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UK’s investment arm takes £2.25 billion bet on Africa’s least-favoured markets as it targets businesses and infrastructure projects others avoid
British International Investment (BII) will inject around £2
10 fun trunk-or-treat events for families to try in metro Phoenix
It's not too late to plan your trunk-or-treat events for the family. Here are 10 to try in metro Phoenix for Halloween.
Dean of St. Joe’s business school, its biggest college, is retiring
With 27 years at the Erivan K. Haub School of Business and 13 at Widener University, Joseph DiAngelo says he is the longest-serving business school dean in the U.S.
Netflix’s Summer of Bummer
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Today, I’ve got a guest post from longtime friend of the newsletter, Brandon Katz. I’ve been trying to find time all summer to look at Netflix’s straight-to-streaming film slate, but between a pre-planned trip and Nielsen moving up their streaming data timeline, I’ve been swamped. So I reached out to Brandon, one of my favorite fellow analysts, to write about it. And I feel like he captured the tone and data focus of the newsletter perfectly. You can connect with Brandon on LinkedIn and Twitter. Enjoy! Don’t worry, folks. You’re in safe hands with me. To ease any anxieties about an interloper in ESG’s domain, I’ll start by stealing one of his best framing devices: headlines. Box office flops are covered in the same way the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles eye pizza: with cartoonish insatiability. I would know. I’m a former reporter who wrote nearly identical headlines: Yet, intentionally or not, streaming misses get treated with kids gloves, filtered through a rosy lens: In the last six years, U.S. streaming viewership has become nearly as transparent as the box office, but the data often arrives weeks later, in a number of less intuitive metrics, and with nary an official budget to be found. This plays into the Wall Street-whispering narratives major streamers have been cultivating for years. They get a pass in a way that theatrical studios simply don’t. Subscribe Netflix’s Summer Slate Not a single Netflix original film released between May and August this year opened above 20 million U.S. TV hours, per Nielsen. That benchmark usually serves as the EntStrategyGuy’s floor for a streaming hit on Netflix. None of these films enjoyed a hit-cementing single week of 20-plus million hours during their runs. Netflix’s two best films were true crime docs, Maternal Instinct (16.5 million hours) and The Crash (19.7 million), the best overall week for a film this summer. Great for most other streamers, but not necessarily what we’re used to seeing from Netflix. For an overly-dramatic comparison, Happy Gilmore 2 opened last summer to around 47 million hours (celebrity cameos, baby!). Zooming out, the picture looks even worse. In 2026, Netflix’s five biggest scripted summer films posted the lowest average (28.6 million hours) and median (28.8 million hours) eight-week viewership totals of the past four years. Now, it’s unrealistic and unfair to expect Netflix to deliver a _KPop Demon Hunters-_sized hit every year. But it’s also not ideal to see the size of their hits shrinking over the last few summers. Let’s quickly run through some of the notable summer misses. Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein’s perfectly fine romcom, Office Romance, fell off the charts after 20 million hours in its first two weeks. Top films usually last for four-plus weeks. Starry titles ideally don’t decay that fast either. Homegrown star Millie Bobby Brown couldn’t prevent the snappy Enola Holmes franchise from diminishing returns. At 14.3 million U.S. hours, the third film posted roughly half of what the first two films did in their first two weeks. What’s on Netflix calculated that per-day global views were down nearly 60% from the second movie. The Whisper Man did okay with more than 36 million hours over its first four weeks. But I expected a little more juice from a film featuring Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, and Adam Scott. Kevin Hart’s Ladies First collected just 11.2 million hours total across two weeks. That’s a big miss for one of Netflix’s go-to stars. Plopping into the same bucket are Sunny Sandler’s Don’t Say Good Luck (10.3 million in two weeks) and John Cena’s Little Brother (17.5 million). Meanwhile, English-language originals Color Book (June 19), In the Hand of Dante (June 24) and Heartstopper Forever (July 17) never sniffed Nielsen’s Top 10 at all, despite needing only 2 to 5 million hours to land in the top ten most weeks. (By my count, eleven English-language scripted original films released between May and August did chart). It’s