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☆ NBC Sports could buy back rights to iconic theme song 'Roundball Rock' if it airs NBA games again, composer John Tesh says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. He's said he's not interested in being in the "rental business," as is the nature of licensing sports rights, though he has also expressed optimism about retaining NBA rights. Spokespeople for Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC and the NBA declined to comment.

Persons: John Tesh's, NBCUniversal, Comcast's NBCUniversal, David Zaslav, He's, he's Organizations: National Basketball Association, NBC, NBA, CNBC, Street Journal, Disney, Warner Bros, Warner Bros . Discovery, Comcast, Discovery

☆ Peacock streaming subscription prices to increase by $2 ahead of the Summer Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Subscription prices for Peacock, Comcast 's answer to the streaming wars, will increase by $2 this summer. The Summer Olympics begin in late July. Effective last August, ad-supported Peacock's price rose $1 to $5.99, and ad-free went up $2 to $11.99 per month. The streaming service launched in 2020 in time for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo — which was pushed to 2021 due to the pandemic. This was due in part to increased advertising revenue, which has lagged for traditional TV networks recently.

Persons: Peacock, Comcast's, Oppenheimer Organizations: Peacock, Comcast, Media, NFL, Premier League, Summer, Universal Pictures, NBC, CNBC Locations: Paris, Tokyo, NBCUniversal

☆ Sen. Katie Britt denies misleading and widely criticized sex trafficking anecdote in Biden's State of the Union rebuttal
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Since delivering the GOP rebuttal to Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday, Britt has faced severe criticism. Britt argued that in her rebuttal she made clear that the woman had experienced sex trafficking years earlier during her childhood, not under the Biden administration. In her rebuttal, Britt references "a woman" who "had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12." During the speech, she did not clarify that the crime happened decades ago and that the woman was no longer being sex trafficked. The victim, Karla Jacinto Romero, experienced sex trafficking from 2004 to 2008 in Mexico.

Persons: Sen, Katie Britt, U.S . Alabama Republican Sen, Joe Biden's, Britt, Jonathan Katz, Biden, Karla Jacinto Romero, Katz, Jacinto, Andrew Bates, Sean Ross, Ross, Jacinto Romero's, Scarlett Johansson Organizations: U.S . Alabama Republican, Sunday, Fox, White House, Border Patrol Union, CNBC, NBC Locations: Biden's State, Mexico, U.S

☆ New sports streaming bundle could be a 'monster' — or a dud. Here are the biggest remaining questions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The service will launch this fall and cater to sports fans who don't subscribe to the traditional cable bundle. One person associated with the launch of the new venture told CNBC the platform will be "a monster" and massively disrupt cable TV. Cable TV has been relegated to an add-on that helps keep people subscribing to high-speed internet. The cable bundle has largely survived because it still contains exclusive live news and sports. Previously, the only way for cord cutters to get ESPN outside the cable bundle would have been that coming service.

Persons: LeBron James, Jevone Moore, it's, Lachlan Murdoch, NBC's Peacock, Bob Iger, Rich Greenfield, Max, David Zaslav's, There's, David Zaslav, Lightshed's Rich Greenfield Organizations: Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Los Angeles Clippers, Crypto.com Arena, Warner Bros . Discovery, Fox, Disney's ESPN, Comcast, DirecTV, CNBC, YouTube, Charter, Cable, Verizon, Mobile, Satellite, Google, Hulu, Live, Disney, Warner Bros, NBC, CBS, National Football League, Paramount, ESPN, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Wall Street, Financial Times, TNT, TBS, HGTV, Discovery, Paramount Global Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Here's what Wall Street wants to see from Hollywood this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

But Wall Street is worried that hero may never come for Hollywood. Yet, Wall Street still isn't satisfied. Warner Bros. Wall Street wants a solution, or, at the very least, a company to set the stage for a potential solution. watch nowConsider M&A difficultiesMergers and acquisitions present another path to a bigger bundle, but Wall Street isn't sure there will be a big deal in 2024.

Persons: Doug Creutz, Creutz, Michael Nathanson, MoffettNathanson, Rafael Henrique, Lightrocket, Nathanson, Shari Redstone, David Zaslav, Bob Bakish, Barbie Organizations: Getty, Hollywood, Disney, Warner Bros, Discovery, Comcast, Paramount Global, Netflix, Companies, Warner Bros . Discovery, Paramount, Cowen, Century Fox, Amusements, Comcast's, Universal

☆ Disney+ adding Hulu integration as streaming bundles accelerate
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-06 | by ( Drew Richardson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

The Disney+ website on a laptop computer in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Monday, July 18, 2022. Disney is beginning to roll out a Hulu integration on its Disney+ streaming platform in a bid to bundle subscribers. The company offers a bundle of Disney+ and Hulu, but Wednesday's release is part of a push to integrate the two platforms. Disney last month agreed to buy the remaining one-third stake in Hulu that was owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal. The Hulu integration is available to people who subscribe to the bundle, albeit in a limited form for now, according to a post on Disney's website.

