For fiscal Q4, Fox Corporation — parent of FOX News Channel, the FOX broadcast network and FOX Sports — reported net income of $253 million, or 43 cents per share, versus $122 million, or 20 cents per share year-over-year. Company chief executive Lachlan Murdoch stated that the company looks forward to “the return of normalized sports and entertainment calendars and the start of the midterm election cycle.” Fox became a standalone, publicly-traded company on Mar 21, 2019, after the Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox merger. Continue reading Fox Enjoys Robust Q4 Based on Cable, TV Advertising Sales

In Q2 of this year, Discovery Communications’ revenue rose 21 percent year-over-year to $3.06 billion, with earnings per share at $1.01, exceeding Wall Street predictions of $2.97 billion in revenue and 85 cents earnings. The company also revealed that, at the end of Q2, it had 17 million direct-to-consumer customers that increased to 18 million last Tuesday after airing the Olympics in Europe. Its Q2 U.S. ad revenue also rose 12 percent year-over-year while international ad revenue skyrocketed 70 percent, ahead of 2019 levels. Continue reading Discovery Revenue, Subs Rise with Olympics, Discovery Plus

NEP Group is buying three companies in order to offer virtual production (VP) services for films, TV and interactive exhibits. Prysm Collective, Lux Machina and Halon Entertainment will form NEP Virtual Studios, a new division that, says NEP Group chief strategy officer Carrie Galvin, will be “a technical and creative services partner for content creators around the globe.” She added that NEP’s existing virtual production tools “start at the creative stage” and include special effects, augmented reality, and LED stages. Continue reading NEP Acquires Companies to Open Virtual Production Division

In Q2 of this year, ViacomCBS — parent company of the CBS broadcast network, Showtime, Nickelodeon and the Paramount movie studio — saw revenue rise 8 percent to $6.6 billion and the addition of 6.5 million new streaming subscribers for a total of 42+ million. Net income was $1.04 billion or $1.56 per share, compared with $481 million or 78 cents per share year-over-year. Chief executive Bob Bakish said the company looks forward to scaling Paramount+ offerings, referring to a deal with Comcast to launch it on Sky in Europe. Continue reading ViacomCBS Reports Rise in Revenue, Streaming Subscribers

WarnerMedia’s ad sales division is launching House of Max in Q4 this year to develop commercials that incorporate characters and concepts from its various HBO Max series. WarnerMedia senior VP of entertainment marketing solutions Maureen Polo said the studio’s “wide array of programs” will “allow brands to make more thoughtful and meaningful connections” with consumers, adding “we can produce content that doesn’t feel like advertising.” Intellectual property will be available from programs including “Hacks,” “The Flight Attendant,” and “Gossip Girl.” Continue reading WarnerMedia Launches House of Max Studio to Produce Ads

NBCUniversal has merged its FandangoNOW on-demand movie and TV platform with Vudu, the video streaming service it purchased from Walmart last year. FandangoNOW customers will be able to transfer their accounts and collections to Vudu, which uses Roku Pay as its in-app payment system. In a revenue-sharing deal, the new Vudu-branded offering will serve as Roku’s official film and TV store. Fandango executives concluded that Vudu had a stronger brand and that the merger would help to “rapidly innovate and make bolder, faster enhancements to benefit consumers and partners.” Continue reading NBCU Merges FandangoNOW and Vudu as Single Streamer

After acquiring DirecTV six years ago, AT&T has spun it off and, along with AT&T TV and U-verse, formed a new company it will co-manage with TPG Capital. AT&T received $7.1 billion in cash and a 70 percent interest in the new company, and TPG contributed $1.8 billion and owns the remaining 30 percent. In 2015, AT&T had paid $49 billion to acquire DirecTV, absorbing another $18 billion in debt, becoming the largest U.S. pay-TV provider with 26 million customers. It then lost almost 40 percent of its TV subscriber base. Continue reading AT&T Spins Off DirecTV, Combines It with AT&T TV, U-verse