only fair to mention that Swapped (1-May) posted nearly 42 million U.S. hours over five weeks (the longest Netflix original run this summer) and is currently their eighth most-watched English-language film ever worldwide. Remarkably Bright Creatures (37 million, 4 weeks) and Voicemails for Isabelle (27 million, 4 weeks) weren’t bombs either. Still, overall, I think it’s fair to say this was a quieter summer season than we’re used to seeing from the market-leader. You might not realize that given the language commonly used in public analysis. The Twist Despite the starkly black-and-white tone of the coverage, here’s the twist: when many box office bombs arrive on streaming, their viewership looks a whole lot like many of Netflix’s supposedly successful summer releases. Hmm, where have we heard that one before? Masters of the Universe topped out at $65 million stateside against a $170 million budget_._ I’ll admit, Skeletor ripping sleeveless curls as a gym bro and bodyslamming Adam’s co-workers was funny. But, much to the chagrin of my bank account, my laughter doesn’t launch franchises. Yet the He-Man reboot opened to 19.6 million hours (from a Wednesday five-day opening instead of just one weekend), on par with Hoppers on Disney+ (19.4 million). It put up nearly 47 million hours over its first six weeks, bigger than all of Netflix’s summer releases. Pretty darn healthy and likely to land among the 25 most-watched movies on streaming this year. Sticking with Amazon, The Sheep Detectives just barely broke even at the box office with $133 million worldwide (and only $66 million domestic). I never expected cloven-hooved, cud-chewing mammals to be able to bring me to tears. Yet that’s exactly how I found myself at the end of this surprisingly affecting movie (#NoShame). It was likely the unexpected quality in a family-friendly film that powered its streaming over-performance. Sheep Detectives delivered a solid run for Prime video netting 26.2 million hours! How about franchise IP? Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu had the lowest opening ($81 million) and lowest-grossing Disney-era live-action Star Wars film ($178 million domestic). One day before release, its Heat score (19.8%)—audiences who list their interest as a 7/7—fell behind blockbusters Wicked (21%), Superman (23%), Fantastic Four: First Steps (23%), Michael (23%), Toy Story 5 (26%) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (27%), according to Greenlight Analytics. The urgent enthusiasm just wasn’t there. On streaming, Mando opened to weeks of 12.1 million, 6.1 million and 2.7 million hours (21 million total) over its first three frames. Not the numbers Lucasfilm was hoping for nor the numbers of a streaming hit. But they’re in the same vicinity as some Netflix summer releases with $345 million at the global box office to offset a smidgen of the pain. Final Thoughts So why oh why does this nuance gap exist? Four key reasons: Data Literacy: A “$100 million opening” just makes sense. After decades of box office reporting, even casual movie fans are well-versed in the benchmarks of hits and home runs. There’s an immediate shorthand. But “16.5 million” hours doesn’t land nearly as cleanly. Despite leaps of progress, the streaming ratings era is still in its infancy compared to theatrical. The EntStrategyGuy and I met thanks to a late 2010s group chat of data nerds hungry to find a shred of certainty in nebulous streaming performance. I’m not surprised to see “No. 1 on Netflix” still getting misconstrued out in the wild. Timing: By Friday morning, we have the box office’s Thursday night previews totaled, allowing us to better project the weekend’s expectations. From there, ticket sales are reported daily. By Sunday, the film’s fate is usually finalized, at least in terms of public perception. In streaming, Nielsen recently improved its delay to…two weeks. The medium isn’t forced to contend with instant gratification as harshly. Financials: Theatrical film budgets are a mere Google away. Profit and loss is calculated in the cold and unforgiving naked light of day for all to see. But finding the vast majority of streaming exclusive movie budgets requires the forensic investigation skills of a Criminal Minds detective. Also, it’s very difficult to calculate how much revenue/value a straight-to-streaming films provides a streamer. This is why there are so few stories about streaming original movies “losing X amount of money”. On top of that, marketing budgets are far greater for theatrical movies than streaming exclusive movies, which leads to earlier and better awareness. This then translates to a wider pool of potential interest. Narrative Control: Netflix is the only major streaming service to publish weekly first-hand viewership data and annual engagement reports. Naturally, some headlines borrow their first-hand framing**.