DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY

[wabbott]

https://deadline.com/2023/04/abc-news-nate-silver-disney-layoffs-1235336747/

Nate Silver To Depart ABC News As Layoffs Continue
Ted Johnson
4/25/23

Nate Silver is departing ABC News as the news division continues a round of layoffs that began last month.

The FiveThirtyEight founder wrote on Twitter: “Disney layoffs have substantially impacted FiveThirtyEight. I am sad and disappointed to a degree that’s kind of hard to express right now. We’ve been at Disney almost 10 years. My contract is up soon, and I expect that I’ll be leaving at the end of it.

“I had been worried about an outcome like this and so have had some great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere. Don’t hesitate to get in touch. I am so proud of the work of FiveThirtyEight staff. It has never been easy. I’m so sorry to the people impacted by this.”

The news division began a phased rollout of job reductions in late March, impacting about 50 people total.

FiveThirtyEight editor Chadwick Matlin also was among those being laid off. Matlin wrote on Twitter: “I’ve spent 9.5 years at FiveThirtyEight, but won’t make it 10. I was laid off today as part of Disney’s cuts. My colleagues and I built a website out of nothing, and journalism changed because of it. There are worse legacies. More reflections to come once things shake out.”

The network will retain the FiveThirtyEight brand, with plans to operate it with a different organizational structure for the 2024 campaign cycle.

An ABC News spokesperson said, “ABC News remains dedicated to data journalism with a core focus on politics, the economy and enterprise reporting – this streamlined structure will allow us to be more closely aligned with our priorities for the 2024 election and beyond. We are grateful for the invaluable contributions of the team members who will be departing the organization and know they will continue to make an important impact on the future of journalism.”

FiveThirtyEight was founded in 2008, and it became an online destination for political polling gurus and a general audience as elections approached. Silver brought the blog to ESPN in 2013, and it was moved to ABC News in 2018.

Disney has been going through rounds of layoffs in recent weeks, with plans to eliminate 7,000 positions.

The first phase of the layoffs on March 30 saw the departure of a number of senior executives as ABC News President Kim Godwin restructured her leadership team.

 

[wabbott]

https://deadline.com/2023/04/disney...cripted-marc-buhaj-alicia-martino-1235336554/

Disney TV Layoffs: Cuts In Unscripted Lead Day 2
By Peter White, Nellie Andreeva
April 25, 2023 1:25pm PDT

Day 2 of Disney’s second wave of layoffs has involved staff reduction in unscripted/alternative and PR so far. We will update with more as we hear today.

On the unscripted side, leaving are Alicia Martino, VP, Alternative Series at Walt Disney Television Alternative and Marc Buhaj, VP, Unscripted Series and Specials, Disney Branded Television.

Also leaving are Claire McCabe, VP, Brand Partnerships and Kids and Meghan de Boer, Executive Director, Brand Partnerships and Kids. The pair were promoted last year as part of a restructuring of Disney Branded Television’s unscripted and non-fiction arm.

George Monas, an unscripted production executive at Freeform, is also leaving.

On the PR Side, departing as part of the layoffs is Ryan Aguirre Executive, Director, Publicity, at Disney Television Studios.

Martino, who has worked on series including the early seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and CBS’ Love Island, was part of the Rob Mills-run Walt Disney Television Alternative studio, developing unscripted series and specials for ABC and other Disney platforms.

Buhaj, who was behind the recently announced Disney+ docuseries Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All, oversaw a non-fiction slate of documentaries, formats and specials for Disney+, and unscripted series and specials for Disney Channels. His team is being reduced, with the remaining members reporting to Disney Branded Entertainment EVP Charlie Andrews.

A Disney veteran of over 15 years, Buhaj was previously was SVP, Programming and General Manager of Disney XD.

The second round of Disney layoffs kicked off yesterday, impacting ABC and Freeform’s executive ranks, with each of the networks consolidating development and current under the same executives, resulting in several prominent departures. Also affected were Disney Television Studios marketing, which was dissolved, with its leaders and a number of team members leaving; and the 20th Television and ABC Signature music operations, which were combined, along with Disney cable networks’ scheduling activities. There were also a number of development and current executives as well as coordinators at the two studios and ABC that departed.

 

[wabbott]

https://deadline.com/2023/04/disney-layoffs-film-searchlight-1235337757/

Disney Layoffs On Film Side Include Story, Distribution, Marketing Departments; Searchlight & More
By Anthony D'Alessandro
Editorial Director/Box Office Editor
April 25, 2023 7:57pm

EXCLUSIVE: As Disney cuts 4K staffers across the conglomerate in a goal to reach $5.5 billion in savings, Deadline has learned that on the feature side, those being laid off were largely comprised of mid-level and coordinator staffers.

Among those departments hit were Searchlight, as well as general Disney marketing, PR, distribution, legal, and the 20th and Disney story departments.

Those wiping their brows, and ducking the ax include many prolific executives.

While those being effected were everyone from two-decade vets to frosh staffers, one insider tells Deadline that it wasn’t a bloodbath akin to when Disney absorbed 20th Century Fox.

In the story department, eight employees were cut, some who came over from 20th Century Fox. Employees were given notice today in meetings with HR and department heads.

Deadline hears that those dismissed were given 60 days notice, however, they must work for a duration of their employment with a week of severance pay. In previous layoffs, those let go were not expected to work and still received pay when given notice.

That said, given that many of the impacted individuals are union employees, their severance is determined by the collective bargaining agreement and years of service. Disney aims to give those fired as much flexibility as possible during the 60-day period so they can look for other jobs.

On the Searchlight side, those departments impacted were legal, production, PR and marketing. When Disney merged with 20th, Searchlight was largely unaffected. They swelled post merger as former CEO Bob Chapek pivoted Disney toward streaming, and now the 20th classic arthouse label is back at a pre-merger number of employees, that being in the 100+ staffer range.

Other cuts are coming. To date, Pixar in Emeryville, CA has been untouched.

Disney didn’t return Deadline’s request for comment.

 

[wabbott]

Local reporting on cancellation of National Treasure

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_r...a52-5ba422c19f1d.html#tncms-source=featured-3

'National Treasure,' which spent over $56 million while filming in Louisiana, canceled by Disney+
JUDY BERGERON | Staff writer
4/25/23

After one, 10-episode season filmed in Louisiana, "National Treasure: Edge of History" has been canceled.
Deadline.com and Variety.com first reported the cancellation on Friday.

The Disney+ series, heavily shot in Baton Rouge during early 2022, spent an estimated $56,117,298 in Louisiana, $17,010,739 of that on its local payroll, according to Katie Patton Pryor, executive director of the Baton Rouge Film Commission.

"Of course we are disappointed there will not be a second season, but we are forever grateful that our beautiful city will always be part of this notable franchise," Pryor said Monday.

During the season, which debuted on the streaming service Dec. 14, 2022, viewers caught glimpses of the USS KIDD Veterans Museum, the City Club, the former Chase Bank building, the Old Governor's Mansion, the Old State Capitol, Squeaky Pete's, the Garden District, Ideal Market on Burbank and Celtic Studios.