Persons: Comcast's NBCUniversal Organizations: Disney Locations: Brooklyn, New York, Hulu

☆ Disney will soon own all of Hulu. Here's how the company got here and what's next.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Disney has offered to pay Comcast $8.6 billion to take full control of Hulu. Disney is already in the process of rolling out a unified app that'll make Hulu's general entertainment content available in Disney+ . "With Hulu firmly in the Disney fold, they can create their own mini-bundle with kids and family (Disney +), general entertainment (Hulu), and sports (ESPN). The valuation also has to take into account that Hulu contains an entire Disney basic cable network, FX on Hulu. Netflix is set to spend $17 billion on entertainment content in 2024, while Disney is poised to spend $15 billion.

Persons: Bob Iger's, —, Bob Iger, Hulu —, what's, Comcast's NBCUniversal, pare, he's, Jonathan Miller, Brian Roberts, there's, Bernstein, Laurent Yoon, Read, Jordan Helman, Max, Puck, Disney, Bernstein's Yoon Organizations: Disney, Comcast, Hulu, Service, YouTube, News, Century Fox, Marvel, Netflix, Integrated Media, ESPN, ABC, LightShed Partners, Warner Bros, Wall, Paramount Global, Paramount, Showtime, HBO Max, Macquarie Equity Research, Media, Disney Disney, Hollywood Locations: Disney, Hulu, Canada, India, Hollywood

☆ Here’s what's worrying analysts going into Disney’s earnings report
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Analysts are eyeing updates on Disney's direct-to-consumer business and ESPN ahead of fiscal fourth-quarter results Wednesday, as the company pivots further into streaming. The analyst has a buy rating on Disney stock with a $125 per share price target, down from $128. Here's what other analysts on Wall Street are saying ahead of Disney's results. MoffettNathanson - buy rating MoffettNathanson has a buy rating on Disney stock and a $115 per share price target. Wells Fargo - overweight rating Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall rates the stock overweight with a $110 per share price target.

Persons: Disney, Goldman Sachs, Brett Feldman, Jason Bazinet, Morgan Stanley, Ben Swinburne, Michael Nathanson, Nathanson, Wells, Steven Cahall, Cahall, Michael Bloom Organizations: ESPN, Disney, DIS, Hulu, Comcast, Citi, Press, Sports, CNBC

☆ Media stocks pop as Roku rally lifts the sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Drew Richardson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Media stocks popped Thursday as Roku's 30% rally lifted the entire sector. Wall Street celebrated the streaming device company's third-quarter report Wednesday, in which Roku reported strong trends in content distribution and advertising as well as uptake of its Roku-branded TVs. Strong usership for Roku means more points of access for subscribers to Paramount+, Max, Netflix, Peacock and other streaming services. Netflix reported a surprise jump in subscribers in its third-quarter earnings report last month, driven largely by its ad-supported subscription tier. The company said Wednesday that its ad-supported tier has amassed 15 million subscribers, tripling its previously announced total of five million in May.

Persons: Roku, StreetAccount, Peacock Organizations: Media, Wall Street, Paramount, Warner Bros, Discovery, Disney, Hulu, Netflix, Comcast, Warner Bros . Discovery, CNBC, CNBC PRO Locations: Hastings, Hudson , New York

☆ Disney to buy remaining Hulu stake from Comcast in widely expected move
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Mike Calia | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Disney said Wednesday that it had agreed to buy Comcast 's one-third stake in streaming service Hulu, a long-expected outcome. Disney said it expects to pay Comcast's NBCUniversal about $8.61 billion by Dec. 1, reflecting the guaranteed minimum value of $27.5 billion for the streaming service the two sides agreed upon in 2019. Disney could pay more based on Hulu's equity value as of Sept. 30. Originally, Disney and Comcast had set a deadline to resolve Hulu's ownership by January. Disney already sells Hulu as part of a streaming bundle with its Disney+ and ESPN+ products.