** Other streamers benefit from their comparative lack of transparency. They may occasionally announce vague performance platitudes such as Apple TV’s Mayday becoming its “biggest film debut on the platform to date over its first 18 days,” and that it ranked No. 1 with left-handed viewers in its first weekend. (Fine, I made up that second one). But, for the most part, they keep first-hand viewership shrouded in mystery to avoid bad press. Especially for outlets that demand multiple articles per day from their writers, it’s an easy (and understandable) way for some reporters to hit their daily article quota by just repeating what the streamers have told them. TL:DR version: Streaming-exclusive movies are asked to do different things than theatrical movies, but that doesn’t mean they should escape judgment. Both still need to draw enough eyeballs to justify their cost within the proper performance contexts. The more cleanly we can inject a little nuance into streaming analysis, the better we’ll understand the audience and content trends that drive this industry. And that’s what all of this is really about: knowing what audiences actually want! Brandon Katz is the Director of Insights & Content Strategy at Greenlight Analytics where he focuses on evaluating the ever-fluid media landscape to unearth understanding, opportunity and value. Greenlight Analytics is the entertainment intelligence consulting company redefining how Hollywood finds, understands, and activates audiences. Prior to joining Greenlight Analytics, he served as the senior entertainment industry strategist at Parrot Analytics, and as a full-time entertainment industry reporter covering the Xs and Os of Hollywood, most notably with TheWrap and the Observer.
Another Critical Role Actor Joins The Final Fantasy VII Revelation Cast As Shiva (But Not The Shiva You Think)
Hmm, wonder where all this chemistry with Vincent is coming from?
Democrat called slur by Trump airs ad urging ‘No men in women’s sports’
Senate candidate Annie Andrews, a Senate candidate in South Carolina, released a transgender issues ad days after the president called her an anti-transgender slur.
Science Lab: Joey Porter Jr. trade to Cowboys — the Great, the Good, the Hmm...
Welcome to "The Science Lab", a place where football facts and in-depth analysis always triumph over feelings.
Americans are drinking less since the pandemic began, but one group bucks the trend
Studies previously found alcohol consumption and deaths surged during the pandemic as Americans grappled with stress and isolation.
World’s largest economy joins Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel in battle for Red Sea influence as it lifts sanctions on Eritrea despite its role in Ethiopia war that killed 600,000
The United States has lifted sanctions on Eritrea imposed over its role in the deadly war in neighbouring Ethiopia, as Washington seeks to “advance US regional interests” in a country strategically positioned along the Red Sea
Entertainment district next to Neyland Stadium officially named “865 Neyland”
Project is fully privately funded and projected to have $5 billion economic impact over 30 years
Independent Kansas health systems launch shared services organization
Five Kansas health systems have launched a regional collaboration, called Astra Health, to pool resources and coordinate services while retaining their independence. | Astra Health's five founding members, who serve more than half a million patients annually, hope to improve quality and trim costs at scale while maintaining their independence.
Bob Brooks releases first TV ad of the general campaign
Brooks, a Democrat, has garnered support across the party's ideological spectrum, including Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Rumour: A Norwegian Retailer Seems To Think It Knows The Developer For The Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Remake
File under "Hmmm"
Billy Ray Cyrus reacts to daughter Miley dropping their last name
Billy Ray Cyrus celebrated his daughter Miley’s choice to go mononymous, saying that she is joining the ranks of iconic musicians like Elvis and Cher.
Iconic singers, groups headline list of country music acts saying goodbye in 2026
Some of country music's most popular acts might not be seen again after this year.
Star Citizen's Squadron 42 Delayed Yet Again To, Er, Avoid GTA 6
Mmmm hmmmm. Yup. That's the reason. It's definitely that
Anna Paquin slams Hollywood for its treatment of ‘pre-sexualized’ child stars after Hayden Panettiere’s death
Anna Paquin criticized Hollywood’s treatment of ‘pre-sexualized’ child stars after Hayden Panettiere died at 36: ‘We were not as protected...as we are supposed to be.’
