AMC Networks Q1 Profit Rises Despite Revenue Declines

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe nation’s big media companies are on a new mission: finding ways to unite thousands of individual binge-watchers into a cohesive mass audience.Madison Avenue is eager to chase consumers moving from TV to new streaming hubs like Paramount Plus, Peacock and HBO Max. But when advertisers do, they find a much different set of viewing patterns than they do on the old familiar screen.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorRob Master loves the idea of putting commercials into new Hollywood streaming hubs like Peacock, HBO Max and Paramount Plus. But he’s not so enchanted with the costs being demanded by the media companies that own the sites.NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and others are seeking a premium from sponsors eager to attach their ads to streaming shows.

EXCLUSIVE: AMC Networks is bringing together its international programming group across its linear cable networks and streaming services in a bid to find its next global hit.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV ratings are down. But the networks aren’t letting that get in the way of demanding big price hikes in their annual negotiations with Madison Avenue.Even as advertisers express concern about declines in the live audiences tuning in for TV staples like “Young Sheldon,” “This Is Us” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” they appear to be on the verge of capitulating to marketplace pressure.

Everything old is new again on network television, and without apology.As the TV industry rushes into the future with streaming services, traditional broadcasters unveiled 2021-22 schedules that rely heavily on familiar series brands and reboots of decades-old shows.There’s even a two-fer based on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” the Las Vegas-set forensics drama that dazzled viewers when it arrived in 2000.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeViacomCBS has spoken.

Michelle Vicary is leaving Crown Media Family Networks where she had been since the company’s inception decades ago.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterCrown Media Family Networks’ lead programming and production executive Michelle Vicary is departing her post as executive vice president at the start of June, the company said Monday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe largest TV networks are getting ready to snare billions of dollars from Madison Avenue. And lose them, all at the same time.Expectations are high for the industry’s annual upfront, when TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory for the upcoming season.

For a second year in a row, Deadline’s Contenders Television is going virtual, and we are about to take off with an astonishing 128 creatives and stars appearing in the all-day event that will feature a total of 21 networks and 49 shows. This again is the must-see happening of the TV awards season and it promises to be our biggest yet as we pull out all the stops to give voters a kind of one-stop shopping opportunity to check out the top contenders for TV’s highest awards.

Antonio Ferme editorBron Studios is lending a helping hand to AAPI Creatives, a networking group started by Zosimo Maximo to amplify Asian American voices working in the industry.Maximo used Clubhouse to form a group of AAPI filmmakers who are inspired to change the narrative in Hollywood and build new opportunities for themselves. The group consists of Becky Baihui Chen, D.J.

reported on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the deal.

EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Dillane (Game Of Thrones), Lydia Leonard (Gentleman Jack), and James D’Arcy (Homeland) will headline Nordic noir spy thriller Red Election, which is set at Scandi streamer Viaplay and is co-produced by A+E Networks International.

Griff has spoken to NME at today’s BRIT Awards about new music, her touring plans and wanting to collaborate with Taylor Swift. You can watch the full interview in the video above.Ahead of receiving her Rising Star award at this year’s BRIT’s, Griff said she was “really nervous” before reflecting on her achievements over the last year.“This is all a bit surreal.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNielsen, the company that measures TV audiences every day says it still needs a few weeks to get its counting procedures back to normal.In a May 6 letter to TV networks, media-measurement giant Nielsen said it is still working to “resolve outstanding maintenance needs” in approximately 2700 homes that serve in its panel of consumers, and will likely not complete that work until the end of May.

AMC Networks reported a 6% downturn in revenue during the first quarter due to a slump in advertising and content licensing, but earnings per share beat Wall Street forecasts.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorViacomCBS said first-quarter profit surged as the company enjoyed the benefits of ad sales associated with Super Bowl LV and lured 6 million new subscribers to streaming outlets such as Paramount Plus.The New York owner of CBS, Showtime and Nickelodeon said revenue increased 14% to $7.41 billion, up from nearly $6.5 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Corporation said profit in its third fiscal quarter rose owing to increases in value of some of its outside investments, even as overall revenue fell due to comparisons with 2020, which contained a Super Bowl and a red-hot news cycle focused on the Trump administration and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.Revenue fell to $3.22 billion, compared with $3.44 billion in the year-earlier period.

AMC Networks president and CEO Josh Sapan received compensation worth $11.8 million in 2020, compared with $20.2 million in 2019. In 2018, Sapan had made $20.6 million, following $29.6 million in 2017, $30.5 million in 2016,$17.7 million in 2015 and $40.3 million in 2014, when he benefited from an amended and restated employment agreement that included a onetime special equity retention award.

Josh Sapan, CEO of AMC Networks, saw his total compensation last year dip to $11.8 million from $20.2 million the year before.