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Greetings WrapPRO Enterprise subscribers,
We are 12 days into the final quarter of 2025 and the year so far has unfolded as expected — full of uncertainty.
The fourth quarter is almost always the defining quarter for business, even if you have a non-calendar fiscal year. So let’s get to it. What should be front of mind in these final weeks?
Subscription fatigue: Consumers are feeling the pinch for sure, and the idea of “conscious spending” we heard about coming into the year is real. Consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level in September since April. And consumers tend to tighten belts a lot more at the end of the year with holiday spending and bigger bills. So we know “subscription fatigue” will weigh heavily as folks grapple with overlapping plans. They’ll be looking for better value for those sub dollars.
Advertising pressure: The fourth quarter is always a big period for ad-dependent businesses but marketers may pull back based on the macroeconomic landscape and more tariff uncertainty. Throw into the mix all the streamers with so-called FAST models now battling fiercely for those finite ad dollars. That’s why it’s essential for companies to be able account for where they are showing stronger performance, how they are testing on verticals, and showing first-party audience data to clients.
Box Office: I asked our film reporter Jeremy Fuster for his smarts on this one. “Q4 is the reason all the theater owners I spoke to weren’t too disappointed about the summer. “Wicked,” “Zootopia” and “Avatar” are expected to be huge money makers. I’d expect at least $1.25 billion domestic between those three alone,” he said.
Other possible breakouts: “FNAF2,” “Running Man,” “The Housemaid,“ and “Hamnet.”
New Center of Gravity: Consulting giant Deloitte earlier this year declared that social platforms, creators and user-generated content (UGC) were creating a new center of gravity in media and entertainment. More from Deloitte: “Our survey of US consumers reveals that media and entertainment companies—including advertisers—are competing for an average of six hours of daily media and entertainment time per person. And this number doesn’t seem to be growing.”
If you’re a legacy player, I’d say the fourth quarter is an ideal time to leverage your IP, production scale and brand to offer premium or hybrid offerings that creators alone just can’t match.
Don’t Discount the Govt. Shutdown: You wouldn’t think Hollywood would feel a deep pinch from a protracted government shutdown. But you will face regulatory delays from the FCC, et. al. If you have workers in need of visas on your sets, you’re in for delays, too. Hollywood Burbank Airport shut down its air traffic control tower for several hours on Oct. 6 due to lack of staffing from the shutdown. It may be a one-off, but the entertainment industry moves through airports constantly and relies on air travel in a big way. Expect delays at the bigger airports.
A lot to think about and a lot to get done before we roll into 2026.
See you back here next Sunday. Your comments always welcome.
Tom Lowry
SVP/Editorial Strategy
tom.lowry@thewrap.com
1. Into the Spotlight 
Unfair media consolidation typically has focused on the combination of media GIANTS but Nexstar’s recent kerfuffle with Jimmy Kimmel has turned the klieg light on the local TV station owner.
Our TV business reporter Lucas Manfredi this past week looked at what a still-to-be-approved Nexstar-Tegna combination, which some say was the reason for yanking the late night host off the air, would mean for media power.
Manfreid wrote: “Nexstar Media Group, the nations’ largest TV affiliate owner, thrust itself into the spotlight last month as Jimmy Kimmel was yanked off of ABC in a controversy that exploded into an extremely public battle over free speech.
Though that September standoff has since been resolved, the episode brought to light the seldom-discussed relationship between affiliates and its pending $6.2 billion merger with rival Tegna, one that would give it unprecedented reach in the U.S. Critics say the merger will give Nexstar too much clout, and the Kimmel standoff was a prime example of that. But the company says the deal is vital to ensure it can compete with tech and media competitors and continue investing in local journalism.”
The map below puts this into perspective.
2. CEO Exits Slowing But Not in Entertainment Executive outplacement and coaching service Challenger, Gray & Christmas has some new numbers out that show that while 2025 has been a record year for CEO turnover, that trend has slowed in recent months — except in entertainment.
That business, lumped together with the leisure sector by Deloitte, has seen robust activity with 123 CEO exits through August 2025, up 22% from 101 during the same period last year.
