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Is Lions coach Dan Campbell taking too many risks?
The Detroit Lions are winning football games, but should Dan Campbell tone down the gambling?
2026 Ballon d’Or: The full list of nominees
The 2026 Ballon d’Or will be announced this evening in a glamorous ceremony in London. The awards recognised the finest footballer on the planet, with several contenders in the conversation for succ...
Georgia football rises in AP Poll rankings during bye week
Georgia Bulldogs rise in the latest AP Top 25 rankings despite being on a bye week this past weekend.
Today’s Papers: Juventus claw back, Inter never give up
La Gazzetta dello SportKimi, here we go Another triumph, the World Championship will arrive on Sunday with a ninth-place finishAntonelli also dominates at the GP in Austin: His ninth victory. The tit...
The youngest Ballon d’Or winners in history
Ronaldo Nazário remains the youngest player to win the Ballon d'Or, having claimed football's most prestigious individual honour aged just 21 years and 92 days in 1997.But could the Brazilian's long-...
Banc of Cal Expands to Private Banking
Los Angeles is a hotbed of established and budding personal wealth, and Brentwood-based Banc of California has thrown its hat into the ring to service
‘Been a Problem for a Very, Very Long Time’ — Revisiting the Time Fox’s Pam Oliver Revealed the Health Battle That Impacts Her Sideline Reporting
NFL sideline reporter Pam Oliver has been a fixture in the business for more than 30 years, covering the league for Fox. At 65, she’s also one of the most experienced voices on the sidelines, most recently covering the San Francisco 49ers’ Week 7 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
Minsu Kim's stance on Rangers transfer revealed
Minsu Kim in action with Derek McInnes on sideline left inset
Women’s football’s Black British icons
Our writers pay tribute to the Black British women who have left indelible legacies on the sport
‘End game’: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce mocked by opponent
The Seattle Seahawks handed the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss of the season on Sunday night, and they made sure to rub it in afterward by trolling newlyweds Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. After their 20-3 win on Sunday Night Football, the Seahawks posted a Swift-themed troll on social media, sharing a friendship bracelet…
Kane primed to pip Yamal, Mbappe to Ballon d'Or glory
England captain Harry Kane is the favourite to win a wide open race to be crowned Ballon d'Or winner at a glitzy London ceremony on Monday, with Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe also in the running to be named the world's best footballer.- 'I deserve it' - Yamal finished second to Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele last year and the 19-year-old Barcelona superstar seems destined to be a Ballon d'Or winner one day.
High school sports roundup for Oct. 23-24, 2026
Friday, Oct. 23 Football Meadowdale defeated Lynnwood 48-0 The Meadowdale Mavericks jumped out to a 41-0 halftime lead en route to a 48-0 shutout win over the Lynnwood Royals. The […]
Bears vs. Seahawks odds: Opening lines for Week 8 matchup
The Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks are both coming off prime-time Week 7 wins, and they’ll face each other under the lights in Week 8 on Monday Night Football. The (5-2) Bears knocked off the New England Patriots 30 to 24 on Thursday Night Football, while the (4-3) Seahawks just won 20 to 3 […]
Luke Bryan’s quarterback son commits to Georgia
"Most Friday nights look better under neon or stadium lights,” but country singer Luke Bryan better get used to watching his football on Saturdays.
🎥 Drama galore as LAFC and Galaxy finish level
There were major fireworks in Los Angeles as the city's two bitter rivals, LAFC and LA Galaxy finished level in a crucial MLS showdown. The Galaxy had a two-goal lead in the second half and looked w...
Georgia lands son of music star in notable recruitment win
Georgia football secured a notable win during its bye week Sunday. And in the process, coach Kirby Smart and company win over fans of country star Luke Bryan. That’s because his son Bo Bryan is joining the 2027 recruiting class. The three-star quarterback chose the Bulldogs officially, becoming the newest College Football Recruiting win for […] The post Georgia lands son of music star in notable recruitment win appeared first on ClutchPoints.
