Cordkillers 563: Wrestling with ESPN
Disney is rolling Hulu into Disney+, ESPN is getting WWE and NFL content, and the streaming sports bundle war heats up. Netflix sails ahead with more One Piece, Paramount snags UFC, and AMC shortens pre-movie ads.
This week on The FULL Experience: Bonanza (101 - "A Rose for Lotta")
Next week: Bonanza (1023 - "The Wish")
YouTube: https://youtu.be/jZbB1aVSKYw
Supply Run
Disney Merges Hulu into Disney+; ESPN Adds Sports Rights – Disney will shut down the Hulu app in 2026, moving all content to Disney+. Hulu Live TV will shift to Fubo. Disney’s $30/month ESPN streaming service launches August 21, including NFL Network, RedZone, and WWE events starting in 2026.
Variety | Engadget | The Verge | LA Times | Deadline | Variety
ESPN + Fox ONE Sports Bundle Announced – ESPN’s new streaming service and Fox ONE launch August 21 at $29.99 and $19.99 respectively. A $39.99 bundle arrives October 2, nearly replicating the canceled Venu sports package.
Search Party
Netflix’s One Piece Renewed – Season 2 (Into the Grand Line) trailer drops; Season 3 confirmed. Season 2 premieres in 2026.
Amazon’s War of the Worlds Tanks – Ice Cube’s sci-fi debut opens with a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Paramount Plus Scores UFC – Starting 2026, Paramount+ gets 30 Fight Nights and 13 marquee UFC events annually for seven years, at no extra cost.
Apple’s Mr. Scorsese – Five-part documentary premieres October 17 with full archive access.
Behind the Scenes: Spider-Man: Brand New Day – Sony releases a 60-second first-day-of-production vignette with Tom Holland.
Buried Treasure
Brian – Penn and Teller in Rio
Tom – Wednesday (Netflix)
Scanning the Horizon
Sling TV Adds Short-Term Passes – Day ($5), weekend ($10), and week ($15) passes now available for Sling Orange.
AMC Theaters Shortening Previews – AMC revenue up 35% to $1.4B; plans to cut 4-5 minutes from pre-show trailers and ads.
AMC Networks Streaming Grows – Streaming subs hit 10.4M; ad sales fall 18%.
Warner Bros. Discovery Grows, Targets Password Sharing – Gained 3.4M global subs; crackdown coming by end of 2025.
Gray Media Expands; Sinclair May Sell Assets – Gray buys stations in 10 markets from Byron Allen; Sinclair mulls sales or restructuring.
Chatter
George Sinos recommends classic cowboy shows on MeTV and H&I TV.
Chris in Albuquerque pitches AI de-aging William Shatner for a new TJ Hooker.
Zach Hornbaker notes Netflix removed Windows app downloads; Lifehacker offers a workaround.