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Vice Media is restarting its sale process after earlier interested bidders balked at the initial price tag, according to people familiar with the situation. The digital media company, which was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017, is now likely to fetch a price of below $1 billion, the people said. Initially, Vice was looking for a valuation between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, one of the people added. A Vice Media spokesperson declined to comment. Meanwhile, Buzzfeed , the only digital media company to IPO, has seen its stock fall roughly 90% since going public in 2021.

☆ VIDEO: Target carts that lock in place are yet another example of how anti-theft measures are leaving shoppers really frustrated
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nearly 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year, costing retailers an estimated $800 million. Videos of shoppers battling anti-theft devices on carts in a Target parking lot have gone viral on TikTok. Whether and when a particular store gets Gatekeeper for its carts is determined on an individual store basis, a Target spokesperson told Insider. The Food Marketing Institute meanwhile estimates that 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year, costing retailers an upwards of $800 million globally. Loss-prevention remains a delicate balance for retailers as Walmart's vice president of asset protection and retail operations, David Johnston, told Insider.

The 2022-23 NFL season enters the playoffs with the Wild Card round on January 14 to 16. NFL Playoffs Wild Card scheduleGame Date and time Channel Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers January 14, 4:30 p.m. ET ESPN, ABC, ESPN+How to watch the NFL PlayoffsEvery game of the NFL Playoffs will be broadcast on national television, with matchups spread across CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and ABC. ESPN games will also be available to stream on ESPN+, Sling TV Orange, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and FuboTV. The NFL Playoffs use a single elimination tournament to decide the season's champion.

The 2023 Golden Globes will be broadcast on January 10 at 8 p.m. Comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host the Golden Globes from the The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. "Severance," "The Bear," and "Wednesday" are among the new series up for Golden Globes for the first time. Here's a rundown of all your options to watch the Golden Globes live. Where to watch Golden Globes 2023You can watch the Golden Globes 2023 on NBC or through the Peacock streaming service on January 10 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

☆ Netflix's new ad tier plan appears to be working
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Lucia Moses | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Netflix's new ad-supported tier accounted for 13% of subscribers in its first month, new Evercore research found. Evercore believes the ad tier is driving incremental subscriber growth for Netflix. The firm upgraded its rating on Netflix in September based on its ad-supported tier and plan to crack down on password-sharing, which are expected to drive earnings and share price. Netflix's ad tier entered a crowded field of streaming services, including ad-supported versions, from Disney's Hulu to Comcast's Peacock to Warner Bros. Netflix's ad tier was followed close behind Disney+ with Ads launching in December, and Warner plans to launch a combined Discovery+-HBO Max app in spring with an ad-supported tier.

☆ TikTok videos show exasperated Target shoppers battling carts that lock in place — and it shows how anti-theft measures make the shopping experience worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nearly 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year, costing retailers an estimated $800 million. Videos of shoppers battling anti-theft devices on carts in a Target parking lot have gone viral on TikTok. A TikToker going by the name Taylor Ann cheerfully narrates in a video of the moment, which has amassed over 4.4 million views on TikTok. Taylor Ann acknowledges the technology has been around for years, but it can still come as a surprise when it arrives at your store. The Food Marketing Institute meanwhile estimates that 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year, costing retailers an upwards of $800 million globally.

☆ Netflix's ad tier drove 13% of subscriptions in its first month, new survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Lucia Moses | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Netflix's new ad-supported tier accounted for 13% of subscribers in its first month, new Evercore research found. Evercore believes the ad tier is driving incremental subscriber growth for Netflix. Netflix's new ad-supported tier accounted for 13% of the streamer's subscribers in its first month, with about half being new or returning users to the streamer, according to new research from Evercore ISI. Netflix's ad tier entered a crowded field of streaming services, including ad-supported versions, from Disney's Hulu to Comcast's Peacock to Warner Bros. Netflix's ad tier was followed close behind Disney+ with Ads launching in December, and Warner plans to launch a combined Discovery+-HBO Max app in spring with an ad-supported tier.

☆ No more Newsy: The streaming and broadcast network rebrands as Scripps News under Warren Buffett-backed E.W. Scripps
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Streaming and broadcast news network Newsy is being scrapped and rebranded as Scripps News. Parent company E.W. Bellini is a San Francisco-based reporter for Newsy, the 14-year-old streaming news platform owned by E.W. Scripps News is also absorbing scores of executives from a national desk that fed the company's 61 local stations. Its local stations pulled in $208 million in ad revenue thanks to the midterm elections.

