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☆ Netflix is giving its critics the middle finger and taking a victory lap
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The streaming company gained over 2 million subscribers — avoiding the third straight quarter of subscriber losses. The results appear to have been enough for Netflix to take a victory lap. "We're in the business of entertaining our members with Netflix movies on Netflix," he said. It will stop providing membership guidance in future earnings reports. In other words, Netflix continues to think that the future of entertainment is still, undeniably, Netflix.

☆ A top House Republican gifted Kevin McCarthy an ornate silver bowl as a nod to a famous scene from HBO's 'The Wire' about leaders having to eat crap: book
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A top ally of Kevin McCarthy loved "The Wire" so much that he gave the Republican a silver bowl. Nonetheless, McHenry continued to email the Republican clips of the scene that incredibly is a parable an actual politician used to tell. "There's a knock at the door in the corner of the room, and Pete comes walking in carrying this gorgeous Sèvres silver bowl, hand chased ... 'It's from the unions,' Tony, played by Sam Coppola, says. You're sitting, eating shit all day long, day after day, year after year." So according to Draper, the North Carolinian bought an ornate silver bowl that was once the property of the British army.

☆ Netflix threw shade at 'House of the Dragon' and 'Rings of Power' with a chart showing 'Dahmer' surpassing them in Google Trends
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix touted the success of "Dahmer" by comparing it to "House of the Dragon" and "Rings of Power" on Google Trends. It shared a chart in its Q3 earnings report on Tuesday that showed "Dahmer" surpassed the shows in interest. In its third-quarter earnings letter to shareholders on Tuesday, Netflix threw shade at the two fantasy TV shows with a Google Trends chart, which showed searches for "Dahmer" surpassing both shows after its debut on September 21. The Google Trends data shows that the "Dahmer" search term skyrocketed in interest after its debut, well past the "Rings of Power" and "House of Dragon" search terms. As the Google Trends chart shows, the ability to watch all of 'Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story' helped drive significant interest in the show."

☆ 'The Rings of Power' appears to be struggling to connect with younger viewers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon's "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" may have struggled to attract young viewers. 71% of the show's audience is 35 years or older in the US, according to Nielsen's latest streaming data from Thursday, which measured through the show's fourth episode. Google Trends data shows that searches for "House of the Dragon" have greatly outpaced "The Rings of Power" over the last month. Julia Alexander, director of strategy at Parrot Analytics, tweeted recently that "The Rings of Power" is "a hit, except it feels like it's not." The two-episode premiere of "The Rings of Power" was watched by 12.6 million viewers in the US in its first three days.

☆ Who's watching 'House of the Dragon' and 'The Rings of Power'? New numbers shed light on the audience for both shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A third of the audiences for both "Rings of Power" and "House of the Dragon" is watching the other show. Notably, large swaths are watching both shows: 34% of "The Rings of Power" audience also watches "House of the Dragon," and 34% of "House of the Dragon" viewers also watch "Rings of Power." "Rings of Power" was watched for 988 million minutes the week of September 12 through September 18. But the streaming chart only includes "House of the Dragon" viewing on HBO Max. Nielsen's data this week didn't break down how much the new episodes of each series accounted for its viewing minutes.

☆ How Amazon’s big private-label business is growing and leaving small brands to protect against knockoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Katie Schoolov | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Peak Design CEO Peter Dering compares his company's Everyday Sling Bag to the Amazon private label version at his San Francisco headquarters on September 6, 2022. A selection of some of Amazon's 118+ private label brands as of October, 2022. Then there are specialty firms that only do private labels, and some store brands have their own devoted manufacturing facilities. By comparison, private labels make up a whopping 77% of Aldi's sales, followed by Trader Joe's at 59% and Wegmans at 49%. A variety of Amazon's private label goods are shown on September 29, 2022.

☆ A YouTuber measured the brightness of that controversial 'House of the Dragon' episode and yes, it's really dark
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

YouTuber Vincent Teoh analyzed the dimly lit "House of the Dragon" episode that sparked backlash. He found that it could auto-dim on some TVs because of how dark it had been graded to. YouTuber Vincent Teoh, whose channel HDTVTest has 465,000 subscribers, tested the brightness himself in a new video and concluded that yes, the beach scene that sparked fans' ire was really, really dark. Teoh had to change the settings on the TV in order to adjust the brightness, because it had auto-dimmed. "Game of Thrones" was also hit with criticism of too-dark scenes, such as for the final-season episode "The Long Night."

☆ Amazon's 'Rings of Power' isn't making as big of a splash as HBO's 'House of the Dragon' — and it shows the potential risks of dueling big-budget fantasy shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"The Rings of Power" has been hit with poor audience reactions, and online engagement is muted. 'House of the Dragon' is driving more sustained interest than 'The Rings of Power'The shows are airing at the same time; "Rings of Power" debuted four days after "House of the Dragon" did. HBOGoogle Trends shows that searches related to "House of the Dragon" spike with impressive consistency weekly after each episode, showing sustained interest. In the first weeks for their premiere episodes, "House of the Dragon" had 45% more piracy than "The Rings of Power," according to the piracy analytics company Muso. But the explosion in piracy for "House of the Dragon" between episodes one and two shows a growing demand.

