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☆ How Warner Bros. Discovery layoffs, content cuts, and reorganization shocked Hollywood and fired up Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Lucia Moses | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

David Zaslav has been enjoying a stock runup after Wall Street analysts expressed increased optimism about Warner Bros. Discovery, with much cost-cutting behind it and growth ahead as it plans to launch a new streaming service. AT&T's WarnerMedia merged with Discovery in 2022 in a $43 billion deal, creating a content behemoth combining Warner's HBO, CNN, and famed Warner Bros. film studio with Discovery's lifestyle and reality fare. Read more:A new content strategy that could tarnish crown jewel HBOWBD also looked for savings and revenue by shifting its content strategy ahead of combining HBO Max and Discovery+ into a mega streaming service to launch this spring. WBD shocked entertainment insiders by canceling high-profile projects like "Batgirl" and yanking episodes of shows including "Sesame Street" from HBO Max, and it has made other moves that concerned Hollywood creatives.

☆ WWE's smaller rival AEW interested in merger, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

All Elite Wrestling, a professional wrestling league owned by the Khan family, is interested in merging with World Wrestling Entertainment , according to people familiar with the matter. The idea that Vince McMahon, the controlling shareholder of WWE, would merge his company with the much smaller AEW is a long shot. AEW hasn't had talks with McMahon or Nick Khan, the company's chief executive, said the people. It's unclear what type of job McMahon would want with WWE after a sale, but WWE is a much larger and more established organization than AEW. McMahon, who was worth more than $3 billion as of July, is also known as the primary creative force behind WWE's storylines.

☆ Netflix to live-stream Screen Actors Guild Awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Bing GuanJan 11 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) will live-stream the annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards beginning in 2024, as it explores bringing live programming to its service. The streaming giant stepped in to carry the SAG Awards, which had lost its broadcast home on cable networks TNT and TBS. Netflix will stream this year's ceremony on its YouTube Channel and, next year, stream the awards show to subscribers via Netflix's service. Nominees will be announced at 7 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday and the 29th Annual SAG awards take place on Feb. 26. Netflix is in the early days of testing live broadcasts, as it contemplates bringing live sports to the platform.

☆ Netflix will air SAG Awards in another step into live broadcasting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix will exclusively air this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards show in its first partnership with an awards show and its next step into live broadcasting. The SAG Awards, which will take place Feb. 26, will air live on Netflix's YouTube channel, but not the streamer's own platform. Netflix aims to broadcast the awards show on its actual service in 2024, according to a company spokesperson. Since 2007, the SAG Awards has aired on both TNT and TBS, channels owned by Warner Bros. Discovery parted ways with the SAG Awards in May as the newly merged company restructured.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery signs audience measurement deal with startup Nielsen rival VideoAmp
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Discovery has signed a deal with VideoAmp to measure its audience as an alternative means of data for advertisers, the companies announced Tuesday. Firms like Nielsen and VideoAmp offer audience estimates and data that TV networks and streamers use to sell slots for commercials. The merger between Discovery and Warner Media closed in 2022, amassing a portfolio of TV networks including the Discovery Channel, TLC, TNT, TBS and others. The merged company plans to roll out a revamped streaming platform in the spring, combining its Discovery+ with Warner's HBO Max. "Traditional media measurement has not kept pace with how consumers are engaging with streaming and linear content.

☆ Mistrial declared after jurors deadlocked in Danny Masterson rape trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Taylor Romine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in the rape trial of actor Danny Masterson on Wednesday after jurors remained deadlocked, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said. Masterson was charged in 2020 with forcibly raping three women in separate incidents occurring between 2001 and 2003, CNN previously reported. “While we are disappointed with the outcome in this trial, we thank the jurors for their service,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. In 2017, Netflix and producers of “The Ranch” wrote Masterson off the show amid rape allegations. At the time, Masterson said he was “obviously very disappointed” by the decision, in a statement to CNN.