Based on the “National Treasure” film franchise starring Nicolas Cage, Disney’s TV adaptation followed treasure hunter Jess Venezuela. After a stranger gives her a tip about a centuries-old treasure possibly connected to her father, she and her friends set out on the hunt. Lisette Olivera, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Zuri Reed, Antonio Cipriano, Jordan Rodrigues, Jake Austin Walker and Lyndon Smith were among the cast.

The Jerry Bruckheimer-led adventure/mystery show brought cast and crew to Baton Rouge from January through June. About 2,500 extras from the community were used.

"Oh, I love "Oh, I love Louisiana," series lead Lisette Olivera said during a media visit to Celtic Studios to see the indoor sets and observe filming. "The first time I landed, I was treated really kindly by everyone that passed by. So you guys are very friendly people."

Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, who also wrote the first two films, co-created the series.

 

[RivShore]

@wabbott have you been keeping count of the layoff articles? There has to have been more than 7000 covering these 7000 layoffs. The non-stop press, good and bad, this company gets is incredible.

 

[Jrb1979]

@wabbott have you been keeping count of the layoff articles? There has to have been more than 7000 covering these 7000 layoffs. The non-stop press, good and bad, this company gets is incredible.

It drives me nuts. Mainly cause there is more then Disney out there in regards to parks. Some of them a doing amazing things including Universal.

 

[wabbott]

https://deadline.com/2023/04/disney-layoffs-20th-digital-studio-d23-day-3-1235338152/

Disney Layoffs: Disney Branded Television Exec Leaving, 20th Digital Studio Folding, D23 Team Downsizing – Update
By Nellie Andreeva, Peter White
April 26, 2023 3:19pm

UPDATED: We are in Day 3 of Disney’s second round of layoffs, which has included a senior level programming executive at Disney Branded Television. Additionally, we are including a couple of cuts that happened Tuesday but got lost in the flurry of staff reductions. We will continued update with more as layoff news comes in throughout the day.

Reena Singh is leaving as SVP Development and Current Series for Disney Branded Television. Singh moved to the division more than two years ago from 20th Television where she was SVP Current Programming. At Disney, she has been a member of the Creative Inclusion Council, which creates new content practices for inclusive storytelling. Also leaving is Amanda DiPiazza, Executive Director, Current Series, Disney Branded Television.

Multiple Disney TV divisions have folded their current series operations into development during the current wave of layoffs. Freeform consolidated development and current, with SVP Julie Jarmon leaving; ABC combined drama development and current, with SVP Stacey Adams departing.

Also leaving is Kelsey DiLaura, manager, development at FX, as well as multiple managers at Marvel, I hear.

Digital content division 20th Digital Studio, led by EVP David Worthen Brooks, has been dissolved. Brooks will be transitioning into a first-look deal with Hulu, 20th Digital’s main distributor, as an independent producer.

Founded in 2008 as Fox Digital Studio and acquired by Disney as part of the $71.3 billion 2019 deal for key Fox assets, 20th Digital Studio, most recently part of Disney General Entertainment Content, developed, funded and produced short-form, branded and digital genre content from emerging filmmakers.

It is known for the Bite Size Halloween shorts, for which the unit signed a deal with Hulu last year to turn into nine horror features.

Also hit by layoffs was D23, the official fan club for the Walt Disney Co. Founded in 2009, the organization is mostly known for the biennial D23 Expo fan confab, with the next one slated for September.

The size of the cuts is in the double-digits, with some sources indicating that as much as a quarter of the staff or more was affected amid speculation that the division may be restructured.

Also departing as part of the layoffs is Jerrell Jimerson, Chief Product Officer, Disney Streaming, Disney+, Star+, and Hulu. He has been at Disney since 2018, involved in the Disney+ launch, and before that was Chief Product Officer for BAMTech, which Disney acquired.

The second round of Disney layoffs so far has impacted a number of TV and film divisions, including ABC, Freeform, ABC Signature, 20th Television, Disney+, Disney Branded Entertainment, Hulu, Disney TV Animation, Walt Disney Television Alternative and Searchlight, with Disney Television Studios marketing and first-run syndication among the units getting dissolved and a number of areas being consolidated.

 

[wabbott]

https://deadline.com/2023/04/disney...rnelia-frame-leaves-consolidation-1235339668/

Disney TV Layoffs: Cornelia Frame Leaves Amid Casting Consolidation; Fellow Disney Veteran Roger Kirman Also Departs
By Nellie Andreeva
Co-Editor-in-Chief, TV
April 27, 2023 12:40pm PDT

UPDATED: Disney is set to wrap up its second round of layoffs today. Because of the sheer volume of the cuts, impacting thousands of staffers in the past couple of days, information on departures from the last couple of days is still trickling out. We will update with more news as we get it.

Among those leaving is a Disney fixture, Cornelia Frame, most recently VP of Casting and Talent Relations at Disney Branded Television.

Casting for Disney Branded Television is being added to the portfolio of EVP Casting Sharon Klein, who already oversees the casting teams of ABC Entertainment, 20th Television, ABC Signature, 20th Television Animation, Walt Disney Television Unscripted, Hulu Originals and Freeform. Brenda Kelly-Grant, Disney Branded Television’s SVP and head of Casting and Talent Relations, will now report to Klein.

Frame started at Disney Channel 18 years ago as Director of Casting & Talent Relations and was promoted to VP in 2018. Over the years has worked with such young starts as Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Dylan Sprouse, Cole Sprouse, Zendaya, Olivia Rodrigo and many others.

Also leaving in the current wave of layoffs is Roger Kirman, VP, Business Affairs at ABC Signature where he has worked for nearly 20 years. During his tenure, he has served as a BA executive on such hit shows as Desperate Housewives, Lost and Criminal Minds. Kirman, who practiced law and served as SVP Business Affairs at Big Ticket Television before joining Disney, is retiring.

Frame and Kirman, who are both well liked by their peers, are two of many longtime Disney executives with tenures spanning decades who are leaving this week in the mass company layoffs.

 

[wabbott]

It drives me nuts. Mainly cause there is more then Disney out there in regards to parks. Some of them a doing amazing things including Universal.

To be fair DIS isn't the only content creator/hi-tech biz trimming payrolls.

https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-sweeping-the-us-these-are-the-companies-making-cuts-2023

Dropbox and Gap are the latest to slash jobs amid a layoff wave expanding beyond tech. Here's the full list of major US companies making cuts this year.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/27/comcast-cmcsa-q1-2023-earnings-.html

Comcast beats estimates despite slowing broadband growth, higher Peacock losses
Published Thu, Apr 27 20237:01 AM EDT

Lillian Rizzo@Lilliannnn

Key Points

• Comcast’s first quarter earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations.
• Still, the company saw a year-over-year drop in its residential broadband subscribers as it continues to face heightened competition.
• Peacock losses grew, as the company warned last quarter, although the streaming service’s subscriber base was up 60% year-over-year to 22 million.

Comcast topped analyst expectations with its first-quarter earnings report Thursday, despite the cable and media giant’s residential broadband business’s slowing growth and mounting Peacock losses.