Persons: Disney Organizations: Comcast, Hulu, Disney, ESPN, CNBC Locations: Hulu

☆ The NBA is shooting for a new media rights deal worth up to $60 billion, nearly triple its previous pact, that will pay teams and players millions more
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( James Faris | Margaret Fleming | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Media analysts widely expect the league to select at least three distributors for its next media rights deal after the current setup expires in 2025. Comcast's NBCUniversal could be a frontrunner for a spot in the NBA's new media deal alongside Amazon, Nispel said. NBA players could be poised to earn sky-high paydaysThe NBA's last media deal — the $24 billion contract it struck in 2014 — was nearly triple the value of its previous pact. The pressure is now on the NBA to deliver a media deal that satisfies teams, athletes, and fans. Still, Macquarie media analyst Tim Nollen is optimistic about the size of the NBA's next media rights deal.

Persons: Jessica Reif Ehrlich, disruptors, Brandon Nispel, Nispel, —, Shirin Malkani, who's, Perkins, Leron Rogers, that's, Mark Patricof, Tim Nollen, Nollen, Reif Ehrlich, Ehrlich Organizations: NBA, Media, ESPN, Warner Bros, TNT, Disney, Apple, NBC, Comcast, Wall Street, Bank of America, NFL, MLB, NHL, KeyBanc Capital, Amazon, Flagship, ABC, Prime, Industry, Patricof, Macquarie, Diamond Sports

☆ Paramount's Shari Redstone is open for business, but business may not be open for her
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Paramount Global 's controlling shareholder is open to a merger or selling the company at the right price, according to people familiar with her thinking. Spokespeople for Redstone and Paramount Global declined to comment. Paramount Global's market value was below $8 billion as of Friday. Discovery could merge with Paramount Global, though putting together Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures may hold up deal approval with U.S. regulators. Paramount Global isn't actively working with an investment bank on a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

Persons: Shari Redstone, David A, CNBC Shari, Jon Miller, SpongeBob, Guggenheim, Michael Morris, Morris, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, Bob Bakish, Bakish, Wells, Steven Cahall, Cahall, CNBC's David Faber, Lina Khan, Laura Martin, haven't, Simon, Simon & Schuster, Sumner Redstone, NAI, Jim Cramer Organizations: National Amusements, Paramount Global, Allen & Company Sun Valley, Grogan, CNBC, Paramount, Redstone, Integrated Media, Advancit, Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Showtime, NFL, Champions League, Viacom, Berkshire, Paramount Global's, Tech, Apple, YouTube, National Football, Federal Trade, Big Tech, Comcast, NBC, Fox, Disney, Needham & Co, Netflix, Bain, Co, Warner Bros, Sky, Scripps, Discovery, Simon &, MSD Partners Locations: Sun Valley , Idaho, Los Angeles , California, U.S

☆ Comcast, Disney move up deadline to decide Hulu future ownership
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The timeline to decide Hulu's ownership fate has been moved up, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Wednesday. Comcast and Disney are set to begin those discussions on September 30, months earlier than the initial January 2024 deadline. Under the original 2019 agreement, Comcast can force Disney to buy (or Disney can require Comcast to sell) that remaining 33% stake in January 2024, at a guaranteed minimum total equity value of $27.5 billion. In May, Roberts said at an investor conference that Comcast would likely sell its 33% stake in Hulu to Disney at the beginning of next year. For Disney, the move to add Hulu content to Disney+ came as it focuses on its ad-supported Disney+ option to attract more subscribers and advertising revenue.

Persons: Brian Roberts, Roberts, Goldman Sachs, we've, Disney didn't, Bob Iger, Comcast's NBCUniversal, Iger Organizations: Comcast, Disney, Technology, Hulu, Netflix, ESPN, CNBC Locations: Hulu, U.S

☆ NFL games are shifting away from traditional TV. Are you ready to stream some football?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

On any given Sunday, there will be more National Football League games available on streaming services than ever before — some even exclusively. The NFL season kicks off Thursday with the Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions. Google's YouTube TV and the NFL's streaming service will also become bigger players in the streaming game. When media giants signed NFL media rights deals in 2021, valued at more than $100 billion, more of those deals included the rights to streaming games. Plus, in this past year, the NFL sold the media rights to its "Sunday Ticket" to Google 's YouTube TV for about $2 billion annually, shifting access to the package of out-of-market games to a streaming-only audience.

Persons: Aaron Rodgers, Comcast's, Peacock, Roger Goodell Organizations: New York Jets, New York Giants, MetLife, National Football League, NFL, Super Bowl, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Paramount Global, Disney, ESPN, Disney's ESPN, YouTube, Charter Communications, Google Locations: East Rutherford , New Jersey

☆ How the Disney-Charter feud over cable fees could burst the sports-rights bubble
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Distributors are making it harder for legacy media companies like Disney to bid for valuable sports content. "Historically, I felt media companies had the advantage with the content," Naveen Sarma, senior director of US Media & Telecom at S&P Global Ratings, told Insider. "The cable companies inevitably gave in. For the past couple years, we've wondered why the cable companies weren't taking the stand." "Some of the tech and streaming companies have the ability to be global and create custom packages for leagues.

