Most Anticipated New Shows

1. IT: Welcome to Derry (HBO, October 26)
Set in the 1960s and decades before the events of “IT,” this prequel series explores the terrifying origins of Pennywise the Clown and the dark legacy haunting the cursed town of Derry, Maine. Developed for television by filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, the series promises to deepen Stephen King’s chilling universe with new horrors and familiar dread.

2. 9-1-1: Nashville (ABC, October 9)
From franchise creators Ryan Murphy, Tim Minear, and Rashad Raisani, this second spin-off in the “9-1-1” universe shifts the action to Music City. Featuring high-stakes rescues and emotional personal stories, the series introduces a fresh team of first responders navigating emergencies and heartbreak in the heart of Tennessee.

3. Sheriff Country (CBS, October 17)
This “Fire Country” spin-off stars Morena Baccarin as a small-town sheriff balancing justice, family, and politics in Northern California. With executive producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Tana Jamieson behind the scenes, “Sheriff Country” mixes personal drama with rural crime procedural appeal.

4. Boston Blue (CBS, October 17)
An intense character-driven police drama set in Boston, this series focuses on a diverse squad of officers tackling crime, corruption, and community tensions. From the team behind “Blue Bloods,” it delivers emotionally grounded storytelling in one of America’s most complex cities.

5. DMV (CBS, October 13)
This workplace mockumentary created by Dana Klein offers a comedic look inside a dysfunctional but lovable Department of Motor Vehicles branch. With a mix of dry humor and heart, “DMV” explores bureaucracy, burnout, and bizarre customer encounters with sharp observational wit.

Most Anticipated Returning Shows

1. Nobody Wants This (Netflix, October 23)
The Emmy-nominated romantic comedy returns for a second season with its signature blend of cringe, chaos, and cultural commentary. The series – inspired by the real-life relationship of creator Erin Foster – continues to explore the unlikely pairing of non-religious dating podcaster Joanne and ‘hot rabbi’ Noah as they navigate blending their friends, families, and world views. 

2. One-Punch Man (TV Tokyo, October 5)
The global anime hit is back for Season 3. Saitama’s overpowered punches remain undefeated, but new monsters and heroes emerge to challenge his boredom and humanity. Expect slick animation, absurd humor, and intense action sequences that fans have waited years for.

3. The Witcher (Netflix, October 30)
Geralt’s saga continues as the continent plunges deeper into chaos. Season 4 introduces Liam Hemsworth taking over the role of Geralt. Along with new characters and political intrigue, the return of this fantasy juggernaut promises sorcery, monsters, and heartbreak in equal measure.

4. Monster (2022) (Netflix, October 3)
Ryan Murphy’s true crime anthology returns with a new season spotlighting infamous real-life figures. Following previous season arcs focused on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, the latest installment dives into Ed Gein, another headline-grabbing case with psychological complexity and controversial themes.

5. Hazbin Hotel (Prime Video, October 29)
This vibrant animated musical comedy continues its demonic charm offensive. With dark humor, catchy songs, and unapologetic weirdness, “Hazbin Hotel” follows Charlie and friends as they try to rehabilitate sinners in Hell one chaotic guest at a time.

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ and ‘Nobody Wants This’ Lead Most-Anticipated TV Shows of October | Charts appeared first on TheWrap.

With Harris’ appearance on the ABC News show on Sept. 23, “The View” averaged 2.4 million viewers and scored a 1.57 household rating for the week of Sept. 22, according to Nielsen, becoming the No. 1 daytime network talk shows and news program of the week. Viewership for “The View” outpaced NBC’s “Today Third Hour,” which scored a 1.20 rating and 1.86 million viewers, “Today with Hoda & Jenna,” which brought in a 0.86 rating and 1.37 million viewers, as well as “NBC News Daily,” which averaged a 0.84 rating and 1.276 million viewers. 

“The View” reached a new season high in overall viewers, with the weekly total viewership up 4% from the previous week’s viewership of 2.31 million, and also scored viewership gains in key demos among women, with “The View” averaging 141,000 viewers among women 18-49, up 3% from the previous week.

Among women 25-54, “The View” averaged 194,000, growing for the third week in a row, bringing the season average to 199,000 viewers, up 3% from comparable weeks last season. 

ABC News’ “20/20” also scored similar viewership milestone with its new season, with its season premiere, “20/20: He’s Right Behind You,” drawing its biggest audience both among total viewers as well as among adults 25-54 in over three months.