Shares of the company closed 10% higher Thursday.

Here’s how Comcast performed, compared with estimates from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv:

• Earnings per share: 92 cents adjusted vs. 82 cents expected
• Revenue: $29.69 billion vs. $29.3 billion expected

For the quarter ended March 31, Comcast reported earnings of $3.83 billion, or 91 cents per share, compared with $3.55 billion, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, Comcast posted earnings per share of 92 cents for the most recent period.

Revenue dropped 4% to $29.69 billion from $31.01 billion in the prior-year period, with the company noting that last year it had broadcast both the Super Bowl and Beijing Olympics during the first quarter.

The Philadelphia company said its first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 3% to $9.42 billion during the first quarter.

Comcast said it returned $3.2 billion to shareholders in the quarter through a mix of $1.2 billion in dividend payments and $2 billion in share repurchases.

Comcast had 21,000 fewer residential broadband customers year-over-year at the end of the three-month period, adding just 3,000 during the quarter. It received a slight boost from its business customers. Company executives had warned earlier this year that Comcast was likely to lose broadband subscribers in the first quarter.

Still, it was a sign that Comcast, like its peers, continues to face slowing growth in the broadband business. Executives have said that, while the loss rate of customers is very low, growth has stagnated – especially since the early days of the Covid pandemic – as they face heightened competition from telecom and wireless providers.

Comcast executives said on Thursday’s earnings call that the company expects adding subscribers to likely be a challenge in the near term, but will focus on average revenue per user to grow revenue for the segment.

The Xfinity mobile business grew to nearly 5.67 million customers during the quarter, a sign that its wireless service – which is provided in conjunction with an agreement to use Verizon’s network – remains a bright spot.

Cable TV customers continued their exodus from the traditional bundle, with Comcast losing 614,000 subscribers during the quarter.

Last month, Comcast announced it was changing how it reported its segments, now grouping its Xfinity-branded broadband, cable TV and wireless services with its U.K.-based Sky, which includes pay TV services and Sky-branded entertainment TV channels to form the “connectivity and platforms” segment. Total revenue for the segment was about $20.15 billion, a slight drop from the last quarter due to the impact of foreign currency.

The second segment, content and experiences, includes all of NBCUniversal’s TV and streaming business, the international networks and Sky Sports channels, as well as its film studios and theme parks units. Overall revenue for the segment was down nearly 10% to $10.26 billion in the quarter.

The media business’ revenue took a dip in the first quarter, with it dropping about 20% to $6.15 billion, due to its comparison last year, when NBC aired the Super Bowl and had the rights to the Beijing Olympics for its TV networks and Peacock. Still, Comcast said excluding the $1.5 billion incremental revenue from these two major sporting events, media revenue was still down about 2%.

The tightening ad market showed on Comcast’s balance sheet this quarter, as it has for peers like Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery. Excluding the Olympics and Super Bowl – two events that generate a lot of ad revenue – domestic advertising during the quarter was down about 6% driven by lower TV network revenue and a TV ratings decline.

Domestic TV distribution revenue was up, excluding the Olympics, which Comcast noted was primarily due to higher revenue at Peacock, which had more paid subscribers.

Comcast said Peacock subscribers grew more than 60% year over year to 22 million, and revenue was up 45% to $685 million. Peacock had $704 million in losses, compared with losses of $456 million in the same period last year.

Last quarter, the company noted Peacock losses would amount to about $3 billion this year. The streaming service’s costs continued to weigh on the media segment’s earnings. Executives said Thursday they were “encouraged” by Peacock’s results, and following the expected peak losses this year will see a steady improvement. Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said the company had the confidence Peacock would “break even and grow from there.”

NBCUniversal’s film segment got a boost from the animated “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and horror flick “M3GAN,” during the quarter, with revenue up nearly 2% to $2.96 billion.

Both Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Cavanagh touted NBCUniversal’s animation film business on Thursday’s call, with the success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was released earlier this month. This week it surpassed $900 million at the global box office, including $444 million domestically.

“We’ve had tremendous success creating franchises,” Roberts said on Thursday’s call, noting the “Despicable Me” and “Shrek” franchises. “These are the results of the strategic decisions we made years ago to become a leader in animation and the conviction to invest in the business in the pandemic.”

Cavanagh noted that NBCUniversal’s “Jurassic Park,” “Minions” and “Halloween” installments last year helped boost its box office.

“We’re really proud of our animation business,” Cavanagh said Thursday.

NBCUniversal’s upcoming film slate includes next month’s “Fast X,” the next installment in the popular “Fast and Furious” franchise, as well as Christopher Nolan’s next epic, “Oppenheimer,” about the scientist who led the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. It will be released in July.

The company’s theme park segment kept on rolling higher, especially since the shutdowns of parks during the height of the pandemic, with revenue up 25% to $1.95 billion. Revenue was boosted by international parks, which were still weighed down by pandemic restrictions last year. The opening of Super Nintendo World helped boost revenue, too.

Earlier this week, NBCUniversal faced a shake-up with the ouster of CEO Jeff Shell due to a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint filed by an employee. Roberts addressed the matter at the start of Thursday’s call, saying it was “obviously a tough moment” for the company but noting his confidence in NBCUniversal’s leadership team, which will now report to Cavanagh.

“Think of me as being here for awhile,” Cavanagh said regarding his future as overseeing the NBCUniversal team. He noted during the call he’s been close to the business since joining Comcast nearly eight years ago and has been “deeply involved for a long time.”

Investors also shouldn’t expect to see NBCUniversal “revisiting strategy” as a result of Shell’s departure alone, and instead would react “as the environment changes.”

 

[clarker99]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/27/comcast-cmcsa-q1-2023-earnings-.html

Comcast beats estimates despite slowing broadband growth, higher Peacock losses
Published Thu, Apr 27 20237:01 AM EDT

Lillian Rizzo@Lilliannnn

Key Points

• Comcast’s first quarter earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations.
• Still, the company saw a year-over-year drop in its residential broadband subscribers as it continues to face heightened competition.
• Peacock losses grew, as the company warned last quarter, although the streaming service’s subscriber base was up 60% year-over-year to 22 million.

Comcast topped analyst expectations with its first-quarter earnings report Thursday, despite the cable and media giant’s residential broadband business’s slowing growth and mounting Peacock losses.

Shares of the company closed 10% higher Thursday.

Here’s how Comcast performed, compared with estimates from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv:

• Earnings per share: 92 cents adjusted vs. 82 cents expected
• Revenue: $29.69 billion vs. $29.3 billion expected

For the quarter ended March 31, Comcast reported earnings of $3.83 billion, or 91 cents per share, compared with $3.55 billion, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, Comcast posted earnings per share of 92 cents for the most recent period.

Revenue dropped 4% to $29.69 billion from $31.01 billion in the prior-year period, with the company noting that last year it had broadcast both the Super Bowl and Beijing Olympics during the first quarter.

The Philadelphia company said its first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 3% to $9.42 billion during the first quarter.

Comcast said it returned $3.2 billion to shareholders in the quarter through a mix of $1.2 billion in dividend payments and $2 billion in share repurchases.