Persons: —, NBCUniversal, Fox, that's, Naveen Sarma, we've, Disney, WBD, Max, David Zaslav, LightShed, Marty Conway, Conway Organizations: Big Tech, Distributors, Disney, Apple, Charter Communications, Sports, P Global Market Intelligence, Paramount, Warner Bros, ESPN, Media, US Media, Telecom, Hulu, NBA, Fox, 4Q, UBS, LightShed Partners, YouTube, Georgetown University, Major League Baseball, NFL, MLS, Tech, aren't

☆ Hollywood studios should cut Netflix out of strike negotiations, Barry Diller says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Barry Diller is calling on the legacy Hollywood studios to end the dual writers and actors strikes, otherwise it'll be "catastrophic" to the industry. The media mogul, speaking on the podcast "On with Kara Swisher," said the strikes would only strengthen streaming giant Netflix during a tumultuous time for legacy media. He also advised studios to cut Netflix and other streamers out of the negoations with the unions. He said the legacy studios, actors and writers should be "natural allies" given their century of working together. Diller said legacy media should take some of its "shows and creativity and build our networks back up.

Persons: Barry Diller, Kara Swisher, Diller, Netflix didn't, Bob Iger, Donna Langley, Ted Sarandos, David Zaslav, Comcast's NBCUniversal, Swisher Organizations: Hollywood, Netflix, IAC, Expedia, Fox, Paramount, ABC Entertainment, Apple, CBS, Guild of America, Alliance, Television Producers, WGA, SAG, Disney, Warner Bros, Discovery, Paramount Global, Comcast, CNBC

☆ Comcast beats expectations as higher prices offset slowing broadband growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Comcast beat analyst estimates on Thursday when it reported its second-quarter results, as higher pricing helped offset a continued slowdown in its broadband business. The company now groups its Xfinity-branded broadband, cable TV and wireless services with its U.K.-based Sky. Higher average rates helped to offset second-quarter subscriber losses, leading to broadband revenue growth of 4.4%. Comcast and its peers have experienced slowing growth in the broadband segment following quarters of robust gains during the early days of the Covid pandemic. The drop in domestic advertising was largely due to lower revenue at NBCUniversal's TV networks, which was partially offset by the leap in Peacock revenue.

Persons: Peacock, Cord, Bob Iger, NBCUniversal, Mario Organizations: Comcast, Refinitiv, Disney, USA Network, Bravo, Premier League soccer, Peacock, Sky Sports, Revenue, Mario Bros, Super Nintendo, CNBC Locations: Beijing, Japan, Orlando, Florida

☆ Elizabeth Warren urges SEC to investigate Tesla over Twitter ties, corporate governance
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Tesla and its board of directors over possible "conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other negative impacts to Tesla shareholders" related to CEO Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. The take-private deal included $13 billion in debt, and Musk reportedly sold billions of dollars worth of his Tesla shares to finance the transaction. In recent weeks, Musk appointed Linda Yaccarino, who previously ran global advertising for Comcast's NBCUniversal, to the role of Twitter CEO. Her hiring stirred hope that Twitter's beleaguered advertising business would soon recover and that Musk would return to focus on Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday of this week.

Persons: Elon Musk, Finances Bruno Le Maire, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Tesla, Elon, Gary Gensler, Warren, Robyn Denholm, Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Comcast's, Yaccarino Organizations: French, Finances, Chateau, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Twitter, SEC, CNBC, Public Affairs, Tesla, SpaceX Locations: Versailles, Paris

☆ The media industry is in turmoil, and that's not changing anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

All of this turmoil will be on investors' minds as the media industry kicks off its earnings season this week, with Netflix up first on Wednesday. Netflix, with a new advertising model and push to stop password sharing, looks the best positioned compared with legacy media giants. At the top of the list is contending with Disney's TV networks, as that part of the business appears to be in a worse state than Iger had imagined. The labor fight blew up just as the industry has moved away from streaming growth at all costs. Last week's ruling from a federal judge that Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of game publisher Activision Blizzard should move forward serves as a rare piece of good news for the media industry.

