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☆ Who Owns SpongeBob? AI Shakes Hollywood’s Creative Foundation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Sarah Krouse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Paramount Global ’s technology chief Phil Wiser previewed for company leaders the risks and wonders of artificial intelligence, he turned to SpongeBob SquarePants. Mr. Wiser instructed an AI tool called DALL-E to show SpongeBob, one of Paramount’s iconic characters, flying a plane. An image of the rectangular cartoon star doing just that appeared on a large TV screen, during the presentation to Chief Executive Bob Bakish and others earlier this year. Next, Mr. Wiser asked the tool to show “Transformers” character Optimus Prime on the Paramount studios lot. Within seconds, it spit out an image of the towering robot next to the cafe on the lot.

☆ AI Shakes Hollywood’s Creative Foundation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Sarah Krouse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Disney Lays Off More Than 300 Streaming-Focused Employees in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Joe Flint | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The $5.5-billion Shanghai Disney Resort is among Disney’s biggest amusement parks in the world. Walt Disney Co. has laid off more than 300 employees in Beijing who worked on its streaming services, according to people familiar with the situation, part of a cost-cutting and restructuring effort at the entertainment company. The layoffs in China come as Disney this week started carrying out the first wave of cuts in a previously announced plan to slash 7,000 jobs.

Richelieu Dennis, left, and Bonin Bough are two of the co-founders of Group Black, which has been exploring an acquisition of Vice Media for several months. Group Black, a company that aims to invest in and grow Black-owned media firms, has submitted a bid to acquire beleaguered Vice Media for around $400 million, according to people familiar with the situation. Vice has received other bids for the entire business as well as pieces of its business, people familiar with the matter said. The company hopes to wrap up the bidding process in the next few days, the people said.

☆ Paramount Global Explores Sale of Majority Stake of BET Media Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Joe Flint | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An episode of ‘Sistas’ on BET. Paramount Global is exploring a sale of a majority stake of BET Media Group, which includes the cable channel. Paramount Global is exploring a sale of a majority stake of BET Media Group, which includes the cable channels BET and VH1, people familiar with the matter said. The decision to consider selling a majority stake of the assets, which cater primarily to Black audiences, is part of the entertainment giant’s effort to shore up resources to bolster its flagship Paramount+ streaming service and its advertiser-supported free streaming platform Pluto TV, some of the people said.

☆ Tyler Perry Expressed Interest in Buying Majority Stake of BET Media Group From Paramount Global
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Joe Flint | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tyler Perry is a prolific producer who has made more than a dozen television series and more than 20 movies. Actor and producer Tyler Perry has expressed interest in acquiring a majority stake of BET Media Group from Paramount Global , according to people familiar with the situation. Mr. Perry and Paramount have had a longstanding relationship. The media mogul, who has his own production studio, has an overall deal to create shows for Paramount and also has a minority stake in Paramount’s BET+ streaming service.

☆ Paramount Turned Down $3 Billion-Plus Offer for Showtime From Former Executive
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Former Paramount Global executive David Nevins offered to buy Showtime for more than $3 billion in recent weeks but was turned down by Paramount executives, according to people familiar with the situation. Mr. Nevins’s approach, which was backed by private-equity firm General Atlantic, was the latest in a number of offers Paramount has received over the past few years for Showtime, people familiar with the matter said. Other suitors included Mark Greenberg, another former Showtime executive who most recently ran the premium network Epix, and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., some of the people said.

☆ Paramount to Raise Paramount+ Prices as It Combines With Showtime
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Will Feuer | Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Paramount Global said it would raise the price of its Paramount+ streaming service later this year, as mounting losses from its streaming business ate into the entertainment company’s quarterly profits. Paramount+ gained 9.9 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, boosting its customer base to nearly 56 million, the company said Thursday. Paramount credited the National Football League, the expansion of franchises like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “1923,” a spinoff of “Yellowstone,” and new shows like “Tulsa King” for driving subscriber growth.