Comcast had 21,000 fewer residential broadband customers year-over-year at the end of the three-month period, adding just 3,000 during the quarter. It received a slight boost from its business customers. Company executives had warned earlier this year that Comcast was likely to lose broadband subscribers in the first quarter.

Still, it was a sign that Comcast, like its peers, continues to face slowing growth in the broadband business. Executives have said that, while the loss rate of customers is very low, growth has stagnated – especially since the early days of the Covid pandemic – as they face heightened competition from telecom and wireless providers.

Comcast executives said on Thursday’s earnings call that the company expects adding subscribers to likely be a challenge in the near term, but will focus on average revenue per user to grow revenue for the segment.

The Xfinity mobile business grew to nearly 5.67 million customers during the quarter, a sign that its wireless service – which is provided in conjunction with an agreement to use Verizon’s network – remains a bright spot.

Cable TV customers continued their exodus from the traditional bundle, with Comcast losing 614,000 subscribers during the quarter.

Last month, Comcast announced it was changing how it reported its segments, now grouping its Xfinity-branded broadband, cable TV and wireless services with its U.K.-based Sky, which includes pay TV services and Sky-branded entertainment TV channels to form the “connectivity and platforms” segment. Total revenue for the segment was about $20.15 billion, a slight drop from the last quarter due to the impact of foreign currency.

The second segment, content and experiences, includes all of NBCUniversal’s TV and streaming business, the international networks and Sky Sports channels, as well as its film studios and theme parks units. Overall revenue for the segment was down nearly 10% to $10.26 billion in the quarter.

The media business’ revenue took a dip in the first quarter, with it dropping about 20% to $6.15 billion, due to its comparison last year, when NBC aired the Super Bowl and had the rights to the Beijing Olympics for its TV networks and Peacock. Still, Comcast said excluding the $1.5 billion incremental revenue from these two major sporting events, media revenue was still down about 2%.

The tightening ad market showed on Comcast’s balance sheet this quarter, as it has for peers like Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery. Excluding the Olympics and Super Bowl – two events that generate a lot of ad revenue – domestic advertising during the quarter was down about 6% driven by lower TV network revenue and a TV ratings decline.

Domestic TV distribution revenue was up, excluding the Olympics, which Comcast noted was primarily due to higher revenue at Peacock, which had more paid subscribers.

Comcast said Peacock subscribers grew more than 60% year over year to 22 million, and revenue was up 45% to $685 million. Peacock had $704 million in losses, compared with losses of $456 million in the same period last year.

Last quarter, the company noted Peacock losses would amount to about $3 billion this year. The streaming service’s costs continued to weigh on the media segment’s earnings. Executives said Thursday they were “encouraged” by Peacock’s results, and following the expected peak losses this year will see a steady improvement. Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said the company had the confidence Peacock would “break even and grow from there.”

NBCUniversal’s film segment got a boost from the animated “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and horror flick “M3GAN,” during the quarter, with revenue up nearly 2% to $2.96 billion.

Both Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Cavanagh touted NBCUniversal’s animation film business on Thursday’s call, with the success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was released earlier this month. This week it surpassed $900 million at the global box office, including $444 million domestically.

“We’ve had tremendous success creating franchises,” Roberts said on Thursday’s call, noting the “Despicable Me” and “Shrek” franchises. “These are the results of the strategic decisions we made years ago to become a leader in animation and the conviction to invest in the business in the pandemic.”

Cavanagh noted that NBCUniversal’s “Jurassic Park,” “Minions” and “Halloween” installments last year helped boost its box office.

“We’re really proud of our animation business,” Cavanagh said Thursday.

NBCUniversal’s upcoming film slate includes next month’s “Fast X,” the next installment in the popular “Fast and Furious” franchise, as well as Christopher Nolan’s next epic, “Oppenheimer,” about the scientist who led the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. It will be released in July.

The company’s theme park segment kept on rolling higher, especially since the shutdowns of parks during the height of the pandemic, with revenue up 25% to $1.95 billion. Revenue was boosted by international parks, which were still weighed down by pandemic restrictions last year. The opening of Super Nintendo World helped boost revenue, too.

Earlier this week, NBCUniversal faced a shake-up with the ouster of CEO Jeff Shell due to a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint filed by an employee. Roberts addressed the matter at the start of Thursday’s call, saying it was “obviously a tough moment” for the company but noting his confidence in NBCUniversal’s leadership team, which will now report to Cavanagh.

“Think of me as being here for awhile,” Cavanagh said regarding his future as overseeing the NBCUniversal team. He noted during the call he’s been close to the business since joining Comcast nearly eight years ago and has been “deeply involved for a long time.”

Investors also shouldn’t expect to see NBCUniversal “revisiting strategy” as a result of Shell’s departure alone, and instead would react “as the environment changes.”

Peacock will lose $3b this year? Don't throw away your cable boxes, guys... just joking... sort of.

 

[RivShore]

Peacock will lose $3b this year? Don't throw away your cable boxes, guys... just joking... sort of.

That is no joke, if I read that right, it's losing $3B and only has 22M subs? That's 1/10 of D+ subs, so they would have to lose $30B to match D+ subs?? Obviously an exaggeration but, YIKES, maybe the old Bob wasn't so bad after-all, when it came to streaming anyway...

 

[clarker99]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/27/comcast-cmcsa-q1-2023-earnings-.html

Comcast beats estimates despite slowing broadband growth, higher Peacock losses
Published Thu, Apr 27 20237:01 AM EDT

Lillian Rizzo@Lilliannnn

Key Points

• Comcast’s first quarter earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations.
• Still, the company saw a year-over-year drop in its residential broadband subscribers as it continues to face heightened competition.
• Peacock losses grew, as the company warned last quarter, although the streaming service’s subscriber base was up 60% year-over-year to 22 million.

Comcast topped analyst expectations with its first-quarter earnings report Thursday, despite the cable and media giant’s residential broadband business’s slowing growth and mounting Peacock losses.

Shares of the company closed 10% higher Thursday.

Here’s how Comcast performed, compared with estimates from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv:

• Earnings per share: 92 cents adjusted vs. 82 cents expected
• Revenue: $29.69 billion vs. $29.3 billion expected

For the quarter ended March 31, Comcast reported earnings of $3.83 billion, or 91 cents per share, compared with $3.55 billion, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, Comcast posted earnings per share of 92 cents for the most recent period.

Revenue dropped 4% to $29.69 billion from $31.01 billion in the prior-year period, with the company noting that last year it had broadcast both the Super Bowl and Beijing Olympics during the first quarter.

The Philadelphia company said its first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 3% to $9.42 billion during the first quarter.

Comcast said it returned $3.2 billion to shareholders in the quarter through a mix of $1.2 billion in dividend payments and $2 billion in share repurchases.

Comcast had 21,000 fewer residential broadband customers year-over-year at the end of the three-month period, adding just 3,000 during the quarter. It received a slight boost from its business customers. Company executives had warned earlier this year that Comcast was likely to lose broadband subscribers in the first quarter.

