the time I was emailing Vanden for help, I was struggling to even clear one of the hint puzzles. When I messaged him, my stress was exacerbated by strange things I’d found in the game’s various hubs: suspicious passageways, odd blocks and some intriguing locked doors. These were hints of secrets, I realized, yet I sensed I needed to play further into the game to understand them. I was stuck, but I wanted to see the rest. Vanden offered to give me the exact solutions, to solve those three puzzles for me, but first he gave four nudges. Three were for the specific puzzles, but his best hint was for all and ultimately proved to be a terrific life lesson: go back a bit, he suggested. Do the puzzles right before those. They were teaching you something. Focus on what their lesson was. Don’t rush, in other words. Recognize what you’ve accomplished. Build off of that. I did so. I absorbed the lessons. I saw those three tough puzzles in a new light. I solved one the night after he wrote back, another the morning after. I left a third for another time. I didn’t need it and I wanted to plunge deeper into the game, closer to the moment when I was sure I could start unlocking those secret doors. My head stopped hurting, too. He Who Watches feels special. It’s got more challenges, and I’m undeterred. It’s also nice that its puzzles don’t have a surprise second health bar. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: In brief… 🎮 Ilari Kuittinen, co-founder of Helsinki-based Housemarque (Super Stardust HD, Resogun, Returnal) has stepped down from his studio, after a 31-year run, saying he’s “ taking a rare and well-deserved breather.” Sony purchased Housemarque in 2021, and the studio released its newest game, Saros, earlier this year. Trend-watch: Sony-owned Insomniac saw its founder Ted Price retire in early 2025, after a 30-year run. Sony-owned Sucker Punch saw its co-founder Brian Fleming step down in late 2025, after a 28-year run. 👀 Savvy Games Group chief Brian Ward is stepping down from the Saudi-government-backed games conglomerate, Bloomberg reports. No word on a long-term successor yet, nor if this augurs any closer integration between Savvy and Electronic Arts. EA was purchased by a consortium led by Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, in early August. 💿 Square Enix has denied a Japanese media report that the company was planning to go private. In very different Square Enix news, the company revealed that the physical version of Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, the April 2027 finale of its radical remakes of FFVII, will include just one disc in its case, requiring a download for the rest. The first two FFVII remakes in the trilogy shipped on two discs apiece. While Square hasn’t commented on the reason why, a feature here in Game File last month broke down the processes and costs for physical games. The expense of a second disc comes out of the game publisher’s cut of each copy. Square could be saving in excess of a dollar a copy with this move. 🟥 Grand Theft Auto IV’s 26-minute ’‘extended look” gameplay showcase that premiered on Netflix last week—and was exclusive to the platform for six hours—drew 31.1 million views in its first four days, the streamer announced. (Netflix calculates views as total viewed hours divided by runtime; excludes replays). Compared to YouTube: The version that later premiered on Rockstar Games’ YouTube channel is sitting at 22.6 million views after seven days (YouTube’s more liberal counting system tallies anyone who viewed even just the first few second.) Compared to other Netflix mega-events: Last year, Stranger Things season 5’s first four episodes, which debuted together, drew a record 59.6 million views in their first few days on Netflix. For more of a live event type of comparison, in 2024, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match drew 65 million concurrent streams as it happened; Netflix didn’t release live numbers for the GTA premiere. ☁️ Microsoft is changing the way it charges for cloud gaming, from an all-you-can-play offer for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, to caps for the subscription’s tiers (15 hours per month at the Ultimate tier), with the option to buy more hours in bulk beyond that. The company also said it will sell batches of cloud gaming time to non-Game Pass subscribers, details TBA. Microsoft does not release figures for cloud game usage, but said its changes would impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers. That implies a small portion of its subscribers exceed the 15-hour monthly mark. Cloud gaming offers the promise of playing games without the need for console or PC hardware, as the graphics, sound and controls are all transmitted via a streaming connection. Microsoft notes that its cloud gaming service can be used for a range of things, including Xbox One players using it to play newer-gen Xbox Series games via streaming; and people playing games via streaming, sans any console, “in markets where consoles are less available or affordable.” (That latter use case could even be relevant in Xbox’s home market soon, as console prices keep rising.) Take Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick recently told investors he expects game-streaming tech, which has been only lightly adopted by gamers for over a decade, to be widely used within three years. 