☆ AMC Networks Owner James Dolan Plots Turnaround, Floats Spouse as CEO Candidate
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

James Dolan, whose family controls AMC Networks, is interim executive chairman as the company searches for a new CEO. Shortly after becoming chief executive of AMC Networks Inc. last fall, Christina Spade held a town hall at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image to give an update on the state of the business. She also addressed staffers’ anxiety about potential layoffs. Ms. Spade said any job cuts at the media company, whose flagship cable channel is known for such hits as “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead,” would be thoughtful and targeted, not drastic, and would begin in early 2023, according to people familiar with the event, which was in early November. Ms. Spade had hired consulting firm Bain & Co. to craft a measured approach, they said.

☆ AMC Networks Owner James Dolan Finds a New CEO: His Spouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kristin Dolan is already a steady presence inside the company. AMC Networks Inc. Chairman James Dolan parted ways with the company’s last chief executive only three months into her tenure. Now he has found the next one: his wife, Kristin Dolan. The media company, whose flagship cable channel is known for shows like “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” and “Mayfair Witches,” announced Ms. Dolan’s appointment as CEO on Wednesday. She takes the position on Feb. 27.

Vice Media has struggled for years to show rapid growth and live up to an early valuation of $5.7 billion. Vice Media has secured more than $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the new-media company faces a financial crunch. Vice, which is trying to sell itself, owes millions of dollars to vendors and advisers, some of whom haven’t been paid for more than six months, according to people familiar with the matter. Some vendors have resorted to collections agencies to retrieve payments, some of the people said.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery to Keep Discovery+, in Strategy Shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Joe Flint | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Warner Bros. Discovery has said that it is looking to offer streaming options at different prices. Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. plans to keep Discovery+ as a stand-alone streaming service, people familiar with the matter said, a strategy shift for a company that had planned to consolidate content in a single subscription app. The move comes as Warner Discovery is close to launching a new, yet-to-be named supersize streaming service amid increased competition and in an uncertain economic environment.

☆ NWSL Set to Expand With Record-Setting $50 Million Franchise Fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Portland Thorns FC pose with the trophy after winning the NWSL Championship in 2022. The National Women’s Soccer League is in advanced discussions to expand by three teams, according to people familiar with the situation, with two of those teams set to pay around $50 million each in franchise fees that dwarf previous payments required to enter the league. The new teams are set to launch in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston and Utah. The Bay Area and Boston groups each have agreed to pay about $50 million for a team. Owners in Utah will pay between $2 million and $5 million, an arrangement agreed to a few years ago.

☆ Meta Pays BuzzFeed Millions to Generate Creator Content for Facebook and Instagram
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Alexandra Bruell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The deal between Meta and BuzzFeed was reached last year and is said to be valued at close to $10 million. Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is paying BuzzFeed Inc. millions of dollars as part of an effort to bring more creators to the social-media giant’s platforms, according to people familiar with the situation. The partnership comes as both companies are embracing the creator economy, in which individuals build large social-media audiences by posting videos and other content, and often make money on advertising or brand sponsorships.

☆ Paramount Weighs Making Paramount+ Content Available on Showtime TV Channel
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Paramount Global is discussing rebranding its Showtime cable channel “Paramount+ With Showtime” and stocking the network with content from its Paramount+ streaming service, people familiar with the matter said. The moves are part of the entertainment company’s plan to combine the Paramount+ and Showtime streaming services into a single platform, the people said. The company is betting that the changes will act as an incentive for the cable and satellite providers that carry the Showtime channel to agree to Paramount’s plan, the people said.

YouTube is testing a new hub of free, ad-supported streaming channels, the latest in a series of moves by the company to expand its ambitions in video. The Alphabet Inc.-owned video platform is in talks with entertainment companies about featuring their shows and movies in the hub of cable-like channels and is testing the concept with a small number of media partners, according to people familiar with the discussions. It could launch the offering more broadly later this year, some of the people said.

