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Streaming Numbers Show ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Still Has Its Footing, While ‘R.J. Decker’ Gets a Lifeline
Live television ratings have long been treated as the definitive scorecard in the entertainment business, but the latest numbers out of ABC suggest that story is increasingly incomplete. New multi-platform data shows that both “Dancing with the Stars” and freshman-turned-sophomore drama “R.J. Decker” are pulling in significant audiences well after their initial broadcasts, a trend that is reshaping how networks judge success — and, in at least one case, may have helped save a show from the chopping block.
“R.J. Decker,” the crime series starring Scott Speedman, entered its second season on shaky ground. The show had been considered a renewal bubble candidate after its freshman run last spring failed to make much noise in traditional same-day ratings. But its Season 2 premiere, freshly slotted behind “Dancing with the Stars” on Tuesday nights, has found new life in delayed viewing. According to seven-day cross-platform figures spanning Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and a single ABC encore airing, the premiere drew a total audience of 9.61 million — the show’s best streaming showing since the second episode of its debut season back in March. The halo effect didn’t stop there: curiosity generated by the new season also drove a surge in viewership of the original pilot episode, which posted its biggest streaming week in nearly five months.
That kind of ripple effect is exactly what networks hope for when they pair a struggling scripted series with a ratings workhorse. By placing “R.J. Decker” directly after “Dancing with the Stars,” ABC effectively handed the drama a built-in audience of viewers who might never have sampled it otherwise. The strategy appears to be paying off, at least in the early going, giving the series a second chance to prove its staying power with a broader base of streaming-first viewers.
Meanwhile, “Dancing with the Stars” itself continues to defy expectations for a show now well into its third decade on the air. The Season 35 premiere faced a difficult comparison point: last year’s Season 34 debut was a standout hit for the long-running reality competition. Yet the new season still managed to climb 17% above that benchmark, pulling in 9.98 million viewers over seven days across Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and other digital platforms, compared to 8.50 million for the prior season’s opener. Measured against the show’s initial same-day broadcast audience of 6.77 million, the multi-platform total represents a 47% jump — a reminder of just how much of the show’s real audience now lives outside the traditional Tuesday-night broadcast window.
Perhaps more notable is the broader trajectory: since “Dancing with the Stars” returned to ABC in 2023 after a stint on Disney+, the series has grown its audience every single season, whether measured in live same-day numbers or the fuller seven-day multi-platform tally. That kind of consistent growth is a rarity for any series in its 35th installment, let alone one built around a format — celebrities paired with professional dancers competing week to week — that has been a staple of American television for two decades.
Industry watchers say the numbers underscore a broader shift in how success is defined in the streaming era. Same-day linear ratings, once the only currency that mattered for advertisers and network executives alike, are increasingly viewed as a partial snapshot rather than the full picture. Shows that might look soft on paper the morning after they air can reveal themselves to be far more resilient once delayed streaming and on-demand viewing are factored in over a full week — a dynamic that clearly worked in favor of both “R.J. Decker” and its higher-profile lead-in.
For ABC, the pairing of a proven reality staple with an unproven scripted drama looks, for now, like a smart bit of scheduling chess. Whether “R.J. Decker” can sustain its newfound momentum once the novelty of its premiere fades remains to be seen, but for a show that was reportedly fighting for its survival just months ago, a nearly 10-million-viewer multi-platform debut is about as strong a lifeline as network television can offer.
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Many beloved monsters are popular culture’s mainstay, and one of the most prominent is the vampire. These undead terrors of the night are known for preying upon the living by draining their bodies of blood, which can sometimes turn their victims into vampires as well, shapeshifting into animal form and having an aversion to sunlight. Due to their long list of powers and numerous ways they can be adapted—from tragic figures to savage predators—vampires have appeared in a plethora of movies and television shows.
The medium of animation is one of the best for bringing vampires to life. Unconstrained by the limitations of physical reality, vampires can be portrayed as fast, powerful predators that only the bravest of heroes can overcome. Or they can be more on the silly side, especially if it’s a kid’s show, but even this lighthearted approach doesn’t make them any less memorable. These are the best vampires in animation, ranked by how effective they are and how lasting their legacy is.
15
Dracula
‘Pink Plasma’ (1975)
The Pink Panther finds himself lost in the Transylvanian wilderness and heads towards a castle to seek shelter. The building is full of all sorts of spooks, and a coffin in the basement, which the panther buries before going to sleep. Unfortunately, the coffin was the bed of a diminutive Dracula, who plans to have the panther for breakfast.
Pink Plasma‘s version of Dracula is far from the most intimidating, but he might be among the most persistent. No matter how many times he gets thwarted by the panther and chased around his own moat by a persistent shark, he keeps getting back up and trying again. It’s pretty commendable, even if it never works, and there’s something adorable about hearing him say “Blah, blah,” while running after his prey.
14
Count Duckula
‘Count Duckula’ (1988–1993)
Once every century, a ritual can be performed to awaken the wicked vampire Count Duckula (David Jason). However, the most recent ritual accidentally substituted tomato juice instead of blood, causing Duckula to be reincarnated as a vegetarian. Since he lacks the usual vampire’s hunger for blood, he tries to adjust to the modern world, despite the wishes of his servants.
Duckula is an example of the friendly vampire trope, and a pretty good one at that. In Count Duckula, the underrated ’80s cartoon, he just wants to live a normal life distanced from his vampiric heritage, but every adventure he goes on tends to go from bad to worse. Jason’s performance does a great job conveying Duckula’s desire for a peaceful life while also giving the count a nice helping of dry wit.