🇺🇸 The Trump administration has published multiple agenda-driven web video games to the White House’s website. One called Build The Wall partially clones Tetris as it asks players to build a wall to stop a “zombie border siege.” While actual Tetris involves clearing lines and basically not building a wall, the Trump-backed game omits the line-clearing aspect (and omits the fun as well). On Instagram, Tetris’ official license holders reacted by stating: “At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them. To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we’re grateful to have you in our community. P.S. The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall.’ P.P.S.: We take copyright infringement very seriously.” Item 3: The week ahead: Tuesday, September 8 Game releases: Mewgenics (consoles; already out on PC) is an engrossing tactical combat game (with cats). It is getting its console port right after the release of a Star Wars tactics game and ahead of the late September launch of a Fire Emblem–a bumper crop for the genre. Wanderburg (PC) is an auto-shooting game like Vampire Survivors, but you’re a castle on wheels Event: Nintendo airs a 30-minute Nintendo Direct (10am ET) focused on The Legend of Zelda’s 40th Anniversary. A full unveiling of the upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time is expected. Will they also show footage from next year’s live action movie? Tease the next big 3D Zelda? Add Link to Mario Kart World? Shadow-drop a new Tingle game? Wednesday, September 9 Event: Nintendo again! On this day, they’re planning to air a 45-minute Nintendo Direct (10am ET) focused on games heading to Switch 2 this winter. Followed by about an hour of gameplay demoed by the company’s Treehouse team. The September Nintendo Directs are always some of the year’s biggest. The 2025 edition included announcements of several major 2026 Switch/Switch 2 games: Pokémon Pokopia, Mario Tennis Fever, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave. Plus the return of the Virtual Boy. Friday, September 11 Game release: EA Sports NHL 27 (PlayStation, Xbox) is a hockey game. There are so few that an indie studio that had been making wacky sci-fi first-person shooters just announced that, hey, we’re going to fill a void and make a hockey game for PC.
Detroit Tigers Blow Another Big Lead in Walk-Off Loss
A five-run cushion evaporated in an instant after Brayan Rocchio’s stunning grand slam silenced Detroit, setting the stage for a crushing late-inning collapse against the Guardians.
The Fierce Battle For Kids’ Eyeballs...Plus Two “Devils” Face Off
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) During the week of this report, Spider-Man: Brand New Day hit theaters and went on to become one of the biggest films of all time. So, you know what that means! It’s time for a poll! Recently, Project Hail Mary came to Prime Video and became a top five film for them, but didn’t smash streaming records, a feat I cautiously thought it could accomplish. Can Spider-Man 4 do better? To set the stakes, some of the biggest films of all time do just okay on streaming. Wicked, Top Gun: Maverick, and Barbie come to mind... But unlike those films, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a Sony film which means it’s headed to Netflix, the world’s largest streamer. Now, per friend of the newsletter and my go-to Netflix expert, Kasey Moore of What’s on Netflix, Sony films usually appear on Netflix 120 days after they premiere, which means Spidey 4 would land on Netflix on, checks notes, 28-November, one of the two biggest streaming weekends of the year! But Sony occasionally delays its biggest hits for a bit longer, to give them more time to make money on PVOD, so Spider-Man: Brand New Day might not swing onto Netflix until late December or even February 2027. Loading... Okay, on to this week’s issue. Since The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made its way to Peacock, I’m looking at the true workhorse of streaming viewership: kids films. And the surprising film that bested most Netflix animated movies. All that, plus Hulu has a new show that might be a hit (for them…?), two “Devils” square off on streaming, Zendaya tries to find some streaming magic, Netflix’s I Will Find You continues to do well, House of the Dragon tries to break into the season three top ten, some big NBC sports and summer programs, what friendly neighborhood Spider-Man character actually generates the most viewership on streaming, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 27th to August 2nd, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - As The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Hits Peacock, How Have Kids Films Fared in 2026? Like Mario hopping on a Koopa, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie landed on Peacock on 30-July. (Yeah, I kinda forced that Mario reference.) How did it do? Great, just like the first film. It got 13.0 million hours on its opening, and that’s good enough to take second place among Peacock films on the Nielsen charts all time: As I mention all the time, Peacock just isn’t the world’s biggest streamer—in fact, nowhere close—so its films struggle to put up numbers like Netflix (or even Prime Video and Disney+). So this is a solid debut for that streamer. And as we saw last time, The Super Mario Bros. Movie had a HUGE second life on Netflix when it moved streamers. This chart doesn’t even show how long the first Mario lasted on Netflix: a whopping, KPop-esque 31 weeks. For NBCUniversal, though, the big win was the second Mario movie grossing $429 million in America and over $1 billion globally. But yeah, to add a very strong streaming performance only makes its success even greater. Illumination pretty clearly has another hit franchise on their hands. This is a good time, though, to check in on kids