Nia Warfield4/8/24

Iowa’s Final Four match-up was a slam dunk for ESPN

Caitlin Clark and the Iowa squad may have been upset by South Carolina last night, but they took home the gold for ESPN.

The #1 most-watched sports network said a record 14.2M people tuned in to Iowa's Final Four match-up against UConn Friday. It's the 45-year old network's most watched basketball game ever, and topped viewership for every World Series game last year.

To put that in perspective, ESPN first aired an NBA game in 1982, and has been airing them continuously since 2002.

The record came just days after Iowa's matchup with No. 3 LSU became the most-watched women's college bball game with 12.3M viewers.

Women’s sports are having a moment: Just over half of American adults spent some time watching or following female sports in the past year. Meanwhile, broadcast coverage has nearly 3x’d from pre-pandemic levels as more networks try to get in on the action.

+300%

14.2M viewers

The previous record?

13.5M

Game 7 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference finals

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Spotify surges to one of its best days ever after announcing upbeat revenue guidance and a new AI remix tool

Spotify announced the deal with UMG at its investor day Thursday.

Spotify Hosts "Best New Artist" Party At The Lot Studios - Inside

Millennials may not have been the real job-hoppers after all

New BLS data shows late boomers had actually held more jobs by the same age.

Vibrant colored closed wooden doors in a row on blue sky and sea background. Choice and decisions concept

Could Madonna, Shakira, and BTS make the FIFA World Cup final more like the Super Bowl?

Just because it’s the biggest soccer game in the world doesn’t mean it can’t feel like football to Americans.

Madonna at the New York Giants v New England Patriots final

culture

Max Knoblauch5/14/26

Netflix is staffing up an apparent AI animation studio called INKubator

According to several public job listings, streaming giant Netflix appears to be building a GenAI animation studio called INKubator.

First reported by journalist Janko Roettgers in the Lowpass newsletter, INKubator seems to have launched in March and aims to “develop feature-quality content in a creator-led environment.”

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

culture

Saleah Blancaflor5/13/26

Netflix confirms a “KPop Demon Hunters” world concert tour is on the way

Netflix has a “Golden” mine and it's digging deeper.

At its fourth annual TV Upfront presentation on Wednesday, Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard announced a partnership with AEG Presents to create a “KPop Demon Hunters” world tour that will bring the phenomenon to life.

In March, Bloomberg previously reported Netflix was planning a global world tour sometime next year ahead of the sequel in arenas that would hold 10,000 to 20,000 fans, though the news had not been confirmed by the company nor had a partner been in place at the time.

“KPop Demon Hunters” is Netflix’s most watched film of all time, racking up 481.6 million views globally during the second half of 2025. Since its release, the HUNTR/X trio of Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami has appeared and performed at several major events including late-night talk shows, award ceremonies, and most recently at Coachella, where they were a surprise guest for Katseye. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the trio will be on the tour.

The announcement of the tour comes after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos shared in a recent blog post that the company spent $135 billion on licensing and original film and TV over the last 10 years.

This year, Netflix has a projected content spend of $20 billion, up 10% year over year, while its annual revenue forecast is between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion. The streaming giant has brought in more than $46 billion in profit over the past decade.

Netflix said more details around cities and tickets for the concert tour are expected to come out later this year.

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