13
Count Bloodcount
‘Transylvania 6-5000’ (1963)
After getting lost yet again, Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) finds himself in Transylvania. Unable to get help from a two-headed vulture (Julie Bennett), he approaches an ominous castle owned by the vampire Count Bloodcount (Ben Frommer) to ask for a phone. The count insists Bugs spend the night at the castle, but his attempts to feed on the rabbit are thwarted by a book of magic words.
Count Bloodcount is another classic example of a vampire, complete with a spooky castle, billowing cloak, and Eastern European accent. The animators have a lot of fun bringing him to life, with many of his movements giving him the appearance of a living shadow. His threat level is mitigated a bit due to how easily Bugs overcomes him, but all in all, he still leaves an impact as one of the more memorable minor Looney Tunes antagonists, especially thanks to his and Bugs’ magic duel near the end.
12
Dracula
‘The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy’ (2003–2007)
In his youth, Dracula (Phil LaMarr) was the world’s most powerful vampire and a boyhood icon to the Grim Reaper (Greg Eagles). He married a woman named Tanya (Diahann Carroll) and had a human son with her, but due to a misunderstanding, Tanya attacked him in his bat form, so Dracula left her. He now lives in a retirement home for other monsters but still knows how to cut loose and have fun.
This version of Dracula is an homage to the classic Blacksploitation film Blacula, which helps make him stand out compared to other adaptations. His love for dancing, take-no-nonsense attitude, and habit of calling people “Dummy” make him one of the most popular characters in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. Later, it is revealed that Dracula is the grandfather of Irwin (Vanessa Marshall), and though he’s upset to know his family is full of nerds, Dracula seems to try his best to be a good grandfather.
11
NOS-4-A2
‘Buzz Lightyear of Star Command’ (2000–2001)
To defeat Star Command, Evil Emperor Zurg (Wayne Knight) creates NOS-4-A2 (Craig Ferguson), a robot that can drain the energy from other machines. He nearly succeeds by controlling the robotic space ranger XR (Larry Miller and Neil Flynn) but is defeated by Team Lightyear, who helps XR break free of the energy vampire. NOS-4-A2 later escapes his captivity and breaks free of Zurg’s influence, traveling the galaxy to sate his hunger for energy.
Making NOS-4-A2 a robot vampire allowed the crew of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command to still hit the horror notes found in vampire fiction without making the censors angry, since you can do all sorts of violence as long as it’s to a robot. Though he primarily affects machines, his bite, in combination with the radiation of the Canis Lunis moon, can transform humans into cyborg monsters called Wirewolves. Personality-wise, NOS-4-A2 checks all the boxes for a good animated vampire villain, accentuated by the posh British accent Ferguson chose to go with.
10
Mavis
‘Hotel Transylvania’ (2012)
Following the death of his wife, Martha, Dracula (Adam Sandler) builds a hotel for monsters to keep his friends and his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), safe from humans. As she ages, Mavis longs to explore the human world, though her father does everything in his power to keep her safe in the hotel. Despite his efforts, she eventually meets a human named Johnny (Andy Samberg), and the two fall in love.
Mavis brings youthful energy and a more level head to the Hotel Transylvania series, especially as the films continue. Compared to her father, she is more adventurous and compassionate, willing to see the brighter side of humanity. Eventually, she and Johnny have a son, and while motherhood does see Mavis become a bit more protective and take on some of Dracula’s parenting traits, she never loses her fun-loving spirit.
9
Dracula
‘Hotel Transylvania’ (2012)
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Dracula’s hotel for monsters is threatened by the arrival of Johnny, a human who happened upon it by random chance. Fortunately, Johnny helps Dracula and the rest of the monsters see that humans in the modern day aren’t as bad as the ones they had to hide from, and he becomes Dracula’s son-in-law when he marries Mavis. Dracula does his best to adjust to this new reality, especially when they have a child named Dennis (Asher Blinkoff), but it proves to be easier said than done.
Sandler’s take on the Prince of Darkness is more comedic and domestic than other portrayals, which pairs wonderfully with the expressive animation from veteran director Genndy Tartakovsky. He checks a lot of boxes for the protective helicopter parent who means well but can take things a bit too far, and has a bad habit of making plans behind Mavis’ back. Still, when the chips are down, he’s willing to endure even the sun itself if it means making his friends and family happy.
8
Dracula
‘The Batman vs. Dracula’ (2005)
While trying to look for a hidden treasure stash in Gotham City’s graveyard, the Penguin (Tom Kenny) accidentally discovers the tomb of Dracula (Peter Stormare), whose remains were moved to Gotham after he was killed. Penguin accidentally spills some of his blood on the corpse, reviving Dracula, who enthralls Penguin to be his mortal servant. As he preys on humans to regain his strength, he prepares to resurrect his lost love, which brings him into conflict with Gotham’s Dark Knight, Batman (Rino Romano).
The Batman vs. Dracula is a spinoff of perhaps the most underrated Batman show, and it pulled no punches when it came to adapting the Prince of Darkness. When on the hunt, Dracula is a terrifying predator, ambushing his prey from the shadows with lightning-fast reflexes and pinpoint accuracy. When not hunting, he is civil enough but always reminds humans of his superiority, captured perfectly through Stormare’s arrogant yet charismatic delivery.