The special, which aired on Friday, Sept. 26, averaged 2.75 million total viewers, 386,000 viewers among adults 25-54 and 277,000 viewers among adults 18-49, according to live-plus-same-day big data+panel figures from Nielsen.

Viewership for the “20/20” premiere outpaced the season premiere of “Dateline” both by 20% among total viewers and by 7% among adults 18-49.

The next installment of “20/20” will follow one of the most baffling missing person cases in recent memory when a family of four from San Diego County, California, seemingly vanishing into thin air. The new episode debuts Friday, Oct. 3 at 9:01 p.m. ET on ABC, and streams the next day on Hulu.

The post Kamala Harris Boosts ‘The View’ to Biggest Audience Since June With 2.6 Million Viewers | Exclusive appeared first on TheWrap.

After debuting the first two episodes of the season to 25 million viewers globally in their first week on Amazon’s Prime Video, viewership for the series has tallied up a cumulative 5.21 billion minutes during its Season 3 rollout, according to Nielsen streaming figures for the nine out of 11 episodes available.

While the Jenny Han-created series already had an existing fan base from its first two seasons and readers of Han’s trilogy, the third and final season activated its fandom in a way that surpassed previous seasons — or other YA series — by meeting its Gen Z audience where they’re at: TikTok.

The approach underscores the kind of benefits a show stands to gain when the people behind it have a clear strategic approach and understanding of the audience. By changing to a weekly release, fostering social media activity with in-show TikTok dances and, of course, elements of Taylor Swift, Amazon was able to steadily build momentum throughout its final season.

“There were so many aspects that Jenny Han and her team clearly built for a TikTok audience,” Emily Singer, senior director of strategy for Reach Agency, a creator-focused firm focused on influencer campaigns, told TheWrap. “It was a show made for the next generation.”

The decision to loop in social early on could be considered the “gold standard for a new model of how people should be marketing their shows,” said Laura Jalaie, SVP of strategy and communication for Metro PR, a consulting firm that has worked for a variety of entertainment and sports companies.

Jalaie told TheWrap that Amazon had given “an incredible amount of trust” to its social team, developing social-first marketing campaigns designed to connect with the target audience.

In addition to its focus on social media, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” ditched the binge model, instead opting for a weekly release that Jalaie said enabled the fandom to have the space to connect and obsess about each episode’s biggest moments in a way that felt reminiscent of YA shows of the 2000s, like “Gossip Girl” or “The O.C.” Except this time, fans convened on social media rather than fan blogs.

Han told TheWrap in an interview last month that Prime Video carefully considered the release options for the season, but ultimately said the weekly drop worked as intended, explaining it “enhanced the experience and it certainly prolonged the suspense.”

“It made people a little bit crazy to have to be in that sort of uncertain place for so long,” Han said. “But I think that’s the deliciousness of TV … in the old school way, that you would have to wait a week, and then it kind of builds and builds, and we, as an audience, are longing just as much as our characters are to see completion.”

From a ratings perspective, the weekly scheduling also enabled a gradual growth of viewers in the lead-up to the finale, especially after Han went off-script from her book, “We’ll Always Have Summer,” for the last three episodes of the series with Belly heading from Cousins to Paris, leaving fans in uncharted territory.

The debut of the first two episodes boosted viewership to 639 million minutes the week of July 14, before leveling off at 567 and 595 million minutes for the following two weeks, respectively. Season 3 saw its viewership spike with the debut of Episode 5 — which featured Conrad’s POV — with 665 million minutes viewed. Viewership climbed again with 717 million minutes during the week of Aug. 25 with Episode 8, which isn’t surprising given that episode featured Belly and Jeremiah’s wedding day, which was eventually called off. And it grew again with 736 million minutes during the week of Sept. 1 with Episode 9, which kicked off Belly’s Parisian adventure.

Given the delay for Nielsen’s streaming lists, viewership for the final two episodes is not available yet.

Unlike 2000s YA shows’ weekly premieres, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” dropped its episodes at 12 a.m. PT/3 a.m. ET on Wednesdays — a strategy that was initially bemoaned by fans. But the most hardcore viewers quickly adjusted to the schedule and flooded social media with reactions and new edits of Conrad into the wee hours of the night.

While the midnight release strategy didn’t quite mirror the appointment television of HBO’s biggest Sunday shows, it ultimately created a “built-in” FOMO, according to Reach’s Singer, who explained, “You already feel behind, say, at 7 a.m. PT … it really does entice you to watch as soon as possible.”