☆ The case for — and against — watching movies and TV shows with subtitles on
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But for "House of the Dragon," I've found that it's necessary and supplemental. I've also been watching Amazon's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" with subtitles, for similar reasons. With a recent survey revealing that people are increasingly using them, I took a look at the case for — and against —turning on subtitles. Subtitles can also be helpful if your TV doesn't have the best sound quality (although there are ways to adjust that). "House of the Dragon" and "The Rings of Power" are some of the best-looking shows on TV, and the subtitles can distract from the beautiful imagery.

☆ 'Bond' producers say they love Idris Elba - but don't celebrate just yet
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

(CNN) The world may finally have to let go of Idris Elba playing James Bond. The producers of the franchise have responded to Elba expressing that he's not exactly interested in the role, despite public outcry for him to play 007. "I don't think that playing Bond will satisfy some of my personal goals," he said during an episode of HBO's "The Shop." (HBO and CNN are both part of Warner Bros. Discovery.0Elba said everywhere he goes people mention Bond, "And I feel it is beyond me at this juncture." Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson talked to Variety about the popular franchise and Elba.

☆ 'VEEP' star Julia Louis-Dreyfus urges suburban women to join a 'troublemaker turnout' effort aiming to fire up 100,000 abortion rights voters in midterm battlegrounds
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"Veep" alumna Julia Louis-Dreyfus calls on suburban women to join the abortion rights fight. The "Great Troublemaker Turnout" campaign intends to stir up voters in four battleground states. The current targets include Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. "Red Wine and Blue needs you for the great troublemaker turnout," the former "Veep" star says in a recruiting video she posted online. Red Wine and Blue did not immediately respond to a request for comment about other celebrities who might be involved in the troublemaker turnout program.

"Squid Game" became Netflix Inc's (NFLX.O) most-watched series ever after its release last September, creating countless online memes and Halloween costumes and kickstarting sales of green tracksuits. 1/3 Park Hae-Soo, Lee Jung-Jae, Kim Ji-Yeon, Hwang Dong-Hyuk, Jung Ho-Yeon and Oh Young-Soo, of "Squid Game", arrive at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 12, 2022. "So many characters died, especially beloved ones died. The Emmy's directing honour epitomised Hwang's never-dreamed-of journey with the series, but he was disappointed at missing the trophy for best drama series, which went to HBO's "Succession". "Of course what I wanted the most was best drama series.

☆ Patagonia's CEO gets candid: How sustainability, diversity, and social justice guide the beloved brand
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

As CEO of Patagonia, Ryan Gellert wrestles with a paradox: The outdoor-gear maker's good works, philanthropy, and intentions are still not enough to justify its existence. To Gellert, who took over from the widely respected Rose Marcario, the company could always be doing more. And we need business to step up. Patagonia really struggled in Europe, and that never made sense to me. One of the things that I love more than anything about Patagonia is that we are an unapologetically for-profit business.

The 2022 Emmys is hosted by Kenan Thompson and will be held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. How to watch the 2022 Emmy AwardsYou can watch the 2022 Emmy Awards live on September 12 at 8 p.m. $1.99 from Peacock TV Originally $4.99 Save 60%NBC and its related channels are also available through several live TV streaming services, including Sling TV, Youtube TV, FuboTV, and Hulu + Live TV. Deal Sling TV Sling is one of the most affordable live TV streaming services you can sign up for. 2022 Emmy nomineesThe 2022 Emmys feature nominees across several categories and honor the best shows of the year.

Several popular shows, like "Euphoria" and "Ted Lasso," snagged nominations this year. You can stream all of the nominated series before the winners are announced. This year, 21 shows are vying for one of three top prizes: outstanding drama, outstanding comedy, and outstanding limited or anthology series. Below, we rounded up where you can watch every nominated show in each of the outstanding series categories. After you get caught up, you can tune into the 2022 Emmy ceremony live on NBC at 8 p.m.

☆ The biggest blockbusters aren't in movie theaters right now — they're on TV: from 'The Rings of Power' to 'House of the Dragon'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The blockbusterization of TV has reached a peak with "The Rings of Power" and "House of the Dragon." Meanwhile, movie theaters are experiencing a dire lack of new releases. In fact, the future of "Star Wars" is largely streaming TV — a big loss for movie theaters. "The Rings of Power" is the most expensive TV series ever made, with a production budget of $465 million for the first season. Some examples: Apple is making a TV series set in the same universe as "Godzilla vs. Kong," and Disney is readying its own King Kong series.

☆ HBO renews 'House of the Dragon' after more than 20 million watch first episode
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-26 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

'House of the Dragon' series logo displayed on a phone screen and HBO Max website are seen in this illustration photo taken on August 16, 2022. "Game of Thrones" prequel series "House of the Dragon" has been renewed for a second season, HBO said Friday. The announcement comes after more than 20 million people have now watched the first episode, according to Nielsen and first party data collected by HBO. The success of the show is being closely watched, as many see it as a barometer for HBO's success in the streaming wars. The debut of "House of the Dragon" also comes as Amazon nears the release of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" series.

The US may not have royals, but it does have families with net worths in the billions. See the top-25 richest families in the US, ranked by net worth, starting at roughly $12 billion. But not all of America's richest families began as entrepreneurs — some were also savvy investors. Below, meet the 25 richest families in the US, ranked from lowest net worth to highest net worth. The rankings were determined by the most up-to-date estimated net worths available from Forbes and Bloomberg.

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