7
Carmilla
‘Castlevania’ (2017–2021)
When Count Dracula (Graham McTavish) declared war on humanity, he summoned many powerful vampires to serve on his war council. The last to arrive was Carmilla (Jaime Murray), a powerful female vampire with nothing but disdain for men due to the abuse she suffered at the hands of her old master. She quickly begins to lose faith in Dracula’s plans to wipe out humanity and makes plans of her own to usurp control and dominate humans instead.
Castlevania is full of fantastic vampire characters, and Carmilla stands as one of the best. She likes to present herself as a Machiavellian schemer whose ambitions know no bounds, but beneath her charismatic facade is a broken woman lashing out at the world and desperate for a sense of control. Murray’s performance captures both sides of Carmilla, though some of her best work comes when the mask slips, and she is forced to confront those traits in herself that she despises in others.
6
Dracula
‘Castlevania’ (2017–2021)
The life of vampire king Vlad Dracula changed forever when he met a human scientist named Lisa (Emily Swallow). Amazed at her lack of fear and good heart, Dracula eventually married Lisa, and they had a son named Adrian (James Callis). Sadly, Lisa was burned at the stake for suspected witchcraft, causing Dracula to declare war on all of humanity with an army summoned straight from Hell.
Castlevania‘s take on Dracula is a major reason for this show’s high ranking among vampire television. He lives up to his reputation as the most powerful vampire through gorgeously animated action sequences, where he effortlessly fights off heroes and other vampires with superhuman strength and hellish abilities. Yet, Dracula’s greatest moments are the ones where his inner pain and shreds of humanity come to the surface, showing that, no matter how much power you have, we can all be brought down by grief.
Hollywood’s game of musical chairs continues, with rising actor Daniel Zolghadri tapped to replace Charles Melton in Elijah Bynum’s upcoming crime thriller “My Darling California,” according to a report from Variety. The shuffle adds another name to what has already shaped up to be one of the more intriguingly cast independent productions on the 2026 calendar.
Zolghadri, who broke through with a starring turn in Prime Video’s “Tales from the Loop” and has since built a résumé of sharp supporting work, will take on the role of Kent — described in the film’s official logline as a young man “caught in an escalating conflict that quickly spirals beyond his control” after a figure from his past resurfaces and forces him to confront “long-buried questions.” It’s the kind of morally tangled, slow-burn role that has become something of a specialty for the actor, whose recent credits include “Y2K,” “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and “Lurker.”
No explanation has been given for Melton’s departure from the project, and representatives for the “Riverdale” and “May December” star did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Cast exits of this kind are common in the lead-up to production, often tied to scheduling conflicts rather than any dispute over the material, but the timing — with the film reportedly gearing up to shoot entirely in California — suggests the production was eager to lock in a replacement quickly rather than delay.
Whatever the reason for the shakeup, Zolghadri is stepping into a genuinely stacked ensemble. “My Darling California” boasts Jessica Chastain, Chris Pine, Chris Evans, Mikey Madison and Don Cheadle, a lineup that reads more like an awards-season drama than a typical crime picture. The story is set in 1980s Los Angeles and follows a televangelist and his newscaster wife as they scramble to contain a spiraling, multi-faceted scandal threatening to unravel their public lives — a premise that seems tailor-made for the kind of moral rot and media spectacle that has become a recurring theme in prestige period pieces set in that era.
Director Elijah Bynum, best known for the A24 coming-of-age drama “Hot Summer Nights” (which helped launch Timothée Chalamet’s film career) and the more polarizing 2023 drama “Magazine Dreams” starring Jonathan Majors, seems to be continuing his interest in stories of ambition curdling into desperation. Pairing that sensibility with a cast of this caliber signals a production aiming squarely at the kind of adult-oriented, character-driven filmmaking that has become increasingly rare in an industry dominated by franchise tentpoles.
For Zolghadri, the casting represents another significant step up the ladder. After cutting his teeth in smaller roles in Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” and HBO’s “Fahrenheit 451,” he’s spent the past few years quietly accumulating credits in acclaimed indies, including his latest, Alexandrea Pechman’s “Magazine,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. He’s also lined up to star in “The Temple” from directors Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas, as well as Annie Baker’s “Ancient History” for A24 — a run of projects that positions him as one of the more sought-after young actors working in the independent film space right now.
“My Darling California” is being produced by David Hinojosa, Alex Coco and Sébastien Raybaud, alongside Scott Budnick and Ameet Shukla of 1Community and Emily Blavatnik and Danny Cohen of Access Entertainment, with Len Blavatnik and Zach Nutman serving as executive producers. The project was developed, financed and sold by Anton, which is handling international sales alongside CAA Media Finance for U.S. and global rights.
With a starry cast, a filmmaker known for stories of ambition and downfall, and now a fresh lead in Zolghadri, “My Darling California” is shaping up to be one of the more closely watched crime dramas heading into production — a reminder that even amid last-minute cast changes, the pedigree behind a project can keep anticipation high.
Big Brother is one day away from the BB28 finale and there’s still good stuff happening to talk about. We’ve got outrage from the fans over Dee Valladares entry into the jury house. Julie Chen Moonves said who she wants to win this season. And the latest on the AFP polls. Plus, outrage of the day.
Big Brother: Julie’s Pick is…
Let’s start with Julie’s preference for the winner of BB28. Last year she said she thought Morgan Pope would win but didn’t say she should. In other seasons, Julie stated a clear preference.
