The past couple of years have increasingly felt like I’m writing a slow-moving, multi-part obituary for television as most of us knew it. The television that involves real sets being built, fully staffed writers rooms, series regulars, dozens of recurring and guest roles, attention spent on production value handled by below-the-line pros and an audience of millions of viewers who regularly tune in on a weekly basis.
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The Rise, Fall, and (Slight) Rise of DVDs: A Statistical Analysis
Physical media was a cash cow for movie studios, who could sell a single film to the same consumer multiple times. Let’s say you loved The Lion King in a world before streaming: you might be paying Disney for a movie ticket, a VHS tape, a DVD, a Blu-ray, and now a 4K disc. That’s at least $100 of Lion King spending. Many films enjoyed active second lives on DVD and VHS, with hit titles grossing over $500M in additional revenue for Hollywood studios.
Source: The Rise, Fall, and (Slight) Rise of DVDs: A Statistical Analysis
Google adds music-generation capabilities to the Gemini app
Google announced on Wednesday that it’s adding a music-generation feature to the Gemini app. To use the feature, you’ll describe the song you want to create, and the app will generate a track along with lyrics. For instance, you could ask Gemini to create a “comical R&B slow jam about a sock finding its match,” and the app will generate a 30-second track along with cover art made by Nano Banana.
Source: Google adds music-generation capabilities to the Gemini app | TechCrunch
Watching AI Films On A Cinema Screen Exposed The Tech’s Huge Flaws
Ultimately, the Chroma Awards entries shared two things in common: Firstly, they revealed that the technology is not yet mature enough for ambitious ideas. Secondly, the storytelling skills of these AI creators could not disguise the fact that their films are artificial. But there is optimism in the community that both these hurdles can be cleared.
Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood
According to Crabtree-Ireland, the real concern is that, even if videos generated by Seedance and other A.I. platforms “are not malicious in intent,” they could “really violate someone’s right to control how their image, their likeness and their voice is used.” The kind of material represented by the Cruise-Pitt battle, he said, “could not be produced by any of the signatories to our contracts — the studios, the streamers — without the specific, informed consent of those individuals.”
Source: Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood
Universal Music strikes deal with superfan platform EVEN to power D2C sales for artists
The deal establishes EVEN as a direct-to-fan resource for UMG, providing the major’s labels and artists with “turnkey” tools for engaging superfans through early access to music, exclusive content, and community features. The agreement will also allow UMG artists to offer physical music and merchandise through EVEN using UMG’s global D2C, vinyl, and merch infrastructure.
Source: Universal Music strikes deal with superfan platform EVEN to power D2C sales for artists worldwide
Hollywood’s AI Crackdown Opens Door for Copyright Detection Startups
Hollywood and creative industries are fighting back against AI infringement, with one startup offering proprietary technology to detect suspected misuse of copyrighted material within generative AI models. LightBar, a research platform focused on AI training data, positions itself as the evidence layer that makes those threats actionable.
Source: Hollywood’s AI Crackdown Opens Door for Copyright Detection Startups – Decrypt
The US regional dailies proving news can pay despite Washington Post challenges
The Times, as the nation’s leading newspaper, is unique, and the extent to which other publishers can learn from its example is limited. But if Bezos ever decides he wants to take journalism seriously again, then he might take a look at a handful of large regional papers that have charted a route to sustainability against the strong headwinds that continue to buffet the news business.
Source: The US regional dailies proving news can pay despite Washington Post challenges
ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash
Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it will strengthen safeguards on a new artificial intelligence video-making tool, following complaints from entertainment giants. “ByteDance respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0,” a company spokesperson said. “We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”
Source: ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash
European Parliament Proposes Changes to Copyright Protection in the Age of AI
In late January 2026, a leaked version of the EP’s compromise amendments to its draft report became available. The compromise amendments for the most part simply beef up the proposals in the earlier, draft report – for example, by proposing a more robust licensing and remuneration regime for training data and post-training uses. However, there are a couple of proposals worth noting.
Source: European Parliament Proposes Changes to Copyright Protection in the Age of Generative AI