Persons: Mike Blake, Bob Iger, Iger, Bob Iger's, Michael Nathanson, SVB, CNBC's David Faber, Nathanson, Producers –, Mark Boidman, Ross Benes, Benes, Comcast's NBCUniversal, Solomon, Boidman, Random, Paramount's Simon, Schuster, Tegna, Jason Anderson, Peter Liguori, Anderson, HBO Max, Homer, Marge Getty Organizations: Guild of America, Netflix, Alliance, Producers, Reuters, Disney, Disney's, Paramount Global, Comcast, Warner Bros, American Federation of Television, Radio Artists, Media, Solomon Partners, CNBC, Hollywood, Intelligence, ABC, Paramount, BET, NBC Sports, USA, Discovery, Activision, Federal Trade Commission, dealmaking, Microsoft, Tribune Media, Max, HBO, Amazon, MGM, Sky, Fox Corp, FOX Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S, MoffettNathanson, Hulu

July 15 (Reuters) - Twitter's cash flow remains negative because of a nearly 50% drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load, Elon Musk said on Saturday, falling short of his expectation in March that Twitter could reach cash flow positive by June. "Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else," Musk said in a tweet replying to suggestions on recapitalization. It is unclear what time frame Musk was referring to by the 50% drop in ad revenue. He has said Twitter was on track to post $3 billion in revenue in 2023, down from $5.1 billion in 2021. On Thursday, Twitter said that select content creators will be eligible to get a part of the ad revenue the company earns in an attempt to draw more content creators to the site.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal, Yaccarino, Jahnavi, Grant McCool Organizations: Twitter, Musk, BBC, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

"Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else," Musk wrote in response to a tweet. Musk took over Twitter in October of last year in a deal valued at around $44 billion, including about $13 billion in debt. He also claimed at that time that the company was "roughly breakeven," and expected to become cash flow positive within the next quarter. A number of widely followed accounts on Twitter posted that they were dismayed they did not qualify to earn income from the program yet. It's not clear how much Twitter paid creators in total in this first round of payments.

Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, Alain JOCARD, ALAIN JOCARD, Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Comcast's NBCUniversal, NBCUniversal, Twitter, Andrew Tate —, Tate, influencers, Omar Qazi, Sawyer Merritt, Brian, Ed Krassenstein Organizations: SpaceX, Twitter, Porte de, Getty, BBC, CNBC, Internet Hall of Fame, of, X Corp Locations: Paris, AFP, Romania

☆ Twitter's head of brand safety and ad quality to leave
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 2 (Reuters) - Twitter's head of brand safety and ad quality, A.J. Brown, has decided to leave the company, according to a source familiar with the matter on Friday, the second safety leader to depart in a matter of days. The latest departure adds to a growing challenge for new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, even before she steps into the role. Musk's hiring of Yaccarino, former ad chief at Comcast's NBCUniversal, signaled that ad sales remained a priority for Twitter even as it works to grow subscription revenue. Twitter and Brown did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Persons: Brown, Linda Yaccarino, Ella Irwin, Elon Musk, Comcast's NBCUniversal, Tiyashi Datta, Sheila Dang, Maju Samuel, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Reuters, Wall Street, Tesla, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Dallas

☆ Desperate for streaming profits, media giants look to a soft ad market for help
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

(AP Photo/Universal Pictures) Photo Credit: Universal Pictures/Tippett StudioAfter spending years amassing streaming subscribers at great cost, media companies now need to make some profits. Look no further for proof of that than the most recent annual Upfronts, the events where media companies like Fox Corp ., Warner Bros. During Disney's earnings call earlier this month, CEO Bob Iger put new emphasis on ad-supported streaming. 'We need ads'There's been an uptick of consumers signing up for ad-supported streaming subscriptions. But media companies are struggling with the question of whether ad-tier subscriptions make up for other losses.

DreamWorks Animation has laid off 33 staffers, or around 2%, in recent days. DreamWorks' parent company, NBCUniversal, has been laying off staff across divisions in recent months. The cuts were confirmed by a spokesperson from DreamWorks Animation, whose parent company, Comcast's NBCUniversal, has eliminated roles across the organization over the past six months. DreamWorks Animation said in a statement that the layoffs were part of an overall cost reduction and that a majority of those affected were in support functions. This person said staffers laid off in this round learned the news several weeks ago, giving those affected some time to prepare.

☆ The digital media rollup dream is dead for the moment — now it's all about core brand strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

What's happening in the digital media space echoes trends from the biggest media companies, including Netflix , Disney and Warner Bros. The rollup dream's rise and fallFrom late 2018 to early 2022, the digital media industry had a shared goal. First, digital media companies needed more scale to compete with Facebook and Google for digital advertising dollars. Large legacy media companies such as Disney and Comcast 's NBCUniversal invested hundreds of millions in digital media in the early and mid-2010s. "The digital media rollup has proven successful only when assets are thoughtfully combined with an eye toward consumers," Goldberg said.

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