Of course, we’ve reported on Brian Robbins stepping down from his top role at Paramount Global, Linda Yaccarino departing Twitter, Wendy McMahon leaving as CEO of CBS News, and Daniel Ek giving up the CEO title at Spotify.
Across all industries, however, August marked the third consecutive month CEO exits fell versus the same month one year earlier, something that has occurred five times this year.
Through August, 1,504 CEOs have left their posts, the highest on record, since Challenger began tracking in 2002. That is up 4% from the 1,450 CEO exits in the first eight months of 2024.
“The slowing CEO exits could reflect companies’ desire to go into the last part of the year with the appearance of stability, given the immense uncertainty that surrounds most organizations. Strategy shifts, potential loss of talent, workforce and shareholder unease can all follow a leadership change at the top-most position,” said Andy Challenger, workplace and labor expert for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The charts below bring the trends to life with another chart showing women CEOs losing momentum as well.
3. Following Jobs Speaking of CEOs, who had a more daunting succession than Tim Cook stepping up and in for Steve Jobs at Apple just prior to his death in 2011?
Voronoi by Visual Capitalist captured both Jobs and Cook’s (so far) legacies at the helm of the company.
Here’s what it had to say on that score. In Voronoi’s words:
“Jobs: The Product Visionary — Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 during a time of crisis. Over the next 14 years, he delivered breakthrough products that redefined industries—from the original iMac and iPod to the game-changing iPhone and iPad. These weren’t just gadgets—they reshaped how people interact with technology.
“The launch of the App Store in 2008 also set the foundation for Apple’s massive software and services ecosystem, now a major profit center for the company.
“Cook: — The Scaler and Strategist When Cook took over in 2011, many questioned if Apple could continue innovating. But Cook’s operational acumen allowed the company to scale globally, optimize margins, and diversify revenue streams. Under his leadership, Apple launched the Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Pay, and custom silicon (M1 chip), while significantly expanding its services segment.
“Today, Apple’s ecosystem includes hardware, services, entertainment, and finance. Cook has successfully shepherded the company into new growth areas, helping it weather challenges like supply chain crises and slowing smartphone growth.”
Two different styles that investors and consumers seemed to love.
For more Voronoi data visualizations go here.
Mark Shapiro, it seems, has never not been an executive to watch, even from his current perch atop TKO Holdings that he shares with Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood power agent who receives overshadowing, outsized attention.
Shapiro, 56, also serves as president and managing partner of WME Group, part of Endeavor that also owns a majority stake in TKO. In March, Endeavor was taken private in a $25 billion acquisition by Silver Lake.
Under Shapiro’s leadership, TKO has been a tear lately with the recent $7.7 billion deal that UFC struck with Paramount+ along with the 10-Year, $5 billion deal WWE set with Netflix for “Monday Night Raw.”
Shapiro was a featured guest on September 30 at TheWrap’s annual business event The Grill where he shared his views on his long-held passion of sports and media. “Movies are emotional and they’re visceral, and you walk out, you’re moved by them. You talk about them. But when you’re in a movie, you are a passenger,” Shapiro said. “When you are at a sports event, the audience is a participant and they truly believe they have a say in the outcome of that sporting event. Whereas in a movie, the outcome is the same. It may hit people differently, but the outcome is the same for everyone that watches it.”
After cutting his teeth as an intern at NBC Sports and then for a CBS affiliate in Cedars Rapids, Iowa, Shapiro began his ascent at ESPN in 1993, rising to executive vice president for programming and production in 2002. A year later, the magazine Entertainment Weekly named him one of 2003’s rising stars in entertainment. He had subsequent executive roles at Six Flags Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions before joining WME.
At TKO, Shapiro has been in overdrive doing sports rights deals across the globe, never ceasing to be an evangelist for the category, especially in today’s fragmented media world. “There’s no angle you’re going to turn right now where sports is cooling off. We see no signs of it,” Shapiro offered up during his chat at TheGrill.
What’s Wrong with True Crime?, On the Media podcast
The signals consumers are sending, CEO Brief, Wall Street Journal
Freedom of the Press Isn’t Just a Legal Issue, Second Rough Draft, Richard Tofel