☆ Rainwater Tech to list in New York via SPAC merger
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Led by Mike Nefkens, the former president of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, Rain Enhancement Technologies - to be known as Rainwater Tech - plans to commercialize a method known as ground-based ionization that makes clouds drop more rain. The merger values Rainwater Tech at $200 million, with dMY VI using the $241 million it raised through its initial public offering in October 2021 to capitalize the company. "This is not a technology which creates rain out of blue sky, but it is about maximizing the amount of rain when the conditions are right," Nefkens said. "We are seeing a rotation in investor sentiment from things which are nice to have towards things which we can't live without," said Niccolo de Masi, CEO of dMY VI. Reporting by David French in New York Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Netflix’s Ad Jingle to Take Time to Catch On
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Netflix recently launched its first ad-supported streaming plan as part of its efforts to expand its subscriber base. The idea of Netflix with ads is clearly going to take some time to adjust to. The company formally launched its first ad-supported streaming plan on Nov. 3. Only 9% of subscribers who signed up for Netflix in November picked the ad-supported option, subscription analytics firm Antenna told The Wall Street Journal. That falls below the 15% of new HBO Max subscribers who picked the ad-supported tier of that service during its first month in June of last year, per Antenna’s data.

☆ Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier Was Its Least Popular Plan, Analytics Firm Estimates
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Sarah Krouse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Netflix ‘s new ad-supported plan was the least popular tier of its service in November, the first month in which the streaming giant offered it, according to subscription analytics firm Antenna. The plan accounted for 9% of new Netflix sign-ups in the U.S. during the month. Some 57% of subscribers to the ad-supported tier in the first month were people re-joining the service or signing up for the first time, while 43% downgraded from pricier plans, according to Antenna.

☆ Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier Was Its Least Popular Plan in Launch Month, Analytics Firm Estimates
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Sarah Krouse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hulu + Live TV offers over 85 channels, plus Hulu's entire on-demand catalog, for $70 a month. Hulu + Live TV plans start at $70 a month and include over 85 channels, as well as access to Disney Plus and ESPN+. Hulu + Live TV pricing and plansWhat channels come with Hulu + Live TV? Though the service includes most popular cable stations, there is one notable exception: Hulu + Live TV does not support AMC. You can now access Hulu + Live TV through the Hulu app or website with your account.

☆ NASA fixed a glitch on Voyager 1 after consulting 45-year-old manuals. The spacecraft was beaming information through a dead computer.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In May, NASA reported its Voyager 1 spacecraft was sending strange data back to Earth. An engineer works on an instrument for one of NASA's Voyager spacecraft, on November 18, 1976. NASA/JPL-CaltechDuring the first 12 years of the Voyager mission, thousands of engineers worked on the project, Dodd said. In late August, Voyager engineers located the source of the garbled data: the spacecraft's attitude-control system was routing information through a dead computer. NASA/JPLFrom discovering unknown moons and rings to the first direct evidence of the heliopause, the Voyager mission has helped scientists understand the cosmos.

☆ 21 production companies that are acquisition targets as streamers race to get profitable and private equity bets big on Hollywood content
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Lucia Moses | Elaine Low | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The streaming wars have fueled a wave of deal-making for Hollywood production companies. Private equity is leading the charge, with firms like Apollo and Blackstone spending big on content. Insider identified 21 top production companies that could attract buyers or investors in 2023. Media companies need fresh content to win and keep subscribers who have more options than ever to choose from. Insider spoke with five industry dealmakers, consultants, and other experts who named 20 companies that could be hot acquisition targets as the drive for content continues.

☆ A communications satellite the size of an apartment is so bright it can outshine stars, and astronomers are worried it could interfere with their research
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AST SpaceMobile deployed a 693-square-foot communications satellite into orbit called BlueWalker 3. Astronomers say it's as bright as some of the brightest stars, and warn it could impact their work. AST SpaceMobile bills it as the "largest-ever commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit." Astronomers are also concerned about how satellite constellations contribute to the loss to "humanity's ability to experience the natural night sky," according to the IAU statement. When we look up at night sky, many of the bright lights might not be stars — but satellites.

☆ Silicon Valley startup beaming electricity wirelessly raises $30 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec 2 (Reuters) - Reach Power Inc, a Silicon Valley startup that beams electricity wirelessly, said on Friday it had raised $30 million in a funding round that will help it commercialize its products. In a demonstration for Reuters, Davlantes connected a radio with no batteries to an antenna-based wireless power receiver that turned on the radio as far as 25 feet (7.6 meters) from the power transmitter. Asked about the safety of shooting stronger beams of electricity, Dalvantes said the systems can detect objects and switch off or route around them. "We always guarantee when you're around one of our systems, you're getting exposure that meets the same limits as all of the cellphones," he said. Reach has signed a contract with the U.S. Defense Department for prototypes that can combine multiple energy-beaming modules for stronger power transmission or longer ranges, he said.

