Here’s a look at what media of interest is coming out in July 2026.
Movies
A full list is available here.
- Minions & Monsters, July 1
- Moana (2026), July 10
Tubi
A full list is available here.
- Krypto the Superdog, July 1
Sports
- World Cup championship final game, July 19, 3 PM ET/12 PM PT
- WNBA All-Star Game, July 25, 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT (ABC)
Fourth of July stuff
- A Capitol Fourth 250th Weekend Celebration, PBS, July 3
- Disney Celebrates America, July 3-4 (ABC News Live)
- Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular 2026 (NBC simulcast), July 4, 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
My thoughts
A thin list of stuff this month, as we’re in the middle of summer. Sports-wise, we do have the world’s biggest championship, however: the World Cup.
America turns 250 years old this July 4, and thus there’s been some attempt to hype the day in a way similar to the 1976 bicentennial. However, see my previous post on why the 250th hype doesn’t come remotely close to that for the bicentennial. (TLDR: Trump; the World Cup; 2026 has less of a monoculture vs. 1976; and modern media conglomerates have different priorities.) That said, there’ll still be some 250th related stuff on TV, along with the usual local fireworks shows airing on your local TV stations.
Comcast to spin off NBCUniversal into a standalone company
On Monday, Comcast announced it’s spinning off the NBCUniversal arm into its own company, similar to how it spun off most of its cable channels. The main reason: Comcast seems to feel they’re better off just being a broadband company, without also worrying about, say, Universal Studios theme parks or underperforming “Jurassic World” films. It’d also make investing in both companies easier for investors.
This would pretty much undo the Comcast/NBCUniversal merger from 2011. Nothing should change in terms of properties from this; we’ll still get plenty of Minions, Michael Myers, and “Love Island.”
Seeing a company intentionally shrink itself is a welcome sign in this day and age (as opposed to Paramount). I do wonder if Peacock will continue to be offered as a free benefit for longtime Comcast broadband customers, which is how I get the service.
There’s also the question if someone will buy NBCUniversal, or if it’ll be allowed to stay its own business. While I strongly favor the latter, there’s already talk about who’d buy the home of Shrek. Netflix is the main name I’ve seen cited; however, I feel Netflix would only want the Universal side (for the studio and IP), not the NBC side, as they don’t have an interest in linear TV (or owning Peacock). It’s unclear if NBCUniversal would be willing to further split along such lines (and undo its 2004 merger).
Image: “Fourth of July Fireworks” by spurekar is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr/cropped from original)
I’m gonna let my kids know that “Krypto the Superdog” is on Tubi!