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☆ Paramount Posts Earnings Loss on $1.7 Billion Charge, Cuts Dividend
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Paramount and other streaming companies have been working to rein in costs. Photo: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg NewsParamount Global posted a steep loss in the first quarter, weighed down by nearly $1.7 billion in charges tied to its plan to remove certain programming as it combines its Showtime streaming service with its Paramount+ platform. The New York-based media company also slashed its dividend for the first time in over a decade as it continues to pour cash into its money-losing streaming division.

May 4 (Reuters) - Paramount Global Inc (PARA.O) missed first-quarter revenue estimates on Thursday amid a weak advertising market in its TV business and cut its dividend. The company incurred a $1.7 billion charge in connection with its plan to integrate Showtime into its Paramount+ streaming service and remove certain programming. Paramount Global said its dividend cut to 5 cents per share will result in approximately $500 million in annualized cash savings. Paramount+, the company's flagship streaming platform, added 4.1 million subscribers during the quarter, compared with 9.9 million in the preceding quarter. Sales for its TV media segment declined by 8% from a year earlier and advertising revenue fell by 11%.

Paramount invested in original content to try to attract subscribers to its streaming platform, but is up against competition from established players such as Netflix (NFLX.O) and Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N) Disney+. Paramount+, the company's flagship streaming platform, added 4.1 million subscribers during the quarter, compared with 9.9 million in the preceding quarter. Sales for its TV media segment declined by 8% from a year earlier, and advertising revenue fell by 11%. Investment in original content and expansion of its streaming platform are consuming cash at the owner of the CBS network. The operating loss was $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared with an operating income of $775 million a year earlier.

☆ Paramount Shares Drop 28% as Streaming Costs Mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Will Feuer | Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Paramount and other streaming companies have been working to rein in costs. Photo: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg NewsParamount Global shares fell nearly 30% Thursday after the media company reported a steep first quarter loss and said it would cut its dividend, the latest sign of the challenges Hollywood’s titans face as they pivot to streaming. Paramount’s results were dragged down by major charges related to its cancellation of certain programming, a soft ad market that weighed on its TV business, and rising costs for its flagship streaming service. Paramount said it has restarted its sales process to unload its book publishing unit, Simon & Schuster, and has received interest.

☆ Paramount Shares Drop Nearly 30% as Streaming Costs Mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Will Feuer | Jessica Toonkel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves before the bell: Paramount, PacWest, Shopify & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Peter Schacknow | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. PacWest Bancorp – PacWest tumbled 37% in premarket trading after the banking company said it was considering various strategic options. Shopify – The e-commerce platform reported-better-than expected quarterly results and also announced the sale of parts of its fulfillment operation as well as its logistics division. Qualcomm – Qualcomm slumped 7.7% in premarket trading after the chipmaker issued a weaker than expected current quarter forecast, hurt by sagging smartphone sales. Qualcomm did report better than expected revenue for its latest quarter, with earnings matching Wall Street estimates.

☆ Futures waver as PacWest slide offsets Fed pause optimism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Fed over the past 14 months has raised rates by 500 basis points to tame price pressures in its most aggressive policy tightening since the 1980s. The KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) and S&P 500 Banks index (.SPXBK) have lost around 29% and 15% so far in 2023. Investors will also monitor weekly jobless claims for further clues on the state of the labor market. Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) slumped 6.7% after third-quarter forecasts missed estimates, while Etsy Inc (ETSY.O) gained 3% on beating expectations for quarterly revenue. Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: PacWest, Western Alliance, Paramount Global & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Paramount Global — The media stock cratered more than 27% after the company slashed its dividend and reported earnings that fell short of analyst expectations. Paramount Global cut is dividend to 5 cents from 24 cents a share, marking its first reduction since 2009. PacWest , First Horizon , Western Alliance — Regional bank stocks were under heavy pressure again on Thursday. Royal Caribbean — The cruise line advanced 6% after the company beat Wall Street expectations for the quarter. The company reported a wider overall loss than expected due to tax expenses related to an IRS settlement.

☆ Paramount Global shares fall 17% premarket after revenue, earnings miss estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Paramount Global fell as much as 17% premarket after it reported earnings and revenue that missed analyst estimates and cut its quarterly dividend. Paramount Global's traditional TV revenue, which consists of CBS and its cable networks such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, dropped 8% in the quarter to $5.2 billion. Media companies are struggling to replace traditional TV revenue, as customers cancel each quarter, with streaming revenue as they build out direct-to-consumer businesses. This year will represent peak losses for Paramount Global's streaming business, Bakish said. Streaming revenue from Paramount+ and Pluto TV, the company's free advertising-supported service, rose 39% to $1.5 billion.