🚨 Line-ups confirmed for América
América hosts Pachuca tonight at Estadio Banorte on Matchday 14 of the Apertura 2026, looking to secure top spot, while Tuzos will go all out to reach the playoffs despite their slim chances.América...
Peyton Manning’s Role in Colts GM Search Clarified After Chris Ballard Firing
Peyton Manning is one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, to ever play for the Indianapolis Colts. The former quarterback is one of the most decorated players in American football history. He has won the Super Bowl two times, and is a five-time NFL Most Valuable Player. The Colts have not found the […] The post Peyton Manning’s Role in Colts GM Search Clarified After Chris Ballard Firing appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.
First round of 2026 high school football playoff matchups announced
Several area schools will play in the first round of the 2026 high school football playoffs this week.
Sunday Sports: Section 3 football matchups announced and more
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Sunday.
TMSM Weekly Recap: Star Wars Super Bowl, Cap Lifts Thor's Hammer, Halloweentown 5 and More
Missed anything? Here are the biggest Disney stories from October 18 to 24, from Star Wars Funday Football and Avengers: Doomsday to Halloweentown 5 and Gideon's new trading cards.
Absent Vinícius Jr. ‘laughs’ at Barcelona after Real Madrid victory
Real Madrid star Vinícius Jr. has on Sunday evening taken to social media, to issue his response to his side’s victory over arch rivals Barcelona.José Mourinho’s troops made the trip to the Spo...
Clemson’s Loss to Virginia Tech Puts the Program in Flux
Clemson’s loss to Virginia Tech puts the program in flux heading into November. The Tigers now find themselves on the outside looking in on the ACC Championship race after being defeated 20-16 by the Hokies. Dabo Swinney’s team played well in many spots, especially in the third quarter. The complementary football Clemson displayed to start the …
🎥 Kylian Mbappé's lucky goal against FC Barcelona
Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring against FC Barcelona this Saturday, October 25.A truly unexpected goal.With both teams looking sluggish from the start, it took until the 42nd minute for the deadlock...
Photo: Jude Bellingham’s head-turning new boots for Barcelona showdown
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has on Sunday evening provided a look at the head-turning footwear that he is set to make use of in El Clásico.The latest edition of Spanish football’s most bitter ...
Two Georgia Bulldogs ranked among college football's top-25 players
Two Georgia Bulldogs earned top-15 spots on ESPN's midseason top 25 college football player rankings.
Barcelona host Real Madrid in anticipated Clásico clash
2026-10-25T20:12:58ZThere have been a few crunching tackles on both sides in the last few minutes and now the benches have taken exception as there is a little coming together in the center of the par...
🚨 Barcelona & Real Madrid name XIs for El Clásico
Barcelona and Real Madrid face off in El Clásico this evening. Hansi Flick's Barcelona top La Liga this season after winning all nine matches.Real Madrid will hope for improvements this evening as L...
Defender turns striker and scores in Bayern win
Bayern Munich beat Freiburg 3-1 away from home to reclaim top spot in the Bundesliga on Sunday (25).Dayot Upamecano was one of the standout performers, scoring the opener with a move in which he playe...
The Times' top 25 high school football rankings
A look at the top 25 high school football teams in the Southland after Week 9.
COMMENTARY: Three reasons why Tennessee football imploded against South Carolina
Penalties, brain blips and a hangover conspire to doom Volunteers.
Carrick ‘not expecting’ Man United crisis talks despite Bournemouth defeat
Michael Carrick said he is ‘not expecting’ imminent talks about his future despite Manchester United’s latest defeat.Carrick’s position as head coach looks under threat after Manchester United...
😱Fans back Carrick: How the United players left
Today, Manchester United suffered another crushing defeat, losing 0-3 to Bournemouth at Old Trafford. There was plenty of talk during the week about the rift between the players and Michael Carrick, p...
