Netflix’s Ted Sarandos 2023 Pay Dips Slightly to $49.8 Million, Co-CEO Greg Peters Compensation Tops $40 Million

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Crunchyroll, the Sony-owned anime streaming service, is raising prices for its two top tier packages in select countries — the first pricing hike in five years. The pricing is increasing for Crunchyroll’s Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan subscription tiers in select countries. “The price change reflects the increase in content on Crunchyroll in recent years, expanding its catalog to more than 45,000 episodes via 1,400 series and films,” the company said in a blog post.

Ellise Shafer The Royal Television Society has revealed the dates and initial speakers for its annual RTS London Convention. This year’s event will take place on Sept. 17 at Kings Place in London and is chaired by Anna Mallett, Netflix‘s vice president of production for EMEA and the U.K.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Amazon raked in $11.82 billion in ad revenue for the first quarter of 2024, topping analyst expectations, fueled by the ecommerce giant’s move to serve advertising by default in Prime Video in multiple markets. Advertising sales for the quarter were up 24% year over year and marked a new Q1 record. The revenue beat Wall Street expectations for the quarter of $11.7 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, had a pay package worth just over $20.2 million in 2023, while Roku’s media boss, Charlie Collier, received $6.8 million in salary. Wood’s compensation last year included salary of $1.2 million, stock awards worth $7.57 million and stock option awards ​valued at $11.43 million.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, had a compensation package worth $35.47 million in 2023, as he saw his pay rise 11% from the year prior. Roberts, who oversees the cable giant and NBCUniversal, last year had a salary of $2.5 million, stock awards worth $15 million, stock options worth $9.2 million and a $8.55 million cash incentive bonus. In 2022, his compensation totaled about $32.1 million.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The Onion has a new owner: a company called “Global Tetrahedron,” which is a real thing based on a fake entity invented by the satire site more than two decades ago. G/O Media, a private-equity backed firm that has owned The Onion since 2019, sold the site to a new Chicago-based firm called Global Tetrahedron, which is “made up of four digital media veterans with a profound love for The Onion and comedy-based content,” G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller said in a memo to staff Thursday. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ari Emanuel, in his capacity as CEO of TKO Group Holdings — the parent company of UFC and WWE — had a compensation package last year that hit nearly $65 million. TKO granted Emanuel, who also is CEO of Endeavor, a base salary of $911,538, plus a $24 million cash bonus and stock awards worth $40 million in 2023, per a regulatory filing by TKO. All told, the exec’s pay package totaled $64.91 million.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify reeled in fewer new users overall than it expected in the first quarter of 2024, but the audio-streaming giant touted “record strength” in profitability. Total monthly active users (free and paid) grew 19% year over year to 615 million, a gain of 13 million from the previous quarter — which missed its guidance by 3 million. Spotify said “moderated marketing activity” led to “more normalized growth” following 2023’s record performance (when it added 26 million new MAUs in Q1).

This week’s release of Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver” (read our review) puts many of Netflix’s problems into sharp focus. Reportedly costing around $166 million to make for both films, arguably much less expensive than some big Marvel and “Star Wars” that cost around $200 million each, it’s still a significant figure for movies that have been met with massive critical derision.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix made a surprise announcement in reporting its (very good) first-quarter 2024 results this week: The streaming TV powerhouse will stop reporting quarterly subscriber figures starting in 2025. In response, Netflix shares have taken a hit: The stock is down 8.7% Friday on the news, as investors fret that the lack of visibility into the streamer’s customer numbers signals a looming slowdown in the company’s growth.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor A media consultant sued Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, alleging he is owed “at least several million dollars” for work he did related to the company’s $370 million acquisition in 2022 of Redbox, the DVD kiosk and streaming company. Keith Knee, described in his legal complaint as an advisory and consulting services professional in the media industry, filed suit against Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment on Friday, April 19, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

I never liked Tom Ripley but I keep meeting him.

Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters says internal viewership data from before and after the implementation of paid password sharing shows the new policy has not turned off viewers, as some had initially predicted it would.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos saw a 2023 compensation package valued at $49.8 million, down a hair from the year before but with one big change — he took more in stock option awards than in cash as the streamer shifts its pay policies.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter As Netflix‘s new film chief, Dan Lin’s mandate is to focus on quality — and quantity. Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos shed light on Lin’s strategy as the producer takes over film duties from Scott Stuber, who announced in January he was leaving the streamer.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix will no longer report subscriber numbers — which has been a key metric for streaming services for years — beginning with the first quarter of 2025. The company made the announcement in releasing its first-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday. Netflix handily topped expectations for subscribers net adds, gaining 9.33 million in the period, to reach nearly 270 million globally.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok says it’s going to block accounts from appearing in its algorithmically generated For You feed if they repeatedly post content that runs afoul of its updated eligibility standards. As part of a larger update to its community guidelines, TikTok is updating its For You eligibility standards.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Wall Street is betting that Netflix‘s stream machine continued to fire on all cylinders coming into 2024. After netting a whopping 13.1 million new subs in Q4, Netflix is riding a wave of momentum that continues to be buoyed by the paid-sharing strategy, as it converts password borrowers into paying members, according to analysts.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor David Porter, an ad industry veteran and former Turner exec, is joining Warner Bros. Discovery as head of ad sales research, data and insights. Porter reports to Jon Steinlauf, Warner Bros.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Wonya Lucas, former president and CEO of Hallmark Media Networks, has joined Comcast‘s board as an independent director. Comcast announced Lucas’s addition to the board, effective as of April 15, in an SEC filing Monday. She has not yet been appointed to serve as a member of any board committee, according to the filing.