Still, it was a sign that Comcast, like its peers, continues to face slowing growth in the broadband business. Executives have said that, while the loss rate of customers is very low, growth has stagnated – especially since the early days of the Covid pandemic – as they face heightened competition from telecom and wireless providers.

Comcast executives said on Thursday’s earnings call that the company expects adding subscribers to likely be a challenge in the near term, but will focus on average revenue per user to grow revenue for the segment.

The Xfinity mobile business grew to nearly 5.67 million customers during the quarter, a sign that its wireless service – which is provided in conjunction with an agreement to use Verizon’s network – remains a bright spot.

Cable TV customers continued their exodus from the traditional bundle, with Comcast losing 614,000 subscribers during the quarter.

Last month, Comcast announced it was changing how it reported its segments, now grouping its Xfinity-branded broadband, cable TV and wireless services with its U.K.-based Sky, which includes pay TV services and Sky-branded entertainment TV channels to form the “connectivity and platforms” segment. Total revenue for the segment was about $20.15 billion, a slight drop from the last quarter due to the impact of foreign currency.

The second segment, content and experiences, includes all of NBCUniversal’s TV and streaming business, the international networks and Sky Sports channels, as well as its film studios and theme parks units. Overall revenue for the segment was down nearly 10% to $10.26 billion in the quarter.

The media business’ revenue took a dip in the first quarter, with it dropping about 20% to $6.15 billion, due to its comparison last year, when NBC aired the Super Bowl and had the rights to the Beijing Olympics for its TV networks and Peacock. Still, Comcast said excluding the $1.5 billion incremental revenue from these two major sporting events, media revenue was still down about 2%.

The tightening ad market showed on Comcast’s balance sheet this quarter, as it has for peers like Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery. Excluding the Olympics and Super Bowl – two events that generate a lot of ad revenue – domestic advertising during the quarter was down about 6% driven by lower TV network revenue and a TV ratings decline.

Domestic TV distribution revenue was up, excluding the Olympics, which Comcast noted was primarily due to higher revenue at Peacock, which had more paid subscribers.

Comcast said Peacock subscribers grew more than 60% year over year to 22 million, and revenue was up 45% to $685 million. Peacock had $704 million in losses, compared with losses of $456 million in the same period last year.

Last quarter, the company noted Peacock losses would amount to about $3 billion this year. The streaming service’s costs continued to weigh on the media segment’s earnings. Executives said Thursday they were “encouraged” by Peacock’s results, and following the expected peak losses this year will see a steady improvement. Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said the company had the confidence Peacock would “break even and grow from there.”

NBCUniversal’s film segment got a boost from the animated “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and horror flick “M3GAN,” during the quarter, with revenue up nearly 2% to $2.96 billion.

Both Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Cavanagh touted NBCUniversal’s animation film business on Thursday’s call, with the success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was released earlier this month. This week it surpassed $900 million at the global box office, including $444 million domestically.

“We’ve had tremendous success creating franchises,” Roberts said on Thursday’s call, noting the “Despicable Me” and “Shrek” franchises. “These are the results of the strategic decisions we made years ago to become a leader in animation and the conviction to invest in the business in the pandemic.”

Cavanagh noted that NBCUniversal’s “Jurassic Park,” “Minions” and “Halloween” installments last year helped boost its box office.

“We’re really proud of our animation business,” Cavanagh said Thursday.

NBCUniversal’s upcoming film slate includes next month’s “Fast X,” the next installment in the popular “Fast and Furious” franchise, as well as Christopher Nolan’s next epic, “Oppenheimer,” about the scientist who led the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. It will be released in July.

The company’s theme park segment kept on rolling higher, especially since the shutdowns of parks during the height of the pandemic, with revenue up 25% to $1.95 billion. Revenue was boosted by international parks, which were still weighed down by pandemic restrictions last year. The opening of Super Nintendo World helped boost revenue, too.

Earlier this week, NBCUniversal faced a shake-up with the ouster of CEO Jeff Shell due to a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint filed by an employee. Roberts addressed the matter at the start of Thursday’s call, saying it was “obviously a tough moment” for the company but noting his confidence in NBCUniversal’s leadership team, which will now report to Cavanagh.

“Think of me as being here for awhile,” Cavanagh said regarding his future as overseeing the NBCUniversal team. He noted during the call he’s been close to the business since joining Comcast nearly eight years ago and has been “deeply involved for a long time.”

Investors also shouldn’t expect to see NBCUniversal “revisiting strategy” as a result of Shell’s departure alone, and instead would react “as the environment changes.”

I just want to call out Illuminations a bit on originality. They have released 13 films. 5 are Despicable me spin-offs or sequels. With Despicable Me 4 due for release next summer. Plus, they have Sing 3 and Secret Life of Pets 3 in the works. How many Super Mario Bros movies will there be?

But people think Disney has a sequel fetish. Lol

In the end the films make money and that is all that matters, I was just surprised when Ilooked it all up.

 

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Peacock will lose $3b this year? Don't throw away your cable boxes, guys... just joking... sort of.

They'll make it up in volume?

 

[wabbott]

Very, very expensive

https://deadline.com/2023/04/nbcuni...ntial-pay-fired-for-cause-comcast-1235340852/

Former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell Forfeits $43 Million In 2022 Pay After Being Fired For Cause
By Jill Goldsmith
Co-Business Editor
April 28, 2023 9:10am

Jeff Shell, the ousted CEO of NBCUniversal, forfeited compensation valued at $43 million for 2022 after being fired for cause last Sunday.

“As previously disclosed, Mr. Shell’s employment was terminated with cause on April 23, 2023. As a result, he did not receive any supplemental payments or benefits in connection with his termination. He will receive only his accrued but unpaid base salary and vacation time, vested employee benefits and reimbursement for any unreimbursed business expenses in accordance with his employment agreement. Upon his termination, all unvested PSUs and RSUs and all vested and unvested stock options, which had an estimated fair value of $43.3 million as of the termination date, were forfeited and canceled,” NBCU parent Comcast said in an SEC filing today.

Shell’s compensation for last year included $2.5 million in base pay — flat from the year before — and a $7.5 million cash bonus that was given out before the events of last week unfolded.

He was let go after an investigation for “inappropriate conduct” and “sexual harassment” of an employee, the company said. Deadline was the first to report, the employee in question is understood to be CNBC anchor and correspondent Hadley Gamble.

The executive compensation in Comcast’s annual proxy statement shows Shell is missing out on 2022 stock and option awards valued at, respectively, $6.6 million and $4.2 million which would have brought him a pay package last year of $21 million. Unvested stock awards — of restricted stock units (RSUs) and performance stock units (PSUs) — granted in previous years are also forfeited.

Shell acquired 71,507 shares upon vesting last year, realizing $3.2 million in value.

The proxy lays out the pay of a company’s top five highest paid executives.

For 2022, chairman-CEO Brian Roberts earned $32 million. That’s a base salary of $2.5 million; stock awards of $13.4 million; options awards for $8.4 million; and a cash bonus of $7.5 million.

