Global News

[ad_1] Christian Petersen | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images Tensions are building among broadcast station owners and pay TV providers as the local rights to air NBA, NHL and MLB games go up for grabs. Broadcast station owners including E.W. Scripps Co., Gray Television, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair have been in discussions with leagues and teams about potential deals to carry games on free over-the-air channels, according to people familiar with the matter, as long-held media rights for teams on regional sports networks unravel. Regional sports networks have owned almost all local sports rights for decades, but their viability is in doubt after tens of millions of Americans have been canceling cable TV in recent years. A shift to a model revolving around broadcast stations and direct-to-consumer streaming would upend the business that saw teams and leagues reap hefty fees. It would also boost broadcast station owners leverage in carriage negotiations — and potentially ac...

[ad_1] Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat dribbles against Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter in Game Five of the 2023 NBA Finals at Ball Arena on June 12, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. Justin Edmonds | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images The National Basketball Association's upcoming decision on which companies will acquire the TV and streaming rights for its live games could transform the entire media industry. Based on preliminary discussions between media executives and league officials, Comcast 's NBCUniversal, Google 's YouTube TV, Amazon , Apple and even Netflix may challenge or join the incumbents as rights holders, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Spokespeople at NBCUniversal, YouTube, Amazon, Apple and Netflix declined to comment. Every media rights renewal for the NBA is an important event because it only happens about once a decade. The last rights deal was...

[ad_1] The Paramount logo is displayed at Columbia Square along Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California, on March 9, 2023. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images Paramount Global's stock moved higher in extended trading Thursday after it reported strong revenue and subscription trends in its third-quarter earnings report. The after-hours move came on top of an already-strong day for the media giant. The stock closed more than 10% higher during the regular trading session Thursday. Paramount — home to brands such as CBS, Showtime, BET, Nickelodeon and its namesake movie studio — reported a 38% increase in revenue year over year. In the third quarter, streaming service Paramount+ saw 2.7 million net additions to its 63 million total subscriber count. The company also narrowed losses in its streaming segment to $238 million from $343 million a year ago. Here's how Paramount performed in the third quarter compared to Wall Street estimates: Earnings per share: 30 cents vs. 10 cen...

[ad_1] Podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan. Vivian Zink | SYFY | NBCUniversal Spotify has signed a new blockbuster deal with polarizing podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan, but this time, his show won't be exclusive to Spotify, the company announced Friday in a news release. The multiyear deal with Rogan, the founder of "The Joe Rogan Experience," is said to be worth about $250 million, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the deal. The show was the No. 1 podcast in the U.S. for the third quarter of last year, according to Edison Research . Spotify also said it's expanding the partnership to allow the show to be available on other platforms. Shares of the audio streaming giant rose roughly 1.5% Friday. Spotify first brought "The Joe Rogan Experience" to its platform exclusively in 2020 in a deal that was reportedly worth more than $100 million. The talk-show style podcast is known — and often criticized for — its edgy approach and g...

[ad_1] NYT Columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and C.E.O. of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger speak during the New York Times annual DealBook summit on November 29, 2023 in New York City.  Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the third annual anonymous media and entertainment executive predictions list! In honor of the 12 days of Christmas, I asked 12 past and current executives at the world's biggest media and entertainment companies for one industry-shaking prediction for 2024. And then I asked one more because this is the holiday season, and I was feeling generous. A baker's dozen! Actually, I asked a few more, but some overlapped. Quite a few of last year's predictions were accurate . Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger did extend his contract . Christine McCarthy stepped down as Disney's chief financial officer. Paramount Global hasn't sold, but controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is now in talks to sell Natio...

[ad_1] WWE SmackDown World Tour Joern Pollex | Bongarts | Getty Images World Wrestling Entertainment and Endeavor-owned UFC are set to merge this year in a deal that will create a sports entertainment behemoth valued at more than $21 billion. After the deal was announced in early April, WWE shares soared to their highest point in nearly four years. The stock is up more than 50% so far this year. For wrestling fans, though, the story's not about those numbers. Rather, the merger's success hinges on what's actually happening in the ring — and whether it's worth their time and money.  In a landscape where consumers have broad economic and political sway , the merger will serve as a test of just how potent fans' collective power can be in the face of corporate behemoths. And wrestling fans aren't afraid to share their opinions. Some are worried that a return to a pay-per-view model for WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania, is on the horizon. Last month, i...

[ad_1] Members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild walk the picket line outside of Disney Studios in Burbank, California, on July 18, 2023.  Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images Disney posted mixed results for its fiscal third quarter despite ongoing streaming woes and massive restructuring costs resulting from pulling content from its platforms. Subscriber losses continued over the last three months, with the company reporting 146.1 million Disney+ subscribers during the most recent quarter, a 7.4% decline from the previous quarter and a larger loss than Wall Street expected. The majority of subscriber losses came from Disney+ Hotstar, where the company saw a 24% drop in users after it lost out on the rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches. Facing dwindling users and falling revenue in its media and entertainment distribution segment, Disney announced Wednesday it would raise the price on its ad-free streaming tier in October and that it would crack...

[ad_1] GameStop on Tuesday posted a quarterly profit for the first time in two years, finishing out its fiscal year on a high note in the holiday quarter after grappling with sales declines, inventory woes and cash flow pressure. Shares of the company soared more than 45% during after-hours trading. For the quarter ended Jan. 28 , net sales dropped slightly to $2.23 billion from $2.25 billion in last year's fourth quarter. The video game retailer also posted a profit of $48.2 million, or 16 cents a share, compared to a loss of $147.5 million, or 49 cents, a year ago. GameStop did not provide financial guidance and has not done so since the early days of the pandemic. Its results can't be compared with Wall Street estimates because too few analysts cover the company. The retailer had been working to steer itself back to profitability, and got there in part by cutting costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses came in at $453.4 million for the quarter, or 20.4% o...

[ad_1] Kevin Mazur | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Warner Bros. Discovery reported second-quarter results Thursday that fell below Wall Street expectations across the board and revealed subscriber totals that were down from the previous quarter. Global direct-to-consumer streaming subscribers at the end of the period were 95.8 million, below the 96.7 million subscribers analysts were expecting according to StreetAccount, and a decrease of nearly 2 million from the end of the first quarter. related investing news The company launched its combined Max streaming service during the second quarter, merging HBO content with unscripted hits from the Discovery networks into one platform. Customers dropping their Discovery+ subscriptions for Max were likely to blame for the decline in subscribers. Data provider Antenna estimated that Discovery+ cancellations were up about 68% compared with June 2022 due to the switchover to Max. Still, the company said it had repaid $1.6 bil...