The “The Summer I Turned Pretty” can’t be discussed without acknowledging Swift, whose multigenerational fandom overlaps nearly perfectly with the show’s, according to Singer. It wasn’t just Swift’s music that attracted fans, but also the level of detail that Han put into the series.

And even when fans finally got their happily ever after for Belly and Conrad in the series finale, Han and Prime Video had another trick up their sleeve to keep the hype going: a movie that will serve as a conclusion to “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” The news was announced just hours after the finale dropped on Prime Video during the show’s Paris finale event and a day ahead of the finale press day, giving Han an opportunity to finally lay out her plans and the cast a chance to weigh in.

While Han said it’s too early to say whether the movie will get a theatrical release, Jalaie noted hitting the big screen would help “eventize” the movie, giving fans the opportunity to gather as they did for watch parties all season.

“The thing that Amazon needs to do now is just keep capturing that attention,” Singer said. “Now the goal becomes: How do you keep people tuned in and wanting more for the next potentially year or two?”

The post How ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Harnessed TikTok, Gen Z and Taylor Swift to Become a Ratings Sensation appeared first on TheWrap.

Despite Trump shattering presidential norms and two first-term impeachments, critics say last week’s indictment of former FBI Director James Comey — which Trump publicly demanded on Truth Social — represents using the law to do the president’s bidding at a level Nixon could have only dreamed of.

For that, Trump owes a debt of gratitude to someone who worked for Nixon, the late Roger Ailes, who after serving as a White House advisor went on to create Trump’s most boisterous media shield, Fox News Channel.

Ailes saw Fox News as a way to level an unequal media playing field that was tilted against conservatives. In the Trump era, Fox has become a regular booster of his alternate version of reality, helping justify and explain his actions. It’s a symbiotic relationship that has facilitated Trump’s efforts, including his weaponization of the Justice Department to go after perceived enemies.

Before the election in October 2024, the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward, who broke the Watergate story with Carl Bernstein, warned that Trump is “far worse than Richard Nixon.” To many political observers, Trump is proving that point in his second term, as he has brazenly called upon the DOJ to prosecute his enemies in public, sailing past Nixon’s schemes that were conducted under the veil of secrecy.

Indeed, while Nixon kept an “enemies list” and wanted to wield the levers of government “to screw our political enemies,” as White House counsel John Dean wrote in a 1971 memo, he wound up resigning after efforts to halt the FBI investigation into the Watergate break-in were exposed.

By contrast, Trump has not only openly abused the Justice Department’s independence but has engaged in other activities that have enriched him and his family, such as their crypto investments, which have legal scholars shaking their heads, sounding alarms that in any other time would sound like hyperbole.

Appearing on MSNBC last week, former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman told host Ari Melber, “I never expected after Watergate to see another situation like that again, but we have it now on steroids.”

Watching Trump weather various scandals, debate has persisted over whether Nixon might have survived Watergate had Fox News existed, which Ailes envisioned long before Rupert Murdoch gave him the resources to launch it in 1996.

Ailes and other Nixon aides hatched the plan for a Nixon-friendly TV network that would push pro-administration propaganda in 1970, writing in a memo at the time, “People are lazy. With television you just sit — watch — listen. The thinking is done for you.”

Nixon liked the idea of disseminating what was described as “our own news,” but the plan didn’t come to fruition before Watergate triggered his downfall in 1974. More than two decades would pass before Fox News came into being the same year as MSNBC, expanding the cable news menu while funneling that space into ideological silos, leaving the category’s founder, CNN, stranded somewhere in the middle.

That polarization, which has come to include a chorus of Trump-defending voices on social media, has surely proved advantageous as the president seeks retribution against those he perceives as having crossed him — a strategy met with enthusiastic support from high-profile Fox hosts like Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld.

Their arguments boil down to the claim Trump’s opponents pursued “lawfare” against him through a series of lawsuits, investigations and criminal indictments, thus justifying whatever Trump does in retaliation. Other pesky details, like the fact a New York jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a hush-money scheme, are simply dismissed due to geography (New York, after all) or bias.

Positioning the discussion that way allows supporters to defend anything Trump or his inner circle do, as podcaster (and Fox alum) Megyn Kelly illustrated when bribery allegations surfaced against Trump border czar Tom Homan, employing the imperial “we” to tweet, “We do not care.” (The Homan story has another Nixonian precedent, since Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in the face of similar charges.)

