South Korean pop band BTS appeared at Tuesday’s White House press briefing to make a short statement in advance of their meeting with President Joe Biden.
12.05.2022 - 02:39 / thewrap.com
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.
“And so, what we’re doing is sort of putting one foot on the dock if you will, and one foot on the boat right now. But we know that at some point when it’s going to be good for our shareholders, we’ll be able to fully go into an ESPN DTC offering the way that you described, and we fully believe that there is a business model there for us that’s going to enable us to regain growth on ESPN+, in a full DTC expression.
But at that point, obviously, that will have ramifications on immediate cash flow that we get from our legacy linear networks.”Currently, ESPN+ does exist as a limited standalone service, however for those who want to see games that air on the broadcast ESPN networks, they’ll need a cable package. Currently, ESPN+ is part of the Hulu bundle (which also includes Disney+ and access to more live sports offerings).
A full stand-alone service would presumably be an all-in-one platform with all ESPN’s programming.Chapek declined to address profitability models on the investor call, but said that if they do go forward making ESPN+ a la carte, he expects it to be very attractive to sports-loving consumers.“But I can tell you that it will be the ultimate fan offering that will appeal to super fans that really love sports,” he said. “And I think
.South Korean pop band BTS appeared at Tuesday’s White House press briefing to make a short statement in advance of their meeting with President Joe Biden.
“Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapon legally.”
Jussie Smollett has launched his directorial debut with BET+ "B-Boy Blues." The LGBTQ+ centered show will debut on the streaming network June 9, just in time for Pride Month. This project marks the first for Smollett since he was found guilty of making false reports on what he alleged to be a hate crime.
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDonald Trump’s media company plans to launch a subscription-streaming service stocked with a range of right-wing content — including “shows that embrace the Second Amendment” and “Trump-specific programming” — a Netflix-style offering squarely pitched at his MAGA followers.The new programming focus for Trump’s prospective subscription VOD service was outlined Friday in a regulatory filing by Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that intends to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group.Trump’s company earlier this year launched Truth Social, a rival social networking service very similar to Twitter (from which the twice-impeached former president was banned following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S.
Caitlin Quinlan “I don’t think you ever have to be fearful when you’re writing a film,” says Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani ahead of the premiere of her second feature “The Blue Caftan” in Un Certain Regard.Following the relationship between husband and wife Halim and Mina who have kept Halim’s homosexuality a secret for many years, the film takes an important stand against the homophobia of Morocco and its anti-LGTBQ laws. “In Morocco, homosexuality is illegal and I don’t have words to describe how it makes me feel.
Cristiano Ronaldo's girlfriend, Georgina Rodriguez, made her first public appearance since she and the Manchester United soccer star announced the death of their infant son. Rodriguez took to Instagram to share some snaps from the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Going glam! Cristiano Ronaldo’s girlfriend, Georgina Rodríguez, stepped out for her first public appearance after losing her son during labor earlier this year.
The NFL has reportedly decided to bring mobile streaming in-house, creating an owned-and-operated service called NFL+ to provide in-market live streams of games on mobile devices.
In 2021, the Cannes film festival programmed movies from an unprecedented number of women and people of color, more than in any other year. Director Julia Ducournau won the Palme d’Or for her film Titane, becoming only the second woman to do so. This win gave people hope that maybe change was coming from the white, male-dominated festival.
Tom Cruise revealed "Top Gun: Maverick" would "never" make its theatrical debut on a streaming network despite years of setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cruise and the "Top Gun" team touched down at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday afternoon for the European premiere, a spectacle that included eight fighter jets flying high above the Palais, with red and blue smoke streaming from behind to match the colors of the French flag.
Judge Robin Thicke thinks he’s solved another mystery in the season finale of Fox’s “The Masked Singer.”In this exclusive sneak peek at Wednesday night’s episode, the show’s season finale, Thicke adds up all the clues and comes up with a definitive answer on who he thinks The Prince is (the one in the frog costume). Check out the clip below to watch Thicke layout the evidence.Heading into the season finale, Firefly, Ringmaster and The Prince are still in the game.
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, proclaimed the merged company as essentially the fifth broadcast network, and repeated his vow that the company would overcome any skepticism about its prospects.
football season, a new Australian Open agreement and two new “30 for 30” documentaries were announced Tuesday by ESPN as part of its presentation to advertisers in New York.ABC has a doubleheader on Sept. 3 to kick off the season. Georgia will face Oregon in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in Atlanta at 3:30 p.m.
Queen Elizabeth II was hard to miss when she showed up at Paddington Station in London, England, on Tuesday. Her Majesty was dressed in a canary yellow suit and matching hat as she gleefully walked with a cane through the underground station to buy the first ticket for a railway line named after her. The queen was escorted by her youngest son, Prince Edward, who was expected to attend the opening of the railway line on his own. Pics from the big day were even shared on Her Majesty's Instagram.
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.
The Jonas Brothers will go down in pop culture history for many things, but fans will never forget their purity ring days!
a 200,000 drop in subscribers — its first loss in more than a decade — and warned of steeper declines ahead as layoffs have already begun.“Our strong results in the second quarter, including fantastic performance at our domestic parks and continued growth of our streaming services—with 7.9 million Disney+ subscribers added in the quarter and total subscriptions across all our DTC offerings exceeding 205 million—once again proved that we are in a league of our own,” said Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek. “As we look ahead to Disney’s second century, I am confident we will continue to transform entertainment by combining extraordinary storytelling with innovative technology to create an even larger, more connected, and magical Disney universe for families and fans around the world.”The announcement ripped through Wall Street, as investors began reevaluating the industry’s aggressive shift into streaming subscriptions.
EXCLUSIVE: Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, and RLJE Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, have partnered on the newest Shudder Original Film, Destroy All Neighbors. From music-video and commercial director Josh Forbes and starring Jonah Ray Rodrigues (Mystery Science Theater 3000) and Alex Winter (Bill and Ted franchise) who also produce.
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Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTelevisaUnivision reached a deal with Hemisphere Media Group to acquire Pantaya, a U.S. streaming platform for Spanish-language movies and TV series, picking up the rival streamer to bolster the ViX service.The companies didn’t disclose a value for the Pantaya deal.