[1/2] Workers and supporters of the Writers Guild of America picket outside Sunset Bronson Studios and Netflix Studios, after union negotiators called a strike for film and television writers, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, May 4 (Reuters) - The Hollywood writers' strike that kicked off this week could last well into the summer and likely beyond, top executives close to the discussions told Reuters this week. Moody’s estimates a three-year contract with writers ultimately will cost the media industry $250 million to $350 million per year, a more modest estimate than the guild's projections of about $429 million per year. Television writers say their pay has suffered, as studios squeeze writers into smaller rooms for fewer weeks at minimum pay, despite financing lavishly produced streaming series. Hollywood writers must pay their agents and managers out of their wages -- and, unlike staff writers, can go long periods between gigs.

[1/3] Writers Guild of America members and supporters picket outside Sunset Bronson Studios and Netflix Studios, after union negotiators called a strike for film and television writers, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, May 4 (Reuters) - The group representing Hollywood studios fired back on Thursday at claims from striking film and television workers that they have been forced into the "gig economy" because of changes brought by the streaming TV era. Roughly 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike on Tuesday, saying that studios had "created a gig economy inside a union workforce." Most TV writers, the group said, are employed on a weekly orepisodic basis, with a guarantee of a specified number of weeks or episodes. Writers say they are working more and making less as studios have shifted their focus to streaming over traditional TV and cable.

☆ Factbox: Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway at a glance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

[1/2] Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett walks through the exhibit hall as shareholders gather to hear from the billionaire investor at Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., May 4, 2019. REUTERS/Scott Morgan/File PhotoMay 4 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people are descending on Omaha, Nebraska to attend the annual shareholder weekend for billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N). Susan Buffett and Howard Buffett are Berkshire directors. His Berkshire stock will go to philanthropy after he dies. (Interview with CNBC, April 12, 2023)Abel on Berkshire managers' relationship with him: "It's not the same as working for Warren.

The rise of streaming services changed the way audiences consume both television shows and movies, and studios adjusted their business models in an attempt to respond. But they’re unlikely to get meaningful residuals, if any at all, when they create original content for streaming services as contracts stand today. With streaming services poised to become the future of television entertainment, the Guild was fighting in these negotiations for some kind of ongoing compensation from streaming services. The hunger for content by those streaming service also means that it might not take as long for the strike to start to impact production schedules. Streaming services also have a massive stockpile of older content that could keep their customers satisfied, at least temporarily, while they await new shows.

☆ Hollywood writers’ fight previews messy new era
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tinseltown scribes are gearing up for a fight. The Writers Guild of America went on strike Tuesday after contract negotiations with entertainment companies broke down. The union backing TV and film writers walked out after failing to reach a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for better pay. This meant the distribution chain paid twice, and the double dip meant more money for both the network and writers, who got a share. As the last strike brought about the reality TV fad, which required less creativity, artificial intelligence is threatening to replace writers.

☆ Hollywood braces for writers strike with two sides are apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —The clock is ticking toward a costly strike that could shut down production on most television shows, pushing back the return of many programs now set for the fall. With less than a day left before the deadline, the two sides appear far apart. Many of the media and tech companies producing shows that use the writers have seen drops in their stock price, prompting deep cost cutting, including layoffs. Handel is one of those who thinks a strike, quite possibly a months-long strike, is likely. “The tune today is profits.”The union represents 11,500 writers for television shows, both for networks and streaming services, as well as many motion pictures.

☆ Earnings playbook: The second half of the season kicks off with Apple, Ford and a pharma giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

What history shows: Data from Bespoke Investment Group shows Pfizer beats earnings expectations 87% of the time. Ford Motor is set to report earnings after the close, followed by a call at 5 p.m. What history shows: Ford earnings outperform earnings expectations 69% of the time, per Bespoke. AMD is set to report earnings after the close, with management scheduled to hold a conference call at 5 p.m. Friday Warner Bros Discovery is set to report earnings before the open, followed by a conference call at 8 a.m.

☆ A solid start to earnings season will be put to the test in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

The biggest week of this earnings season showed us that things aren't as bad as many feared. The week ahead of earnings, including several more Club names, should tell us more. The results are always important, but it's the guidance and management commentary we will really hone in on to better understand the path ahead. In Amazon's case, a solid first quarter for its AWS cloud business was overshadowed by management seeing a material slowdown in April. ET: Nonfarm Payrolls Looking back It was the biggest week of this earnings season for the Club as several of our mega-cap holdings and industry bellwethers reported results.

REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Reliance's JioCinema to lock horns with Netflix, DisneyWarner deal to boost English content, local content in focus tooExecutives say Warner deal will boost Reliance streaming plansJioCinema content quality key to beat rivals, analyst saysMUMBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - The video streaming business of Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest person, is likely to focus on pricing and local content following a deal with Warner Bros as it seeks to challenge the likes of Disney and Netflix, industry sources said. While Netflix and other rivals boast of content specially created for the India audience, JioCinema's current free offerings largely include old Hindi and local language movies. The big challenge is lack of fresh local and global content on JioCinema, something that will be become even more critical as the IPL season ends next month. They have also diversified into regional local language content. The only way to scale up is to really differentiate your content and make sure execution is right," he said.

☆ Markets next week have to contend with how aggressive the Fed drumbeat sounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Scott Schnipper | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

"Is Chairman Powell going to say, 'It is likely that we pause now and assess what the economy is going to do?' "The tone on that balance is going to be very critical to how the market is going to move next week." "What is [Powell] going to do? June Fed meeting The betting on Wall Street right now is that, after next week, the Fed will standpat at its next meeting six weeks later, on June 13-14. Beyond Apple, some 161 other companies in the S & P 500 index are scheduled to report latest-quarter results next week.

☆ Comcast beats estimates despite slowing broadband growth, higher Peacock losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Comcast topped analyst expectations with its first quarter earnings report Thursday, despite the cable and media giant's residential broadband business's slowing growth and mounting Peacock losses. Still, it was a sign that Comcast, like its peers, continue to face slowing growth in the broadband business. Cable TV customers continued their exodus from the traditional bundle, with Comcast losing 614,000 subscribers during the quarter. Comcast said Peacock subscribers grew more than 60% year-over-year to 22 million, and revenue was up 45% to $685 million. Peacock had $704 million in losses, up from losses of $456 million in the same period last year.

☆ Bob Iger’s stalling may be stifling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $180 billion company run by Bob Iger is kicking off its second round of layoffs, according to Reuters, part of an effort to cut $5.5 billion in costs. That’s a solid effort to keep activist Nelson Peltz, who had griped about Disney’s margins, at bay for now. The tricky part is ensuring assets don’t lose even more value before Iger heads out the door. Iger said he would leave the company and is meant to be setting up a successor. The balance act is ensuring Iger doesn’t degrade value, leaving a mess for his successor, whenever that person comes along.

April 21 (Reuters) - Paramount Global (PARA.O) has agreed to pay $167.5 million to investors to settle a case stemming from the 2019 merger of Viacom Inc and CBS Corp that created the entertainment company, a filing showed. Paramount and the investors agreed to the settlement reached on April 18, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing published on Friday. Paramount did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Paramount reached a $122.5 million settlement in March with Viacom shareholders that also stemmed from the merger. Reporting by Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ‘South Park’ showdown animates streaming dilemma
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Paramount Global (PARA.O) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) bosses are fighting over “South Park” like the foul-mouthed cartoon fourth graders featured in the hit adult-oriented series. Paramount has countersued its rival to stream the program whose library Warner Bros Discovery bought for $500 million, along with the rights to new episodes, for its newly rebranded Max service. Not long ago, producers were keeping movies and shows to beef up their own streaming audiences. Paramount boss Bob Bakish and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav both champion the idea of letting others carry the content for which their companies are paying so dearly to develop. These sorts of complicated dealings will only get tougher as the streaming wars get more cutthroat.

☆ Paramount fires back at Warner Bros. Discovery in 'South Park' streaming lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Discovery in a lawsuit over the streaming rights for the comedic cartoon, and is seeking more than $50 million in unpaid fees. Warner alleged Paramount withheld specials and other related "South Park" content as its own fledgling streaming service, Paramount+, was lifting off. Discovery's argument that Paramount Global was required to deliver additional South Park content is baseless and wholly unsupported by the parties' agreement. Warner said in the earlier filing that during the bidding process for the streaming rights Paramount had allegedly asked if they could share the rights for Paramount+. The company added that Warner's HBO Max – which is being relaunched as Max – continues to feature the entire "South Park" library.

The vote announced Monday afternoon showed 97.9% of participating union members voting to approve a potential strike. A file photo shows members of the Writers Guild of America walk the picket line in New York during their last strike in 2007. Unions typically conduct a strike authorization vote during the course of negotiations, and they almost always get approved by overwhelming margins. Negotiators for the AMPTP and the Writers Guild met at the negotiating table on Friday, according to one producer close to negotiations. AMPTP gave WGA new proposals in response to some of the Guild’s contract requests – and is awaiting review and feedback on those Monday, along with the strike vote results, the producer said.

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