During Trump’s first term, Dean contended Fox insulated the president in a manner that might have saved Nixon, telling Politico in 2018, “There’s more likelihood he might have survived if there’d been a Fox News.”

Others echoed the point, including Geraldo Rivera, who said to Hannity on his radio show, “Nixon never would have been forced to resign if you existed in your current state back in 1972, ’73, ’74.”

In some respects, that line of thinking has less to do with Trump than Republican lawmakers, who broke with Nixon when evidence of his efforts to obstruct justice became public via the Watergate tapes. Today, Fox and other conservative media provide a protective bubble that not only wards off negative reporting but helps enforce party loyalty, with those who don’t toe the pro-Trump line risking being labeled “RINOs” (that is, Republican In Name Only).

Although many have drawn Trump-Nixon parallels before, the Comey indictment has revived the conversation. The challenge for media raising the issue is that details surrounding Nixon aren’t fresh in people’s minds a half-century later, despite the many dramatic (and comedic) depictions of him and Watergate, including productions like “Gaslit” and “White House Plumbers” in the last few years.

While Nixon’s name is inextricably linked to political corruption, it’s worth recalling how Trump mirrors or surpasses him, including animosity toward the press, paranoia about enemies and a sense of victimhood, all qualities that Fox News’ biggest names help reinforce.

In a Salon column, Heather Digby Parton called the Trump-Nixon connections “uncanny,” writing, “Trump has gone farther than Nixon ever contemplated,” adding that unlike Republican lawmakers who turned against Nixon, in Trump’s case, “As his corruption and retribution have gone into overdrive, he maintains the full and enthusiastic support of his party.”

To the extent Democrats and historians have wondered whether GOP legislators might experience pangs of conscience or grow spines, it’s worth noting the media incentive structure is much different today. Republican lawmakers seeking re-election know the value of Trump’s support as well as cable-news hits or appearances on friendly podcasts; they understand what they have to say.

Ailes died in 2017, but he has cast a long shadow. And while he didn’t realize his grand plan in time to save Nixon, as Trump takes unprecedented steps to check names off his enemies list, Ailes’ vision for Fox News continues to play a major co-starring role in letting Trump be as bad as Nixon wanted to be.

The post Trump’s Weaponization of the DOJ Was Made Possible by Roger Ailes and Fox News appeared first on TheWrap.

It’s been good advice, as all of Hollywood’s studios face a changed theatrical landscape where many countries, especially in Asia, have leaned increasingly more on local films as American film output has dropped amidst the pandemic and the 2023 strikes.

That changing landscape was a major topic of discussion at TheGrill’s box office panel — titled Big Screen, Big Questions: What’s Next for Theaters? — which Goldstein was a part of alongside his former Warner Bros. colleague and current Disney global distribution chief Andrew Cripps, as well as Regal/Cineworld CEO Eduardo Acuna.

“Eighty percent of Japan’s box office is local now; 90% of China’s box office is local,” Cripps said. “As Hollywood, we’re struggling to break through. We’ve got to make sure that we weave and dive and make sure you don’t come up against a local hit.”

Born and raised in Yokohama, Cripps is quite familiar with the Japanese box office, and he knows that it can be full of surprises. While anime films fill the all-time charts in that country, he points to the $104 million gross of “Kokuho,” a drama about the son of a slain Yakuza leader who is adopted by a kabuki master and taught the ways of Japanese theater.

“If you read the synopsis, you’d think that’s a small arthouse drama. But people are flocking to see it,” said Cripps. “The local teams pick up on that.”

With their work at Disney and Warner, Cripps and Goldstein are quite familiar with how Asia’s tastes in Hollywood’s offerings are changing. They each oversaw the release of summer superhero films, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” and “Superman,” which sagged on that continent compared to past Marvel and DC films.

In South Korea, for example, the total for “Superman” was 59% down from the 2013 film “Man of Steel,” while the $4.6 million total for “First Steps” was down a staggering 78% from the $21 million grossed by the 2015 Marvel film “Ant-Man.”

But on the flip side, Warner Bros./Apple’s “F1” grossed an impressive $38.7 million in Korea, topping the $30 million the film grossed in one of Formula One’s biggest bastions of fandom, the United Kingdom. Disney is also expecting massive turnout in Asia for its two holiday offerings, “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

“The great thing about local teams is that when they see that something’s working, they quickly pivot and lean into it,” Goldstein said. “We’re so proud of ‘F1.’ We knew it would do very well outside of the U.S., but it was a surprise how much the audience in Korea embraced it. Once the word of mouth got out, the whole audience wanted to see it.”