In BB18 she wanted Paul Abrahamian to win. And in BB13 Julie said she wanted Rachel Reilly to win. Julie said she wants Taylor Brown to win for a lot of reasons. Julie brought up the Taylor not leaving her pod thing.
But Julie said in every diary room session, Taylor knew every beat of what was happening. Julie said that Taylor’s smart and won competitions when she had to. Julie said Taylor started winning comps at the end that were not easy.
She also said she wants Taylor to win because they both love Jesus. And Julie said she thinks Taylor has mercy and grace. And we know Julie never wanted a Survivor to win.
Big Brother 28: Dodging Drama and a Helpful Hand
Speaking of finale night. Rick Devens and Drew Campbell were talking about how to answer juror questions if they are in the chairs. Devens joked about referring questions over to Drew that he did not want to answer.
And then they both joked about refusing to answer idiot questions. Meanwhile, Taylor worked on her hair. It took hours to take out her extensions. She wound up with a trash bag full and said “this is so heavy—can’t believe I had this on my head.”
Taylor said that’s why her head hurt. Taylor got a perm kit to straighten it so looks like she might do a sleek look. And Drew offered to help Taylor take out her extensions. Drew said he’s really bored and could help. Taylor said no.
Big Brother: Rules or Suggestions?
Cory Wurtenberger from BB25 said on a podcast that it’s a rule you can’t talk game in jury but said production can’t and doesn’t enforce it. Cory said when a new juror comes in, lots of crew are there to film so you cannot talk game.
But they leave and Cory said there’s only about two handlers to five jurors. Cory said the handlers do not care if you talk game just not in front of cameras. He said everybody talks game if they want.
Cory also said you get to keep your DVD you bring into jury with your eviction and all the goodbye messages. Cory said the goodbye messages impacted his vote and said some of them showed each other their goodbye messages.
BB28: Outrage of the Day
Here’s latest outrage. People are upset that Dee might have gone into the jury house rather than doing just the jury round table and being sent directly off to hotel sequester.
They usually pull the jurors out of the jury house a couple of days before the finale and stick them into a hotel where they can’t talk to each other or see any news. That’s standard.
There was an interview that said, “We caught Dee on her way to the jury house.” And people started screeching. First, the jury roundtable films at the jury house and Dee was participating in it, so of course she’d be there.
Second, if Dee did wind up in the jury house for a couple of days because of the weird lag this season with extra days before finale, so what? The outrage is the assumption she’s vote rigging for Devens or Drew.
Even if Dee went straight into sequester, when they’re in the green room finale night, I expect her to whisper in people’s ears. I would not be shocked if Devens came out at F3 and whispered in Angela Murray and Dee’s ears before he sat down.
Devens and Dee are Survivors and tribal council whispering is standard. Speaking of Survivor, Devens was specifically told before he came into Big Brother that he could not lie about advantages or create fake advantages—something Devens was known for on Survivor.
Big Brother: Roundtable Roulette
Julie said that Dan Gheesling was not hosting round table this year and it was going to be somebody who’s played the game before but was not a winner. People are thinking it might be Morgan Pope from BB27.
Dee was evicted on September 24th. And then on September 26th, Morgan posted that she was filming something really cool today and said, “Stay tuned.” I’ve seen people saying Morgan denied filming round table on her Patreon, but didn’t personally see it.
Finale night is ninety minutes that should be jam packed. Julie said Rome Seymour and Lyric Medeiros will do an update at the finale. But Julie said it’s not what you think. People think Rome and Lyric are going to announce they’re engaged. But that seems too obvious. Maybe they’re already married…
AFP Considerations for BB28
In the most recent AFP polls, Drew’s in the lead with Devens a close second and Yash Patel in a distant third. Everybody after them are in single digits. Voting ends Thursday at noon EST, 11:00 am Central, 9:00 am Pacific.
Taylor thinks that Mallory Aurichio or LaTrice “Lala” Verrett will win America’s Favorite Player. Drew thinks it might be Yash.
And Julie said in a recent interview she’d like to see Jason De Puy, Yash and Kamuela “Kamu” Kirk back to play Big Brother again but then said she’s on the fence about Kamu, maybe Haley Thogmartin instead.
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This prequel series is now as old as the boy genius was when it premiered.
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Through the Lens of Loss: Artist Katherine Hubbard’s Five-Year Portrait of a Mother Fading
For five years, two vintage Polaroid cameras stood permanently rigged inside a rambling, dilapidated apartment in Germantown, Philadelphia. They were not props or set dressing. They were witnesses. Behind them was artist Katherine Hubbard, and in front of them, again and again, was her mother, Antonette Berger — a woman whose mind was slowly slipping away from her, and whose defiant, theatrical spirit refused to go quietly.
The result, a body of work titled The Great Room and collected in the book One Fifty One, is now on view as part of Hubbard’s solo exhibition at Studio Voltaire in London. It is, by any measure, an unusual entry in the entertainment and art world’s autumn calendar — not a celebrity memoir or a splashy biopic, but an intimate, unflinching record of illness, intimacy and the strange intrusions of caregiving, told through a family’s most private rooms.
