This isn’t your manager’s gossip rag. Hollywood Signal exists for people who make things — filmmakers, writers, producers, execs, and the crew who keep the industry moving. We cut the noise and surface what matters: mandates, money, and market logic. All signal, no speculation.
If you were a reader of Story Surveillance, you’re in the right place. We’ve rebranded under a single, sharper banner: Hollywood Signal — same depth, broader scope. Everything we publish stays grounded in verifiable intel. There is a separate newsletter that you can opt into now called IP Surveillance. This week it'll come out just after this one, but going forward the Briefing will come fresh on a Monday morning and IP Surveillance will come on Fridays.
A lot more to come, including our Mandate Wizard AI-powered database that helps you answer questions you have about who is looking for what and how to hone your pitch to land in the right zone.
In this edition:
Industry Numbers Streaming subs, box office, viewership trends
Deals & IP Moves This week’s deal flow + major library and rights plays
Streaming Momentum Chart of the Week: Nielsen data on platform growth
Exec Moves Key leadership shifts across studios and media orgs
Industry Calendar Major events and deadlines: Tribeca, Emmys, Cannes Lions, more
Global Strategy Watch Streamers double down on Spain and LatAm content
Cultural Signals 5 emerging trends shaping audience behavior and aesthetics
Share this with your team. Forward it to a producer. Post it in your writers’ Slack. We want Hollywood Signal in the hands of every working creative and exec — and we want to hear what you’re seeing. Let’s track the shifts together.
Stats
Paramount+ → 79 M subs (+11 % YoY) / still in the red • Paramount Global Q1-2025 earnings recap (subscriber figure) • Streaming operating loss narrowed but remains -$109 M (profitability still elusive)
Paramount+ edged rivals in U.S. sign-ups • Antenna’s sign-up leaderboard for 2024 (released Jan 22 2025) — Paramount+ tops the pack
2025 YTD domestic box-office = $3.52 B (+25 % vs 2024) • Box Office Mojo year-to-date comparison page (data through 13 Jun 2025)
Netflix 8 % vs YouTube 12 % of connected-TV watch-time (March 2025) • Nielsen “Media Distributor Gauge” summary — YouTube 12 %, Netflix 7.9 % (rounded to 8 %) • Companion March Gauge write-up (adds context on the 12 % YouTube share)
Deal Flow Dashboard
This week’s announced deal value: ~$26M vs ~$50M 4-week avg ► Volume dropped sharply following last month’s outlier — MUBI’s $100M raise from Sequoia — which had skewed recent averages. Outside of library plays, capital deployment slowed.
Nielsen’s “Gauge” shows streaming’s share of total U.S. TV time climbing from 42.6 % in January to 44.3 % in April 2025. That’s a 1.7-point gain in just four months—roughly the same ground it took streaming all of 2024 to cover.
Momentum is accelerating. The line isn’t flat-lining; growth re-accelerated after a sluggish Q4-2024. Any strategy that still treats streaming as “optional” is officially toast.
Carve-outs for cable keep shrinking. Each percentage point streaming grabs is a point cable/broadcast lose, tightening windows for ad buys and legacy licensing.
Investor & advertiser leverage shifts. Platforms that can prove they’re winning share (YouTube, Netflix, FASTs) wield stronger negotiating power on CPMs and content budgets.
Read Next
Fear Pays: How Horror Is Outsmarting the Superheroes
From Weapons to Sinners, horror is delivering tentpole-sized openings on lean budgets. In 2025, the genre’s mix of big ROI, viral marketing, and cross-platform appeal has made it Hollywood’s most bankable play—and a model others are racing to copy.
How Hollywood Studios Became Tech Companies: Inside the Streaming Wars Revolution
Fantastic Four limps to $39M as Hollywood's tech transformation accelerates. Paramount's new CEO promises Silicon Valley disruption, streaming hits 46% of TV time, and AMC earnings loom. Inside: Why studios must code or die.
IP Surveillance #5
This Week’s IP Surveillance – August 2025
Early‑stage adaptation oxygen is thick this month. Our August sweep surfaces unoptioned or barely‑buzzed properties across books, audio, journalism, games and theatre—each with a clear “why now” spark and expandable world‑building:
* Intimate & off‑beat fiction: a Swedish widower’
Hollywood Inc.: When IP Becomes the Asset Class
Hollywood Signal: Wall Street hijacks Tinseltown—Netflix goes profit-first, Paramount-Skydance closes, Gen Z craves analog vibes.
Subscribe now!
Hollywood Signal is the anti-gossip newsletter for decision-makers — distilling market data, buyer mandates, and trend analytics into a weekly briefing that helps execs, producers, and creators green-light, pitch, or pivot.