Kansas at Duke: Exhibition OGT
Kansas basketball hopes to follow the football team with a win today. Yeah, this game doesn’t count, but any time you’re playing Duke you want to win. Plus, this exhibition game is a big enough deal that ESPN is broadcasting it live (probably because they know everyone else will be watching football. I’m probably going […]
Giants at Texans live game discussion for Week 7
We, who are about to watch Texans football, salute you.
Stateliner Pride on Display: Phillipsburg Band and Alumni Unite at Halftime
Phillipsburg’s Stateliner band and alumni joined for a halftime performance celebrating school tradition, pride and community at Friday’s football game.
Grading Iowa Football's Loss To Minnesota
This may have been Iowa's worst quarterback performance since the dreadful 2023 season.
Preview
The Men's First Team are back in Serie A action, this time heading south to face Lecce in Puglia.The Serie A Matchday 8 clash is set to take place at the Stadio Via del Mare at 18:00 CET on Sunday, Oc...
Michigan's Jason Beck promised change, but numbers tell another story
Michigan football vowed to fix its perimeter run game or stop it, but the team continues to struggle on the edge.
Fernandes dropped: Man United name team to face Bournemouth
Manchester United have named their team to face Bournemouth in the Premier League, with captain Bruno Fernandes dropped from the side.Fernandes has been named among the substitutes at Old Trafford, in...
Liverpool host Brighton; Man Utd take on Bournemouth in PL
2026-10-25T13:33:41ZA rundown of today's games...2pm kick-offs:Liverpool vs BrightonManchester United vs BournemouthHull City vs BrentfordCrystal Palace vs Newcastle4:30pm kick-off:Sunderland vs Leeds...
Indiana football should be better. It also could be worse
On one hand, Indiana hasn’t played its best football in weeks. On the other, neither has anyone else, really.
Iowa Football Was Never Truly A CFP-Caliber Team. The Loss To Minnesota Proved It
The Hawkeyes had plenty of momentum after the Washington game, but there's just too much inconsistency right now. Everything fell apart against Minnesota.
2026 Vanderbilt Football Mailbag #9: Call For Submissions
Post VANDERBILT Football and/or SEC Football questions in the comments here. It’s becoming more and more obvious we’re highly unlikely to win another game this season. Our defensive calls make no sense, we’ve got an uber-talented but uber-raw QB learning on the jerb, and Barton Simmons’ decision to staff our O-Line exclusively with matadors has […]
🚨 Barça's squad to face Real Madrid
Barcelona have just announced Hansi Flick's squad for tonight's Clásico against Real Madrid at the Spotify Camp Nou. Midfielder Orian Goren is the standout inclusion in Flick's 23-man squad. Reserve-...
Sources: Leeds hit by new hurdle in Nicolo Tresoldi race
Daniel Farke in a press conference with Leeds, with Paraag Marathe at Elland Road
Bill Belichick speaks on loss to Syracuse
What Bill Belichick said after UNC football lost to Syracuse.
🚨 Maroan, Iván Azón: confirmed line-ups for Athletic-Getafe
Athletic Club, unbeaten at San Mamés in the league this season, host a Getafe side in turmoil following Bordalás's inflammatory comments and a clear crisis on the pitch. Here are the lineups for to...
Amorim eyes raid on Manchester United for £52m defender
Ruben Amorim is keen on a reunion with Manchester United defender Leny Yoro at AC Milan.The Serie A side are weighing up a move for the 20-year-old at the end of the season, according to reports in It...
Sunday Night Football: How to watch the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Seattle Seahawks game tonight
College football scores yesterday: Results of top 25, notable games
More ranked teams lost to unranked foes in Week 8. Here are the scores from top 25, other notable matchups that took place in Week 8.
