Latest Business News
ITV CEO on Trialing AI, the Impact of Dual Strikes and How ITVX Has “Accelerated” Her Streaming Ambitions
Carolyn McCall, CEO of ITV, has led the U.K. TV giant since 2018, driving its transformation for the digital age. Freemium streaming service ITVX launched in late 2022 with such originals as Cold War drama A Spy Among Friends, starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce. It has brought the company “over 2 billion streams and […]
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Netflix Earnings Preview: Analysts Cut Stock Price Targets As Wall Street Resets Expectations
Netflix is expected to post strong subscriber gains when it reports its latest quarterly results on Oct. 18, but you couldn’t tell that from the stock’s performance since the global streamer’s July earnings update, when it added 5.9 million subscribers to total 238.4 million global paid memberships. That is because shares in the streaming giant, […]
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Tracy Owen, Industrial Relations Executive at Paramount, Dies at 43
Tracy Owen, senior vp industrial relations for Paramount Pictures and Paramount Television Studios, died Oct. 1 in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke. She was 43. “Since first joining our team over 10 years ago, Tracy has been a bright light who touched the lives of all who had the privilege of working beside her,” […]
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Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer’s Pay Rises to $21.5M
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer saw his total compensation jump to $21.5 million for fiscal 2023, according to the company’s latest proxy filing disclosed Friday. That’s up from fiscal 2022 when Feltheimer received $5.6 million in total pay, and the $19.1 million he earned as part of his overall compensation package for fiscal 2021. Feltheimer’s 2023 […]
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David Ellison’s Skydance Media Donates $1M to Support Humanitarian Relief Amid Israel Crisis
Skydance Media, led by David Ellison, has committed $1 million to humanitarian relief efforts in Israel and the region after Hamas terror attacks that hit the country over the weekend. The funds will go to American Friends of Magen David Adom through an employee match program subsidized in part by CEO Ellison. “Skydance stands with Israel, strongly condemns […]
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Hollywood Unions Call on AMPTP to Resume SAG-AFTRA Talks “Immediately”
Major Hollywood unions are calling on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to resume negotiations with SAG-AFTRA “immediately,” citing the suffering of industry professionals who are out of work. “Each day a fair contract addressing actors’ unique priorities is delayed is another day working professionals across our industry suffer unnecessarily,” said the Writers […]
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Comcast Donating $2M to Support Humanitarian Relief Amid Israel Crisis
Comcast is donating $2 million to humanitarian relief efforts in Israel and the region after Hamas terror attacks that hit the country over the weekend. The NBCUniversal parent is the latest Hollywood media giant to support humanitarian efforts after Paramount and Disney announced their own donations this week. “We are horrified and deeply saddened by the brutal […]
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SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Says AMPTP Suspending Talks “Came as a Shock to Me”
The AMPTP’s decision to suspend bargaining talks with SAG-AFTRA “really came as a shock” to the union’s president, Fran Drescher. “What does that exactly mean, and why would you walk away from the table? It’s not like we’re asking for anything that’s so outrageous,” Drescher said in an interview with NBC’s Chloe Melas that aired on […]
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Microsoft Closes $69B Acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Creating Video Game Powerhouse
Software and technology giant Microsoft has reached the end of a long and rocky road, closing its $68.7 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard, led by CEO Bobby Kotick, on Friday, 21 months after it had unveiled the mega-deal. Activision unveiled the close of the transaction in a regulatory filing early on Friday. […]
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Warner Bros. Discovery President of Content Sales David Decker Takes on Expanded Global Role
Warner Bros. Discovery international president Gerhard Zeiler has unveiled an expanded global remit for David Decker, the conglomerate’s president of content sales as the company continues to streamline and fine-tune its organization. “David will, besides his domestic remit, oversee global opportunities for content licensing to major platform clients, like Netflix, Amazon, Roku and Paramount who operate worldwide,” […]
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U.K. Regulator Finally Clears Microsoft to Complete $69B Activision Blizzard Deal
Microsoft’s planned, but protracted $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard can be completed after the U.K. competition regulator finally approved the deal on Friday. The software giant made the bid for the video game developer behind Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Overwatch in January 2022, but the U.K.’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the […]
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‘Shucked’ Set to Vacate the Nederlander Theatre, but Looks to Move to Different Broadway House
Shucked, a best musical nominee at last season’s Tony Awards, will end its run at the Nederlander Theatre on Jan. 13. However, the show’s producing team, led by Mike Bosner, is looking to move to another Broadway theater, if one becomes available after that date. That may be a tough proposition, given the many spring […]
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Outfest Postpones Legacy Awards Amid Ongoing Financial Issues
Outfest — the long-running Los Angeles LGTBQ focused film festival — continues to face setbacks, announcing Thursday that it will be scaling back operations, issuing leaves for its staff and postponing the Legacy Awards, its gala fundraiser. According to a statement from the Board of Directors provided to The Hollywood Reporter, the changes come due […]
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With Eye On Live Events Growth, Endeavor Unveils Latino-Focused Consumer Report (Exclusive)
Endeavor is looking to take the Latino market seriously. Its in-house data insights firm, Endeavor Analytics, presented a report on recent U.S. Hispanic and Latino entertainment consumer trends during a Hispanic Heritage Month-themed Endeavor Impact session on Thursday. Titled “Movers of Culture,” the report makes the case for why brands and marketers should be mindful […]
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Culture Shift: Why Is Hollywood Ignoring the Data When It Comes to Latino Representation? (Guest Column)
As a Latino, I have the privilege of understanding the rich tapestry of our culture, one woven with vibrant threads of heritage, resilience and passion. Latino culture is as diverse as the U.S. itself, a beautiful kaleidoscope of traditions, flavors, sounds and histories. We run the multicultural/multiracial gamut, including Indigenous, Afro Latinos, Asian Latinos, those […]
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Netflix Can’t Escape Defamation Lawsuit Over True Crime Documentary Photo
A federal judge has found that Netflix could have defamed a Kentucky man whose picture was lifted from his social media for use in a documentary that allegedly implied he was involved in a murder. In the 2023 true crime documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, a photo of Taylor Hazlewood is shown, with audio saying […]
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