According to their LINKEDIN profiles, both got their MBA’s just after Covid, following previous careers in luxury goods and the bar business, respectively.
Madison Huang is a Senior Director of Product Marketing and made $1.2M last year in her 5th year at the company; Spencer Huang is a Director of Product Management, specializing in robotics, and made a smidge more at $1.3M last year, his 3rd year at the company.
Oh boy, the Huang Memorial Day weekend family BBQ is gonna be a little tense this year. Good luck, Jensen! (For the record, he is officially not involved in their compensation at the company.
PLUS: WALMART is the latest large employer to join the 2026 layoffs train, cutting 1,000 folks (though some will be relocated) as it consolidates its tech and product divisions into existing main offices in AK and CA. The company said the cuts are not related to AI usage.
WELL: PEACOCK is taking a small step in the microdrama pool, licensing 10 microdramas from REEL SHORT, according to BI. No word on a pricetag or duration, other than being described as “short term.”
This is in addition to the launch of 2 BRAVO microdramas this summer.
FINALLY: Here’s the new Strike Force Five episode, where Colbert also reveals his biggest guest celebrity crushes.
UPFRONTS DAY 3
So, I think I wrote down the wrong address for the NETFLIX presentation yesterday.
The “weird fucking building” location NETFLIX chose (as I believe Pete Davidson so eloquently called it in his on-stage Upfronts “script”) was on the far west side of Midtown Manhattan yesterday, a neighborhood I’m sadly not very familiar with.
When I walked inside what I thought was the address on Manhattan’s West Side Highway, the people inside were very welcoming but suppressed a laugh when I said, “I’m here for the Upfront?” They replied, “Well, we haven’t heard it called that before,” and, to their credit, did offer to give me a presentation . . . but it was very pricey.
Then, they kindly pointed me in the right direction to the correct address across the highway in time for the 100% free (and clothed) NETFLIX presentation.
And yes, that’s way too much effort for a joke about the NETFLIX Upfront being across the street from the Hustler Club, but I already took the photo, so . . . I kinda had to commit.
BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS
It’s kind of hard to imagine a day in the entertainment business that embodies 2 complete stark opposite business presentations more:
NETFLIX was focused entirely on being a global streamer with a heavy emphasis on scripted programming.
WBD’s focus was largely on the U.S. linear cable TV business, with a mostly unscripted programming lineup presented.
One of those businesses likely represented the last Upfront presentation ever for that business . . . and the other was NETFLIX.
This follows a week that technically all fell under the “Upfronts” banner — but outside of the unifying characteristic of each participant making pitches to advertisers to spend money at their companies . . . it’d be hard to make a case that all of these companies are really in the same business.
For your consideration:
NBCU and DISNEY are probably the 2 companies still closest to still being in the same business with a diverse range of businesses:
Broadcast TV, streaming, movies, theme parks, sports, late-night and news.
Both of these businesses have also scaled back most of their cable TV operations (ex. ESPN, FX and BRAVO).
WBD is largely a cable TV network company with sports and a big news division — or at least that’s how it was presented yesterday (more below) — with movies & TV and streaming as well.
If PARAMOUNT had participated in Upfronts, it probably would have been somewhat similar to group with WBD, although with a dash of NBCU and DISNEY given the CBS business.
NETFLIX is a global streamer mostly focused on TV and movie programming, and a growing but still small collection of sports (count podcast and gaming ‘hobbies’ as ya like), and no news, linear TV, theme parks or theatrical movies.
FOX is largely centered on sports, news and unscripted programming at this point and is still very much linear TV-focused, with a free VOD streamer of mostly library content from other studios.
AMAZON has a large e-comm underlying raison d’être, podcasts, a social live video platform largely focused on gamers, sports, and oh yeah, a bunch of TV and movies too. The kitchen sink approach, except for news.
YOUTUBE doesn’t actually own any programming at all, and also relies on music and podcasts for a healthy chunk of revenue.
Yeah — kinda in all the same business, I guess . . . but not really. This is now nowhere near the “4 companies all basically presenting their fall TV schedules” affair that the Upfronts meant for decades.
SO: Let’s dive into the 2 very different approaches to the business of entertainment in 2026 that took place in NYC yesterday, and how each uniquely framed its messaging to the advertising community and embodied their diverse revenue strategies.
Plus, what worked on stage, and what was . . . not so much.
Don’t stop here
Unlock the full story — and the no-spin reporting Hollywood trusts
