Just as “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” rocked the summer box office, TV found two massive events to warm up its slower months in the FIFA World Cup and, of course, “Love Island USA.”

The international soccer tournament couldn’t be more different than the reality dating show featuring bikini-clad contestants finding love in Fiji, but there’s one key theme tying the juggernauts: They both encouraged and created an environmental of communal viewing that skyrocketed their ratings to historic levels.

Just take “Love Island USA,” which saw co-viewing with at least one other person make up nearly half of its record-breaking Season 8 audience, which totaled 19 billion minutes viewed to stand as Peacock’s most-watched original season ever, according to Nielsen figures.

And while co-viewing is nothing new for sports — especially a major sports event that only comes around every four years — this year’s tournament moved soccer into the upper echelon of sports in the U.S. as it became the most-watched FIFA World Cup in U.S. history as well as Spanish-language media history.

The success for both summer events speaks to the desire for community, whether that means watching with friends and family or engaging with other fans online or at the office the next day. In a sea of endless TV options watching something that others are engaging with guarantees value in the time invested, and it’s also likely the shared experience boosts your enjoyment of the program itself.

And that communal viewing doesn’t necessarily have to be IRL; both events found a lively social media audience, with “Love Island USA” Season 8 generating over 5 billion video views across social channels, ranking as the No. 1 most social series program since its launch.

Likewise, the World Cup generated 2.25 billion video views across social platforms, more than nine times the combined total generated during the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

While “Love Island U.S.A.” took on the challenge of maintaining and growing the show’s already massive audience after it broke into the cultural zeitgeist in Season 6, the World Cup managed to break through in a way it hasn’t before. It’s hard to say exactly what facilitated the shift, as it’s likely a mix between increased accessibility both across platforms as Fox and Telemundo/Peacock shared broadcasting duties, as well as timing, with the U.S., Mexico and Canada serving as host countries.

Additionally, flashy, star-studded performances that resembled the likes of a Super Bowl halftime show boosted the final match between Spain and Argentina to reach a combined viewership of 62.8 million across Fox, Telemundo and Peacock. That’s more than double the viewership reached by Game 5 of this year’s NBA finals, which scored 24.5 million viewers, but is exactly half of the 125.6 million viewers that tuned in for the 2026 Super Bowl.

Credit goes to the World Cup organizers for making the halftime show — which included the likes of Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber and BTS — into a Super Bowl-level performance, again turning the final match into a must-watch cultural event that would end up on your feed, whether you watched it or not. In the same way, Peacock has turned “Love Island USA” into must-see TV that airs nearly every day for six weeks.

It’s another win in the books for NBCUniversal, which wrapped up its Legendary February to ratings success earlier this year. And other companies are benefiting from this rise in communal viewing interest as well. “Big Brother” has aired multiple episodes a week every summer for 28 seasons and counting. This year saw its ratings rise for its Season 28 premiere in July, with the launch averaging 3.9 million viewers, a 22% increase from last year to capture the show’s most-watched premiere since July 7, 2021, which averaged 4.3 million viewers.

Hulu is also hoping to get in on the gains as it refurbishes “The Circle,” a social competition that ran for seven seasons at Netflix. In this iteration, the show will be filmed in real time and introduce audience voting, giving viewers the ability to shape the game as it unfolds.

NBC’s MLB coverage hits a home run

NBC Sports had a winning baseball Sunday, marking the first time in “Sunday Night Baseball” history that three consecutive games have topped 3 million viewers.

Those victories were made up of the Boston Red Sox-Los Angeles Dodgers game, which scored 3.8 million viewers on Sunday, as well as the Dodgers-Yankees game on July 19 that tallied 3.9 million viewers and the Yankees-Phillies matchup on July 26 that drew in 3.2 million viewers.

“Stranger Things” tops all streaming shows

Residual viewing for the “Stranger Things” series finale on New Year’s Eve boosted the Netflix series to become the most-watched streaming series for the first half of 2026 with 23.26 billion minutes, according to Nielsen data.

Behind “Stranger Things” was kids favorite “Bluey,” which tallied 22.81 billion minutes from January to June. HBO Max’s “The Pitt” was close behind with 21.12 billion minutes. Also in the top 10 were “Bridgerton,” alongside library favorites “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Spongebob Squarepants,” “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “Paw Patrol.”

Ben Affleck boosts “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

Ben Affleck and Jamie Ding’s $1 million win on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” boosted the ABC competition show to its best performance in a year since Matt Damon and Ken Jennings won the $1 million prize last summer. The episode scored 4.2 million viewers — up 4% from the prior week — and became the top program of the night for the second week in a row among total viewers.

ICYMI:

• “The Devil Wears Prada 2” sashayed to 15.2 million global viewers in five days across Disney+ and Hulu
• Netflix found its next docuseries obsession in “The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare,” which tallied 18.2 million views in its first week 
• “The Five Star Weekend” cracked 2.1 billion minutes watched as Peacock’s No. 1 scripted series of all time, landing a Season 2 renewal from the streamer

EXCLUSIVE: Yul Vazquez (Severance, Will Trent), Cheryl Umaña (The Pitt, All American), José Zúñiga (Twilight, Griselda) and newcomer Bryanna Marie Felipe will lead the cast of the Cuban American film 1972. The announcement of their participation arrives as 1972 wraps production after shooting in Los Angeles.