Hubbard’s story begins, as so many pandemic-era stories do, with a nagging unease that took time to name. In 2020, visiting her mother in Philadelphia after Covid restrictions eased, Hubbard began to sense that something in Berger’s behaviour had shifted. “It was impossible at the time to say what I was noticing, but something was off,” she has said. The eventual diagnosis was LATE — limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a condition that mimics Alzheimer’s but progresses more slowly, eroding memory and daily function over a longer, more agonising arc.
What followed was, in Hubbard’s words, a “painful, drawn-out and confusing process,” followed by grief. Thrust into the role of what she calls “a caretaker under duress,” she responded not by looking away but by looking harder — setting up her cameras in her mother’s apartment and refusing to take them down.
The apartment itself is no ordinary backdrop. Berger owned and rented out the sprawling, maze-like building for four decades, and it functioned for years as something like a neighbourhood hub — tenants dropping by, complaints about broken pipes, a constant hum of people. It stood in sharp contrast to the “more modest” house where Hubbard actually grew up, and its grandiose, crumbling scale gives The Great Room — a title borrowed from Berger’s own name for the apartment’s main living space — its startling visual drama.
Some of the images verge on the theatrical in the most literal sense. At one point, Hubbard built her mother a makeshift stage out of a set of rotting 1960s mirrored doors she found abandoned in the garage, mounting them on stands so Berger could wheel them around the room. Mirrors recur throughout the series, and Hubbard describes them as a deliberate strategy: a way to insert herself into the frame alongside her mother rather than observe from a safe distance. “It’s a way of never leaving my mum alone in the image, to project myself into the image,” she explains. “If I’m in the image there with her, it changes some of the authority and power dynamics of the camera.”
That refusal to simply document from outside — to instead share the frame, the vulnerability, even at one point posing nude and covered in Vaseline to make body prints with her mother — gives the work an emotional charge rarely seen in photography about illness. These are not clinical or pitying images. Berger, described by her daughter as “incredibly headstrong, eccentric, and difficult,” often commands the frame with an unexpected authority, bathed in the kind of majestic light more commonly associated with portraiture of the powerful than the ailing.
Hubbard is candid about the limits of the camera in the face of a disease that erases the very thing photography claims to capture. “The camera fails us in so many ways,” she says, “and the absurdity with dementia is that I was constantly making lots of images of things that can’t be shown in an image. But I make images because of how they feel, not how they look.” It’s a striking admission from an artist whose work depends on the visual, and it reframes the entire project: not as an attempt to preserve her mother’s likeness before it’s gone, but as an attempt to hold onto a feeling — presence, tenderness, the strange choreography of care — that resists straightforward depiction.
As the years passed, mother and daughter moved through daily domestic rituals together in the apartment, eventually beginning the slow, sorrowful work of packing it up so Berger could move into a care facility. Hubbard describes a turning point in the process when the camera itself seemed to disappear from their awareness. “Something wonderful happened at some point where we both stopped thinking about the cameras, and we stopped seeing ourselves as an image — the cameras were just present, and the time to make photographs created interruptions into an otherwise brutal, demanding time.”
That sentence perhaps best captures what makes The Great Room resonate beyond the art world into something more universally recognisable: the way ritual — even one as unusual as a standing photo session — can become a lifeline amid the exhausting, disorienting work of caring for a parent whose mind is receding. In an entertainment landscape often dominated by spectacle, Hubbard’s exhibition offers something quieter and more enduring: a daughter’s attempt to keep making pictures of a person who is, in her words, “completely her own person,” for as long as that person remains reachable through a lens.
The Great Room and related installations are on show as part of Katherine Hubbard’s solo exhibition at Studio Voltaire in London, alongside the publication of her book One Fifty One.
Sky is preparing to hand its buzziest dramas, including “The Day of the Jackal” and “Brassic,” a shot at Britain’s biggest free-to-air stage, as the broadcaster works through the final stages of its £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) takeover of ITV’s network operations.
Cécile Frot-Coutaz, chief executive of Sky Studios and the company’s content chief, confirmed the strategy at the Royal Television Society London Convention on Tuesday, telling attendees that Sky wants to experiment with “windowing” its premium originals onto ITV in the years ahead. Deadline first reported the broad outlines of the plan back in July; Frot-Coutaz’s remarks now put official flesh on the bones.
The idea, as she described it, is fairly simple: air earlier seasons of a hit show like “The Day of the Jackal” on ITV shortly before a new season debuts on Sky, using the free-to-air platform to build buzz and pull in viewers who might not otherwise encounter the series. “There’s various permutations,” Frot-Coutaz said, suggesting the company is still working out exactly how far it will push the model.
It isn’t a wholly new idea for Sky. Frot-Coutaz pointed to “Brassic,” the gritty Lancashire comedy-drama, as a test case — Sky previously placed its first four seasons on Netflix and found the exposure translated into fresh viewership rather than cannibalizing its own audience. “We saw that we had been able to find some new headroom [in viewing] because we’d exposed the show to an audience that we didn’t have,” she said.
The ambitions don’t stop at scripted drama. Sky, which Frot-Coutaz noted controls roughly 40,000 hours of sports programming, is also eyeing a bigger free-to-air footprint for its live events coverage — including the tantalizing prospect of Premier League football reaching viewers who don’t currently pay for Sky. “There’s also huge opportunities in terms of putting more sports on free-to-air,” she said. “We think everybody wins from that. The viewer wins, but also the leagues win.”
The comments came on a day of broader reflection on the deal’s implications for British broadcasting. ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall, speaking earlier at the same event, said her company had little alternative but to sell its network arm to Sky given the intensity of competition reshaping the industry, describing the landscape bluntly as “ferocious.”
