The Rest Is Netflix (40 nights only)
Dhar Mann beats legacy studios to FAST originals, who wins the next sports fan and WBD on cracking European distribution.
🎬 The FAST playbook Hollywood couldn’t run
Dhar Mann Studios is producing Samsung TV Plus’ first original scripted series, Unlikely Romances, a four-part anthology premiering June 5 in the US and 12 international markets (Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland).
Look at how the sequence has unfolded: Dhar Mann Studios launched its own FAST channel on Samsung TV Plus last autumn, used the platform to build audience on the biggest screen in the home and is now layering originals on top to stand out from the catalogue noise. Every major studio with a FAST footprint had this same option sitting in front of them since Samsung TV Plus could use more exclusive premium content to differentiate from competitors.
How come this deal happens: The reason may come down to economics. When Mann was on The Media Odyssey Podcast last year, he told us he invested roughly $1,000 per minute for scripted content, which works out to around $22,000 for a single 22-minute episode. Dhar Mann Studios produces 5 hours of premium scripted output every week and was set to double that by the end of 2025, runs a 30-day production cycle against the 1 to 3 years Hollywood routinely takes, owns 100% of its IP worldwide and in perpetuity. Mann operates in a different universe of unit economics entirely.
So the open question for Hollywood producers and traditional studios: should they rebuild a creator-grade cost base from scratch or partner with the creators who already run one?
Read Samsung’s full announcement here and listen to the full conversation with Dhar on The Media Odyssey.
Watch the trailer 👇🏻
🏟️ Sports fandom's new gravity
The sports industry has been running on the assumption that the next generation of fans renews itself. A 17-year-old in 2026 supports Al-Nassr because of Ronaldo, follows volleyball in Asia and catches Saturday's goals on TikTok. Family ties, the local team, the Sunday match: those drivers are losing their grip.
So who wins the next sports fan and how? 5 years ago, this conversation would have lived on rights. Today, it lives on distribution, fan experience and the infrastructure underneath. Four voices, four sharp angles:
→ João Diogo Ferreira, DAZN Portugal, on building the global home of sports beyond the live broadcast.
→ Andrea David Rizzi, YouTube, on community, creators and why younger fans expect a two-way relationship.
→ Ana López Zamarreño, MasOrange, on serving a 55-year-old and an 18-year-old inside the same household.
→ Ian Franklyn, MainStreaming, on the unglamorous railway tracks that decide whether the viewing experience holds up or not.
With the brilliant Jo Redfern orchestrating the whole session.
A few of the moments worth pressing play for:
→ Why piracy costs La Liga €700 million a year in Spain alone and why the educated middle class is the main culprit.
→ The capacity wall heading our way as the UK switches off linear and the 20 to 50x infrastructure demand coming with it.
→ The creator rights shift, from CazéTV in Brazil to LiveMode in Portugal.
If you sit anywhere in sports distribution, fandom or content delivery, this session earns 38 minutes of your weekend.
🎥 You've signed the deal, the press release is out. Now what?
For the latest episode of Inside the Bundle: The Interviews, Kenechi Amobi Belusevic, Head of Distribution and Business Development at Warner Bros Discovery, details how a global content brand moves through the fragmented reality of European and global streaming markets, why everyone wants content and what it takes to build strong local partnerships.
Watch the full episode here:
Previous episode: Vincent Stevens, VP Entertainment at Telenet.
Coming next: David Bouchier, Chief TV & Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media.
🗓️ SME Live Tickets: Early bird tickets to attend our next Streaming Made Easy Live event in Amsterdam on September 10th, 2026, are now on sale here. Premium subscribers get 30% off so consider upgrading today.
🎙️Fans with skin in the game
We’re in the midst of the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival so it was only fitting to bring a film finance entrepreneur on The Media Odyssey Podcast this week but not just any film finance entrepreneur. Evan Shapiro and I spent time talking with Marc Iserlis who runs Republic Films where fans have skin in the game.
This is what the next decade of independent film financing looks like and if you haven’t looked at this model yet, you’re already behind. Iserlis is at Cannes this week making the case, go meet him in the flesh.
👉🏻 APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | DEEZER with more platforms here.
📺 How Dyn shipped a CTV app at speed
How do you build a connected TV app for 5 sports, 5 devices and a 6-month deadline?
During StreamTV Europe, Tom Smith, co-founder and CPO of FX Digital, walked us through how they built the Dyn streaming platform, a niche sports streaming service targeting Germany's underserved sports fans across volleyball, handball, table tennis, hockey and basketball.
Tom breaks down the real decisions behind launching a connected TV product at speed: how to pick the right devices for a regional market, why they chose Lightning JS over native code and the certification-first strategy that kept their launch on track. Plus, the data behind which platform drove the most viewership in DACH and how a single personalisation question at sign-up can increase customer lifetime by 35%.
⚽️ Eating my “podcasts on Netflix” words 😬
I’ve been on the record: podcasts on Netflix will be a bust. My premise was a 2016 move on Netflix’s part by lifting a show off YouTube to drop it on Netflix. The new Netflix x Goalhanger deal forces me to revise. Partly.
Here’s what’s happening: The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, will host a daily show for Netflix during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, anchored from a New York studio. Match analysis, special guests plus two roving reporters following the England team across North America. 40 days of programming wrapped around the biggest sporting event of the year.
Four things make this work:
→ First, Netflix doesn’t hold World Cup rights. Fox has the US, BBC and ITV share the UK. So Netflix isn’t competing for live games and is building a companion product around an event it has no way of covering otherwise. In one word: smart.
→ Second, this is daily live TV with talent that already pulls 7 million monthly streams. Fully produced format, built-in audience, zero acquisition cost. In two words: Turnkey TV 👋🏻.
→ Third, it’s finite. Netflix isn’t betting on always-on podcast appointment viewing, the part I remain sceptical about. It’s renting tentpole credibility for 40 days from a brand that already has it, then walking away. In three words: cool pop-up.
→ Fourth, the schedule itself does part of the work. 104 matches in 39 days across North America means kick-offs land late at night for European viewers. Netflix has built a morning UK-time recap show precisely for the European fan who slept through the 2am kick-off. Daily highlights, analysis and reporter dial-ins become the only realistic way for European audiences to keep up with the tournament. In four words: shoulder content will win.
If this works, every major sports tentpole on the calendar just became a Netflix vodcast opportunity.
That’s it for today but before you go:
🗳️ Poll time
🗓️ SME Live Tickets
Early bird tickets to attend our next Streaming Made Easy Live event in Amsterdam on September 10th, 2026, are now on sale here. Premium subscribers get 30% off so consider upgrading today.
That’s it for today. Enjoy your weekend and see you on Tuesday for a Deep Dive edition of Streaming Made Easy Premium.