The film from Nil Novi, Ten to the Six Pictures, and Three Friends/One Spirit is eyeing a festival run for early 2027.

1972 tells a story of family, hope, resilience, and the complexities of identity and belonging. At her New Year’s Eve party in 1972, Cuban exile Gloria Cienfuegos (Umaña) faces the onslaught of a defiant daughter (Felipe), a charismatic and provocative novelist friend (Vazquez), a rogue hamster, and her worst fears of losing hope and never returning to her homeland.

In addition to the above four actors, the cast also includes Sienna Oquendo as Lucia Cienfuegos, Krizia Bajos as Natalia Robles, Orlando Pinedala as Fernando, Kelvin Han Yee as Ismael, Aixa Clemente as Ofelia, Yareli Arizmendi as Anais, Adam Peltier as Frank, Paige McGhee as Darla, Damian Darnell Lewis as Ronald, Gia Ochsenbein as Lisa, and Gary Guerrier as Ed.

The film is inspired by Marissa Chibás’ upbringing as the daughter of a commander in the Cuban Revolution and as a Miss Cuba runner-up. Chibás, who wrote and directed the film, is a Sundance Screenwriting Fellow for her screenplay 1972, which was selected for the 2024 Gotham Week’s Project Market, the Wscripted Cannes Screenplay List, was an Athena Awards finalist, and received an inaugural Sundance/Gold House Artist Accelerator grant. 

“1972 celebrates the communities that shaped me: young women finding their voices with Carole King on the turntable, the daughters and sons of the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements, and a generation that watched humanity land on the moon and believed anything was possible,” shared Chibás.

Adding, “Their optimism, contradictions, resilience, and dreams are woven into every frame of this film. Together, our extraordinary cast and creative team of 1972 recreated a world that feels remarkably familiar today—a time of political division, war, galvanized youth, and people searching for a different future. Although rooted in one Cuban family’s experience, I hope audiences everywhere recognize something of themselves in the universal search for home.”

1972 is produced by Liz Cardenas and Rui M. Xu. In addition to acting, Vazquez serves as executive producer. The creative team also includes Director of Photography Diana Matos, Editor Jonathan Cuartas, Composer Marcelo Zarvos, Production Designer Sandra B. Rodriguez, and Costume Designer Victor A. Sandoval. The film features songs by Bobi Cespedes, PALO!, The S.O.U.L., Jomama Jones, Blue Eye Extinction, Constance Hauman, and Johnny Knollwood and the Church of Mad Love.

Vazquez is represented by Gersh Agency and Untitled Entertainment. Umaña is represented by Metropolitan Talent Agency. Zúñiga is represented by SDB Partners and Prime Talent Media. Felipe is represented by Arise Artists Agency and Brave Artists Management.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday continued its string of annual election announcements, this time sharing that casting director Kim Taylor-Coleman was re-elected president of the Academy Foundation Board.

The Academy Foundation oversees all educational, preservation, and cultural activities of the Academy, including the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library, the Academy Film Archive, the Academy Collection, and the Academy’s talent development programs.

The Academy Foundation Board comprises 12 trustees who also are members of the Academy Board of Governors. The rest of the newly elected 2026-2027 Academy Foundation Board members and officers include Visual Effects Branch member Brooke Breton and Cinematographers Branch member Paul Cameron, who were both elected vice presidents; Marketing and Public Relations Branch member David Dinerstein, who was elected treasurer; and Animation Branch member Marlon West, who was elected secretary.

The rest of the board members are Patricia Cardoso (Directors Branch), Peter Devlin (Sound Branch), Richard Hicks (Casting Directors Branch), Lynette Howell Taylor (Producers Branch), Larry Karaszewski (Writers Branch), Chris Tashima (Short Films Branch), and Terilyn A. Shropshire (Film Editors Branch).

“The Academy Foundation plays a vital role in expanding our global reach and supporting our film community through the Academy Museum, Academy Collection, educational initiatives and preservation work,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer via statement. “I am incredibly grateful to our Academy Foundation Board members for dedicating their time, expertise and support to drive forward these impactful and important efforts.”

Academy Foundation Board members and officers serve one-year terms. As representatives of the Foundation Board, Dinerstein, Howell Taylor, and Taylor-Coleman will also serve on the Academy Museum Board of Trustees for one-year terms.

The Academy Foundation election announcement comes one week after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the result of its Board of Governors election, where producer Howell Taylor was re-elected president, Music Branch member Lesley Barber as Vice President (chair, Membership Committee), Producers Branch member Jennifer Fox as Vice President (chair, Awards Committee), Actors Branch member Lou Diamond Phillips as Vice President (chair, Equity and Inclusion Committee), and Writers Branch member Howard A. Rodman as Vice President/Secretary (chair, Governance Committee). 

Marketing and Public Relations Branch member Dinerstein was also elected to his first officer role as Vice President/Treasurer (chair, Finance Committee).