“The Simpsons Movie 2” set for release two decades after first film
For millions, the TV show’s golden era has long since passed.
Even ultimatums aren’t enough to drive America’s workers back to the office en masse
With media giants Paramount, AT&T and The New York Times joining Microsoft and Amazon in stepping up their office attendance requirements, Corporate America seems keen to return back to the old normal... if only their employees would heed the call.
A growing number of return-or-exit ultimatums and crackdowns from companies don’t seem to be moving the needle, as the share of time that Americans spend working from home has plateaued for much of the last year. Data first reported by The Wall Street Journal from the US Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes reveals that an average staffer has been spending about a quarter of their working time from home since 2023, when the share gradually dropped from a pandemic peak of 62%.
A growing number of return-or-exit ultimatums and crackdowns from companies don’t seem to be moving the needle, as the share of time that Americans spend working from home has plateaued for much of the last year. Data first reported by The Wall Street Journal from the US Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes reveals that an average staffer has been spending about a quarter of their working time from home since 2023, when the share gradually dropped from a pandemic peak of 62%.
Station owner Sinclair ticks up following news it won’t air Tuesday’s return of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Disney on Monday said that Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show will return to ABC on Tuesday evening, ending the show’s nearly weeklong suspension. But not every television station will be airing it.
On Tuesday night, TV station owner Sinclair Inc., which says it’s the “largest ABC affiliate group,” announced that it will continue to keep “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off of its ABC stations. The stations will instead show “news programming.” Sinclair shares rose nearly 4% on Tuesday morning.
Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return. pic.twitter.com/beGC6VID2x
— Sinclair, Inc. (@WeAreSinclair) September 22, 2025
The move highlights the power that companies like Sinclair and rival Nexstar have over deciding what content makes it across US airwaves. Together, the two companies control 20% of ABC affiliates — not accounting for Nexstar’s potential megamerger with Tegna.
Nexstar, which also ticked up Tuesday morning, has not announced its decision on airing Kimmel’s show Tuesday and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The gap between America’s notion of the ideal family size and the actual reality is getting wider
Americans think somewhere around three kids is ideal. The fertility rate has some serious catching up to do.
Your upcoming Powerball loss is DraftKings’ gain
As the Powerball jackpot has stretched to $1.8 billion, users are flooding into DraftKings’ Jackpocket lottery app.
Paramount and Microsoft’s Activision agree to partner on a “Call of Duty” movie
Less than a month after forming, Paramount Skydance has landed another major piece of intellectual property. The studio said it’s signed a deal with Microsoft’s Activision to create a live-action “Call of Duty” film.
The competitive shooter is one of the most popular gaming franchises in the world and has been the US’s bestselling series for the past 16 years. The next title in the 22-year-old franchise, “Black Ops 7,” will debut in November.
Paramount, which closed its merger with Skydance in August, has had a summer of big deals. It acquired UFC broadcast rights in a $7.7 billion deal with TKO last month, following a $1.5 billion deal for “South Park” rights in July. The company also lured “Stranger Things” creators away from Netflix last month for a four-year film and TV development deal.
The competitive shooter is one of the most popular gaming franchises in the world and has been the US’s bestselling series for the past 16 years. The next title in the 22-year-old franchise, “Black Ops 7,” will debut in November.
Paramount, which closed its merger with Skydance in August, has had a summer of big deals. It acquired UFC broadcast rights in a $7.7 billion deal with TKO last month, following a $1.5 billion deal for “South Park” rights in July. The company also lured “Stranger Things” creators away from Netflix last month for a four-year film and TV development deal.
“Blinding Lights” just officially hit 5 billion streams on Spotify
Over the weekend, The Weeknd’s biggest hit crossed over the impressive threshold, with Spotify marking the feat with an Instagram post that the artist shared to his story.
According to Spotify data collated by Kworb, the song now has a staggering 5,000,010,581 streams on the platform, and is racking up nearly 1.5 million streams each day at the time of writing.
While Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” released about two years before “Blinding Lights,” looks like it’ll be the next song to hit the 5 billion boundary, “Starboy,” another song from The Weeknd, might not be too far behind.
Besides those two megahits, The Weeknd has 26 other songs that have been streamed more than 1 billion times on Spotify — more than any other artist on the platform.
While Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” released about two years before “Blinding Lights,” looks like it’ll be the next song to hit the 5 billion boundary, “Starboy,” another song from The Weeknd, might not be too far behind.
Besides those two megahits, The Weeknd has 26 other songs that have been streamed more than 1 billion times on Spotify — more than any other artist on the platform.
Americans are set to gamble a record $30 billion on the NFL this season, according to estimates from the American Gaming Association.
For context, that’s the same price tag as all US sports broadcasting rights combined. Leading sportsbooks like DraftKings, Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel, Caesars Entertainment, and MGM’s BetMGM are positioned to cash in, with each battling for market share through promos, partnerships, and increasingly sticky mobile apps.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are ramping up efforts to crack down on illegal sportsbooks: this month, 50 attorneys general urged the Justice Department to take action against unlicensed gambling, warning that states are losing roughly $4 billion in tax revenue.
Yum! Brands is rethinking its rollout of AI drive-thru technology, according to The Wall Street Journal. Customers, frustrated by the tech’s glitchy behavior and quick but wrong performance, have taken to trolling the AI by placing ridiculous orders (see: “can I get 18,000 water cups, please?”).
Taco Bell Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Mathews told the WSJ that the chain is now thinking carefully about how to use the tech — which it’s already put in more than 500 US restaurants — going forward.
We’re not expecting too big of a pullback: earlier this year, Taco Bell partnered with Nvidia and said it’s invested $1 billion into “digital and technology.”