Crucially for ITV loyalists worried about losing familiar staples, McCall stressed that the takeover comes bundled with a £2.1 billion output deal guaranteeing ITV Studios will keep producing shows such as “Love Island” and “Coronation Street” for broadcast on ITV through 2032. Asked whether Sky might try to unwind that commitment down the line, McCall didn’t mince words: “Good luck.” She added that Sky, far from scaling back, is likely to commission even more from ITV Studios — which will continue operating independently and remain listed on the London Stock Exchange despite the change in ownership upstream.
Taken together, the remarks paint a picture of a deal designed less to dismantle ITV’s identity than to fuse it with Sky’s deep bench of prestige content and sports rights. For viewers, that could eventually mean stumbling across a Sky original or a Premier League match without needing a subscription — a shift that, if it plays out as described, would mark one of the more consequential changes to how premium British television reaches its audience in years.
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If your end goal is looking polished, you probably reach for black pants. But Kate Middleton makes the case for something even richer, classier and more fun, and it lines up with one of the biggest 2026 color trends. We found her chocolate-brown pants style on sale for only $20!
During a recent royal visit to the Isle of Bute in Scotland, Middleton stepped out in an outfit that seemed elevated without even trying. She wore a simple sweater, Chelsea boots and brown jeans that put boring black jeans to shame. Cocoa-toned denim read warmer, softer and much more expensive — effortlessly.
Get the Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda Tapered Jeans for $20 (was $23) at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate at the date of publication but are subject to change.
These Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda Tapered Jeans have that same chocolatey shade, high rise and flattering tapered look. And if you’ve sworn off tapered ‘skinny-leg’ silhouettes, we get it, but hear Us out. Cotton-and-elastane fabric makes them as stretchy as lounge pants.
If it seems like rich girls are wearing polished trousers instead of denim, that’s because they are. Gwyneth Paltrow joins the crew, wearing billowy wide-leg pants that take any casual look to classy heights. This similar pair is only $40! At a conference discussing Goop, Paltrow wore a simple sweater and wide-leg trousers. Wide-leg pants, […]
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After months of speculation that overseas tourists might soon have to pay to walk through the halls of the British Museum or gaze up at the Natural History Museum’s blue whale, the UK government has settled the question: admission will remain free for all, regardless of where visitors call home.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport confirmed the decision on Tuesday, closing the door on a proposal floated earlier this year that would have seen international visitors charged for entry to England’s 15 national museums, 12 of which are based in London. The idea had been under review since March, as ministers searched for new ways to plug funding gaps at cash-strapped cultural institutions.
In the end, officials concluded the risks outweighed the rewards. A DCMS spokesperson said charging overseas visitors could deter domestic ones too, and that any financial upside “would not be felt equally across the sector” — meaning some museums might have profited while others were left worse off.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy framed the decision as a matter of principle as much as policy. “Our museums are the places that light up the world,” she said. “That’s why they must be free, forever, for everyone to access.”
The debate had been reignited by a review from former Labour minister Baroness Margaret Hodge, published last year, which argued that charging foreign tourists would bring Britain into line with countries such as New Zealand and Singapore, both of which operate tiered pricing models favouring residents. But that argument ultimately failed to sway the government, which has now reaffirmed a policy dating back to 2001, when free admission to national collections was first introduced.
For the institutions themselves, the announcement brings a mix of relief and cautious optimism. The British Museum and the Natural History Museum are among the most visited attractions in the world, drawing 6.4 million and 7.1 million visitors respectively in 2025 alone. Their directors welcomed the news, even while acknowledging that a charging scheme might have offered a short-term financial boost.
Natural History Museum director Dr Doug Gurr put it plainly: “Free museums aren’t a cost to the economy — they’re a key reason the economy benefits from tourism in the first place.” He added that while his own institution stood to gain from charging tourists, the wider museum sector would likely have suffered, and called instead for a share of tourism revenue to be reinvested directly into the attractions that help generate it.
British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan struck a more historical note, pointing out that free access was baked into the institution’s founding mission nearly three centuries ago. “When the British Museum was founded as the world’s first public national museum in 1753 it was to be free for ‘all persons’,” he said. “So, we are delighted by the government’s announcement that free entry for all will be maintained.”
The government insists it isn’t abandoning museums to fend for themselves financially. Alongside the decision, DCMS pointed to a package of support that includes £760m for museums through the broader £1.5bn Arts Everywhere Fund, £600m in infrastructure investment for national collections, and a £13.6m transformation programme designed to help institutions build more sustainable business models for the future. Ministers say they will also work with Arts Council England on a long-term strategic plan for the sector, with further details expected in the coming months.
The stakes are considerable. According to DCMS figures, national museums contribute more than £1bn a year to the UK economy, drawing global visitors who often spend on hotels, restaurants and shops well beyond the museum gift shop. Supporters of free admission argue that any entry fee — however modest — risks undermining that broader economic pull, particularly for budget-conscious travellers weighing up how to spend their limited time and money in London.
Not everyone was pushing for charges, either. Earlier this autumn, several museum leaders publicly warned against introducing fees for overseas visitors, cautioning that the administrative cost of policing who counts as a “tourist” versus a UK resident could itself eat into any revenue gained — to say nothing of the reputational risk of appearing to charge foreign guests more than locals.
