movies

ABC And NBC Will Air 90 NBA Games Next Season, Up 14% From The Prior Year

Published

3 days ago

August 13, 2026

ABC and NBC will combine to air 90 NBA games during the 2026-27 season, a 14% increase over the broadcast networks’ total of 79 in the prior season.

The uptick will continue the squeeze on general-entertainment programming, extending a long-term shift toward live sports, unscripted fare and news and away from traditional dramas and comedies. More sports also means lower residuals for talent and other stakeholders in entertainment programming.

While select games have been announced previously, the NBA revealed its full schedule for next season on Thursday. (Find it HERE.) Tip-off has been set for October 20, when NBC and Peacock will have a triple-header. Games will see the Boston Celtics facing the Detroit Pistons; the Philadelphia 76ers taking on the defending champion New York Knicks; and the Oklahoma City Thunder playing the San Antonio Spurs.

Broadcast network games will be on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Other games will be on ESPN and certain exclusives are planned on Peacock.

Disney’s ABC and ESPN will carry five games on Christmas Day, with the slate highlighted by a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals between the Knicks and the Spurs. New York and San Antonio will have the most national games during the season, with 34 out of their 82 contests appearing on one of the three outlets with national rights. Amazon Prime Video joined NBCUniversal and Disney as a rightsholder when 11-year rights deals took effect in 2025.

Two games for each team have not been fully scheduled, given that matchups and exact timing will be determined by the outcome of early rounds of the Emirates Cup. The in-season tournament, which was added to the calendar in 2023, streams on Prime Video.

All-Star Weekend will start February 19, a few days after the Super Bowl, with ESPN and NBC/Peacock carrying portions of the weekend’s activities.

movies

Kristen Bell Makes Surprise Performance At Savannah Bananas Game

Published

6 minutes ago

August 16, 2026

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For the first time in forever, Kristen Bell has both Frozen and baseball on the mind as she treated sports fans to a surprise performance from Princess Anna.

On Saturday, the 2x Golden Globe nominee popped up in the stands of the Savannah Bananas game against the Indianapolis Clowns in Denver, where she sang her Disney character’s song “For the First Time in Forever” in a mashup with Tony-nominated pitcher Derek Klena singing “Dancing Through Life” from Wicked, in which he performed as Fiyero Tigelaar on Broadway.

“The mashup we never knew we needed,” the team wrote on Instagram with a video of the performance, which also included “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, complete with the lift.

Following his Tony-nominated 2017 performance in Jagged Little Pill, as well as subsequent Broadway runs in Moulin Rouge!, Sunset Boulevard and Wicked, Klena was scouted by the viral exhibition barnstorming team in December.

Bell’s surprise appearance came after she stopped by D23 in Anaheim to tease Anna’s wedding to Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) in Frozen 3, joining co-stars Idina Menzel and Josh Gad onstage to debut new music and scenes from the threequel. The Disney movie premieres Nov. 24, 2027.

The $2.76 billion-grossing launched with Frozen in 2013, followed by the 2019 sequel Frozen 2.

movies

Dolly Parton Misses Dollywood Ride Opening Amid “Health Issues”

Published

1 hour ago

August 16, 2026

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As Dollywood opens its latest attraction, NightFlight Expedition, Dolly Parton is contending with ongoing health issues.

On Friday, the 11x Grammy winner virtually greeted guests of her Nashville park to let them know that her doctor “clipped my wings” and advised her against attending the opening of the new coaster in the Tennessee theme park.

“Well, hey Eugene. I’m right here… Well, kind of. Sorta,” she told Dollywood President Eugene Naughton in a pre-recorded video during the dedication ceremony, which was shared by Knoxville News Sentinel. “I’m still in Nashville, and I’m sorry about that. I was supposed to be there in person like I planned.”

Parton added, “Now, I’ve told you before, all my fans, that I’ve had a few little health issues. And sometimes, I get a little dizzy and I get dehydrated, and I’m dehydrated. And so, my Nashville doctor has kinda clipped my wings, saying, ‘You ain’t traveling this week.’ So I guess, if your doctor tells you, ‘you ain’t traveling this week,’ you ain’t traveling this week. But I like to keep all of you in the loop, like I said I would, on everything.”

Raving about the “great new ride,” Parton told guests, “You have fun, and I’m gonna see you down the road.”

Last September, Parton postponed her Las Vegas residency due to “health challenges” before ultimately canceling the stint in May while taking “meds and treatments” for her condition. Her health issues come after the death of her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, on March 3, 2025.

movies

Box Office Global: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Is Second-Fastest To Cross $2B

Published

2 hours ago

August 16, 2026

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Holy cow! Or whatever kind of Holy is yelled out in a comic book, but Sony/Marvel Studio’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed the $2 billion global mark, becoming the second fastest movie to do so and the eighth movie to ever cross that benchmark.

Brand New Day pulls off this feat in 17 days while Avengers: Endgame crossed $2B in 11 days.

Broken out, Brand New Day counts $785.8M domestic, the fourth highest ever in U.S./Canada, and a running cume of $1.236B abroad for a current worldwide tally of $2.022B.

Third global weekend for the Destin Daniel Cretton directed, Tom Holland and Zendaya starring pic is $188.7M. Stateside, the pic posted the second-best third weekend at the domestic B.O. at $70M after Force Awakens third weekend of $90.2M.

Abroad in 67 markets, Brand New Day made $118.7M this weekend on 53,700 screens. China led the frame with $10M taking it cume to $210M followed by France at $9.1M (-39%) for a cume of $63.7M.

Other top markets this weekend: the United Kingdom ($8.2M weekend, -49%, $106.0M cume), Brazil ($7.5M, -47%, $59.5M), Mexico ($7.3M, $78.0M),Australia ($6.6M, -45%, $48.8M), South Korea ($6.4M, -41%, $53.2M), Germany ($6.4M, -42%, $48.8M), Japan ($3.4M, -15%, $27.0M), India ($3.2M, $59.6M), Spain ($2.8M, -44%, $35.2M), and Italy ($2.2M, $36.4M).

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now Sony Pictures’ highest-grossing release ever in 36 international markets, including Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Hungary, India, Italy, Malaysia, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

We’ll have more foreign updates for you in a bit.

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