EXCLUSIVE: Longtime WME agent-turned-manager Brian DePersia has signed his first three clients under his new Cognition banner: Mahershala Ali, Caitriona Balfe and Tobias Menzies.
28.01.2022 - 17:51 / variety.com
Cynthia Littleton Business EditorJohn Stankey and Brian Roberts are wrestling with different sides of the same problems.For Big Media, the fourth-quarter earnings revelations so far have reinforced predictions that 2022 is the year the honeymoon ends for the promise of new streaming ventures. Now it’s entrenching time.
The streaming wars shift to a month-by-month, country-by-country battle to lure subscribers at a cost and monthly fee that makes quarterly ARPU numbers sing.This is no easy feat, no matter how big your international footprint or IP vault may be. AT&T and Comcast in their own ways are grappling with the limits of the subscriber funnel-theory that drove so much investor-conference chatter just a few years ago.
AT&T’s Stankey sounded like a CEO who was ready to see the back of the WarnerMedia assets soon after a rocky three-and-a-half years in the telco’s tent. On the company’s Jan.
26 Q4 earnings call, Stankey talked up WarnerMedia’s “strong exit velocity” as AT&T prepares to “hand off” Warner Bros., HBO and the Turner networks to a new marriage with Discovery. As soon as Batman, Tony Soprano and Logan Roy are out of the picture, AT&T plans to re-rebrand itself as a fat pipe for all that streaming media that the erstwhile Ma Bell no longer needs to worry about.“We aim to be America’s best broadband provider powered by 5G and fiber and defined by greater ubiquity, reliability, capacity and speed,” Stankey said.
EXCLUSIVE: Longtime WME agent-turned-manager Brian DePersia has signed his first three clients under his new Cognition banner: Mahershala Ali, Caitriona Balfe and Tobias Menzies.
Me time! Christine Brown leaned on her loved ones — and celebrated herself — on her first Valentine’s Day since splitting from husband Kody Brown.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJamie-Lynn Sigler has been keeping a secret for weeks. On Sunday, it finally came out.Sigler, who played Meadow Soprano for more than eight years on the iconic HBO series “The Sopranos,” stepped into the role again Sunday for a Chevrolet commercial that aired during NBC’s telecast of Super Bowl LVI. The ad updated, shot for shot, the show’s opening montage, which used to feature James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano driving a Chevy truck.
EXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Network, Discovery’s joint venture with Chip and Joanna Gaines, has ordered five new unscripted series and has renewed three, including staple Magnolia Table with Joanne Gaines and DYI transplant Restoring Galveston. New series include A Home Away with husband-and-wife design team Bryan and Catherine Williamson; Beach Cottage Chronicles (wt); Handcrafted Hotels following a hotelier and team of artists; Home Stories with Kate and Amy (wt) with stylist-photographer duo Kate Martindale and Amy Neunsinger; and an untitled project with professional baker Bryan Ford.
Katy Perry may have an unexpected rival for her fiancé’s affection.
Traffic Cone, Mushroom, and Rockhopper. READ MORE: The Masked Singer spoiler: Fans convinced they have worked out celeb behind the traffic coneFans of the show didn't quite know what to make over the brand new edition to the show. One person who wasn't impressed by Joan said: "Why is Joan Collins even there? She hasn't a clue who Aled Jones is.
ISLESFORD, Maine -- Ashley Bryan, a prolific and prize-winning children’s author and illustrator who told stories of Black life, culture and folklore in such acclaimed works as “Freedom Over Me,” “Beautiful Blackbird” and “Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum,” has died at age 98.Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing announced that the longtime Maine resident died “peacefully” Friday in Texas, where he had been staying with relatives.“An early, quiet, and potent force in bringing children of color and issues of racial diversity into the canon of children’s literature, he was committed to opening the eyes of children of all backgrounds to a wide range of themes through poetry, folktales, spirituals, and biblical narratives,” the publisher’s statement reads.Bryan was a Harlem native who showed an early talent for drawing and for a time was the only Black student at the art school at Cooper Union in Manhattan. He served in a segregated military unit for two years during World World II, an experience he recounted in his memoir “Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace,” and resumed his art studies after the war.Bryan worked on more than 70 books and received numerous honors, including Coretta Scott King Awards — given for the year’s best work by a Black author or illustrator — for the folktales “Beautiful Blackbird” and “Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum.” He also received two lifetime achievement prizes: the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now known as the Children’s Literature Legacy Award) and the Virginia Hamilton award.Survivors include his brother Ernest, and “many cherished” nieces and nephews, according to Simon & Schuster.“I am deeply saddened to learn of Ashley’s passing,” Gov.
READ MORE: ITV Celebrity Catchphrase: Coronation Street star Beverley Callard's three ex husbands and actor daughter Many fans already tweeted about the guess star as they were gobsmacked to see Joan. One person wrote: "I can only hope to look as gorgeous as Joan Collins does at 88 #MaskedSingerUK"Whilst another wrote: "Joan Collins in 88.
AT&T CEO John Stankey and Discovery CEO David Zaslav generally sidestepped questions about the exit of CNN boss Jeff Zucker amid dismay among the cable network’s on air talent and staffers over how the situation was handled.
Lucifer alum Tom Ellis is set as a series regular in Washington Black, the Sterling K. Brown-fronted adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s novel, which received a straight-to-series order at Hulu. Twilight Zone writer Selwyn Seyfu Hinds is adapting the limited series for 20th Television.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has given a series order to the drama series “Dear Edward” from Jason Katims, Variety has learned.Based on the Ann Napolitano novel of the same name, the series will star Connie Britton (“The White Lotus,” “Dirty John”), Taylor Schilling (“Pam and Tommy,” “Orange Is the New Black”), and Colin O’Brien (“Wonka,” “Mr. Harrigan’s Place”). The role reunites Britton and Katims, who previously worked together on the series version of “Friday Night Lights.”“Dear Edward” tells the story of Edward Adler (O’Brien), a 12-year-old boy who survives a devastating commercial plane crash that kills every other passenger on the flight, including his family.
Emma Roberts is speaking about the tougher parts of her career.
Brad Pitt and George Clooney are putting their money where their mouths are to stick up for movie theatres.
died on Dec. 31 at the age of 99, just several weeks shy of her 100th birthday. President Joe Biden, Drew Barrymore, Cher, Anthony Mackie and Tracy Morgan are among the guests set to appear.Valerie Bertinelli, Bryan Cranston, Ted Danson, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Goldie Hawn, Vicki Lawrence, Jane Leeves, Jay Leno, Wendie Malick, Joel McHale, Jean Smart and Mary Steenburgen will also be coming on.“Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl” will debut on Peacock the following day.The “Golden Girls” star recorded a sentimental message for her fans just 11 days before her passing.
NBCUniversal theme parks posted their most profitable fourth quarter ever today, led by Universal Studio Orlando, where Epic Universe is rising.
In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, AT&T CEO John Stankey defended the decision to separate HBO Max from Amazon’s channels business.
The original voice of character Charlie Brown in the early animated “Peanuts” specials, actor Peter Robbins, died last week at the age of 65.
Jordan Moreau Peter Robbins, who was the first person to voice Charlie Brown in several “Peanuts” TV specials in the 1960s, has died. He was 65.His family told Fox 5 San Diego on Tuesday that he died by suicide last week.At 9 years old, Robbins first voiced Charlie Brown in “A Boy Named Charlie Brown,” which was a television documentary about “Peanuts” creator Charles M.