Barry Diller: Actor/Writer Strikes Could Lead to Hollywood’s ‘Absolute Collapse

[JWags85]

Not to worry, the EXTREMELY likable Rachel Zegler is here to save the day for Disney!

(I'm actually a huge Disney fan, have Disney Junior on most of the day in the background of my household, can separate the absurdity of Disney Adults and nosebleed prices from the ability to actually really enjoy Disney parks...I don't care about woke aspects as much as needlessly butchering source material into a Frankenstein version of a movie for no reason.  Little Mermaid was fine, but the new Snow White is beyond silly, at that point just make a new movie, don't be lazy like the rest of Hollywood, Disney is better than that.  Oh and don't cast a sneering 22 year old who hates the source material and thinks shes smarter and more cultured than everyone else and can't help but share that in EVERY interview.

[Not A Serious Person]

*AMAZON IN TALKS WITH DISNEY ABOUT ESPN STREAMING: INFORMATION

Amazon has had early talks with Disney about working on the streaming version of ESPN it is developing, said people familiar with the matter. The tech giant could offer the service through one of its streaming offerings, helping to expand its distribution, while possibly also taking a minority stake in ESPN.

Such an arrangement could shore up ESPN’s status as the biggest force in sports media, even as declining TV viewership and advertising, combined with rising sports programming costs, have squeezed the sports channel and Disney, its majority owner. It could also reposition the tech behemoth, which has been trying to make a dent in sports streaming, as more friend than foe to ESPN. And it could weaken the sports leagues’ bargaining power.

ESPN is considering charging between $20 and $35 a month for the new streaming service, said people familiar with the matter, a potential price range that could make it the most expensive streaming service in the U.S. and add pressure on already-stagnant growth in the streaming sector.

The new service would show the same marquee programming as ESPN's cable channel, unlike the existing ESPN+ streaming service which shows niche sports and which would likely be a part of the new offering. Executives at Disney and ESPN are still doing research to determine what sort of price makes the most sense for this new service, the people cautioned.

Amazon is one of a number of companies that have shown interest in an ESPN partnership, the people said. Verizon has also expressed interest in a distribution partnership, as The Information previously reported. Amazon didn't immediately have a comment.

Much is at stake for both Disney and the sports world. The future shape of ESPN could affect the value of sports leagues and teams and determine how fans can watch their favorite teams and athletes, according to conversations with nearly 30 current and former Disney and ESPN employees, sports leagues representatives, investors, bankers and tech executives. Disney CEO Bob Iger has said a streaming version of ESPN is inevitable but hasn’t set a date for the service’s launch. It would likely operate in parallel with the cable channel indefinitely.

ESPN’s survival as a profitable behemoth is vital for Disney. The sports network has been a major profit engine for the entertainment giant for many years, helping to fund its key acquisitions over the past two decades, Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm. But there are signs that ESPN’s financial contributions have been on the wane. Profits from Disney’s U.S. networks, which include ESPN as well as ABC and other cable channels, fell nearly 20% in the first three quarters of Disney’s fiscal year, which the company blamed on rising sports costs and declining cable subscribers. The picture is mixed, however. In the most recent quarter, Disney emphasized that ESPN’s TV ad revenue rose 4% as TV ratings improved.

Iger has said he is open to selling Disney’s traditional entertainment networks, such as ABC and FX. But he has made it clear that sports is key to Disney and he wants to retain control of the sports network.

It’s possible that Disney could strike multiple partnerships for ESPN, including with multiple sports leagues for content and a tech or telecom firm for distribution, the people said.
Just under 30% of the sports channel is up for grabs in the partnership discussions. Disney wants to retain control of the network, while existing 20% shareholder Hearst Corp. will keep its stake, people familiar with the matter said. A 30% stake in ESPN could be worth $9 billion, based on a valuation put on ESPN of between $25 billion and $35 billion by multiple current and former Disney and ESPN insiders. While Iger has said Disney doesn’t need a cash infusion, he hasn’t ruled out the idea of selling a stake for cash.

An equity stake in ESPN could be valuable for a number of different companies, said George Pyne, a sports media and technology investor and former NASCAR executive and director. The ESPN brand is “a point of differentiation and distinction” for streaming technology partners, he said.

Up for Grabs

Disney and ESPN have also been in early talks with sports leagues including the NFL, NBA and MLB about adding new content to the service. That would include live sports and original scripted and unscripted programming that ESPN does not currently have the rights to, said people familiar with the matter. The price for the service could rise above $35 if ESPN is able to add a significant amount of new content, they added.

The leagues are open to striking new content arrangements in exchange for equity in the business, the people said. But sports leagues are not likely to give ESPN a discount on existing and upcoming live sports rights, people familiar with the matter said. Those rights now cost Disney around $10 billion a year and the total cost will likely rise if Disney renews its rights to carry the NBA and college sports, as expected. To be sure, Iger has said Disney and ESPN will be more disciplined about the sports rights they compete for. As a sign of that, ESPN walked away from renewing its contract with the Big Ten, one of the top conferences in college sports, last year.

League executives say ESPN’s deteriorating TV economics aren’t their problem. They believe they can continue to increase the money they generate from licensing sports rights by striking deals with tech giants including Amazon, Apple and Google-owned YouTube, multiple sports league executives told The Information.

However, Disney and ESPN executives believe the sports network is in a better negotiating position than the leagues realize. The sports network could argue that it will soon have locked up all of the top-tier U.S. sports rights—namely, the NFL, the NBA and the college football playoffs—for years. ESPN’s current deal with the NFL, signed in 2021, runs through the next decade.

