TikTok has finalized its U.S. joint venture structure, ending years of regulatory uncertainty. The platform's 170 million American users aren't going anywhere—and that forces Hollywood to reckon with short-form distribution as a permanent feature of the entertainment ecosystem.

In this episode:

Key takeaway: "TikTok's U.S. survival isn't a political story—it's an industrial one. Short-form distribution is now a permanent feature of Hollywood's business model."

Related topics: creator economy, influencer marketing entertainment, social media movie marketing, streaming competition, Hollywood digital strategy

The Option is a daily intelligence briefing on the business of Hollywood. Subscribe for entertainment industry news, social media analysis, and content business insights. New episodes every weekday at 6 AM PT.

Netflix isn't buying all of Warner Bros. Discovery—just the streaming and studio assets. Everything else becomes Discovery Global: a standalone linear television company with HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Discovery Channel, and CNN. Here's who might want to buy it and why managing decline can still be profitable.

In this episode:

Key takeaway: "Netflix is buying the future of Warner Bros. Discovery. Someone else is going to buy its past—and there's still money to be made in managing decline."

Related topics: cable television future, linear TV decline, media spinoffs, private equity entertainment, cord cutting trends, CNN sale

The Option is a daily intelligence briefing on the business of Hollywood. Subscribe for entertainment industry news, media M&A analysis, and television business insights. New episodes every weekday at 6 AM PT.

Michael B. Jordan's "Sinners" just received sixteen Oscar nominations—breaking the all-time Academy Awards record. Ryan Coogler directed. Warner Bros. distributed. And if the Netflix-WBD deal closes, this becomes a Netflix film retroactively. Here's why Oscar campaigns are really $20 million marketing investments.

In this episode:

Key takeaway: "Sixteen nominations isn't an artistic achievement—it's a $20 million campaign executed flawlessly. The Oscars are a business, and 'Sinners' just won the marketing Super Bowl."

Related topics: Academy Awards 2026, Hollywood awards season, entertainment marketing, streaming awards strategy, film business analysis

The Option is a daily intelligence briefing on the business of Hollywood. Subscribe for entertainment industry news, Oscar analysis, and film business insights. New episodes every weekday at 6 AM PT.

David Ellison and Paramount Skydance have three weeks to decide their next move in the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war. WBD's board rejected their $108 billion hostile bid—and February 20th is the deadline before deal protections make any alternative transaction significantly harder.

In this episode:

Key takeaway: "Paramount has three weeks to decide: raise, call, or fold. The entire streaming landscape is waiting to see which card they play."

Related topics: Hollywood M&A, streaming consolidation, entertainment dealmaking, media bidding wars, Netflix acquisition, David Ellison strategy

The Option is a daily intelligence briefing on the business of Hollywood. Subscribe for entertainment industry news, media M&A analysis, and streaming business insights. New episodes every weekday at 6 AM PT.

The Writers Guild of America has filed formal comments with the Department of Justice opposing Netflix's $72 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. It's the first time a major Hollywood union has tried to kill a media deal on antitrust grounds—and it signals a new era of labor involvement in entertainment M&A.

In this episode:

Key takeaway: "The WGA can't block the Netflix-WBD deal directly—but they can make it more expensive and slower to close. And in M&A, time is the enemy of certainty."

Related topics: Hollywood antitrust, streaming consolidation, entertainment labor unions, media mergers 2026, Netflix acquisition strategy, Warner Bros Discovery deal

The Option is a daily intelligence briefing on the business of Hollywood. Subscribe for entertainment industry news, media M&A analysis, and streaming business insights. New episodes every weekday at 6 AM PT.