College football rankings after Week 8: Updated Coaches Poll, AP Top 25 for SEC
Here's where SEC teams were ranked in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 after Week 8:
Updated SEC football conference standings following Week 8 upsets
The SEC's Week 8 slate produced a number of notable results. Here is how those results impacted the conference standings entering Week 9.
Fantasy Football injury update: Justin Jefferson cleared for Week 7
Justin Jefferson's ankle was still on the injury report ahead of Week 7.
AC Milan XI vs Udinese – Predicted lineup and team news
AC Milan will look to break into the Serie A’s top four by taking maximum points when they travel to face Udinese on Sunday in their upcoming league fixture.The Rossoneri arrive with a mixed and unp...
Udinese vs AC Milan – Match preview and team news
AC Milan will aim to get inside the top four of the Serie A league table by securing all three points when they meet Udinese on Sunday away from home in their next match.Udinese vs AC Milan – Match...
UCLA’s perfect start has one glaring flaw it must fix soon
Bob Chesney has made UCLA the second-half darlings of college football, but the Bruins must address their slow starts if they hope to reach the playoff.
🎥 He's already on a yellow! Linesman sends player tumbling
It's the refereeing team's job to make sure a match is as fair as possible and the players stay on their feet. But that definitely doesn't always work out.During the clash between Monterrey and Guadal...
😂 Mystery note? BVB match-winner explains bizarre moment
Did you catch the curious scene after the final whistle in the big clash between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt? Match-winner Maxi Beier suddenly found himself holding a piece of paper shor...
Today’s Papers – Lazio fly high, Roma comeback, furious Allegri
La Gazzetta dello SportFantastic draw.Crazy 3-3 between Napoli and Roma. Allegri was sent off; it was a fury.Super hot headLazio, a night as queen: +3 Inter; catching up is on the tableMilan: Cardinal...
Bayern bosses offer differing assessments of Lennart Karl’s development
Bayern Munich honorary president and supervisory board member Uli Hoeneß has spoken strongly about Lennart Karl, insisting that the highly rated youngster is still far from being a superstar. In an i...
Yahoo Top 10: BYU's stunning upset loss shakes up college football picture
Hibernian vs Celtic – Match preview and team news
Celtic will look to bounce back from their recent European defeat as they travel away from home to face Hibernian in their next Scottish Premiership match on Sunday.Hibernian vs Celtic – Match prev...
High school flag football: Southern Section playoff scores
CIF Southern Section high school girls' flag football playoff scores for Saturday's games.
High school football: Saturday's scores
List of results from CIF City and Southern Section high school football games on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Sunderland vs Leeds – Predicted lineup and team news
Sunderland host Leeds United at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, looking to move away from the bottom of the Premier League standings and end a difficult run of results.The Black Cats head into the gam...
Inter Milan vs Fiorentina – Predicted lineup and team news
Inter Milan welcome Fiorentina to the San Siro on Sunday for their next Serie A game, aiming to climb to the summit of the table.The Nerazzurri arrive in outstanding domestic form, having avoided defe...
2026 SEC football power rankings after Week 8
2026 SEC football power rankings after Week 8, where Tennessee ranks.
Cougars picture-perfect Homecoming scene goes sideways
When the meeting between Washington State and Boise State was announced, it was immediately circled by many to be one of the better games of the revamped Pac-12 slate. Especially in the timeslot it was put in. A late October matchup at 3pm in Pullman. College football is arguably at its peak around this time […]
FAU star receiver achieves historic feat with 5-TD performance
The FAU Owls set themselves apart in college football history following a spectacular performance from Easton Messer in their 51-49 win over the Rice Owls on Saturday afternoon. Messer is going through the final season of his collegiate career, his second with the Owls. He shines as one of the best receivers in the nation, ranking high with a lot […] The post FAU star receiver achieves historic feat with 5-TD performance appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Bethune-Cookman scores wild upset victory over Jackson State
The 2026 football season has delivered upsets and stunning losses, but this one might be the most shocking. Over the past two seasons, Bethune-Cookman has gained momentum as a formidable SWAC East contender, but it needed a definitive win over one of the conference’s top teams to prove its worth . Today, that victory came. Bethune-Cookman secured a […] The post Bethune-Cookman scores wild upset victory over Jackson State appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Simply unbelievable! Neymar sent off under the 'Vini Jr law'
Neymar's Saturday night (24th) borders on the unbelievable.After halftime in Santos' 1–0 loss to Bahia at Vila Belmiro, the star No. 10 CONTINUED taunting Rodrigo Nestor before play resumed at the s...