ESPN is very likely to retain rights to NBA games, which are currently up for renewal in an early, exclusive negotiating window, said people familiar with the matter. It also expects to retain rights to the college football playoffs, which will have new deals by 2026, people familiar with the matter said. ESPN believes if it gets all these deals, tech firms that want to expand their efforts in live sports may need to strike a deal with it or otherwise stick to smaller, niche sports.

Several tech firms, including Apple and Google's YouTube, have bought up rights to some sports. Amazon’s most notable live sports offering is the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” package, which it has rights to for the next decade. Amazon is also broadcasting NBA games in Brazil and streams some New York Yankees games locally. Apple, meanwhile, has exclusive rights to all Major League Soccer matches along with some MLB regular-season games. And YouTube bought the rights to the NFL's Sunday Ticket.

So far, the tech firms haven’t made a huge impact on sports. Ratings for Amazon’s NFL Thursday night games last season were lower than when they were on traditional TV. Lately, tech firms have signaled they won’t be a pushover in negotiating for the leagues. Amazon’s global head of sports, Jay Marine, said on a recent press call regarding its upcoming season of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” that Amazon will be “aggressive, but we’ll also be rational” when it comes to future live sports deals.

Still, the tech firms remain interested in expanding in sports. Apple, for instance, has had conversations with the NBA about potentially creating a new streaming hub for live sports, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Apple declined to comment.

ESPN could be helpful to the tech firms’ own sports-streaming offerings, said one person familiar with the situation. For instance, in recent weeks Apple made a bid for the Pac-12 college football rights, valued at $23 million per year, said a person familiar with the matter. As part of its bid, Apple wanted the Pac-12 to produce the actual broadcasts, a similar arrangement to what it has with Major League Soccer, according to people familiar with the matter. ESPN has a production apparatus that could be useful to Apple, people said.

If Iger sells ABC, that could complicate ESPN’s ambitions to remain dominant in sports. The broadcast network still airs some NBA games, including the finals, and other live sports available through ESPN. Sports leagues still value the reach provided by ABC, which as a broadcast network can reach more people than cable.

In the NBA’s current early negotiations with ESPN on its next TV contracts, the league has emphasized that it wants more games to air on ABC, said people familiar with the matter. Other sports leagues have also indicated how much distribution on ABC in particular matters to them. But those requests could be difficult for Disney to meet if it sells ABC.

Iger acknowledged earlier this month that separating ABC from ESPN would be complicated. But it’s “nothing that we feel we can’t contend with if we were to ultimately create strategic alignment” in new deals for ESPN, he added.

[Uncle Rico]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkaqvn/tim-ballards-departure-from-operation-underground-railroad-followed-sexual-misconduct-investigation

[jficke13]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkaqvn/tim-ballards-departure-from-operation-underground-railroad-followed-sexual-misconduct-investigation

fry-shocked-not-shocked.gif

[MU82]

https://apnews.com/article/oppenheimer-box-office-success-christopher-nolan-imax-413bc36ac6ae68f422c06c9b1cc0ab0a?user_email=6647dfa7189f748384d7389910f7b584c6fcfc35ae990102964c7e826d4175c7&utm_medium=Afternoon_Wire&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=AfternoonWire_Sept19_2023&utm_term=Afternoon%20Wire

Hopes were always high for Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” The studio knew the film was great, and commercial. But no one in the industry expected that a long, talky, R-rated drama released at the height of the summer movie season would earn over $900 million at the box office.

[mu_hilltopper]

Oppenheimer was showing at a local theater for about 2 weeks and disappeared.

Tired of reading about box office revenue records, without the context of tickets sold.

In 20 years, Pee Wee's Big Adventure 2 will come out and make $900m, paying $50 a ticket.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Oppenheimer was showing at a local theater for about 2 weeks and disappeared.

Tired of reading about box office revenue records, without the context of tickets sold.

In 20 years, Pee Wee's Big Adventure 2 will come out and make $900m, paying $50 a ticket.

Sultan.

Pee Wee is dead.  Hate to break the bad news to you.

[mu_hilltopper]

Sultan.

Pee Wee is dead.  Hate to break the bad news to you.

In 20 years all the movies will be done by AI holograms, so no worries.

[MU82]

Screenwriters reach deal with Hollywood studios, getting just about everything they wanted.

Actors are still on strike, though, so production still won't be up and running again.

[MU82]

Actors have settled. Like the writers, they got a very good contract.

The end of the writers' strike quickly led to the return of SNL, late night talk shows, etc. With the actors now also in the fold, production can resume on films, TV shows and other entertainment.

And here's something truly amazing ...

Hollywood hasn't "absolutely collapsed" yet.

[Uncle Rico]

Actors have settled. Like the writers, they got a very good contract.

The end of the writers' strike quickly led to the return of SNL, late night talk shows, etc. With the actors now also in the fold, production can resume on films, TV shows and other entertainment.

And here's something truly amazing ...

Hollywood hasn't "absolutely collapsed" yet.

It will because it’s woke

[tower912]

And doomed.

[Lennys Tap]

It will because it’s woke

Hypocritically woke serial sexual assaulters - but yeah.

[Jockey]

Hypocritically woke serial sexual assaulters - but yeah.

A republican throwing the words “serial sexual assaulters” around made me chuckle.

[Uncle Rico]

Hypocritically woke serial sexual assaulters - but yeah.

We’re not taking about evangelicals

[tower912]

Plenty of inappropriateness to go around.

[Pakuni]

Hypocritically woke serial sexual assaulters - but yeah.

Sound of Freedom, aina?