Tuesday’s upon us, and so is the most wild music video you’ll ever see: John Stamos singing about the infamous Willy Wonka immersive experience in Glasgow, Scotland. The song’s in support of Willy’s Candy Spectacular: A Parody Musical that satirizes the experience so depressing that it made children cry. In this version, the experience leads to the end of the world. We don’t care what anyone says; this is our song of the summer.

In other news… Skydance is on the verge of clinching Paramount, Dr. Pepper pops to a second-place tie, and Rihanna makes diamonds out of “Diamonds.”

We hope you enjoy this and all upcoming issues, but we have one request: please share your feedback. If you have any thoughts at all about our new look, format, and direction, please reply to this email. It’ll go straight to us. Do not hold back.

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• YouTube – Venom: The Last Dance

• X (Twitter) – The Acolyte 

• Google – Bridgerton

• Reddit – Idris Elba

• TikTok – “This Is How We Do It” - Montell Jordan

• Spotify – “Frogs” - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

.ENTERTAINMENT.

Skydance and Paramount agree on a merger deal… almost

The Future. It seems Paramount Global has given Skydance (and its RedBird, KKR, and Oracle backers) the green light for a merger that would install the billionaire movie producer David Ellison as its new figurehead. The deal could be announced as early as today at Paramount’s shareholder meeting. If the agreement is approved, expect Ellison to quickly secure a number of A-list talent deals that could foreshadow the new creative direction for the company.

Blockbuster deal
David Ellison’s long-dreamed takeover of Paramount might finally come true this week.

• A newly reported offer ups the payment for majority shareholder Shari Redstone’s National Amusements (which owns 77% of class A shares) from $2 billion to $5 billion.

• Skydance and Redbird will also buy out 50% of class B shareholders at a 30% premium and will pay off $1.5 billion of the company’s debt.

• When the deal closes, Paramount would then acquire Skydance to complete the merger — that step just got the approval from Paramount’s independent directors.

• Shari Redstone, the final word on if the deal goes through, has signaled that she’ll sign off on it as long as the directors approve.

If completed, the deal represents an end that Hollywood creatives can get behind after a twisty negotiation process. Amid Skydance’s courtship, Sony and Apollo Global Management tried to scoop up all of Paramount Global with an enticing (at least to class B shareholders) $26 billion bid.

But Redstone, whose father built up Paramount Global, didn’t want to see her legacy squeezed and sold in parts. In Skydance CEO Ellison, Redstone would pass the baton to someone who sees Paramount as she does — a major player worthy of brand investment.

87.9% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Do you want to watch AI-generated TV?

“I watch TV to escape. I don’t want another task.”

“It’s hard enough to sort through all of the human-generated options without adding an endless stream of machine-generated entertainment.”

“No, but also... can I be completely sure?”

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT RELAY.

Pour some jet fuel on your small biz

Building a thriving business is hard friggin’ work.

Instead of figuring it out on your own, don’t you wish you could learn from others who have been there, done that?

Now, you can with the live industry panel “How To Win Through Smart Business Finance.”

Join financial advisors and experts from Shopify, Dext, and Relay as they share wisdom and spark inspiration with:

• Sessions like “Build an Unstoppable Partnership With Your Financial Function.”

• A live case study on one SMB’s success.

• How to use the Relay Advisor Directory to level up.

• A Q&A session.

• $1,000 in giveaways (boo-yah).

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Rihanna broke the record for having the most diamond singles and the most diamond-certified titles for a female artist after her song “Diamonds” was certified in late April. [Read More]

• Lil Yachty dropped 14 new tracks on his “Concrete Leak System” SoundCloud account. Yes, SoundCloud. [Read More]

• Nielsen data reveals that viewership for the major networks (CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, The CW) has a graying audience — the average viewer is in their 60s. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• SHEIN is almost ready to launch an IPO on the London Stock Exchange as the US cracks down on the rules that allow cheap importing. [Read More]

• ZARA is expanding its live-shopping feature to the US and Europe after finding major success in China. [Read More]

• For young designers, sneakers are falling out of fashion, while leather shoes have started trending. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• GameStop’s stock is soaring again after Keith Gill, the trader known as Roaring Kitty, who led the short squeeze on r/WallStreetBets, announced a $116 million position in the brand. [Read More]

• Nvidia’s stock has tripled over the past year… and is now inching in on Apple’s spot as the second most valuable company in the world. [Read More]

• Google announced a text-to-video generator, VideoFX, to challenge OpenAI’s upcoming Sora. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• Facebook shared a memo dubbed “The Future of Facebook” that details its plans to win back young users. [Read More]

• Instagram is testing ads that are “unskippable” on the platform, setting a watch timer before users can move on to scrolling or watching Stories. [Read More]

• Finnish game developer Supercell recruited movie stars like Chris Hemsworth and Christina Ricci and TikTok stars like Gabriela Moura and Bella Poarch to face off against each other to promote its newest game. [Read More]

.FOOD & DRINK.

Dr. Pepper fizzes up to the second soda spot

The Future. In an industry shocker, Dr. Pepper has tied Pepsi-Cola for the second most popular soda in America — the first time anyone has ascended to Pepsi’s position in 40 years, per sales volume data from Beverage Digest. As Dr. Pepper tries to push Pepsi out of the slot for good, prepare for the company to roll out new brand partnerships and drink recipes over the next year.

Carbonation competition
Dr. Pepper is really poppin’ off right now.

• The Texas-based brand, which was in sixth place 20 years ago, has grown in favor partly due to consistent marketing (all about those 23 flavors) and leaning into TikTok trends around its drink (pickles and Dr. Pepper, anyone?).

• It’s also played both sides of the cola wars — Dr. Pepper is available in Coca-Cola and Pepsi-branded soda fountains.

• That’s made Dr. Pepper popular with Gen Z, who’s now pulling double on-trend duty by filling their viral Stanley Quencher cups with the soda.

When it comes to the $97 billion American soda market, Coke is still king… but Dr. Pepper’s rise may, at the very least, put a wrinkle in the in-development movie about the battle between Coke and Pepsi.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT SYSTEM DESIGN NEWSLETTER.

System design ain’t easy

It’s a good thing the System Design Newsletter is committed to helping you become good at it.

They don’t just simplify complex concepts; they also curate the most crucial system design content out there.

We know this is a considerable feat, but they’re just so damn good at it.

I need to read their weekly newsletter now.

• Listen: Zoom founder Eric Yuan chats with Decoder about how the company envisions a world where people’s AI “digital twins” will take video meetings for them.

• Watch: NYT profiles a remote Amazonian tribe who just received internet for the first time via Starlink.

• Read: After being discovered in a random Craigslist ad, the official DC Comics Style Guide from 1982 has become available to the public — the rubric for all the Batman and Superman merch you had as a kid.

MrBeast completes his conquest of YouTube.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today we get into the NFL potentially allowing private equity into team ownership, how brands are paying school tuition fees, and how streamers are trying to change the way they pay their talent.