🥈 Bullet header places Antoine Griezmann in MLS goalscoring pantheon
Antoine Griezmann's arrival in MLS has come up with the goods in expected fashion across much of the 2026 season, with the World Cup winner and France icon becoming one of the faces of the league and ...
South Carolina extends home win streak over Tennessee football
South Carolina defeats Tennessee on a game-winning field goal.
CBS Sports Just Handed Clemson a Brutal Midseason Grade (And They Aren’t Wrong)
CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson football is surviving in the ACC championship race, but its on-field product isn’t fooling national evaluators. In CBS Sports’ midseason report card, college football analyst Chip Patterson handed the Tigers a “D”—a harsh indictment of the gap between their 4-2 overall record (2-1 ACC) and the lackluster quality of football they […] The post CBS Sports Just Handed Clemson a Brutal Midseason Grade (And They Aren’t Wrong) appeared first on HEAVY.
N.C. State fires football coach midway through his 14th season
N.C. State has fired its head football coach a day after falling to Stanford, school officials said Saturday evening in a news release.
Saturday Sports: North Country football, soccer and swimming over the weekend
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Saturday.
São Paulo fight back to draw away at Mirassol
Mirassol and São Paulo played out a 1–1 draw this Saturday (24) in the Brasileirão.Neto Moura opened the scoring with a header early in the game at Maião. Pedro Lima equalized for the Tricolor be...
Auburn's Georgia Momentum Disappears in Ugly Loss to LSU
Auburn football suffered a 38-17 loss to LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium, falling to 4-3 after upsetting No. 1 Georgia. Sam Leavitt torched Auburn's defense for 387 passing yards, while Byrum Brown and the Tigers' offense struggled to find rhythm ahead of next week's matchup at Ole Miss.
Packers Star Reveals Turning Point After Brutal Start to Season
Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams pointed to the team’s Week 3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons as the moment the defense raised its standards after an uneven start.The Packers entered that Thursday Night Football game at 1-1. They had dropped their opener to the Minnesota Vikings before beating the New York Jets in overtime. […] The post Packers Star Reveals Turning Point After Brutal Start to Season appeared first on HEAVY.
Fantasy football Week 7: Should you start Baker Mayfield?
Should you start Baker Mayfield against Carolina in Week 7? Here's his fantasy production, injury outlook and matchup analysis.
Barcelona’s back-4 to face Real Madrid is already known
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has already made a decision on his starting backline to face Real Madrid on Sunday evening.This comes amid the understanding that the German intends to field the same ...
