Some big news from the world of Paramount:

1) The Duffer brothers and their Upside Down Pictures label, are officially coming to Paramount in a wide-ranging four-year, exclusive deal for feature films, television, and streaming projects

2) Legendary is negotiating a new global theatrical distribution deal (excluding China) with Paramount. The agreement, in the works since spring, would include both streaming and transactional windows. Co-financing is being discussed on a project-by-project basis, though specific titles are still undecided. Paramount Motion Picture chiefs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg aim to boost output to 15 films annually, with a long-term goal of 20.

3) Hillwood has partnered with Sheridan’s SGS Studios and Paramount Television to open a 450,000-square-foot filming hub in a bid to lure large-scale productions to the state. The development marks what’s believed to be the largest operating studio facility in Texas, amplifying the increasingly international battle to host Hollywood. The campus contains six soundstages and can simultaneously accommodate four large-scale productions.

After years of skepticism about streaming, Fox Corp. is finally taking the leap and packaging its linear TV networks into a new D2C service, Fox One. The new service officially launches Thursday. Execs showed it off for media last week in an event led by its CEO, Pete Distad, a former longtime Apple executive. Fox One, which brings together linear networks like the Fox broadcasting network, Fox News, FS1, Big 10 Network, Fox Business and others, plus local stations, is priced at $20 a month.

MSNBC will be rebranded as My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW, later this year, as the network prepares for its spinoff from Comcast, while it also will shed the Peacock logo. The change, announced on Monday, comes as MSNBC has been building its own news division, as NBC News will no longer be a sister outlet following the spinoff. MSNBC and other Comcast cable networks will be part of a separate company, Versant, led by Mark Lazarus.

LEADERSHIP NEWS

Proximity Media has named veteran marketing executive Terra Potts Chief as Marketing & Operations Officer. In the newly-created executive leadership role, Potts will oversee all marketing and communications across the company’s film, television, unscripted, and audio divisions. She will also oversee driving operational efficiencies, resource planning, and organizational development.

Laura Lancaster, Head of US SVOD TV Development and Series – Co-Productions at Amazon MGM Studios, has expanded the roles of her top lieutenants Kara Smith and Tom Lieber in the department that handles development and production of series coming from outside studios. Smith has been elevated to Head, Co-Production Drama, Comedy Development and Current Series & Leiber as Head, Co-Production Genre Development and Current Series.

On the eve of ESPN‘s long-anticipated streaming launch, Disney has added two key lieutenants to senior entertainment & ESPN exec Adam Smith’s team. One of them is Tony Donohoe, who was most recently an exec at Walmart and will focus on ad platforms in his Disney role. The other is Erin Teague, who has worked for companies like Google and Morgan Stanley and will specialize in product management.

Following 3 Arts Entertainment’s acquisition of A&A Management Group and the creation of 3 Arts Sports, the firm has added veteran sports executive and brand strategist Dr. Shey Olaoshebikan as both a manager representing clients and EVP of 3 Arts Sports to help grow the new division.

EXTRA NEWS

Nexstar, the No. 1 owner of TV stations in the U.S., is acquiring rival Tegna in a deal that reshapes the industry and challenges decade-old limits on control of local media.

PBS plans to cut its budget by 21% as public media faces the loss of $1.1 billion in federal funding over the next two fiscal years. Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS, informed station general managers Wednesday of the planned cuts. The overall pool of station dues will be reduced by $35 million, she said. Local outlets are grappling with their own budget holes given the loss of federal support.

YouTube is tossing its hat in the ring to host the Academy Awards, per a report from Bloomberg.

CBS and the American Music Awards will stay together for a longer term. Dick Clark Productions, which produces the awards, and CBS have signed a five-year deal to continue airing the AMAs on the broadcast network, with a simultaneous stream on Paramount+.