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Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY April 30, 2025. Where sure, companies like GM, JETBLUE, UPS, COLGATE-PALMOLIVE and most recently SNAP all pulled their financial guidance for Q2 (SNAP shares were -14% last night, as it was also down 1M users in North America) — but the cruise 🚢 community knows no bounds! Yes, ROYAL CARIBBEAN actually raised its financial guidance for the rest of 2025 this week, and cited that “During April, the company’s bookings were greater than the same period last year.” So, god bless you, cruise folk — just don’t be too surprised at the rapid change in prices that you find back home upon disembarking from your journey.
THEN: META joined the standalone AI app race this week alongside OPENAI and others, so you no longer need to go into FACEBOOK to get all of your highly questionable AI John Cena fantasy talk. LO AND BEHOLD: AMAZON walked back the notion that breaking out how tariffs were raising prices for products was in the works, saying only its discount marketplace division Haul was considering the idea. This after the Trump administration called it a “a hostile and political act.”
AND: NETFLIX is adding a Hitchcock collection in the U.S. starting June 1, including Vertigo, Rear Window, Frenzy, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Family Plot, The Birds and more.
PLUS: The TRIBECA FEST announced its reunion panel/screenings, including:
OH: Look at the L.A. City Council passing a motion with the goal of reducing “onerous regulations and permitting” policies and “unnecessary fees” for production shoots in the city.
EH: I just found this curious — the top 5 automaker national TV ad spends in Q1 according to iSPOT. Note that 78% of this money was spent on sports.
AND: This too — UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP made $3.05B in Q1 (+9.5% YoY), with ad-supported (YOUTUBE, etc) and subscription streaming revenue alone making up about 55% of that ($1.68B), +7.2% YoY. Those SPOTIFY price hikes have a long tail. Also:
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to BLEECKER STREET CEO and founder Andrew Karpen, who lost his battle with brain cancer at the age of 59 on Monday, after receiving the diagnosis about 16 months ago. A talented, well-liked exec who will be missed very much by the industry. 🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
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