films so far in 2026. We’ve had a few big, big titles, a rare Netflix success, and some disappointments. Let’s start with the top animated films since November of 2025, over their first four weeks on the charts, along with a few of the “best all time” animated films: (As a reminder, if a film doesn’t make the Nielsen top ten lists, I don’t have data for it, so it gets a “zero” in terms of viewership. Now, it had some viewership, but I don’t know what it is, so it gets a zero.) I added a few titles to get an idea of what the best of the best looks like in terms of animation. And you can see, through four weeks, Zootopia 2 can now claim “one of the biggest streaming films of all time” titles. GOAT too did surprisingly well, besting Netflix’s biggest films (Swapped and In Your Dreams) through four weeks. When I’ve talked about how films can have varying performances on streaming compared to their box office, this is what I mean. Goat just managed to gross even $103 million at the box office—so it’s popular, but just barely—but did very well on streaming. Of course, what set Encanto and KPop Demon Hunters apart from the rest was their absolutely insane longevity. Here are the kids film charts through eight weeks to show that: And really KPop Demon Hunters just kept going, and no 2025 or 2026 kids films have had that sort of longevity. I can’t wait to see the sequel in theaters. Film - Two Devils and a Drama As I wrote last week, in the past, theatrical-first film flops weren’t eligible for “Miss of the Week” or “Miss of the Year” honors/dishonors, but since so many more films go to theaters first these days, I’ve made them eligible now! But it’s complicated. You see, this is a Streaming Ratings Report, emphasis on streaming, which makes analyzing this week’s two biggest streaming misses—The Drama on HBO Max (A24’s dramedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson) and Prime Video’s The Devil Mouth (a killer shark movie starring young attractive people)—somewhat tricky. The Drama isn’t eligible for Luminate, but The Devil’s Mouth only had 1.5 million hours in its first week: The Devil’s Mouth notched 5.2 million hours according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, The Drama missed the charts entirely. Not great! But Prime Video is a much bigger streamer than HBO Max. That said, HBO Max titles are on Prime Video, but I think Prime Video prioritizes their original/exclusive titles, which helps boost their viewership. Complicating this further, The Drama made $48 million in the US—while A24 sells foreign distribution; the $57 million of overseas grosses helps A24 sell overseas rights for money in the future—off of a $28 million budget (which seems low for Zendaya and Pattinson, so they might have backend). The Devil’s Mouth, though, had zero dollars at the box office. The other stats for The Devil’s Mouth are bleak, and by “bleak”, I mean horrendous: a 4.7 on 15K reviews on IMDb (yikes) and a 46 on Metacritic (double yikes). The Drama, though buzzy online, only has a solid (but far from elite) 7.1 IMDb score on 121K reviews and a 59 on Metacritic (which is far, far lower than I’d have guessed). So which film is the “Miss of the Week”? I’m giving it to The Devil’s Mouth for one simple reason: it’s a horror film. And almost all horror films, even poorly reviewed horror films, should get a shot in theaters to at least try to recoup some of their budgets. The Drama made money at the box office and The Devil’s Mouth didn’t. It’s just like the situation last issue with Obsession and Masters of the Universe. Sure, Obsession didn’t pop on the streaming charts, but at least it already made it money at the box office. And as we’ve been seeing for years now and we’ll see all fall, theatrical films just do better on streaming. After all, the big “devil” winner this week was actually The Devil Wears Prada 2 with 14.8 million hours according to Nielsen. That’s right, The Devil Wears Prada 2—one of the box office success stories of May—came to streaming and parlayed its $220 million box office into 14.8 million Nielsen hours. Disney also put out a datecdote that it had 15.2 million “views” globally in five days, but again we don’t have a lot of great context for what that means. Here’s how it stacks up to other Hulu films, since I’m categorizing this mainly as a Hulu title (though it was also on Disney+): Share Quick Notes on Film We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Whether Hulu has a new hit show on its hands... The top first and third seasons of all time and which shows are climbing those charts… What version of Spidey is the most popular... What sport and TV show are performing better on NBC than the NBA... All the flops, bombs and misses... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! Next week, wow, things stay so busy. One of streaming’s biggest shows of all time, Ted Lasso, returns along with new YA-ish shows from Hulu (The Shards, from Ryan Murphy) and Prime Video (Sterling Point). The Challenge moves to Paramount+, plus My Life with the Walter Boys returns to Netflix and Futurama returns to Hulu. And Netflix has a new horror film, The Last House. Lots to talk about! All month, things stay busy. We’re talking Reacher on Prime Video! Outer Banks and Tires on Netflix! Lanterns on HBO Max! UFC 330 on Paramount+ and the MLB Field of Dreams game on Netflix. And a ton of smaller films come to streaming. Long term, the VMAs are back on 27-Sep! I feel like I haven’t heard much about this show in past years, but I’m seeing more news coverage and buzz for this show than in past years. I’m curious to see how it does.