Government-owned wireless company China Mobile has cut its use of non-Chinese suppliers to 5.4 percent from 11 percent in its last 2020 buying round. Hardest hit was Sweden’s Ericsson, whose 5G gear sales were cut to a mere 1.9 percent, compared to 11 percent in the 2020 round. China stated the move was “retaliation” for Sweden’s decision to ban Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. gear from its 5G networks. The U.S. also banned Huawei, the world’s biggest mobile gear maker, from its networks as have other regions in the world. Continue reading China Mobile Limits Purchasing From Non-Chinese Suppliers

Reese Witherspoon’s media business, Hello Sunshine, valued at about $900 million, has sold to a unnamed firm supported by Blackstone Group, which is spending $500+ million in cash to purchase shares from existing investors, including AT&T and Emerson Collective. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs will run the unnamed media company backed by Blackstone, while Witherspoon and chief executive Sarah Harden will join the board of the new venture and continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of Hello Sunshine. Continue reading Hello Sunshine Sold to New Media Company for $900 Million

In Q2 of this year, large money-management companies including hedge funds, mutual funds, pensions and sovereign-wealth groups became bigger players in Silicon Valley than venture capitalists with regard to startups. According to PitchBook Data, these nontraditional funders took part in 42 percent of startup financing deals, forming more than 75 percent of the invested capital. PitchBook added that, in the first half of 2021, investment in U.S. startups reached $150 billion, more than funding in every year prior to 2020. Continue reading Money Management Firms Surpass VCs in Funding Startups

Square announced it will acquire Australia-based financial tech company Afterpay in an all-stock deal worth about $29 billion, with Square chief executive Jack Dorsey stating that the two companies “have a shared purpose.” Afterpay appeals to a younger demographic that mistrusts traditional credit companies; its technology lets a consumer pay for goods in four interest-free installments and receive the goods immediately. Customers only pay a fee if they miss an automated payment, which also locks their account until the balance is repaid. Continue reading Square Will Purchase Afterpay Credit Company for $29 Billion

WarnerMedia advertising sales has identified “intentionality” as key to what drives today’s viewers. A survey it recently conducted found that 59 percent of respondents agreed that “I am more thoughtful about how I spend my time since the pandemic.” HBO Max, which now has an ad-supported tier, described the trend in a report, “Welcome to the Age of Intentionalism,” stating that consumers “are rethinking the essentials in their lives and making decisions of all sizes with increased intention — including … what, where, and why they stream.” Continue reading WarnerMedia Report: ‘Intentionality’ Key to Content and Ads

Gawker — the former online site covering news related to celebrities, media figures and tech entrepreneurs — is live again, headed by Leah Finnegan who has held editing positions with The Outline, The New York Times and The Huffington Post. Started by journalist Nick Denton in 2002, Gawker became an irreverent digital destination and the base of Gawker Media, which also included Deadspin for sports, Gizmodo for technology and Kotaku for gaming. The company was brought down by a 2016 invasion-of-privacy lawsuit filed by Hulk Hogan (and bankrolled by Silicon Valley’s Peter Thiel). Continue reading Gawker Is Revived with New Design, Familiar Irreverent Tone

Intel’s new NUC 11 Extreme kit, code-named “Beast Canyon,” is the company’s fourth attempt at building a more compact yet powerful gaming PC. Featuring (ironically) Intel’s biggest chassis yet, Beast Canyon relies on Compute Element cartridges containing a miniaturized motherboard, CPU, memory, storage and ports. Like last year’s Ghost Canyon, the form factor enables gamers to upgrade the entire system as if they were upgrading a graphics card. The 8-liter Beast has room for 12 inches of GPU power and includes a 650-watt 80+ Gold power supply. Continue reading Positive Reviews for Latest Intel Modular Mini Gaming PC Kit

Comcast posted Q2 results that beat Wall Street expectations: revenue of $28.55 billion versus the $27.18 billion predicted by Refinitiv, and adjusted earnings per share of 84 cents, versus Refinitiv’s prediction of 67 cents. Comcast said its NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock is now at 54 million subscribers. Meanwhile, Comcast’s high-speed Internet service added 354,000 customers (its highest ever for Q2), versus StreetAccount’s estimate of 270,000. Comcast also had its second best Q2 for total customer relationships, adding 294,000. Continue reading Comcast Adds Record Q2 Broadband and Cable Customers