“Korea’s market, it’s a little bit unique. I think audiences there wait to see what the reviews are going to be like,” added Cripps. “I think they wait to see what their fellow audience members are going to think, and then if it’s big, there’s a lot of FOMO and it becomes a collective experience, and you need to be part of that conversation. But it takes them a while to get there.”

On the exhibition side, Acuna agreed that while audience tastes are changing, his faith in the public’s enjoyment of moviegoing has never faded. While the summer 2025 box office remained flat in the U.S. compared to last year, he pointed to the surprise success of “Sinners,” as well as the anime record success of “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle,” as examples of films that become hits off of untapped parts of the audience.

“Five years ago, anime wasn’t on anybody’s radar. Now, look at how big it has become. Maybe we need to do more anime,” Acuna said. “There are some theaters we have where Hollywood films don’t do as well, but they succeed with other films, like one in New Jersey that makes or breaks on whether or not there’s an Indian film to screen.”

Catch up with all of TheWrap’s TheGrill 2025 coverage here. And watch the full Big Screen, Big Questions: What’s Next for Theaters? panel below:

The post Disney, Warner Bros. Execs Talk Facing Box Office Competition in Asia: ‘Trust Your Local Teams’ appeared first on TheWrap.

After scoring its best premiere week ever, “The Drew Barrymore Show” averaged 1.45 million viewers during the week of Sept. 15, marking a 22% uptick in total viewers when compared to last year. The ratings growth, which soared from last week’s viewership by 4%, boosted the daytime talk show to hit a 24-week ratings high.

In addition to growing among total viewers, the daytime talker also saw a 7% uptick in households as it scored a 0.9 household rating for the week, and remained steady from the premiere week rating.

To date, “The Drew Barrymore Show” stands as the No. 2 syndicated talk show, behind only “Live With Kelly and Mark.”

The Week 2 wins follow a success premiere week for “The Drew Barrymore Show’s” sixth installment, which saw the series score its highest-rated season premiere week ever, kicking off the season as the No. 2 syndicated talk show.

The premiere week averaged 1.39 million total viewers, which marked a 8% year-over-year increase, as well as a 0.9 household rating, which marked a 3% increase in households year-over-year.

Premiere week guests included Catherine Zeta-Jones, Halle Berry, Issa Rae, Michael and Cameron Douglas, David Letterman and Jennifer Aniston, while the second week welcomed Josh Gad, Jessica Chastain, Kristin Davis, Rob Reiner, Robin Wright and Misty Copeland to the show.

Guests for the season’s third week include Martha Stewart, Gloria Estefan, Regina Hall, Jesse Williams, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Sunny Anderson, Matthew McConaughey, Deborah Norville, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka as well as Grace Van Patten.

“The Drew Barrymore Show” is produced and distributed by CBS Media Ventures and filmed in New York City. Barrymore and Jason Kurtz serve as executive producers.

The post ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ Season 6 Ratings Jump 22% With 1.45 Million Viewers in 2nd Week | Exclusive appeared first on TheWrap.

The times, they are-a-changin’. That was the consensus at The Grill 2025, TheWrap’s annual entertainment business conference that took place at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles on Tuesday. 

Instead of only highlighting shining success stories, there was a sense of urgency around the event’s panels, which ranged from the rapid growth of the sports sector to two sessions about how AI is being implemented in Hollywood.

It’s not difficult to understand where that panic came from. A mid-year study from IAB adjusted its ad growth predictions from 7.3% to only 5.7% due to consumer concerns about tariffs.

So how do creators fit into all of this?

While the ad spends projections for digital video and linear video decreased for the second half of the year, spending in creator-dominated sections like social media and podcasts increased from January to September.

IAB isn’t alone in singing the praises of the creator economy. Ruth Mortimer, the global president of Advertising Week, noticed that in the past two years, more creator delegates have attended her events as well as other major advertising conferences like Cannes Lions. She’s also noticed a “big shift” from advertising professionals seeing creators as the bottom of the funnel to something more. 

“We’re seeing brands looking to work with creators right at the start of their brand strategy,” Mortimer said. That’s why for Advertising Week New York next week, the event has added a creator track for the first time in the event’s history.