Netflix’s Leadership Shake Up…Explained
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, I had a simple article planned for this week. Called “Whoa, I Missed It!”, I’d take a gander at a few important-but-under-the-radar stories I didn’t cover while I wrote about all things “Skydance. (Formerly known as “the saga of Netflix trying to buy Warner Bros., but not Discovery, then Paramount-Skydance bought all of Warner Bros. Discovery”.) Alas, that article will have to wait. Netflix made news. Ironically, my “Whoa, I Missed It!” article would have mostly been about “content” strategy decisions, which is also what today’s article is about. But instead of the entire industry, this article will only cover Netflix’s decision to upend their film and TV content teams. Just that! So that’s the full topic of the day. I’m going to tackle the issue in the opposite direction of the way “stuff” flows: uphill. We’ll start at film, then move onto TV, and then onto the CEOs themselves, and the strategy questions that still remain. But we start with the numbers driving this. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Netflix Upends Their Corporate Hierarchy I’ve got a lot of thoughts, but we’ll start with the most common response to yesterday’s article. Let’s Talk Stock Price More than one person, responding to what I published two days ago, pointed out that, well, actually, the thing driving Netflix’s actions is this: In short, stock price! Even if Netflix isn’t obsessed with their own share price—they probably are, but, for the record, my strategic advice to every CEO is to absolutely ignore stock prices, which will, ironically, probably help the stock price long-term—most everyone thinks they are. By the way, I prefer market capitalization to stock prices, because it’s a more apples-to-apples way to compare companies: But there’s an even better way to look at it, and it kinda casts some doubt on the entire push here: price-to-earnings. I have a long list of articles that I wish I had written, and chief among them is an article titled, “Am I Still a Netflix ‘Bear’?” meaning someone who thinks Netflix’s stock is overvalued. As of last summer, Netflix had solved their biggest problem—which for me (circa 2019) was the lack of free cash flow—but their stock was CRAZY overvalued. That’s this chart here: Why did Netflix’s stock price increase to a price-to-earnings ratio of 50 last summer? What financial metric changed so quickly? Nothing. Given that, historically, mature entertainment companies average 10 to 20, with 16 being the average, that increase made little sense. Netflix’s stock swoon these last eight or so months wasn’t irrational; the stock price rise last year was. So if you want a really hot Netflix take, here it is: Netflix’s stock price has been going down because the financial industry recovered its senses, not because of any strategic mistake. Yes, that would imply that cleaning house may have been a mistake. That’s why the charts yesterday are so important, because they show that Netflix did have a strategic problem (a lack of hits) and that’s what they moved to address. (One could also argue the industry drastically overrated Netflix’s growth prospects, but that’s a financial industry problem, not a Netflix strategy problem per se. Some growth estimates are just crazy. *cough* AI *cough*) Now, the last time Netflix’s stock price crashed—circa 2022—it gave them an opening. I’d argue Netflix insiders knew they needed to expand post-COVID-19 crisis, adding advertising, cracking down on password sharing, and dabbling in sports. But if they had done that when their stock price was high, it would give folks a reason to second guess their strategy. (Arguably, last year, when Netflix pursued the Warner Bros. merger, it gave the industry a chance to review their business.) Instead, after the 2022 fall, they had the opening to make strategic changes. We may see Netflix pivot again following this latest slide. For example, the “binge versus weekly” conversation is alive and well again. Same for expanding into theaters even more. And adding both linear channels and streaming bundles. And maybe more either social, user-generated, vertical, or creator content. But the first shift came with who is making the content calls. A Message from Our Sponsor Last winter Pulp Fiction was on Netflix. For those same 90 days, it was also free, with ads, on Pluto TV and the Roku Channel. That is not a glitch, and it is not rare. The title has run on 20 different US streaming services since 2019, across 80 separate windows, and for more than 600 of those days it sat on a paid subscription service and a free ad-supported one at the same time. Almost nobody can see this, because when a title leaves a service, the record that it was ever there tends to leave with it. Reelgood keeps that record, dated to the day rather than the month: 4MM+ movie, show and episode titles across 300+ services globally, with timestamped arrivals, departures and moves across SVOD, AVOD, TVOD and vMVPD. Licensing teams price against every prior window. Rights teams check what a