In September, she and her boyfriend, Jay, moved into their teal 30-foot school bus and started living and working from the road. Now, she works from her converted school bus and makes up to $15,000 per month. CNBC Make It"The goal was to make a couple of hundred dollars every month for gas money," Everdeen, 31, tells CNBC Make It. But that freedom has a lofty price tag: Everdeen and Jay bought their school bus from a government auction for $7,324 in January 2020. They decided to buy the school bus, and started deconstructing its seats and windows to convert it into their 30-foot home.

☆ Cellnex says inflation has shut down European phone masts market, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A telecom antenna of Spain's telecoms infrastructures firm Cellnex are seen under main telecom tower, known as "Piruli", in Madrid, Spain, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File PhotoMADRID, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The European mobile towers market is "pretty much closed" as rising inflation makes it harder for companies to finance new deals and the availability of assets declines, the chief executive of Cellnex (CLNX.MC) told the Financial Times. Material, inorganic growth, for the next 24 months is over," Tobías Martínez Gimeno told the newspaper in reference to the overall market. When interest rates were low and debt was cheap, mobile towers were among the most attractive assets in telecoms. But since June, the share prices of most tower groups have fallen as rising rates have driven up costs.

☆ North Korea sees more use of cell phones, WiFi networks - U.S. researchers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Up to 7 million North Koreans use cell phones daily, and WiFi networks have sharply expanded in recent years as the mobile devices increasingly became a key tool for market activity in the isolated country, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. Since 3G network services began in 2008, the number of users has risen to 6.5 million to 7 million, more than a quarter of North Korea's 25 million population, the researchers said. The country's antiquated 3G network and limits on foreign investment in upgrades because of sanctions over its weapons programmes has prompted the emergence of faster WiFi networks around the country, Williams said. The WiFi networks do not offer any Internet access but provide connections to domestic services, especially scientific databases for the research community, he added. The private sector has overtaken state-led agents to become North Korea's biggest economic actor in recent years, with its rationing system crumbling and leader Kim Jong Un allowing markets abhorred by his father.

☆ AST SpaceMobile stock jumps after company hits key milestone toward satellite-to-smartphone 5G service
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A view from onboard the satellite, captured after deploying the 693-square foot array. Satellite-to-smartphone connectivity venture AST SpaceMobile announced on Monday that the wide antenna of its recently launched test satellite deployed successfully — a critical milestone in the company's development of a global network to provide 5G broadband service. The BlueWalker 3 satellite, launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in September, deployed its 693-square-foot antenna – which the company calls the largest-ever array deployed in low Earth orbit. AST SpaceMobile stock jumped about 18% in premarket trading Monday from its previous close of $8.83 a share. Our goal is to close the connectivity gaps that negatively impact billions of lives around the world," AST SpaceMobile chairman and CEO Abel Avellan said in a statement.

☆ How an ‘electronic nose’ could help fight wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Preventing even a fraction of wildfires from developing would have sweeping benefits. Climate change is making wildfires more intense, and the number of extreme wildfire events is projected to increase up to 14% by 2030. Existing early warning systems are based on visual detection of smoke, either through satellite imaging, cameras on the ground or human observers. Placed at the edge of the forest, these gateway sensors transmit the emergency signals to the internet over satellite and 4G. This detection time was phenomenal and showed how much potential the Dryad system has,” he adds.

☆ Vice Media lays off staff amid a softening advertising environment and sale talk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Vice Media has laid off a handful of editorial staff as it faces a softening advertising environment and sale speculation. Vice Media has laid off editorial staff at the digital news company as it faces a softening advertising environment and sale speculation. The layoffs impacted around a dozen out of a few hundred editorial staff and stemmed from the company's recent consolidation of its news and entertainment divisions under Cory Haik as chief operating officer, according to a knowledgeable source. CNBC reported in May that Vice hired bankers to explore a sale of all or parts of the company. Group Black, an entrepreneurial media collective, was also looking at the company, the Wall Street Journal earlier reported.

☆ Apple will spend $450 million with Globalstar and others to enable emergency satellite texting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple said Thursday it will spend $450 million with U.S. companies to enable its new emergency satellite texting feature. The majority of that money will go to Globalstar , Apple said, a Louisiana-based company that operates the satellites that make the feature possible. Apple isn't taking an equity stake in the company but it is committing to spend money for equipment and the service's operations. In September, Apple announced Emergency SOS with Satellite as a banner feature on new iPhone 14 models. Apple's payment to Globalstar will come from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, a pool of money the company uses to support U.S.-based suppliers.

☆ Outgoing Charter CEO Tom Rutledge says in an exclusive CNBC interview that there's 'pain to come' as linear TV gives way to streaming
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +33 min

The biggest cable company in the industry at that time had about a million customers. And the second question is, very much related to that, for years now, the bull investor thesis has been broadband growth. So does that mean that broadband growth is no longer the big growth story it once was? No, I think there's plenty of broadband growth to get for us and there's continued broadband adoption to get for the whole industry. And I think there's some value in scale which can translate into consumer value as well.

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