☆ Netflix Revokes Some Staff’s Access to Other People’s Salary Information
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | Sarah Krouse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Netflix Inc. is restricting some staff’s ability to see other employees’ salary information, people familiar with the matter said, a major shift for a company that has long offered a rare degree of transparency to its workforce. For years, director-level executives at Netflix could look up colleagues’ compensation. But late last year, Netflix stopped letting them do so, some of the people said. Directors are senior managers with titles that rank below the C-suite and vice president roles.

☆ LionTree Makes Bet on Streaming Ads in Live Sports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LionTree LLC is betting that live sports is going to continue to migrate to streaming services and that advertising will follow. The boutique bank has led an investment group to take a majority stake in Transmit.Live , a five-year-old company whose technology helps insert ads into sports programming. An example is the addition of commercials on the bottom of the screen during lulls in the action.

☆ Amazon Layoffs to Hit Over 18,000 Workers, the Most in Recent Tech Wave
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Dana Mattioli | Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The headquarters of Seattle-based Amazon, which was initially expected to pare roughly 10,000 employees from the company’s workforce. Amazon .com Inc.’s layoffs will affect more than 18,000 employees, the highest reduction tally revealed in the past year at a major technology company as the industry pares back amid economic uncertainty. The layoffs are concentrated in the company’s corporate ranks and represent roughly 5% of that element of its workforce, and 1.2% of its overall tally of 1.5 million employees as of September.

☆ Amazon Layoffs to Hit Over 17,000 Workers, Most in Recent Tech Wave
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Dana Mattioli | Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The headquarters of Seattle-based Amazon, which was initially expected to drop at total of roughly 10,000 employees. Amazon .com Inc.’s layoffs will affect more than 17,000 employees, the highest reduction tally revealed in the past year at a major technology company as the industry pares back in the face of economic uncertainty, according to people familiar with the matter. The Seattle-based company in November said that it was beginning layoffs among its corporate workforce, with cuts concentrated on its devices business, recruiting and retail operations. At the time, The Wall Street Journal reported the cuts would total about 10,000 people. Thousands of those cuts began last year.

☆ Vice Media Set to Miss Revenue Projection by Over $100 Million Amid Stalled Sale Talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Alexandra Bruell | Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Vice Media is expecting to miss a 2022 revenue goal by more than $100 million, according to people familiar with the situation, a blow for the new-media company as it pursues a sale. The company presented a revenue target of over $700 million at an off-site with senior employees earlier this year, one of the people said. The expected shortfall would leave Vice with around $600 million in revenue for the year, roughly flat compared with 2021, the people said.

Bob Iger had been out of Walt Disney Co. for nearly a year, but as most people around him knew, he had never really let go. Acting almost as a shadow CEO, he had undermined his successor and provided an ear for unhappy Disney executives, some of whom he had mentored. When the call to return as chief executive came, it was from someone on his old team. Mr. Iger later told people he had an inkling of how the script would go.

☆ Brad Pitt Sells Stake in Production Company to French Conglomerate Mediawan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

French media conglomerate Mediawan said it agreed to buy a significant stake in Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, whose credits include Oscar-winning films such as “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight.”The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions of part or all of independent production studios looking to capitalize on the robust appetite for fresh content in Hollywood sparked largely by a boom in streaming services over the past few years.

☆ Brooklyn man claims landlord is trying to push him out of his $450 apartment with live chickens running in yard and green liquid seeping from the ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Toonkel said the landlord couldn't gain access to Roberts' apartment because of a "hoarding problem." He didn't specifically address the chickens near Roberts' apartment. Roberts' rent is regulated by New York City rent-stabilization laws, which generally cover buildings built between 1947 and 1974. Roberts told Legal Services NYC, an advocacy group working on his case, that he'd voiced concerns about the state of the building to previous owners. This is heartless," Roberts told Legal Services NYC.

LOS ANGELES—Walt Disney Co. was working with consulting firm McKinsey & Co. in recent months on an effort to centralize control of major spending decisions, triggering an uproar from top creative executives at the entertainment giant, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions regarding the plan were under way in the weeks leading up to Nov. 20, when Disney’s board of directors fired Bob Chapek as chief executive and replaced him with his predecessor, Robert Iger .

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