For now, the message from Whitehall is unambiguous: Britain’s museums will remain, as they have been for nearly a quarter of a century, open to everyone at no cost. Whether that guarantee proves durable amid ongoing funding pressures across the arts and culture sector remains to be seen — but for millions of visitors planning trips to London and beyond, the free ticket stays firmly in place.
Days of Our Lives has Holly Jonas (Ashley Puzemis) very upset this week and I expect that she is going to get more strange texts and we’re wondering if these messages might be coming from a very much alive, very not dead and scheming Sophia Choi (Rachel Boyd).
Days of our Lives: Mason’s History with Sophia
So, Holly was really unnerved when she got that random text out of the blue, the one that said, “Are you having fun?” What was most alarming, it was sent from an unknown number. So, Holly didn’t recognize it and she was out together with Tate Donovan Black (Leo Howard).
They were having their lakeside picnic and the text interrupted their private time together. And it made Holly worry that she and Tate were being watched and that she may be stalked and targeted. Later when Holly ran into Mason Whitfield (Brandon Butler), that’s when she confronted him. And Holly asked why he thought she was responsible for somebody’s death.
Mason said he had gotten to know Sophia from her distress calls to the suicide hotline, and he mentioned that he volunteers there. You would think that he shouldn’t be sharing it. But I guess since Sophia’s dead, no privacy concerns. So, Mason was well aware that Holly had said some unkind but true things about Sophia on the Salem University social pages. But Mason had no idea that Sophia had baited her ex-friend Holly into doing it by using a fake username.
Mason on Sophia’s Side on DOOL
But even with all that, Mason thinks Holly doesn’t take responsibility because she said things knowing Sophia was deeply troubled and had mental health issues. Plus, Mason wasn’t shocked and didn’t even seem to care that Holly was a victim of Sophia’s psychotic bullying. Partly because Mason knew from Sophia’s calls a lot of the bad things she’d done to Holly. Sounds like Sophia didn’t hold back. She told the suicide hotline counselor everything.
It sounds like most importantly, when Holly grilled him, Mason denied sending any text to Holly about fun or anything. But Holly freaked out when Mason casually said, “Have fun.” And he left the table at the pub to her and Arianna “Ari” Grace Horton (Vico Escorcia). But have fun is something everybody says. And Mason insisted he didn’t text her, even though he did have her number from a group chat for one of the classes they’re both in at Salem U.
Plus, Holly confronting him about the mysterious text just seemed to confuse Mason. And in the end, he made clear he wants nothing to do with Holly. So, it’s looking to me like Mason may not be the culprit and instead he’s a red herring that Holly’s probably going to focus on and she won’t be looking for the real culprit. And that makes me wonder if the prime suspect is Sophia.
Days of our Lives: Sophia Survived Kristen’s Attack?
Now, we all know Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk) supposedly killed Sophia. We saw Kristen bash her in the head with a rock. She had her thugs throw Sophia’s body into the river. And Kristen made sure that Sophia would be presumed dead after an apparent suicide by having her write a suicide note. And of course, she made all those calls to Mason. But Sophia’s body was never found.
Also, any kind of ominous anonymous text fall right in line with Sophia’s style of how she’s tormented Holly in the past. Plus, Sophia’s survival and return have been speculated about for months. And in Salem, when somebody dies and there’s no body, you know, they’re going to come back. So, in order for Sophia to continue wreaking havoc on Holly’s life, she must have survived Kristen’s attack. You know, maybe Sophia was rescued, pulled out of the river by somebody, or drags her herself out once she was outside Salem.
Days of our Lives: Sophia Hiding in the Boat House?
And if you remember this summer when Holly, Ari, Tate, and Aaron were on Smith Island. Holly wasn’t feeling good because she had been drinking arsenic water unintentionally. And Ari and Aaron went out kayaking while Holly and Tate were staying behind at the cabin. And something really sticks in my mind about Ari and Aaron Green’s (Louis Tomeo) conversation about being out boating once they got back to the cabin.
So, Ari and Aaron mentioned a creepy old boat house they saw while paddling around. So, that might be where Sophia’s been hiding in this dilapidated building on Smith Island. Maybe that’s where the river dumped her out. And she’s lying ready to make a move to make Holly’s life a living nightmare again. Sophia might have even spied on them while they were at the cabin. All four of them. And of course now Sophia could be sneaking around Salem keeping an eye on Holly.
Sophia Worse than Ever on DOOL?
Sophia got pretty adept at sneaking around when she had Rachel Black (Lorelei Olivia Mote) cover for her when she was creeping out of Bay View. And we know that Ari spotted her that one time. So maybe now Sophia is being extra careful. So Holly’s enemy could have been lying in wait for months while she was recovering physically from near drowning and being bashed in the head by Kristen. And Sophia could be even more unhinged because her mental health issues may be compounded by traumatic brain injury.
So, Sophia may be hiding and plotting. So nobody, especially the DiMeras or the Salem PD, know that she’s alive because EJ DiMera (Daniel Feuerriegel) would kill Sophia because she tried to kill Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman). That’s for certain. I have a suspicion that once Sophia recovered and she heard that Kristen had left Salem that she thought it was safe to come back to town. So, Sophia may be watching Holly from a distance.