Michael Cavanagh, Comcast president and CFO, who is stepping in for Shell, saw compensation of $40.5 million, up from $27 million the year before. He was named to the additional role of president last fall. The newly interim NBCUniversal boss said yesterday on the company’s post-earnings conference call that he’ll be overseeing the entertainment unit “for a while.”

CEO of Comcast Cable, David Watson, saw a pay package of $21.9 million, Sky CEO Dana Strong of $15.2 million.

 

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https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/disney-tv-pr-comms-reorg-layoffs-1235598471/

Apr 28, 2023 3:32pm PT
Disney Entertainment Television Reshuffles Comms and PR Roles Following Layoffs
By Jennifer Maas

Disney Entertainment has reshuffled roles and oversight among some comms and PR execs amid the second round of layoffs companywide this year.

In addition to this week’s changes, Variety has confirmed that since February, Shari Rosenblum has led publicity, talent relations and events across 20th Television, 20th Animation and ABC Signature as SVP of publicity for Disney Television Studios.

Rosenblum, who has spent 18 years at the studio leading campaign efforts for series including “Modern Family,” “The Dropout” and “Homeland,” reports to Candice Ashton, senior vice president of publicity and events, Hulu Originals and Disney Television Studios. Ashton is adding Hulu licensed, acquired and international publicity to her oversight.

New reorg moves include:

Richard Horrmann will be taking on a new role overseeing strategic communications for Disney Entertainment Television.

Elisa Bolduc will head internal communications and Robert Nunez will now oversee visual communications, and both will report to Horrmann.

Fonda Berosini will lead communications for Networks as well as Insights & Research, inclusive of all ratings publicity. Jonelle Kelly will now lead executive communications for the organization.

Nicole Balgemino-Kim is adding cultural communications to her purview alongside her role on the publicity team overseeing events.

Ashley Kline Shapiro will now be responsible for all publicity for ABC Entertainment. Reporting to her, Katherine Taylor will lead scripted publicity and Chelsie Tanamachi will lead unscripted publicity.

Kristen Andersen will now focus exclusively on Onyx Collective.

Van Scott will continue to lead the ABC News publicity team.

The above employees work under executive vice president of publicity and head of communications for Disney General Entertainment, Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul.

Chris Albert will now oversee publicity for the Nat Geo brand, including its content, digital footprint and magazine.

Katherine Nelson will now add publicity to her purview, in addition to communications for Disney Branded Television.

Albert and Nelson will both report to Pam Levine, head of marketing for Disney Branded Television and Nat Geo Content.


Andrea Gruber, who oversaw general entertainment and local originals content publicity for Star internationally, will shift to leading up international publicity under Ashton.

In a months-long goal to reach 7,000 job cuts total, Disney enacted its second round of layoffs of the year Monday-Thursday. Disney first announced its sweeping layoffs plan in February, soon after Bob Iger returned as CEO upon the ousting of Bob Chapek. Iger was quick to implement a cost-saving strategy, with the first round of staff reductions hitting in March.

The second round of layoffs, conducted this week, include “several-thousand more staff reductions” than the first wave. Between the two rounds of layoffs, 4,000 job eliminations have been completed overall.

According to Disney, a third and final wave of cuts is expected to begin ahead of the summer.

 

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/business/media/hollywood-writers-strike.html

Writers, Seeking Pay Change for the Streaming Era, Prepare to Strike
In the 16 years since the entertainment industry’s last strike, sweeping technological change has upended the television and movie business.
By Brooks Barnes
Brooks Barnes has covered the entertainment industry for 19 years. He reported on the 2007 writers’ strike from the Burbank, Calif., picket lines.
April 30, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

When the most recent Hollywood strike took place — 16 years ago — the internet had not yet transformed the television and movie businesses. Broadcast networks still commanded colossal audiences, and cable channels were still growing. The superhero boom had begun for movie studios, and DVDs generated $16 billion in annual sales.

Since then, galloping technological change has upended Hollywood in ways that few could have imagined. Traditional television is on viewership life support. Movie studios, stung by poor ticket sales for dramas and comedies, have retreated almost entirely to franchise spectacles. The DVD business is over; Netflix will ship its last little silver discs on Sept. 29.

It’s a streaming world now. The pandemic sped up the shift.

What has not changed much? The formulas that studios use to pay television and movie creators, setting the stage for another strike. “Writer compensation needs to evolve for a streaming-first world,” said Rich Greenfield, a founder of the LightShed Partners research firm.

Absent an unlikely last-minute resolution with studios, more than 11,000 unionized screenwriters could head to picket lines in Los Angeles and New York as soon as Tuesday, an action that, depending on its duration, would bring Hollywood’s creative assembly lines to a gradual halt. Writers Guild of America leaders have called this an “existential” moment, contending that compensation has stagnated despite the proliferation of content in the streaming era — to the degree that even writers with substantial experience are having a hard time getting ahead and, sometimes, paying their bills.

“Writers at every level and in every genre, whether it’s features or TV, we’re all being devalued and financially taken advantage of by the studios,” said Danny Tolli, a writer whose credits include “Roswell, New Mexico” and the Shondaland show “The Catch.”

“These studios are making billions in profits, and they are spending billions on content — content that we create with our blood, sweat and tears,” Mr. Tolli continued. “But there are times when I still have to worry about how I’m going to pay my mortgage. How I’m going to provide for my family. I have considered Uber to supplement my income.”

Studio chiefs have largely maintained public silence, leaving communication to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on their behalf. In statements, the organization has said its goal was a “mutually beneficial deal,” which was “only possible if the guild is committed to turning its focus to serious bargaining” and “searching for reasonable compromises.”

Privately, numerous studio and streaming service executives portrayed writers as histrionic and out of touch. You can’t make a living as a TV writer? By what standard? The business has changed; get used to it.

By some measures, a major strike in Hollywood is long overdue. Since the 1940s, with a couple of exceptions, strikes have shaken the entertainment industry almost like clockwork — every seven or eight years — usually aligning with upheaval in the fast-changing business. The dawn of television. The rise of cable networks.

These things gotta happen every five years or so, 10 years,” Clemenza, the weathered Corleone capo explains in “The Godfather,” one of Hollywood’s most storied creations, as the film’s gangster families “go to the mattresses” against one another. “Helps to get rid of the bad blood.”

For generations, ever since the end of the silent film era, Hollywood writers have complained that studios treat them as second-class citizens — that their artistic contributions are underappreciated (and undercompensated), especially compared with those of actors and directors.

Among Hollywood workers, screenwriters have walked out the most often (six times) and were responsible for the entertainment industry’s most recent strike in 2007. It was a precarious economic time — the Great Recession was underway — but “new media” was on the horizon. Apple had started to sell iPods that could play video. Disney was offering $2 downloads for episodes of “Lost.” Hulu was in the start-up stages.

The existing contract between studios and the Writers Guild of America, which expires at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, sets minimum weekly pay for certain television writer-producers at $7,412. (Agents for experienced writers can negotiate that up.) One problem, according to the guild, involves the number of weeks writers work in the streaming era.