(P.S. I’ll be there covering the whole thing for TheWrap.)

It’s just further proof that advertisers aren’t backing down from investing in this space as Hollywood continues to struggle. How these two industries are going to work together remains a major question, but based on the conversations I’ve been having daily, it’s one that both sides are desperate to answer.

Now onto the rest.

Kayla Cobb
Senior Reporter
kayla.cobb@thewrap.com

What’s New

Kai Cenat, Druski and Kevin Hart are starring in a horror comedy movie

Kevin Hart has been a frequent guest on Kai Cenat’s (19.7 million followers on Twitch) livestreams, and now Cenat is entering Hart’s world. From Hartbeat, the aptly titled “Livestream from Hell” follows Cenat, Druski (10.9 million followers on Instagram) and Hart as they embark on another livestream. But when someone dies during the stream, their good time turns into a living nightmare. So far there’s just a teaser, but it looks fun.

Speaking of creators coming to the big screen, Steven Bartlett’s “Diary of a CEO” (12.7 million followers on YouTube) is going to be the first-ever podcast released theatrically. This move from Regal Cinemas comes after the company premiered Dude Perfect’s “The Hero Tour” last month.

OpenAI and Meta are launching social platforms for AI 

They say three is a trend, and we’re almost there. Last Thursday, Meta announced Vibes, a new feed in the Meta AI app that lets users create and share AI-generated videos. Not to be outdone, on Tuesday OpenAI unveiled the Sora app, which is basically the same thing but with a different AI model (the app came along with the improved Sora 2 model for better text-to-video generation). Is this something people want? Is this something even these companies’ employees want? It remains unclear. But AI-ahoy, I guess.

Syracuse University invests in the creator economy

You know you’ve made it when you finally come to academia. That happened this week with the launch of Syracuse University’s Center for the Creator Economy, which is being described as the first academic center of its kind on a U.S. college campus. The center will be devoted to research, education and thought leadership about the creator landscape. It also may be the first college program where the students know more than the professors.

By the Numbers

IShowSpeed’s marathon brought in over 118 million views

This week marked the conclusion of IShowSpeed’s (44.6 million subscribers on YouTube) 35-day 24/7 livestream across America, and it seems like it was a success. Based on YouTube views, the stream scored over 118 million views. Unsurprisingly, its most popular day was when MrBeast pretended to arrest IShowSpeed as a prank. From the celebrity cameos to his use of an AI VTuber while he was sleeping, IShowSpeed’s trek may be one of the most interesting works of 2025 performance art. 

YouTube leapfrogs Disney to become the company spending the most on content behind Comcast

According to a report by KPMG, YouTube spent an estimated $32 billion on content in 2024, putting it right behind Comcast’s $37 billion. That number isn’t just massive. It marks the first time that YouTube’s estimated content spend was more than Disney’s, which came in at $28 billion last year. 

Annual influencer marketing budgets soared

CreatorIQ’s annual check-in found that between 2024 to 2025, the annual influencer marketing budgets of surveyed participants increased by 171%. Additionally, 80% of surveyed organizations with 1,000 employees or more reported a year-over-year increase in their investment in influencer marketing. Brand respondents spent an average of $2.9 million in the space, while agencies averaged $4.4 million.

Movers and Shakers

Deestroying signs with CAA, while Brooke and Jess sign with UTA

After working as a correspondent on YouTube’s NFL game earlier this season, Deestroying (6.3 million subscribers on YouTube), aka Donald De La Haye, signed with CAA in all areas. Deestroying will also be part of YouTube’s upcoming creator flag football game in London alongside Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Adam W.

Brooke Blewitt and Jess Qualter, also known as Brooke and Jess, signed with UTA’s London roster across digital, theater and scripted. Known for their dance routines, the duo have 4.75 million followers on TikTok.

The McCartys will debut their first live special for Halloween backed by Viral Nation

The YouTube family with over 16 million subscribers will debut “A Spooky Special” on Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. PT. The special promises to be interactive for their fans and is backed by Viral Nation, Wind Sun Sky Entertainment and Kiswe.

Doing Things debuts “Juice Box Jury,” hosted by Trey Kennedy

Doing Things, the company behind “Recess Therapy” is doubling down on its kid-focused content. Hosted by comedian Trey Kennedy (4.1 million followers on TikTok), “Juice Box Jury” will ask a panel of children hard-hitting questions about everything from their favorite movies to their marriage advice. The silly show premieres today with new episodes on Thursdays across YouTube Shorts, Instagram and TikTok.