licensee actually delivered, and when. Pick a title you think you know: data.reelgood.com/title-availability Film - Dan Lin Want to know why I don’t opine on individual film or TV executives, especially new hires? Dan Lin. As I always caution, it’s really, really, really tough to predict which executives will succeed in new roles and which won’t. The successful head of co-production/finance partner, Rideback, Lin was considered for the head of DC Studios job before taking the job as the head of Netflix. By all accounts at the time, this was a smart hire. (That’s my read of the news coverage anyways.) But now that Netflix has fired Dan Lin, we got a slew of news stories about how he was doing a terrible job. In sports media, Bryan Curtis, new Substack writer/podcaster from The Ringer, calls this the “now you tell us” story, when you only hear the bad news after a star athlete leaves a sports team. In this case, now they tell us that Dan Lin was bad with talent after he got kicked out the door. So was Dan Lin a flop? It’s actually tough to say. While film moves faster than TV, even two years isn’t really enough time to evaluate a person’s output. The new head hasn’t really taken control. As Emily Horgan noted, it takes much longer than two years to produce animated films, so yeah, it’s definitely too early to judge in that domain. As for live-action films, I just published an article by Brandon Katz called “Netflix’s Summer of Bummer”, but I’d point out Netflix had a bad summer two years ago too. Arguably, their best summer came from KPop Demon Hunters last year and Happy Gilmore 2, the latter of which I saw credited to Lin. Then, the stories came out that Dan Lin clashed with talent, both Ben Affleck and Greta Gerwig, classic “now they tell us” factoids to explain his firing. This may have been true, but also should have been expected given that he was given the mandate to bring budgets back in check, especially after Rebel Moon. So if he made folks upset, well, that’s what he was hired to do! But also, he was described as “well-liked” at his hiring! In that case, I’m a bit sympathetic to Lin, since he may have been undercut by senior leadership, as often happens. Basically, a CEO hires a subordinate to be their “bad cop” and keep budgets in check, but then when talent complains, the CEO ends up undercutting them. That’s how I think you end up with a Narnia movie as expensive as any of the other flops, along with a film executive the town no longer likes. As a result, I think that Netflix is now executing a classic “hire the opposite” move by hiring Peter Rice. This phrase comes from my experience following football and basketball coaching decisions, where teams generally hire the opposite of who they just had. If you have an offense-minded head coach, hire the defensive guy. Or in college football, if you have a strong recruiter, then you pivot to an “X’s and Os” type of guy. Or in pro basketball, if you have a very analytically minded coach, you hire the player-friendly guy. I see that here. After dropping Scott Stuber—arguably a talent-friendly executive with lax budget control—Netflix hired the business guy to keep costs in check. Now Netflix is pivoting back to Peter Rice and presumably a more talent-friendly regime. (Disney, by the way, has done this twice: hiring business guys to succeed talent-friendly Bob Iger. It didn’t work out last time.) When it comes to Peter Rice…we’ll see! Maybe he works out, but maybe he doesn’t. I’d actually say the biggest problem is that Netflix still hasn’t solved its “IP Problem”, in that they don’t own much IP, so they just have a lower hit rate. The new executive won’t solve that. (Though buying Lionsgate would help.) Share “Content” - Bela Bajaria I almost published yesterday’s article after this column, but ended up flipping the order, because it told the story so well. So if you want the data for why Netflix is looking at TV to fix their problems, it’s in that article, this graph in particular: I know I just wrote that it’s often hard to judge executives, but Bajaria ran TV for six years and film for three and a half more. That’s more than enough to judge hit rates, and Netflix needs more hits. That’s the story. Since 2023, Netflix hasn’t had as many hit shows as it used to, and many of its previous power house TV shows have ended their runs (Stranger Things most of all). Also, many shows from 2020 to 2022 probably pre-dated Bajaria’s tenure. (That said, one thing may have been outside of Bajaria’s control, which I explain below.) Let’s lump some content strategy thoughts about Netflix and TV into one place: 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… Why I partially blame Squid Game for Netflix’s latest troubles… What is “the football trap”... Why it might not be the TV shows or films’ fault at all… What change I don’t think Netflix will make... How Bela Bajaria evolved Netflix’s TV strategy in smart ways… Whose departure likely submarined Bajaria’s final few years… One sneaky explanation for Netflix’s content struggles... And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.