Allston's 'Rat City' vibes erode as Harvard Ave.'s longtime stores flee
Local stores in the student-dominated neighborhood are grappling against Boston's rising rents.
16 people hospitalized following chemical Hazmat incident at Mass. industrial business
Over a dozen people were hospitalized after a chemical incident at a Massachusetts industrial business made workers seriously ill.
Amazon Cloud Chief Says Potential AI Business is ‘Just Massive’
Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud chief said customers are starting to shift from using the company’s services to train AI models to integrating them into their businesses — fueling demand for a process known as inference.
Trump demands Senate cancel August break until it passes the SAVE America Act
President Donald Trump is calling on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to keep senators in Washington until they pass a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill.
Lindsey Graham’s Sister Replaced Him. If History’s Any Guide, We Know Exactly What Type of Senator She’ll Be.
Darline Graham has been described as largely apolitical. Hmm.
Turn Earth Data into Real-World Impact with NASA's Earth Science Applications Guidebook
This interactive resource guides users through Earth Science at NASA, developing Earth Action proposals, and managing an Earth Action project.
Netflix Games Suggest a Flat Future for Entertainment
Xbox layoffs, PlayStation's digital-only future, and Netflix video game forecast an increasingly flattened entertainment economy. Unhinged, review.
Meet the founder betting Africa's next entertainment giant will be built on ownership, not just storytelling
The worlds biggest entertainment companies arent valuable because they make great films or television
One random Steelers play: Missed throws and opportunities
Every play is a story. Let’s tell this one.
Sturgeon City unveils ‘STEAM on the Go’ mobile science bus
The bus is designed to bring hands-on science lessons directly to local schools and community events.
Albania’s Flamingo Revolution Spreads From Kushner Resort to Political Elite
As protests in Tirana extend into a second week, they have escalated from opposition to two €5 billion ($5.7 billion) planned resorts in ecologically sensitive areas linked to Jared Kushner into demands for the entire Albanian political establishment to step aside.
South Korea to seek priority supply of Nvidia Vera Rubin GPUs, science minister says
South Korea will ask for priority supply of Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin graphics processing units, as deliveries are expected to be delayed, Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said on Monday.
Euro zone business wilts in May as war-driven inflation surges, pointing to Q2 GDP contraction
Euro zone private sector activity shrank at the fastest rate in 18 months in May as waning demand for goods and services — a key gauge of economic health — dragged output lower for a second month while cost pressures hit their highest level in more than three years, a survey showed.
31 hours with the spit-shined Mina the Hollower (and 34 with the four games that came before it)
To truly appreciate Mina The Hollower, an extraordinary new throwback of a game, I sent myself to Yacht Club University. That’s not a real institution of higher learning, but it’s the best way I can explain much of the past several weeks as I prepared to play Mina by playing the four biggest game previously made by studio Yacht Club Games. I had expected Mina the Hollower, in development for six years for PC and consoles, to potentially be something special. A demo I tried in March had felt great. Mina the Hollower had an old-school premise: a singular move for its hero that felt so good to control and so rich with possibilities that, in the hands of skilled designers, it could be riffed on in various ways for the length of a full game. Mina’s core maneuver, her hollowing, made her sort of an upside down Super Mario. Nintendo’s hero jumps through the air, discovering power-ups at the apex of his jump by bonking overhead blocks, then defeating enemies by landing on them. Mina essentially jumps into the ground, digging (“hollowing”) into the earth to fetch buried treasure, then burrows for a short distance to emerge on the other side of a wall that hides treasure or an enemy that needs some battering. I wanted to understand how good Yacht Club was at making games. I wanted to see how far they’d come. If Mina was terrific—as I predicted it might be—I wanted to feel how they got there, one button press at a time. On May 6, 21 days before the writing of this review, I checked with Yacht Club Games co-founder and programmer David D’Angelo, to ask which of the studio’s games I should play to truly appreciate the new one’s design. “Hmmm all of them?” he wrote back. “Starting with Shovel Knight definitely is helpful,” he continued, referring to Yacht Club’s first game. He gave me a link to a spreadsheet of over 400 cheat codes that could help me out, if I found the game too tough.1 “Most folks say Specter of Torment is the least difficult and quickest to finish in terms of playtime, and [it] refines much of Shovel Knight,” he told me. “King of Cards is a big celebration of everything we did in [the Shovel Knight compilation] Treasure Trove— might work for you better if you’re a fan of shorter, Mario-style courses. And it’s probably the closest to Mina in terms of polish.” So that was that. Four games, none of which were required. Mina is a whole new game in a whole new world, best I can tell. I’d barely played that first Shovel Knight before and never the other three. I just thought it’d help. It did. It turns out that playing a game studios major works before their latest is very illuminating.
