‘Love Island USA’ Sets New Ratings Record on Peacock

Love Island USA is officially Peacock‘s biggest original series ever, with internal data from NBCUniversal revealing that Season 7 has racked up 18.4 billion minutes of watch time, equivalent to about 307 million hours. Roughly 30% of those minutes were recorded on mobile devices, while NBC claims nearly half of the audience were brand-new viewers this season. Additionally, Nielsen said that over 50% of the show’s viewers are adults under the age of 35.

Boardroom’s Michelai Graham has more on why Season 7 broke records, fueled internet obsessions, and turned Islanders into stars.

The $8 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media appears to be moving forward after the FCC officially approved the deal, which was initially announced over a year ago. Skydance, owned by David Ellison, now acquires the many properties under the Paramount umbrella, including CBS, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount+, and Paramount Pictures.

Three weeks after dropping “What Did I Miss?”, Drake released his second summer single on Friday, this time linking up with Central Cee on “Which One.” This is the second time the duo has gotten together, with the first coming in 2003 for “On the Radar Freestyle.”

The Fantastic Four: First Steps picked up $24.4 million in Thursday previews at the North American box office, topping Superman ($22.5 million) for the largest preview total of the year thus far. The new Fantastic Four film starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach is projected to make $100 million to $110 million in both North America and overseas.

Nearly two and a half years after its last version, OpenAI is expected to drop GPT-5 in August, according to a report from The Verge. This news comes on the heels of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stating on X that the company will release the new model “soon,” but warned users that it is an “experimental model” and that it may take a few more months in order to reach the “gold level of capability.”

The San Antonio Spurs are so committed to a new downtown arena that they are willing to invest $1 billion in it. On Friday, the team announced it will donate $500 million for a new arena, another $500 million toward downtown development, and $60 million to community programs as part of Project Marvel, which aims to revitalize the downtown San Antonio area with a new entertainment venue, hotel, and land bridge. The total cost of the project is said to be $3-4 billion.

It’s been a busy summer for Dijon. Just weeks after earning his first Billboard Hot 100 ranking with his collaboration with Justin Bieber on “DEVOTION,” the rising artist appears to be making his acting debut alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in a trailer recently dropped for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Dijon is joining a star-studded cast that includes DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, and Regina Hall. The movie is set for a theatrical release on Sept. 26.

The Paris Fashion Week calendar has just been released, and one of the most anticipated aspects is the wave of designers making their debuts at major luxury houses. Matthieu Blazy will present his first Chanel collection, Jonathan Anderson will debut at Dior Women’s, and Pierpaolo Piccioli will unveil his inaugural launch for Balenciaga, among others. The event will take place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7.

Earnings season certainly had its winners and losers on Friday — just ask Puma and Deckers. Puma saw its stock fall by more than 15% by market close after announcing that it expects an operating loss this year, as well as a double-digit decline in full-year sales. Meanwhile, Deckers, which owns brands such as Hoka and UGG, finished the day up more than 13% thanks to the company beating expectations with a 16.9% revenue increase to $965 million.

Per Sportico, the United Pickleball Association has raised $15 million in a recent round of funding, which will help the league pursue expansion, sweeten player incentives, and improve broadcast production, among other things. The Association, which Sportico writes has raised roughly $100 million total, is the parent company of both Major League Pickleball and the PPA Tour.

Image: Courtesy of Peacock