Who to Watch

Mychal Threets

Did you know that “Reading Rainbow” is getting a reboot? It is thanks to Kidzuko, Sony Pictures Television’s YouTube channel for children’s entertainment. Mychal Threets, a librarian with 900,000 followers on Instagram who extols the joys of reading, will lead this new version and follow in the footsteps of LeVar Burton.

Several big names are planned to drop in for this reboot including “The Bear” star Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and celebs like Gabrielle Union, Adam DeVine, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend will read books for the show. Right now, there’s only a teaser for this reboot, but keep an eye on this space. A beloved kids’ classic meeting modern children where they are could be a literary success.

Bonus Content

• Go Inside Dhar Mann’s 125,000-Square-Foot Creator Production Hub (via TheWrap)
• OWM Lets Creators Trade Influence for Equity (via Axios)
• From Khan Academy to Skibidi Toilet: The Inside Story of How YouTube’s Creators Saved the Platform (via Fast Company)

Want more? Explore WrapPRO now.

This report provides a weekly deep dive into the creator economy. It highlights key trends, political and technological developments, data points and industry leaders all with the goal of making you smarter about this constantly evolving space.

The post Creatorverse: U.S. Ad Spend Is Down, But Not for Creators appeared first on TheWrap.

All of that motion serves the Jude Law and Jason Bateman-led series well, as it tops the Samba TV Wrap report for the second straight week, helping Netflix continue a run of five straight weeks in the top spot.

It comes at a good time, too, as strong competition has emerged. “Tulsa King,” another huge hit from the Paramount+ and Taylor Sheridan team-up, returned on Sept. 21 for its third season, and a full week’s worth of viewership helps the series land in second place this week. The Sylvester Stallone-led series about an exiled mob boss setting up shop in flyover country put up a strong fight, but it wasn’t enough to oust “Black Rabbit.”

The chart has already made stops in New York and Tulsa, Okla., and for third, we’re on to Tall Pines, Vt., the setting of the new Netflix mystery miniseries “Wayward.” Then it’s on to Earth-bound science fiction, as “Alien: Earth” moves up two spots this week. The Hulu series is the only non-Netflix title to top the chart in four months, but it also dropped completely off the chart before returning last week. It finished its first season strong in fourth place.

We’re building up frequent flyer miles as we now head to Ireland for “House of Guinness.” The new Netflix historical drama tells the story of the Guinness family and how they kept their brewing business alive following the death of their beloved patriarch. Keep your passport out because we’re off to South Korea next. Against all odds, the “KPop Demon Hunters” phenomenon rolls on. A ninth-place ranking last week had us wondering if this was the end for the sensational singing supernatural slayers, but the film moves up three spots as it celebrates its lucky 13th-straight week on the chart.

“The Terminal List: Dark Wolf” pops up one spot this week to seventh as it closed out its series with its seventh and final episode on Sept. 24. Back to Tulsa (and back to Hulu) for this week’s eighth entry, the debut of the Hulu/FX series “The Lowdown.” Ethan Hawke stars as an undercover investigator looking to root out corruption in Oklahoma City. Don’t tell him about Stallone.

Let’s stay in the southern part of the country for a minute with “Ruth & Boaz,” another debut for Netflix this week. The film is a modern telling of the Biblical story, set in Atlanta, Ga., and small-town Tennessee. Tyler Perry, no stranger to the streaming chart, is the producer behind the film. For our final entry of the week, we head to Nepal, where Liam Neeson is not to be trifled with in “Ice Road: Vengeance.” The action film falls from second to eighth this week.

If you want a clear sign of fall, you could look at the slowly changing color of the leaves. Or you could cast your eyes on the linear chart, which is in transition.

This week, we say hello again to “The Voice” while bidding farewell to “America’s Got Talent” (NBC clearly plans its programming transitions well). First, “The Voice” debuts in the top spot, along with a second airing in fifth. We expect the singing competition to be near the top of the chart for the duration of its 28th season.

Then we have “America’s Got Talent,” which accounts for three spots (three, four and eight) on our chart this week as the competition wrapped up its 20th season. Singer Jessica Sanchez was the big winner unveiled on Sept. 24.

In the middle of that NBC sandwich is ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” which returned for its 34th season last week.

