Disney Plus With Ads Is Not a ‘Hail Mary’ Strategy, CFO Says

Paramount+ this March. The streaming platform's new action-packed series adaptation of the popular video game,, premieres this month alongside plenty of new shows and movies.

, director Kenneth Branagh is telling his most personal story yet, about a young boy and his family living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 1960s, at the beginning of the period known as «The Troubles,» in which division between factions of Catholics/nationalists and Protestants/unionists led to violent clashes, riots and bombings. Branagh, who grew up in Belfast, before moving away at age 9 to escape The Troubles, found his star for the film in 11-year-old Jude Hill, who plays Buddy, a wide-eyed, fun-loving character based on the director and screenwriter himself. is seen through Buddy's eyes — and Hill marveled about seeing his face on a massive Hollywood billboard when he joined ET's Denny Directo for an in-studio chat this week.«It's kind of crazy,» the young actor admitted. «I mean, my face, and a bunch of people seeing it every single day.

Christina Haack and Josh Hall are going strong. The alum took to Instagram on Monday to commemorate a year with her now-fiancé. In her post, the  star shared a throwback photo of her and Hall in Nashville in March 2021 and again this month. "

A rematch between Eddie Hall and Hafthor Bjornsson is unlikely to happen. The Icelandic giant confirmed after his victory against Hall on Saturday that he is not seeking a second fight.

ITV's hit mystery drama Grantchester is now into its seventh season, having first aired back in 2014. The show has proved a remarkable success, originally being adapted from the fiction novel "The Grantchester Mysteries" by James Runcie.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaA few key details were revealed about what life will be like at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer now that its $8.5 billion sale to Amazon has closed. In a town hall at Amazon’s Culver City lot, Mike Hopkins, Amazon Studios and Prime Video SVP, unveiled an interim leadership structure.

Dolly Parton remains on the ballot for this year’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, despite her asking to be removed earlier this week. Even though Parton said that she doesn’t feel she’s “earned” the right to be considered “rock n roll”, the Hall says that’s up to the voters to decide.In a statement at the beginning of this week, while she sat in fourth position in the Hall Of Fame’s fan vote, Parton said: “Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right.

EXCLUSIVE: We hear that Amazon Studios and Prime Video SVP Mike Hopkins sent a warm, welcoming email to MGM staffers this morning about the streamer’s acquisition of the near-century old studio, telling them that “we look forward to working with you as we create the next phase of MGM’s rich history together.”

“It’s really trying to bring the show together, to keep the show moving, so that people are entertained.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery — which is about to become Warner Bros. Discovery within the next month, when its merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia closes — has confirmed its plans to combine its current streaming service Discovery Plus and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max into one service, rather than offer the two platforms as a bundle.Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, who will also serve as CFO of the newly combined Warner Bros.

Regina Hall surrounds herself with her co-stars at the premiere of her new movie, Master, held at Metrograph in New York City on Thursday night (March 10).

Zack Sharf The Parents Television Council (PTC) is speaking out against Disney ahead of the March 16 addition of former Netflix-Marvel series “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “The Punisher” and “The Defenders” on Disney Plus. All of these series are significantly more violent and adult in theme and subject matter compared to the other offerings in the Disney Plus library.

Tiger Woods celebrated a major milestone on Wednesday night in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, as he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. The 46-year-old golf pro was joined by his family, who reflected on just how far he's come in the last year. Woods was involved in a serious car accident in February 2021 that nearly resulted in having one of his legs amputated. Woods' 14-year-old daughter Sam delivered a speech at the Hall of Fame ceremony, where she talked about her family's reaction to the crash and their collective fears amid his recovery. «About a year ago, you were stuck in your hospital bed at one of your ultimate lows at one of the scariest moments of your life and ours,» she said, addressing her father in the audience.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify has suspended premium service in Russia after the country launched its war on Ukraine — a move that the audio streaming powerhouse expects to result in a loss of about 1.5 million paying customers in the first quarter of 2022.That’s according to Spotify CFO Paul Vogel, who spoke at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Wednesday. According to a Spotify spokesperson, the loss of its business in Russia is not material: The country represents less than 1% of total revenue.Vogel also alluded to the recent controversy over podcaster Joe Rogan, which has spurred calls to boycott the streamer (but Vogel didn’t identify Rogan by name).Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Vogel, Spotify was trending ahead of its Q1 guidance of adding a net 8 million total users, including 3 million paying customers.

Tony Awards. The 75th annual awards show is returning to the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York City to celebrate live theater in a four-hour television and streaming event that will be broadcast live coast to coast for the first time.The festivities will commence at 7 p.m.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix execs have regularly insisted that there’s no way the company would introduce an ad-supported service.Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann, speaking Tuesday at an investor conference, took a slightly more open tone: He noted that the subscription streamer doesn’t currently have any plans right now to introduce an ad-supported VOD plan, but he didn’t rule it out at some point in the future.“It’s not like we have religion against advertising, to be clear,” said Neumann, speaking Tuesday at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. “But that’s not something that’s in our plans right now… We have a really nice scalable subscription model, and again, never say never, but it’s not in our plan.” During the session, Neumann was asked about Netflix’s thinking about a cheaper, ad-based tier after Disney announced plans to rollout an AVOD plan for Disney Plus starting late in 2022 in the U.S.

Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount Global, took the floor for the first time publicly since the renamed company’s recent and not well-received Investor Day, touting streaming prospects but acknowledging, “We are going to have to prove that to you over time” – referring to Wall Street.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Global CEO Bob Bakish says Disney Plus’ decision to launch a cheaper, ad-supported version later this year is “validation of the strategy,” which Paramount (recently rebranded from ViacomCBS) itself uses for a tier of its streaming service Paramount Plus.“They’re 100% right,” Bakish said during Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference Tuesday, when asked about Disney’s announcement last week to roll out an ad-supported subscription plan for Disney Plus, to launch first in the U.S. in late 2022.

Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann addressed the decision to pull out of Russia and pushed back ever-so-slightly less firmly than the notion of advertising being introduced to the service.