MMI Prep students excel at PA Junior Academy of Science
Theresa Long, head of school, announced MMI Preparatory School students had an outstanding showing at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science competition that was held Feb. 28, at Wilkes University. MMI’s 37 participating students earned…
Euro zone business activity contracted in April as costs rocketed, PMI shows
Business activity in the euro zone suffered a surprise contraction in April with the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran sapping demand as prices soared, a closely watched survey showed on Thursday.
LIV Golf Mexico City: Jon Rahm, Legion XIII Sweep Individual, Team Titles
Jon Rahm finished at 21 under at Club de Golf Chapultepec to secure a commanding six-shot victory at LIV Golf Mexico City.
Cedar Crest, Octorara come through with breakout victories L-L softball
Things that make you go hmmm: Octorara 10, Annville-Cleona 8.
Opinion: Can Brian Kemp’s Derek Dooley gamble pay off?
The Georgia governor’s decision not to run for U.S. Senate and instead get behind the former University of Tennessee football coach has peeved his fellow Republicans.
Apple Marketing Chief for Watch, AirPods, Home and Health Retires
Apple Inc.’s marketing executive in charge of the Apple Watch, AirPods, health and smart home initiatives said he’s retiring, marking a changing of the guard for a series of key product lines.
Google Search tackles sites that try to stop you from leaving when you hit the back button
Websites will have to stop acting like clingy exes and let us go without a fight.
Health Alert Issued for Chicken Nuggets Due to Lead
A nationwide alert was issued for specific frozen chicken nuggets after tests detected lead levels above federal guidance, raising concerns for both children and adults
Nonprofit hosting event to bring hope to people facing mental health challenges
A nonprofit is hosting an event to raise awareness about mental health and bring hope to people facing mental health challenges.
“These chemicals are not just additives; they may be migrating from the headphones into our body”: Research shows nearly all headphones contain chemicals that are dangerous to human health
And they could be absorbed into your skin via sweat
How AI Answers Your Question May Depend on Your Politics
Modern statecraft may already involve manipulating artificial intelligence systems to produce different results based on someone’s identity or political activity.
2026 Pro Bowl Games discussion
There are plenty of Eagles involved in Tuesday’s flag football game.
Hain Celestial sells North American snacks business for $115M
The sale of Garden Veggie Snacks,Terra chips and Garden of Eatin' will allow the company to pay down debt and sharpen its focus on tea, yogurt and home meals.
Ethan Hawke says Tom Cruise makes him 'angry' because he's 'changed what’s expected for actors'
Ethan Hawke says that over the years, a certain aspect of Tom Cruise's star persona has gotten him 'angry,' because now, the star has 'changed what's expected for actors.'
What was in Jean Smart's 'rant on the red carpet' she mentioned in Golden Globes speech
Here is everything that Jean Smart said in her 'rant on the red carpet' that the 'Hacks' star mentioned in her 2026 Golden Globes acceptance speech after winning Best Female Actor in a TV Musical or Comedy.
Manchester City XI vs Sunderland – Predicted lineup and team news
Manchester City travel to Tyne and Wear this evening looking to start 2026 as they finished 2025: in clinical, winning form. Currently, Pep Guardiola’s side trail Arsenal at the summit of the Premie...
New entertainment venue coming to Tanger Outlets in 2026
Main Event will take over a 46,189 square-foot storefront next to Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue and Regal Cinemas.
NYC ‘science of reading’ initiative: How a Staten Island school is leading the way
A 10-hour course for educators creates a common language for teaching phonemic awareness across all grade levels.