Not Prime. Not Delivery. This Business Holds the Key to Amazon's Future.
Amazon Web Services is providing the growth Amazon needs to be a market-crushing investment.
What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.
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UFC Freedom 250 Fails to Knock Out The Ratings
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) If UFC fans wanted one image to say, “Hey, Paramount+ is crushing it with their UFC rights deal,” I could provide that image. Here it is: (Reminder: this is my creation of the Nielsen Top 30, since Nielsen doesn’t combine the lists or include sports. I take all three lists and combine them. Some streaming TV shows probably have higher ratings than many of the films on this list.) Look at that! UFC Freedom 250 is number one! It topped the Nielsen “Top 30” list for shows and films that made the top ten the week of 15-June. So if you’re a UFC fan or supporter of Paramount+, that’s the good news for you this week. This program topped the ratings charts for one week. Everything else is bad news, or at least a huge caveat to that story, which I’ll explain today in the first part of this week’s Streaming Ratings Report—for the weeks of 8-June and 15-June—which is a double issue since I’ve been writing on a bunch of topics recently. UFC Freedom 250 is one of the biggest streaming events of the year, and super relevant to Paramount+’s strategy, so it merited its own article. Let’s dive in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of June 8th to June 21st 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Check Out My Interview on UFC 250 at MMA Draw After you read this article, if you want even more thoughts on UFC and Paramount-Skydance/Paramount+, I did a written interview with MMA Draw. They asked me to answer some questions about UFC Freedom 250, and I was happy to chat with them. Find it here: [ The MMA Draw Newsletter Did Paramount really overpay for the UFC? What the data tells us so far If you know the history of American television, you also know that combat sports is often a leading indicator of the future… Read more a day ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Nate Wilcox and Zach Arnold ](https://www.themmadraw.com/p/did-paramount-really-overpay-for?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) I never thought I’d need a combat sports newsletter in my life, but the good folks at MMA Draw publish an excellent one on UFC, MMA, pro wrestling, boxing and more, analyzing both the sports themselves and the politics, economics and antitrust issues that impact them. Check the article and their newsletter out! Paramount+ Has Its Best Sporting Event of All Time…But Was It Worth It? Before we look at the UFC Freedom 250 data in particular, let’s talk about what we can’t say. Namely, let’s start with the lack of comparisons. First off, I’d love to put a chart out comparing this fight to past UFC fights on Paramount+…but we don’t have the data. This is the first time we’ve gotten Nielsen data about a Paramount+ UFC fight. As far as I can tell, Paramount provided data for the first fight, but it was a proprietary datecdote (saying it had “an average minute audience” of 5 million “views”) and then, for two fights, we got the linear viewership numbers when they aired on CBS, but no streaming data. Everything else was crickets. We also can’t compare this fight to other fights/combat sports on streaming, in particular the MMA and boxing, because Netflix also didn’t use Nielsen to track those events, opting for TVision and VideoAmp, respectively. (This isn’t Paramount’s fault, but does still suck.) We also can’t compare to UFC’s fights that used to be on ESPN+, since we don’t have any data for that, plus Disney+ didn’t have marquee fights. The comparisons would not be apples-to-apples. Can we compare to past Pay-Per-View fights? Absolutely not. The comparisons would absolutely NOT be apples-to-apples. That didn’t stop Paramount+, though, who bragged that their UFC events have reached drastically more people than past PPV fights. Duh. Sorry, but I gotta make this point again. A basic tenet of economics is that the cheaper something becomes, the more people consume or buy it. That’s Econ 101. (Sometimes pundits call things “Econ 101” that are actually like Econ 210 or even PhD-level economics, but no, this is really like first or second class basic economics.) Yet I still see one analytics firm consistently say that more people watch films on streaming than PVOD proves streaming which means that the streaming window is more valuable than the PVOD window. No, it’s not! Same thing here. Pay-Per-View events back in the day could be really, really, really expensive! So whole groups of people pitched in to buy them. That increased the perceived value of, say, the Mike Tyson fight. Or a UFC numbered event. So yes, the fact that Paramount+ makes numbered UFC fights essentially “free” if you’re already a Paramount+ member means consumption will go up. Obviously. Same for Netflix and their boxing matches. They’re talking about fights that used to cost consumers, in some cases, $50 in 1996…which is over $100 in today’s dollars. Over 1.6 million people paid that to watch the Tyson-Holyfield fight! Again, streaming is essentially “free”. Or $10 to $20, depending on what streamer we’re talking about and what tier you’re on. No wonder more people are “watching”. (Plus, Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing also helps these numbers.) UFC Freedom 250 Did Well…But I Have A Lot of Worries So what can we compare the fights to? Well, the good news is Nielsen put out that the fight averaged 7.0 million viewers for UFC Freedom 250, which is a solid number for a fight. We also know the length, at roughly 4 and a half hours. (I saw different run times, but this seems to be the consensus considering it started at 8 pm, had a delay and then finished after midnight on the East Coast. If you assume a shorter run time, then yes, the total hours viewed would go down.) That means I have the two numbers needed to add this to my Nielsen database. And then…I can compare this viewership to the NFL: And, uh, not great. But also within striking distance, mainly because the runtime for this event was so long. I’d also add that this event had viewership equal to a regular season NFL game on streaming, but if anything, it was more comparable to an NFL playoff or Super Bowl-esque event. And you can compare viewership to the top football games on broadcast, cable and streaming, and it’s not impressive at all: We can also compare it to other sports that week, including the NBA Finals and start of the World Cup: Again, not great. The NBA generated roughly four times as many average viewers each game for its NBA Finals. The World Cup has similarly big numbers. Also, that’s just a tiny fraction of the 25 most watched sporting events each week. The NBA, NHL and FIFA World Cup had many, many more games racking up hours. We could also compare this to other streaming programs to get an idea of “is this a good investment?” and here is how it ranks compared to other top Paramount+ programs: The worry here? Well, unlike scripted programming, which has rewatchability, older fights/sporting events have very little library value. Very, very few people are rewatching these fights, especially years from now. Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers. Then, in their quarterly earnings report, they only ended up with 700K subs. Not great! They claimed they dropped lower-value international subscribers, but that’s why I tend to discount subscriber additions when they’re leaked to the press.1 I expect we may see a bump again for UFC Freedom 250, but I’d caution using subscriber growth so soon after these events to judge the success, since new subs with high churn (see Peacock) aren’t great either. Also, analysts often want to attribute all subscriber growth to their favorite/pet show, and that just doesn’t make sense. The biggest caveat for UFC Freedom 250 and Paramount’s very first UFC marquee event is that these could be high watermarks for the sport. UFC Freedom 250 had an incredible amount of earned media coverage compared to most UFC fights. I mean, it had wall-to-wall national news coverage in the lead up to the event. (The first fight also had a lot of promotion from Paramount since it was first.) Other fights could reach this bar—say the Conor McGregor return to the Octagon—but they’ll be fewer and far between. Was This Deal Worth It? All to ask: is this Paramount deal worth it? In this case, I think the UFC Freedom 250 numbers are more distracting than helpful. This fight did well and compares well to other top sporting events. But we know that the first marquee event was at least a third smaller, if Paramount’s own data is to be believed. And it’s likely the other fights are much, much, much smaller. And then you get to the paycheck that Paramount-Skydance paid. FIFA’s World Cup cost about the same for Fox, but clearly generated multiples more total viewership. (Though it’s only every four years.) The NBA is much more expensive, but until the playoffs, they likely didn’t pay for itself. Even still, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video likely overpaid. So, in that context, the NBA may be an overpay that makes the UFC look not so bad. But two overpays don’t make an underpay, to paraphrase the old cliché about wrongs and rights. And looking at UFC Freedom 250 as the likely ceiling of MMA on Paramount+, Paramount-Skydance likely paid too much. Share 1 I would love regular reports on subscriber additions by programs, but as is, it’s mostly leaked or rumored in haphazard ways.
AMC Entertainment (AMC) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why
Shares of theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) jumped 17.3% in the morning session after the company reported impressive Q2 2026 earnings results with revenue and Adjusted EBITDA crushing expectations.The cinema chain delivered a blowout second quarter, posting total revenues of $1.60 billion—representing 14.2% year-over-year growth and easily surpassing analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. Profitability metrics were particularly strong, with Adjusted EBITDA soaring to $321.4 million comp