"A Christmas Story Christmas" is a sequel to the 1983 holiday classic "A Christmas Story." You can stream the movie on HBO Max with an ad-supported ($10/month) or ad-free plan ($15/month). "A Christmas Story Christmas" is streaming exclusively on HBO Max, and it reunites several members of the original cast. How to watch 'A Christmas Story Christmas'You can now watch "A Christmas Story Christmas" on HBO Max. Before "A Christmas Story Christmas" was released, two earlier sequels were also made to the original movie: "My Summer Story" and "A Christmas Story 2."

☆ ‘Power Slap’: UFC president launches new open-handed striking venture
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The longtime president of the UFC announced a new striking competition called Power Slap during a press conference on Friday. Alongside the new series, which is set to launch in early 2023, White announced a deal with TBS for an eight-part television series. Friday’s press release states competitors will vie to earn a place in “the cast house” and Power Slap rankings. “The sport of slap fighting is about to go to a whole new level,” White said at the Power Slap press conference at Radio City Music Hall. Like boxing and MMA, Power Slap judging is based on a “10-point must system,” with a round winner scoring 10 points and the opponent scoring 9 or fewer.

Warner Bros. Pictures, film subsidiary of Warner Bros. "We're spending more money this year than we've ever spent historically," Warner Bros Chief Executive David Zaslav told a conference call. Warner Bros posted a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion, or 95 cents a share, which includes $1.5 billion in pre-tax restructuring charges. Warner Bros Discovery, home to hit franchises such as "Batman" and "Euphoria," added 2.8 million new streaming subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total to 94.9 million. A merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ will debut on an accelerated timetable, in spring of 2023.

☆ More layoffs hit CNN as CEO Chris Licht sets strategy and shuffles talent across the organization
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Lucia Moses | Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

CNN is laying off a small number of people in its audio division. A company rep said audio remains an important area for the company and that it's refining its strategy. CNN is laying off people in its audio division, according to affected staffers. One product manager posted on LinkedIn that their position had been eliminated and that the company told staff it planned to produce fewer audio series in 2023. "Audio is an important growth area for the company," the CNN rep said.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav faces 3 key challenges as financial headwinds disrupt his strategy and threaten his promises to Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman crystallized the daunting task ahead for Zaslav and WBD in his August 5 report "Reality First. The honeymoon was short-lived," said one senior Hollywood insider. It turns out there are five, housing some 40,000 employees globally: Warner Bros., HBO Max, the Turner entertainment channel business, CNN, and Discovery. The WBD insider said there isn't a rush to hire a new chief and that the company will continue to meet people. Under the ownership of AT&T, WarnerMedia's financials were buried in its parent's spreadsheets — now as a pure-play entertainment company, Warner Bros.

☆ How Warner Bros. Discovery's reorganization, content cuts, and layoffs have shocked Hollywood and delighted Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-04 | by ( Lucia Moses | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Discovery formed in 2022, combining a rich array of properties from Warner Bros. to CNN. David Zaslav has been enjoying a stock runup after Wall Street analysts expressed increased optimism about Warner Bros. Discovery, with much cost-cutting behind it and growth ahead as it plans to launch a new streaming service. AT&T's WarnerMedia merged with Discovery in 2022 in a $43 billion deal, creating a content behemoth combining Warner's HBO, CNN, and famed Warner Bros. film studio with Discovery's lifestyle and reality fare. WBD shocked entertainment insiders by canceling high-profile projects like "Batgirl" and yanking episodes of shows including "Sesame Street" from HBO Max, and it has made other moves that concerned Hollywood creatives.

☆ 22 things you probably didn't know about 'The Office'
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-08 | by ( Molly Thomson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Angela Kinsey was a phone operator for 1-800-DENTIST when she auditioned for the show. Angela Kinsey at the 2017 SAG Awards. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesBefore she became known as Angela Martin, Kinsey worked as a phone operator for 1-800-DENTIST. "It was great material," Kinsey told Ora TV's "Larry King Now" in 2018. Kinsey also said she interned for NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and booked several roles in commercials prior to appearing on "The Office."

Persons: Angela Kinsey, Alberto E, Rodriguez, Angela Martin, Kinsey, Ora TV's, Larry King, they're, Conan O'Brien Organizations: TBS, NBC's

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