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☆ Top 10 things the Club is watching in the stock market Wednesday: Retail sales up, stocks dip, Airbnb soars
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Retail sales for January came in higher than expected. Remember, retail sales are not adjusted for inflation, which of course remains elevated but growing at a slower rate in recent months. Earnings per share (EPS) of 48 cents versus 25 cents expected. Kraft Heinz (KHC) EPS beats: 85 cents versus 78 cents expected. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway slashed 3 big stock bets last quarter - and topped up its huge Apple stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway made striking changes to its stock portfolio last quarter. The famed investor's company cut its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor — which it only established in the third quarter of last year — by 86% to 8.3 million shares. Buffett's conglomerate also pared its US Bancorp stake by 91% to fewer than 7 million shares, worth just under $300 million at the end of December. Similarly, it sliced its BNY Mellon position by about 60% to 25 million shares, worth $1.1 billion at year end. Berkshire didn't add any new names to its US stock portfolio last quarter, nor did it eliminate any holdings.

☆ Philippe Laffont's Coatue adds to bets on Big Tech and Moderna
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Meanwhile, Coatue's stake in Moderna grew by 12%, bringing the value of that position above $1.1 billion as of the end of December. The firm added several new positions in the quarter, taking relatively small stakes in Alphabet and Charter Communications , among others. Coatue also added to its stake in Tesla , a reversal from the third quarter r when it reduced the size of that position. The listed equity positions were worth $8.9 billion at the end of December, according to a CNBC calculation. Coatue also exited smaller positions in several stocks during the fourth quarter, including Palo Alto , Paramount Global, Shopify and Visa .

☆ Investors need to embrace these stocks that we love
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

I’ve typically done this stock picking feature in early to mid February as a Stocks We Love type of story, pegging it to Valentine’s Day. The restaurant stocks in particular could do well. Inflation is obviously still a concern for big consumer brands. Consumer prices rose 6.5% over the past 12 months through December, down from a 7.1% pace in November. Up nextMonday: Earnings from TreeHouse Foods (THS), Avis Budget (CAR), FirstEnergy (FE), IAC (IAC) and PalantirTuesday: US CPI; Japan GDP; UK employment report; earnings from Coca-Cola, Asahi Group, Marriott (MAR).

☆ The 2023 Super Bowl Ads Will Feature Booze, Betting and Jesus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Megan Graham | Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

The Super Bowl ads on Sunday are poised to promote an unusual mix of alcohol brands, gambling and Jesus. The Super Bowl still regularly draws an audience of around 100 million people, making it TV’s biggest event of the year and advertising’s biggest night. Planters’ Super Bowl ad features comedians mocking Mr. Peanut. The ads are likely to strike a lighter tone than the occasionally somber messages of Super Bowl ads in recent, highly politicized years or the early pandemic, said Anjali S. Bal, an associate professor of marketing at Babson College. Many Super Bowl advertisers have again released their ads well before Super Bowl Sunday to increase their chances of being seen.

With a majority of S & P 500 companies having posted their quarterly results, investors' focus will turn toward inflation and the consumer price index reading in the upcoming week. The three major indexes are on pace to end the week down, with the S & P 500 poised to post its worst performance since December. Sharp declines for Alphabet , which is off by more than 9% this week, dragged the tech-heavy index. January's consumer price index With the latest Powell speech in the books, investors are now looking ahead to the consumer price index for insight into the pace of inflation. "Retail sales and CPI is really driven by the consumer, and a lot of eyes are on how the consumer doing," Bruno said.

Bob Berg | Moment Mobile | Getty ImagesIn a fragmented media landscape, events like the Super Bowl are prized by advertisers for the exposure they offer. These commercials are an institution in and of themselves, with the ads generating conversation for weeks ahead and days after the big game. Consumers might recall well-crafted Super Bowl ads years after their debut. So does Super Bowl exposure truly help boost business? It drove so many viewers to Coinbase's app that it crashed on the night of the Super Bowl.

☆ Fox projects record Super Bowl ad revenue after World Cup, NFL boosted results
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Fox Corp said Wednesday it will rake in a record amount of Super Bowl ad revenue as it reported a boost in its fiscal second quarter results. NFL and college football games helped drive ratings and advertising revenue, Fox executives said Wednesday. The company's broadcast network will air the Super Bowl on Sunday, which is known to be the marquee event for advertisers. "The money came in late for Super Bowl advertising, so we had some nervous moments," Murdoch said. "But it will be a record Super Bowl for us in terms of total revenue and what we achieved for each spot."

