Netflix Will Be to Trying to Turn Password-Sharers Into Paid Customers ‘for Some Time,’ Co-CEO Says

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor If Tom Hanks is America’s Dad, then Will Smith is the cool big brother. Smith has been a favorite of audiences and awards voters during his impressive three-decade career.

Prince William has admitted that he secretly embarked on a jog around Central Park on his visit to New York City for the Earthshot Prize this week.The Prince of Wales hailed the “inspiration and optimism” of the 2023 Earthshot Prize finalists unveiled in New York William, who is married to Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, who launched the £50 million award to encourage and support the fight against environmental challenges, said: “It’s gone better than I’d hoped”, but there was “still a lot of work to do”. Speaking during a Q&A session at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit that launched the 15 innovative finalists, the future king, who is said to have a new and "personal approach" to the monarchy, said: “As we’ve seen today, the Earthshot winners and the finalists bring that inspiration and optimism.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk may flip the switch to make X — the social network formerly known as Twitter — an entirely subscription-based platform. Musk brought up the idea of charging all users of X/Twitter during a wide-ranging conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. “[We’re] moving to a small monthly payment for use of the X system,” Musk told Netanyahu, claiming that it is the only way to eliminate the problem of bots, as reported by Bloomberg’s Dave Lee.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ari Emanuel reportedly made an offer that Elon Musk could refuse. Last year, Emanuel, chief executive officer of media and talent-representation conglomerate Endeavor, texted his friend Musk with an offer to take on the job of managing Twitter, according to “Elon Musk,” Walter Isaacson’s sprawling new biography of the techno-titan. Emanuel, in a three-paragraph text sent on the Signal encrypted messaging app, proposed that he and Endeavor would run Twitter (which is now called X) on Musk’s behalf, per Isaacson’s book.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jason Kilar, who exited as CEO of WarnerMedia after Discovery closed the acquisition of the media company last year, has joined the board of directors of online game platform Roblox. Kilar’s appointment to Roblox’s board was effective Sept. 13.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Linda Yaccarino, on her 101st day as CEO of Elon Musk’s X (aka Twitter), announced several new hires and organizational changes at the social network. New hires include Brett Weitz, who was general manager of Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT, TBS and truTV, who joins X as the new head of content, talent and brand sales.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The two Hollywood strikes that have ground TV and film productions to a standstill are bad for business — and Warner Bros. Discovery is working diligently to resolve them as quickly as possible, according to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. “It’s an unfortunate situation… We have to get back to work,” Wiedenfels said, speaking Thursday at the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney is dangling a new deal to get customers to sign up for Hulu + Live TV — before a price hike goes into effect next month. The temporary price drop for Hulu + Live TV also comes amid Disney’s ongoing contract dispute with Charter Communications, as the Mouse House has encouraged Charter’s Spectrum customers to switch to Hulu’s pay-TV package for access to ESPN and Disney’s other networks. Hulu is offering new and eligible returning subscribers Hulu (with ads) + Live TV at a discounted rate of $49.99/month for three months — that’s nearly 29% off the current $69.99/month price.

Susan Rice, who left her post as domestic policy advisor to President Biden last May, has rejoined Netflix’s board of directors.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Susan Rice has rejoined Netflix’s board of directors, after leaving the Biden administration this spring, Netflix said in an SEC filing Friday that Rice’s appointment to the board occurred on Sept. 6, effective immediately.

Popular Caribbean restaurant Jerk Junction has opened up an outdoor barbeque space to be able to serve customers for the first time since a devastating fire gutted part of its building.

Charter is locked in a distribution battle with Disney as the second-largest US cable company negotiates with the media conglomerate over how much its channels are worth and how to package them.“I apologize that our consumers have been put in the middle here, but we felt it was worth it,” Winfrey said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference. “It was the right time and that we had to say ‘enough is enough’ or else we’re going to have to move on to a different model.”ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels disappeared from Charter’s Spectrum cable service on Aug.

Charter CEO Chris Winfrey indicated that little progress has been made in the week-long carriage fight with Disney and he said a leaner, ESPN-free TV bundle “could stick” with price-sensitive Spectrum customers.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Roku, looking to rein in spending, is making its third round of layoffs within a year — pink-slipping more than 300 staffers — and will pull “select” content from its TV streaming platform. According to Roku’s 8-K filing, it will take a charge estimated to be $55 million-$65 million related to “removing select existing licensed and produced content from company-operated services on its TV streaming platform.” Roku said it does not expect any “material cash expenditures” in connection with the content-impairment charge. What content is getting the axe? A Roku rep tells Variety the company is not disclosing which titles will be removed from the Roku Channel at this time and declined to comment beyond the details in its Sept.

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said the Disney-Charter carriage dispute took a “notable” financial toll on many pay-TV stakeholders, but he touted his efforts to “modernize” the company’s distribution relationships for the streaming era.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Russian tennis pro Daniil Medvedev is as frustrated as Charter Communications’ millions of cable TV customers that he can’t watch ESPN’s U.S. Open coverage because of the operator’s carriage fight with Disney. Medvedev, one of the sport’s top-ranked players, revealed that he had resorted to piracy to watch the U.S.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts kicked off an appearance Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference by saying he’s “not completely surprised” by the Disney-Charter carriage battle.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Roku will cut more than 300 staffers — laying off 10% of its workforce — as the streaming-platform company continues its battle to control costs. In addition, Roku will remove certain licensed and owned content from its platform as part of a “strategic review of its content portfolio,” resulting in an impairment charge of up to $65 million in the current quarter, the company disclosed in an SEC filing Wednesday. Other cost-cutting measures Roku outlined are consolidating office space and reducing outside services expenses.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney is offering a significant discount on the ad-supported version of Disney+, as it looks to drive up subscribers for the package before the end of the current quarter. Starting Sept. 6 and running through Sept.

Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters, who oversaw the launch of Netflix in Japan in a previous exec role, said the strong debut of the series One Piece cleared “a very high bar” and attests to the company’s “evolving” content approach.