Latest / Studio Signal / Studio Signal — Friday, April 24, 2026
Transcript
- Good morning, I'm Kai Rivers and this is Studio Signal — your daily M&E intelligence briefing, brought to you by Harkins Capital. Let's get into it. Alright studio fam, it is Friday, April twenty-fourth, and we are coming to you from the final full day of the N.A.B. Show here in Las Vegas. And after a week of running the convention center halls, the big picture is starting to come into focus. The theme for 2026 wasn't just about a single piece of new tech... it was about execution. It’s about making it all work together, profitably, and at scale. The conversation has officially shifted from "what can AI do?" to "how is AI making us money right now?" We're seeing AI embedded in everything, from production workflows and automated editing to AI-native cloud architecture that's becoming the bedrock for modern media companies. It's no longer an experiment; it’s a core driver of efficiency and personalization. And another huge takeaway? The creator economy isn't just a track anymore, it is a central pillar of the entire industry. The number of creators attending the show is way up this year, and the expanded Creator Lab sessions focused on monetization and business strategy prove that individual creators are now being seen as full-scale media businesses. The lines are blurring, and the tools are democratizing. That's the real story of N.A.B. 2026. While Vegas was focused on the future of production, Wall Street was laser-focused on the present state of distribution... and it was not a pretty picture. Charter Communications shares absolutely cratered today, plunging after their first-quarter earnings disappointed investors. The numbers tell the story: they lost another 120,000 internet customers and revenue dipped one percent year-over-year. Even though earnings per share looked okay on paper, the market saw the subscriber losses and the drop in free cash flow and hit the eject button. This is a brutal sign for the entire cable sector and a reminder that the pressure from cord-cutting and competition is relentless. On a much brighter note, the box office is getting a major jolt of energy from the King of Pop. The Michael Jackson biopic, 'Michael,' pulled in a massive twelve-point-six million dollars in previews. That is easily a record for a musical biopic. Deadline is reporting that all signs point to a domestic opening weekend that could top eighty million dollars. Audiences are loving it, giving it a ninety-six percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty much ignoring the critics. It’s another massive proof point for a theme we've been tracking all year: in a fractured media landscape, globally recognized IP is the closest thing to a guaranteed hit. And in a quick bit of television drama, the Yellowstone spinoff 'Dutton Ranch' is facing a major shakeup right before its premiere. According to Variety, showrunner Chad Feehan is out... just three weeks before the series is set to debut. That is... not ideal. The report says he won't be returning for a potential second season, but dropping a showrunner this close to launch day is a huge red flag and signals some serious turmoil behind the scenes of one of TV's biggest franchises. Oh, and if you want to keep this level of M&E intel coming every morning — the first one thousand users get Studio Signal Pro completely free. Just use the code STUDIO at checkout. Spots are limited, so grab yours while they last. Alright, let's take a quick look at the markets before we go. The overall M&E sector is definitely in the red today, with twenty-two of the thirty companies we track down. The average move is a drop of almost one percent. The big story is in the cable sector. Following that rough earnings report from Charter, Comcast is getting dragged down with it, dropping more than eight percent. It’s a clear sign that Wall Street is punishing the whole category today. On the flip side, Nvidia is having a great day, climbing more than four percent. That feels like a bit of a halo effect from all the AI and processing power discussions happening at N.A.B. this week. Rounding out the top movers are Roblox, down almost four percent, CoreWeave sliding a little over three percent, and AMC Networks, down about three percent as well. That's your signal for today. I'm Kai Rivers — thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you tomorrow.