Because of streaming, the network norms of 22, 24 or even 26 episodes per season have mostly disappeared. Most streaming series are eight to 12 episodes long. As a result, the median writer-producer works nearly 40 weeks on a network show, according to guild data, but only 24 weeks on a streaming show, making it difficult to earn a stable paycheck.

Residuals have also been undercut by streaming. Before streaming, writers could receive residual payments whenever a show was resold — into syndication, for overseas airing, on DVD. But global streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have cut off those distribution arms.

Instead, streaming services pay a fixed residual. Writers say there is no way to know whether those fees are fair because services hide viewership data. A new contract, guild leaders have said, must include a formula for paying residuals based on views.

Guild leaders contend that it would cost studios a collective $600 million a year to give them everything they want. The companies, however, are under pressure from Wall Street to cut costs. And gains for one group of entertainment workers would almost certainly need to be extended to others: Contracts with the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, expire on June 30.

Hollywood companies say they simply cannot afford widespread raises. Loaded with $45 billion in debt, Disney laid off thousands of employees in recent days, part of a campaign to eliminate 7,000 jobs by the end of June. Disney+ remains unprofitable, although the company has vowed to change that by next year. Disney is Hollywood’s largest supplier of union-covered TV dramas and comedies (890 episodes for the 2021-22 season).

Warner Bros. Discovery, which has roughly $47 billion in debt, has already cut thousands of jobs as part of a $4 billion pullback. NBCUniversal is also tightening its belt as it contends with cable cord-cutting and a troublesome advertising market.

These companies remain highly profitable. But they have not been delivering the kind of steady profit growth that Wall Street rewards.

Screenwriters come into these talks with notable swagger. In 2019, when film and TV writers fired their agents in a campaign over what they saw as conflicts of interest, many agency leaders figured that the guild would eventually fracture. That never happened: After a 22-month standoff, the big agencies effectively gave writers what they wanted.

For screenwriters, there is also pent-up demand for raises, made worse by climbing inflation. When writers last had the opportunity to negotiate a contract, the pandemic was shutting down Hollywood, and so the two sides came to a speedy agreement — “essentially kicking the can down the road” in the words of Mr. Greenfield. In the negotiation cycle before that, writers focused more on shoring up their generous health plan.

And writers have been incensed by mixed messaging from companies on their financial health.

“NBCUniversal is performing extremely well operationally and financially,” Brian Roberts, the chief executive of Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, wrote to employees last week, when the division’s top executive was ousted.
Netflix’s co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos, received a pay package worth $50.3 million in 2022, up 32 percent from 2021, Netflix disclosed last week.

“Lots of people are still getting very rich off of Hollywood product — just not the creators of that product,” said Matt Ember, a screenwriter whose credits include “Get Smart,” “The War With Grandpa” and the animated “Home.”
The upshot: The situation might get worse before it gets better.

“Every industry goes through course corrections,” said Laura Lewis, the founder of Rebelle Media, an entertainment production and financing company. “Maybe this is an opportunity to adjust the models for the next phase of the entertainment business.”

“The question,” she continued, “is how much pain will we have to endure to get there.”

John Koblin contributed reporting.

 

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/hollywood-braces-for-potential-writers-strike-spurred-by-shift-to-streaming-47565e9f​

Hollywood Braces for Potential Writers' Strike Spurred by Shift to Streaming​

by Joe Flint - The Wall Street Journal

Hollywood is running out of time to script a happy ending.

The entertainment industry’s writers and the major networks, streamers and studios are struggling to agree on their next contract. If a deal isn’t reached by the end of Monday, the writers are expected to go on strike for only the second time in four decades.

This is the labor dispute that streaming has wrought. As the major players of the entertainment industry charge ahead in their efforts to build successful streaming services, writers say they are being shortchanged by the new rulebooks that studios, networks and streamers are using when it comes to compensation.

The coalition representing the major content providers privately counters that the growth of streaming has boosted opportunities for work and pay for writers, and that residuals—the money coming from licensing and syndication—have grown exponentially in recent years.

Fans of late-night television such as NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” could be the first to feel the effects of a strike. In a letter to Wall Street analysts and media investors, the Writers Guild has warned that those shows and other talk shows, including HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” would likely go dark without writers.

If a strike were to continue through the summer, the fall TV season for broadcast networks could be delayed as well. Writers typically gather in late spring and summer to begin working on new episodes for the fall.

Because movie studios, streaming services and premium cable channels make scripted material far in advance, the impact for them and on audiences wouldn’t be immediate. There is also a rush to finish products and find content from overseas to fill any void.

“We have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,” Netflix Inc. Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos said when discussing a possible strike during the company’s latest quarterly earnings call.

Writers aren’t the only cogs in the entertainment machine who might be walking off. Contracts for directors and actors also are expiring in the coming months.

There are myriad issues dividing the writers and their corporate partners. Some are historical sticking points, such as salaries and royalties. Others are unique to the streaming era that has upended the movie and TV industry, changing how content is made and distributed and how writers are compensated.

Also discussed is artificial intelligence and the concerns it raises about the creative process, although it isn’t a priority, people close to the talks said.

At its core, this is a debate between media behemoths, who say they are struggling to adjust their business models to the new ways content is consumed, and the writers, who say entertainment companies want to turn writing into a gig-economy job.

On one side is the Writers Guild of America, which represents about 11,500 writers who work on movies, sitcoms, dramas, comedies and variety shows. This month, the writers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.

Negotiating on behalf of the purveyors of content is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a coalition representing streaming services such as Netflix, movie and TV studios including Warner Bros. and Disney, and broadcast and cable networks.

Talks that began March 20 are starting to heat up as the current contract is hours away from expiration. Negotiations are taking place far away from Hollywood glamour: in a bland office furnished with desk chairs and six long tables in a mall in the San Fernando Valley.

The past several years have seen an explosion of platforms with an insatiable appetite for movies and TV shows, but the Writers Guild says that it isn’t sharing in the success. If all its proposals were taken with no changes, they would amount to roughly 2% of the major producers’ operating profits, a person close to the union said.

The AMPTP said in a written statement that it is “fully committed to reaching a mutually beneficial deal.”

While the majority of debate is over TV, there are some flashpoints on the movie side. Screenwriters are looking to standardize compensation and residuals regardless of whether a movie is released in theaters or streaming. Residuals in streaming are set at a fixed rate, while theatrical releases are based on performance, offering a potentially higher upside.

In TV, the Writers Guild of America said 49% of writers are being paid minimum rates, an increase of 16 percentage points over the past decade. The minimum weekly rates range from $4,154 to $9,888, depending on the level of writer and the number of weeks of guaranteed work.

Nearly 25% of TV showrunners—the creatives in charge of making shows—are also working at minimum rate, an increase of more than 20 percentage points from 10 years ago. The minimum pay for a showrunner is $7,412 a week, according to the WGA.

“We’ve seen a deliberate downward pressure on writer pay,” said Chris Keyser, a co-chair of the WGA’s negotiating team. Mr. Keyser, a writer and producer whose credits include the 1990s hit “Party of Five,” said “the salaries are no longer efficient to exist in this business.”

Writers are also concerned about changes to the process of making shows.