☆ How Paramount+ is punching above its weight with Stallone, Showtime, and reinvented library shows like CBS' 'Criminal Minds' and MTV's 'Teen Wolf'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) is beefing up by bringing sister network Showtime into the fold. "The shows with rich, deep libraries are the ones that get a lot of consumption," said Paramount+ streaming chief Tanya Giles. But Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) is beefing up by bringing sister network Showtime into the fold — rebranding both the Showtime cable network and the streamer as Paramount+ With Showtime. Paramount+ is also building upon its library with originals: The streamer recently revived "Criminal Minds," which aired on CBS for 15 seasons. In anticipation of "Criminal Minds: Evolution," viewership of the original CBS "Criminal Minds" jumped 46%, a Paramount+ spokeperson shared with Insider.

One of the really interesting questions here – this will be fascinating – the core of linear TV is sports rights. When you look at the size and scope of the linear TV business, it's huge. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty ImagesByron Allen, Entertainment Studios founder and CEO: I think linear TV will exist for a very, very long time. Simmons: I believe Apple, out of nowhere, will start making their own awesome televisions that have Apple TV embedded in them. We are witnessing early stages of this dynamic with deals like "NFL Sunday Ticket" on YouTube and the MLS deal with Apple TV.

☆ Showtime Reveals Plan to Expand ‘Billions,’ ‘Dexter’ With ‘Yellowstone’ Model
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( John Jurgensen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Spinoffs and expansions for ‘Billions’ and ‘Dexter’ are part of Showtime’s plans for an overhaul. Showtime is producing a wave of spinoffs and expansions for “Billions” and “Dexter,” two of its sturdiest hits, the network says. The premium cable brand is reshaping its TV slate with the same mold that turned “Yellowstone” into a sprawling franchise for parent company Paramount Global . Showtime says it’s planning up to four series connected to “Billions,” the network’s long-running high-finance drama, starting with a spinoff set in Miami, plus other iterations being developed under the titles “Millions” and “Trillions.”

☆ Disney and other Hollywood giants spent billions chasing Netflix. But their strategy appears to have a major flaw.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Media companies are trying to get to streaming profitability but their underlying businesses are in worse shape than previously thought. The remedy is to cut content spending, which throws the whole business model out the window. After cheering on Hollywood players for massively spending on streaming content, Wall Street is looking less impressed. Bottom line is, the media business isn't as good as it used to be." But another warning sign for these companies is that in streaming, content may not be as valuable as once thought.

Newsletter publisher and digital media company TheSkimm laid off nearly 10% of staffers in January. Bustle Digital Group, The Washington Post, and Buzzfeed are among other media companies that cut workers in recent months. TheSkimm, the popular newsletter publisher and digital media company, laid off nearly 10% of its workforce — or about 17 staffers — in mid-January, according to a source familiar with the matter. TheSkimm is far from the only media company that has enacted wide-ranging personnel cuts in recent months. Entertainment media companies have also been heavily impacted, with AMC, NBCUniversal, Paramount Global, Roku, and Spotify paring back headcount.

☆ Exclusive: Warner Bros Discovery licenses movies and TV shows to Roku, Tubi
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 31 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery Inc (WBD.O) has reached deals with streaming services Roku Inc (ROKU.O) and Fox Corp's (FOXA.O) Tubi to license 2,000 hours of movies and TV series, as it becomes the latest media company to embrace free, ad-supported streaming TV. The streamers announced Tuesday they plan to use the content to launch Warner Bros-branded free, ad-supported TV (or FAST) channels. For the first nine months of 2022, Warner Bros Discovery's streaming business, which includes HBO Max, lost $1.38 billion. The studio is seeking to capitalize on a growing segment of the streaming universe, which industry executives see as complementing subscription streaming services. AMC Networks Inc (AMCX.O), Comcast Corp's (CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal and the National Hockey League have launched FAST channels over the last year.

☆ Paramount to integrate Showtime with Paramount+
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Paramount Global (PARA.O) on Monday said it would integrate Showtime with Paramount+ across both streaming and linear platforms later this year. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Paramount is integrating Showtime into its streaming service and giving the premium network a new name
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hello, Paramount+ With Showtime. The premium television network is getting its first name change in the channel’s 47-year history, Paramount Global boss Bob Bakish announced to staffers Monday. Merging Showtime and Parmount+ on streaming will be a far more compelling offering to consumers versus trying to convince them to subscribe to each service separately. “With Showtime’s content integrated into our flagship streaming service … Paramount+ will become the definitive multiplatform brand in the streaming space — and the first of its kind to integrate streaming and linear content in this way,” Bakish wrote in his memo. Showtime canceled “Let the Right One In” and “American Gigolo,” while also choosing not to move forward with “Three Women.”

☆ Showtime to combine with Paramount+, rebrand with new name
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this photo illustration, Paramount+ (Paramount Plus) logo is seen on a smartphone against its website in the background. Paramount Global is further joining its streaming and cable TV business by combining its Showtime TV network and streaming service, Paramount+. The company said Monday it plans to integrate Showtime's streaming service fully into Paramount+, its marquee standalone streaming platform and response to the streaming wars. As part of this integration, the premium cable TV network, known for shows like "Yellowjackets," "Billions," and "Dexter," will be rebranded as Paramount+ with Showtime. Paramount+ starts at $4.99 a month, and Showtime's streaming service is $10.99 a month.