“Wheel of Fortune” grabs two spots this week at sixth and seventh. “Big Brother” capped off its 27th season with a finale on Sept. 28, helping the long-running reality show crack the chart in number nine. Finally, “The Golden Bachelor” lands in tenth place this week.

The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most-watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television, sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba TV’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.

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With a 125,000 square foot production space producing five hours of scripted content weekly, Mann and his team operate at an incredibly high frequency. His studio employs over 200 people and feeds an audience of 140 million fans across YouTube, Facebook and other platforms. 

“If I wanted to play against Nielsen. I’ll take all the views – just do U.S., just do primetime, just do 18 to 49,” Atkins told moderator and CAA agent Brent Weinstein, comparing Mann’s channel to traditional ratings categories. “He would be the largest scripted television show on U.S. linear television every single night, just to give you a sense.”

“Any day of the week his streams would have outperformed the finale of ‘Game of Thrones’ by three times,” he added.

Mann himself had to leave TheWrap’s conference at the DGA Theater Complex in Hollywood early due to an unexpected conflict, but his studio’s head of production Toni Gray joined Atkins to give the audience a peek behind the curtain into how their operation works. The studio operates on a 30-day production schedule from ideation to publication. They have eight crews shooting simultaneously with plans to gear up to nine by the end of the year. 

Gray came from the traditional entertainment world and said that making the transition to digital was tough at first, but producing impactful work Mann is known for has made it all worth it. 

“Hollywood frowned upon jumping into this world, and I have to tell you that it is a totally different life,” she said. “It is an incredible culture. It’s collaborative. We basically tell stories at the water cooler. We can ideate and deliver in 30 days.”

The company has mastered the efficiency of space and time in order to ensure consistent output and quality. They developed a tailored software system that breaks down scripts and lets every department know what is needed for each production the following day. 

“If you’re sitting in wardrobe, you get a checklist that says, of these nine productions going on today, the following outfits for this actor or actress need to be in this location at this period of time,” Atkins explained. “There’s no people involved. It’s literally just software that delivers that.”

“You get this unbelievable efficiency, where they will produce a TV episode for approximately 1/100th the cost of a linear average episode,” he said.

Dhar Mann Studios also organizes their productions in such a way so that every studio has the basic setup for any kind of location – be that a school, retail establishment or workplace – to cut time for setup and strike for production crews. 

“It’s always about using data to analyze the efficiency, to make sure that we can kind of keep that cost efficiency down,” Atkins said. 

Data from National Research Group shared on a lunchtime panel earlier at TheGrill on Tuesday revealed that Gen Alpha (individuals born after 2010) are increasingly interested in going to the movie theaters. Weinstein asked Mann’s team if they had any plans for a theatrical release in the future. 

Though Atkins and Gray kept mum about plans for a theatrical push, the CEO said the next step for the company is to lean into in-person experiences with a national tour that allows the “Dhar Mann Fam” to act in their own digital short.

Watch TheGrill’s full The Rise of Creator-Led Studios panel below:

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The “Survivor” Season 49 premiere, which first aired on Sept. 24, saw a 138% uptick on Paramount+, CBS.com and the CBS app when compared to its fall premiere last year, according to internal viewing data from Paramount, boosting it to its highest streaming audience within three days of premiere. “The Amazing Race” scored the same milestone, with its Season 38 premiere, which first aired on Sept. 25, seeing a 127% uptick from Season 37’s spring premiere.

Both reality competition series also saw significant upticks from their initial viewership with the delayed multiplatform viewing. The “Survivor” Season 49 premiere skyrocketed from its live-plus-same-day viewership of 4.03 million to reach 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership, according to Nielsen panel+big data figures and internal streaming data. With the 3-day viewership, the Season 49 debut was up 2% from last year’s premiere.

Likewise, “The Amazing Race” Season 38 premiere nearly doubled its live-plus-same-day audience of 2.01 million to reach 4.01 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership.

The ratings milestones comes as “Big Brother” scored its most-watched episode in over three years with its two-hour finale on Sunday, Sept. 28. The episode brought in 4.25 million viewers, up 33% from its finale a year ago, which scored 3.19 million viewers, as well as up 33% from the season’s average. The episode also became the No. 1 program of the night and scored a 1.3 rating among viewers ages 25-54.

Both “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race” were nominated for Outstanding Reality Competition program at this year’s 77th Emmys alongside MTV’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Bravo’s “Top Chef” and Peacock’s “The Traitors,” which won the Emmy.

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