It would be easy for Sophia to get a burner phone or steal somebody’s phone and send texts to Holly to rattle her and start a whole revenge plan. So, Sophia may be texting Holly as stage 1 of tormenting her. But also to test the waters to see if anybody suspects she’s alive. Sophia may be using her knowledge of Holly’s routines so that she can time the messages, wanting Holly to know she’s being watched. Maybe that recent near mugging was even set up by Sophia. Stranger things have happened in Salem.
Sophia Using Mason on Days
Then we’ve got Mason showing up on the canvas and he’s got that grudge against Holly for her role in Sophia’s suicide. And all of this could be coincidental or maybe Sophia is aware of it and she’s using it to her advantage as a cover. So, she may want Holly focused on Mason. That way Sophia can stay in the shadows and Holly is looking at Mason. So, this week we’ve got Holly feeling guilty.
She’s struggling. She appears on Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart)’s new podcast with Lani Price (Sal Stowers) to talk about the mugging. And if Sophia’s alive, you can bet she will be tuned in looking for more ammunition. So Mason’s words definitely got to Holly and we’re going to see Tate having a run-in with Mason this week. But if Tate goes after Mason, I think Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) may tell her grandson, you got to cool your jets because Mason is a good guy doing important work and he’s a veteran and he’s got some PTSD.
Holly & Tate Leaving on Days of our Live
So, with Halloween coming soon and sweeps kicking off in exactly one month, Sophia could escalate the text and frighten Holly even more. So, Sophia may be waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Maybe when EJ is distracted because Sophia should be terrified of him.
Thankfully, Johnny survived. But EJ would take great joy in destroying Sophia. If she is behind the stalking and sending those texts to Holly, that could be part of why Tate and Holly wind up leaving Salem. We already know that Ashley Puzemis and Leo Howard were let go. So, that means Tate and Holly are leaving town. And it may be because of Sophia.
Amy Luciani is opening up about reconciling with her husband, Dwight Howard, after publicly accusing him of drug use and exploring the option of divorce.
RELATED: Dwight Howard Breaks Silence After Amy Luciani & Son Call Him Out Amid Drug Allegations (PHOTO)
Amy Luciani Opens Up About Reconciling With Husband Dwight Howard After Publicly Accusing Him Of Drug Use
On Tuesday, September 29, the Streetz Atlanta radio show released footage of an exclusive sit-down with Amy Luciani via YouTube. During the conversation, Luciani was asked about the livestream where she appeared to be pictured with cocaine, and accused her husband of using the drug. In turn, she explained that the content was not cocaine.
“But — I want to say this — the emotional rage that I was in [and] the anger that I felt in that moment to have guided myself to expose my marital issues, I shouldn’t have done to begin with,” she said. “So, to not further do that, I will say, I was wrong for making that video, especially when you end up back with your person.”
From there, Luciani explained that, “as a new wife,” she didn’t have the “construction” and “obedience” and behaved more like a girlfriend.
Social Media Reacts To Amy Luciani Reconciling With Husband Dwight Howard
Social media reacts to Amy Luciani reconciling with Dwight Howard in TSR’s comment section.
Instagram user @bonnie__woo wrote, “Ohhh so y’all both do cocaine… Okay Got it lol”
While Instagram user @__divine999 added, “Man wrap this s**t up IMMEDIATELY 😂”
Instagram user @siren_of_the_bay_415 wrote, “Tf you mean it wasnt ❄️?…”
While Instagram user @maya__121__my_ added, “That ain’t no Johnson Johnson I know Johnson Johnson when I see it and that wasn’t it”
Instagram user @imlit_215 wrote, “i really want people to understand that they haven’t been together that long, lmao they both seem a little off.. and i’m 31 i been hearing rumors about that man since i was 20.. IYKYK”
While Instagram user @evanitshallbe added, “What we not gonna do is normalize toxic marital relations and drug use disguised as being a good wife or from what you saying not being so. Huh???”
Instagram user @thee.locd.empress wrote, “If the coke heads say it was coke then it was coke 😭”
While Instagram user @iamshamarofficial added, “Not it was flour she was about to fry chicken 🤣🤣🤣”
Instagram user @nodaysoff_str8naja wrote, “He made her do this 😂”
While Instagram user @javier_debarge added, “Naw naw nah! He threatened to put you out didn’t he 🤣”
Instagram user @brianna.capri wrote, “So WHAT was it then AMY??!🤔🤨”
More On Her Publicly Accusing Her Husband Of Drug Use
As The Shade Room previously reported, in March, Dwight Howard filed for divorce from Amy Luciani after almost 14 months of marriage. At the time, Howard reportedly said their union was “irretrievably broken,” while Complex reported that they each filed for mutual restraining orders. To note, Luciani had previously made her own divorce filing in 2025.
Amid Howard’s 2026 filing, Luciani and his son reportedly accused him of drug use. However, he denied their claims, per The Shade Room. As the month continued, 911 audio surfaced of Luciani alleging that Howard put her out of their home. By the end of that month, Luciani shared a post about feeling “very sad” and going through a storm, per The Shade Room.
Then, in April, Dwight Howard turned heads by dropping his restraining order against Luciani, per The Shade Room. Then, earlier this week, Luciani shared a post on Instagram, showing that she and her husband had been working things out and had recently traveled together to Asia. In her comment section, she replied to those who shared their thoughts and noted that she was “happy” they didn’t divorce and were able to “grow the hell up” and keep their commitment.
RELATED: Dwight Howard Sparks Questions About Marriage Status After Dropping Restraining Order Against Amy Luciani (UPDATE)
What Do You Think Roomies?
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