ESPN Adds Softball And Lacrosse From Women’s Pro League Athletes Unlimited

fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday afternoon, an investor asked CEO Bob Chapek what was holding the company back from expanding it as an all-in-one service. Chapek said that Disney is trying to preserve the “huge” cash flow generated by its linear networks before jumping into a direct to consumer (DTC) decision like that.“At the same time, we’re very conscious of our ability to go more aggressively into the [direct to consumer] area of ESPN,” said Chapek.

While the idea of ESPN going “over the top” as a stand-alone streaming offering has been bruited about for years, Disney CEO Bob Chapek enthused about the scenario and describe it as an inevitability during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

Julia Jacklin has today (May 10) announced details of her upcoming new album, ‘Pre Pleasure’ and has previewed it via first single, ‘Lydia Wears A Cross’ – check it out below.The album will be released on August 26 via Transgressive Records and you can pre-order it here.Speaking about the new song and its accompanying video, Jacklin said: “The song is about a lot of things but mainly being a seven-year-old old Jesus Christ superstar fanatic attending catholic school trying to figure out which way is up.“The music video was filmed by my constant collaborator and friend Nick Mckk at Splitpoint lighthouse,” Jacklin continued. “I played a show close by recently and asked on stage if anyone could let me film inside. Someone in the crowd knew a guy and that was it.

EXCLUSIVE: Fernanda Andrade (Let the Right One In) has signed on for a role in Paramount+’s crime thriller, Finestkind. She joins an ensemble that also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Stanford, Scotty Tovar, Tim Daly, Lolita Davidovich, Clayne Crawford, Meghan Leathers and Ismael Cruz Cordova, as previously announced.

EXCLUSIVE: Mere days after Melissa McBride exited spinoff with Norman Reedus, more change has come to the AMC series.

SportsCenter co-anchor Sage Steele has sued ESPN and corporate parent The Walt Disney Co. for allegedly violating both her contract and her free speech rights, according to multiple reports.

Disney has added director-writer Ayan Mukerji’s upcoming Brahmastra Part One: Shiva to its domestic box office slate, giving it a September 9 release in the U.S. and Canada. The film marks the beginning of a trilogy as well as what’s billed as India’s first original cinematic universe. Ranbir Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy and Nagarjuna Akkineni star.

Lexi Underwood has joined the cast of “Cruel Summer” Season 2, TheWrap has learned.Underwood will play Isabella, a role previously set to be played by Eloise Payet.Season 2 of the anthology series is set in three separate timelines in the Y2K era. Here’s the logline: “Set in an idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest, the next chapter of ‘Cruel Summer’ follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship.

Starz is expanding the cast of its comedy series “Run the World.”Tika Sumpter, Comedian CP and Isha Blaaker are all joining the cast in recurring roles for Season 2. Additionally,  Cree Summer and Ashley Blaine Featherson-Jenkins will guest star in the upcoming season, the network announced on Wednesday.“Run the World” follows a group of smart, funny and vibrant thirtysomething Black women — played by Corbin Reid, Bresha Webb and Amber Stevens West — who live, work and play in Harlem.

EXCLUSIVE: Ismael Cruz Cordova (The Undoing) is the latest addition to the cast of Paramount+’s crime thriller, Finestkind. He’s set to star alongside previously announced cast members including Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Stanford, Scotty Tovar, Tim Daly, Lolita Davidovich, Clayne Crawford and Meghan Leathers.

EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Leathers (Don’t Look Up) has signed on for a role in Paramount+’s crime thriller Finestkind, from Academy Award-winning writer-director Brian Helgeland. She joins an ensemble that also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Stanford, Scotty Tovar, Tim Daly, Lolita Davidovich and Clayne Crawford, as previously announced.

Last week, we learned that Netflix was spending $30 million per episode on the fourth season of “Stranger Things,” which is double the costs of the final season of HBO‘s “Game of Thrones” at $15 million per and a huge jump from the $6 million price tag on the first season episodes of “Stranger Things.” That’s not the only high-priced streaming series on the way.

EXCLUSIVE: The upcoming pre-Broadway world premiere engagement of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical in Boston has cast Tony Award nominees Mark Jacoby and Robyn Hurder, and Linda Powell to its cast, producers said today.

Aaron Stanford (Perry Mason), Scotty Tovar (The Mosquito Coast), Tim Daly (Life & Beth), Lolita Davidovich (The Longest Ride) and Clayne Crawford (The Killing of Two Lovers) have signed on for roles in Paramount+’s crime thriller Finestkind, from Academy Award-winning writer-director Brian Helgeland. They join an ensemble that also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace and Jenna Ortega, as previously announced.

The 2022 Tribeca Festival announced its lineup of world premieres of new and returning television including ESPN’s The Captain, about iconic New York Yankee Derek Jeter and Amazon Prime Video’s A League of Their Own, inspired by the 1992 film, with Abbi Jacobson.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Tribeca Festival has announced the television premieres for its upcoming 2022 edition.The festival, which takes place each year in New York City, features screenings and premieres of notable films, television series and audio storytelling. For its television slate, the festival will premiere nine new series and screen the returns of two series.The television lineup includes six docuseries: Hulu’s “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons,” an exposé of the lingerie retail chain; HBO Max’s “Menudo: Forever Young,” a look behind-the-scenes of the titular Puerto Rican boy band; Peacock’s “The End is Nye,” which sees celebrity scientist and TV host Bill Nye examine potential global disasters; Showtime’s “Supreme Team,” an examination of a real-life Queens gang co-directed by rapper Nas; A&E Network’s “Right to Offend,” a Time Studios production that looks at the history of Black comedians using their comedy to push for social change; and ESPN’s “The Captain,” which looks at the 20-year Major League Baseball career of five-time World Series champ Derek Jeter.