Traditionally, a TV writer would work on a show from conception to the end of production. Now, many shows—particularly in the streaming world—have fewer episodes and don’t go into production until most if not all the scripts have been written or mapped out. Once the show goes from preproduction into production and postproduction, many of the writers involved in the creative process are often let go, and only a couple remain for rewrites.

“Writing happens in all three of those phases,” said Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, a WGA negotiating-committee member. The new system, she said, “is not the model that has made the studios billions of dollars off of television.”

The move to fewer episodes and fewer writers to produce a show is driven by economics and changing viewer habits, said a person familiar with the AMPTP’s thinking.

After a yearslong content-spending spree as they were building their streaming services, Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and Paramount Global are now looking to cut costs.

Writers counter that they aren’t trying to turn back the clock to a bygone era, but see these moves as a way for their employers to squeeze them for problems of their own making.

“They are eroding protections writers have had for 70 years,” said comedy writer and WGA negotiator Adam Conover.

Write to Joe Flint at Joe.Flint@wsj.com

 

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https://deadline.com/2023/04/hollyw...et-lines-meeting-wga-survey-amptp-1235351508/

WGA Picket Lines Won’t Hit The Streets First Thing Tuesday If There Is A Strike; Guild Plans Shrine Auditorium Meeting For Weds, Deal Or No Deal
By Dominic Patten
Senior Editor, Legal & TV Critic
April 30, 2023 7:01pm PDT

EXCLUSIVE: While the Writers Guild of America will continue to negotiate with the studios right up to the expiration of their current contact on May 1, strike preparations are underway — but Hollywood might not see picket lines as quickly as you think.

In fact, the WGA will likely not have its first picket lines out on the streets “until Tuesday afternoon,” sources tell me. Add to that, the guild leadership are planning a big meeting on May 3 at the over 6,000 capacity Shrine Auditorium to explain to members why they do or do not have an agreement with the AMPTP.

With the tense atmosphere gripping the town right now, the explaintion of the later than expected WGA picket start time is actually more bureaucratic than dramatic.

Like any large organization, the WGA has procedures. and part of the procedure in the case of a strike is that the WGA West Board and the WGA East council have to formally approve said strike action, if it comes to that. That approval, and the activation that would follow, could take a few hours, hence the May 2 PM start time for picketing.

The scribes are technically in a strike position at 12:01 AM on May 2 if no deal is made with the AMPTP for a new three-year contract. With a nearly 98% strike authorization vote mandate earlier this month and placards already printed, the WGA leadership are ready to hit the labor action button at any time if they choose.

A weekend of “deeply engaged” talks, as one insider put it has ended today. Aiming to resume tomorrow, the Ellen Stutzman-led WGA Negotiating Committee and the Carol Lombardini-led studio reps anticipate bargaining late into the night Monday as the contract expiration deadline looms.

This comes as the WGA sent out a survey to members Sunday asking them where they would like to picket in the event of a strike.

“While the WGA Negotiating Committee continues to bargain with the AMPTP with the goal of reaching a fair deal by tomorrow’s May 1st contract deadline, we need to be ready for a potential strike,” the guild said today in a note accompanying the Member Picketing Survey about when and where they’ll be able to walk picket lines. The greatest amount of leverage we collectively bring to a strike action is the withdrawal of our labor. Picketing is a key tactic to demonstrate that we are all in this together, and that until a strike is resolved, it’s not business as usual.”

“A strike is a dynamic situation,” the guild said to members in the email containing a link to the survey. “Therefore, picketing locations and shifts may be subject to change. If we go on strike, WGA captains have been trained to lead the picketing, and WGA staff will be on site to support the actions.” In that context, the multiple choose survey asks WGA members questions like: In the event of a strike, are you able to picket in the Los Angeles area?”

Battered by low residuals, a lack of streaming data information, job insecurity and more, writers are bringing in less money overall despite a content boom in recent year of more shows and more platforms The low income most scribes are experiencing is something that neither side truly disputes, even if they have widely divergent approaches as of now on how to resolve the problem.

Long before streamers like Netflix, Prime Video, and AppleTV+ were the dominate players they are now, the last WGA strike in 2007-2008 lasted 100 days, with effects the industry is still dealing with in 2023.

If there were a strike starting on May 2, late-night shows would shut down immediately as would writers’ rooms and any big-screen or small-screen project that is still fine-tuning or grinding out scripts. Add to that, other guilds and unions like the DGA, IATSE and the Teamsters could refuse to cross sanctioned picket lines. A reaction in this era of renewed union solidarity that could prove a major flew on and off the streets.

David Robb contributed to this report.

 

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https://deadline.com/2023/05/writers-strike-wga-east-picket-tv-upfronts-new-york-1235352019/

WGA East Will Picket TV Upfronts In The Event Of Writers Strike
By David Robb
Labor Editor
May 1, 2023 11:46am PDT

EXCLUSIVE: This month’s upfronts in New York City, where the networks pitch their fall lineups to advertisers, would be the target of WGA East picketing if negotiations fail to reach an agreement on a new film and scripted TV contract. The Writers Guild contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are entering their final day today, with the guild’s current contract set to expire tonight at midnight PT.

A list of potential WGA East picket sites obtained by Deadline include the NBCUniversal upfront on May 15 at Radio City Music Hall, Netflix’s upfront on May 17 at the Paris Theater in Manhattan and Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront on May 17 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Other potential picket sites in Manhattan include 30 Rock/NBCUniversal, Netflix’s headquarters and the offices of HBO/Amazon. In Queens, potential picket sites include Silvercup Studios and Silvercup East, while potential picket sites in Brooklyn include Steiner Studios and Broadway Stages.

Here’s the list of potential picket sites and meet-up places the WGA East has sent to its members to see if they are available to picket in the event of a strike. The guild notes, however, that the sites are subject to change. The WGA West list of picket sites is at the bottom of the post.

Strike or no strike, the WGA East will hold a membership meeting to discuss the latest developments on Wednesday at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City.

The WGA West, meanwhile, will hold a membership meeting on Wednesday at the Shrine Auditorium.

“While the WGA Negotiating Committee continues to bargain with the AMPTP with the goal of reaching a fair deal by tomorrow’s May 1st contract deadline, we need to be ready for a potential strike,” the WGA said Sunday in a note accompanying the Member Picketing Survey about when and where they’ll be able to walk picket lines. “The greatest amount of leverage we collectively bring to a strike action is the withdrawal of our labor. Picketing is a key tactic to demonstrate that we are all in this together, and that until a strike is resolved, it’s not business as usual.”

Here are sites of potential picketing that the WGA West has sent to its members:

• Amazon/Culver Studios: 9336 W. Washington Blvd, Culver City

• CBS Radford: 4024 Radford Ave, Studio City

• CBS Television City: 7800 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles

• Disney: 500 S Buena Vista St, Burbank

• Fox: 10201 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles

• Netflix: 5800 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles

• Paramount: 5555 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles

• Sony: 10202 Washington Blvd, Culver City

• Universal: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City

• Warner Bros.: 4000 Warner Blvd. Burbank