☆ Trump sues Bob Woodward and publisher for $50 million over use of his interview recordings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Former President Donald Trump sued famed journalist Bob Woodward on Monday over the release of audio recordings of his interviews with Trump, who claims he never agreed to allow those tapes to be sold to the public. The suit seeks $50 million or more which it says is based on an estimate that the audiobook, "The Trump Tapes," sold more than two million copies at $24.99 apiece. Woodward then "decided to exploit, usurp, and capitalize upon President Trump's voice by releasing the Interview Sound Recordings of their interviews with President Trump in the form of an audiobook," the complaint alleges. Woodward interviewed Trump over the phone and in person 19 times between December 2019 and August 2020, according to the lawsuit. Trump sued Woodward, who is one-half of the legendary reporting duo that reported on the Nixon-era Watergate scandal, as he ramps up his 2024 presidential campaign.

☆ Mega-publisher Dotdash Meredith cuts 7% of its workforce, citing weakened ad market
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

It’s the latest example in a brutal wave of layoffs that have consumed the media and technology industries. In making the job cuts at Dotdash Meredith, which will impact 274 employees, CEO Neil Vogel cited the poor economic terrain the company is trying to navigate. In recent months, the media and technology sectors have taken a battering as advertisers tighten spending amid economic uncertainty. CNN, NBC News, MSNBC, Vox Media, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Gannett and other news organizations have cut their workforces in recent months. Google said it had made the decision to eliminate 6% of its workforce, which translates to approximately 12,000 jobs.

☆ 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.

☆ Washington Post begins layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Washington Post on Tuesday became the latest media company to conduct layoffs, people familiar with the matter said, a move that publisher Fred Ryan had indicated last month the newspaper would take in early 2023. But The Post said at the time of Ryan’s announcement that it anticipated the layoffs being in the “single digit percentage” of its workforce. The Post also stressed the layoffs would ultimately not result in a “net reduction” of its workforce as it would invest in other areas. Ryan’s December announcement about future layoffs prompted fury inside the Post newsroom, nearly a dozen employees at The Post told CNN at the time. “The mood is really grim,” one staffer had told CNN.

☆ Vox Media to lay off 7% of workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Vox Media, the publisher of news websites such as Vox and The Verge, in addition to New York magazine, will lay off 7% of its workforce, chief executive Jim Bankoff said in a Friday morning memo to staff. The union representing Vox Media employees said it was “furious” over the announcement. The media and technology sectors have been battered in recent months as advertisers tighten spending amid broader economic uncertainty. Alphabet said it had made the decision to eliminate 6% of its workforce, which translates to approximately 12,000 jobs. Bankoff said the tough economy had forced Vox Media to focus on its core business.

☆ In the fight against slowing growth, Netflix and its rivals are all in this together
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

For the past three years, the global media and entertainment industry has been defined by the streaming wars. Last year, the streaming wars didn't end, but a metaphorical meteor approached the entertainment world in the form of slowing growth. Read more: Netflix founder Reed Hastings is giving up his CEO roleMedia companies have, at least momentarily, found themselves fighting against a common enemy – streaming subscriber fatigue. The old media world was defined by Netflix disrupting the legacy industry. Now, as Netflix goes, so goes the media world.

☆ Apple is looking for a top sales executive to spearhead a giant advertising push in sports and streaming. Here are 16 execs who could score the job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Netflix also conducted a search before hiring two Snap executives, Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor, to lead its new ads business. XandrLesser, a longtime digital ad executive, has extensive experience working on issues around the future of digital marketing. McDonald has a ton of other digital ad sales and publishing experience. She helped launch Modi Media, ad buying giant GroupM's addressable TV business, before joining TV adtech startup Cadent. UnivisionValentino runs Disney's digital ad business as EVP, client and brand solutions.

☆ Netflix set for slowest revenue growth as ad plan struggles to gain traction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Eva Mathews | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Bing GuanJan 17 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) is expected to report its slowest quarterly revenue growth on Thursday as its ad-supported plan struggles to attract customers in the saturating U.S. market, which could pressure the company to pull back on content spending this year. "Given current interest rates, Netflix will have to be very selective about green-lighting content and how they would finance it." It returned to subscriber growth in the third quarter, but its stock, an investor favorite during its years of rapid growth, still ended the year with a drop of more than 50%. "As overall streaming growth flattens out, most of the more mature streaming platforms have leveled off as well," MoffettNathanson said, adding that Netflix's reach fell by 200 basis points in the quarter. Reuters GraphicsStill, some analysts believe that the ad-supported plan will pay off in the long run, especially in developing markets, where spending power is weaker.

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