Plot twist: Billionaire media exec submits $4.3B bid for Paramount, reports say
Like any good TV show or movie, the saga of the sale of Paramount has a last-second plot twist. According to reports, billionaire media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr., the former head of Warner Music Group, has submitted a bid of $4.3 billion to take control of Paramount Global — the parent company of CBS, MTV, and Paramount Pictures.
Last month, Skydance Media entered a deal to purchase the conglomerate for $8 billion, but that deal came with a catch: a 45-day window where Paramount could field other offers. Bronfman entered the fray just as that deadline was about to expire on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
Paramount now has the option to extend that period. If it does, that would be a sign Paramount is seriously thinking about Bronfman’s offer.
Bronfman’s bid was submitted to a committee that was established to look over potential offers. It is expected to review this latest one on Wednesday.
Bronfman was the CEO of Warner Music Group from 2004-2012. He currently serves as the executive chairman of FuboTV, the sports streaming provider that just declared in a victory in court. z
A federal judge sided with FuboTV in its antitrust case against Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery over the launch of their sports service Venu. The three media giants said they plan to appeal the decision.
Trump agrees to ABC News debate with Harris, proposes 2 more
The debate is on. Former President Donald Trump has agreed to the ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and proposed two more. And bodycam footage has been released showing the police response to the assassination attempt during the former president’s rally in July. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Friday, Aug. 9, 2024.
Trump agrees to ABC News debate with Harris, proposes 2 more debates
Former President Donald Trump has recommitted to a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris after initially requesting a change of time and place given the change at the top of the Democratic ticket. Trump made the announcement during a news conference held at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Thursday, Aug. 8.
ABC News has confirmed Trump and Harris have agreed to debate on Sept. 10, setting up what is likely to be a high-stakes showdown in an already contentious election season.
His decision to debate on ABC marks a notable change of heart given it was just five days ago he announced the agreement with ABC was terminated. Trump originally suggested he would only debate if Harris appeared on Fox News on Sept. 4.
Trump is requesting Harris accept two additional debate proposals; one would be held on Fox and the other on NBC.
When asked by reporters if he will still do the ABC debate even if Harris turns down the idea of multiple debates, Trump said he didn’t know how that’s going to work and reiterated the need for multiple debates with a new Democratic presidential nominee.
As we saw in June, presidential debates have high stakes. President Joe Biden’s performance at his debate with Trump set in motion calls for his withdrawal and the eventual end to his re-election campaign.
The ABC debate was originally slated to be the second and final debate between Biden and Trump.
Harris released a statement saying she’s glad Trump committed to meeting her on stage.
Harris will be in Arizona for a campaign rally on Friday, Aug. 9. Trump will be in Montana for a rally of his own and fundraiser event.
Bodycam video released of police response to Trump assassination attempt
It’s been nearly a month since the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Within that month, questions have been swirling leading to multiple investigations and hearings on Capitol Hill and a change in leadership at the Secret Service.
Now, there is new information directly through the lens of Butler police bodycam. It shows officers responding to the reports of a threat on top of the unsecured building where the shooter propped himself up to take aim.
In newly released body camera video, there is footage of the moments leading up to the shooting, but it’s the audio in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that is providing further confirmation of a major security lapse.
The incident left one rally goer dead and Trump shot in the ear in a near-fatal hit.
The public search for accountability has led to agencies across local, state, and federal levels to finger-point and shift the blame. There are still several ongoing investigations into how it happened in the first place and how to prevent it from happening again.
U.S., Egypt, Qatar call for renewed Israel-Hamas ceasefire discussions
The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are calling for Israel and Hamas to resume cease-fire talks, calling them “urgent.” Fears are growing over a widening Middle East war following high-profile assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been mediating cease-fire discussions since they began.
They want the talks to take place in either Doha or Cairo next Thursday, Aug. 15.
Early Friday, Aug. 9, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated Israel will take part in those discussions. Hamas’ newly chosen leader has not indicated if the terror group is willing to join.
Columbia University COO’s home vandalized with antisemitic imagery; 3 top admins resign over antisemitic texts
Inverted triangles, which have been used by Hamas to identify Israeli targets and Nazis to tag prisoners during the Holocaust, were painted on the entranceway to Cas Holloway’s apartment building.
Columbia confirmed the resignations of the school’s dean of undergraduate student life, associate dean for student and family support, and vice dean and chief administrative officer after it came to light they exchanged antisemitic messages during an on-campus event about Jewish life at the school.
Paramount laying off 15% of U.S. workforce
Media conglomerate Paramount is laying off 15% of its U.S. workforce. The layoffs, which will impact around 2,000 staffers, are part of Paramount’s bid to cut $500 million in annual costs ahead of its merger with SkyDance Media.
Paramount says it also plans to write down $6 billion worth of its cable television networks.
Steph Curry leads Team USA to rally past Serbia; Noah Lyles wins bronze in 200-meter after testing positive for COVID
The U.S added to its Olympic medal count on Thursday, Aug. 9. Team USA now has a total of 103 medals so far as the Paris games wind down.
The men’s basketball team will be hoping to bring home gold against host France in the final. Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James led the team to a come-from-behind victory over Serbia on Thursday after being down 17 points, winning 95 to 91.
On the track, it was not the result American sprinter Noah Lyles was hoping for in the men’s 200-meter final. Lyles, who won his first Olympic gold on Sunday, Aug. 4, in the 100-meter, finished third this time behind Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and USA teammate Kenny Bednarek.
Lyles was taken away in a wheelchair after crossing the finish line. It was later revealed he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 two days earlier.
The USA track and field organization said it followed all Olympic protocols to allow Lyles to compete.
The track star said he is proud of himself to have been able to still win a bronze medal. He posted on Instagram, “It is not the Olympics I dreamed of, but it has left me with so much joy in my heart.”
How a fake protester encampment spurred actual protesters to show up
A film set created to look like a protester encampment at New York’s Queens College prompted actual protesters to show up on Tuesday, July 23. The mock encampment had been set up by CBS’ “FBI: Most Wanted” and was being filmed as part of an episode for the show’s sixth season, which featured a climate protest.
The scene reportedly resembled a pro-Palestinian protest scene found on college campuses across the United State this spring. The display angered a group of 15 protesters who said that it trivialized the pro-Palestinian movement. The activists stood feet away from the set and accused actors and producers of filming propaganda.
Meanwhile, a representative for the college defended the filming of the episode at Queens College, pointing out that the campus is often a place where film shoots are held by “reputable” production companies and media outlets. The college also said that it was advised the focus would be on climate change protests at a fictitious college.
However, protesters did not agree with the school’s assessment. The group of activists accused the production team of misrepresenting the pro-Palestinian protests.
“The rental of the QC Campus for this film shoot is a clear attempt to simultaneously demonize and profit from the student movement,” one flyer read.
The scenes filmed at on the college campus were reportedly dramatic, with mock explosions, fires and actors covered in fake blood.
The producers involved in the filming declined to comment on the protesters.
Earlier this year, thousands of college students across the nation demonstrated at encampments on university campuses. Those students demanded a cease-fire in Gaza and, in some cases, for their schools to divest from Israel and U.S. arms manufacturers. Some incidents led to clashes with counter protesters, mass arrests and multiple schools canceled graduation ceremonies.
Streaming looking more like cable with price hikes, bundling
Streaming services were once seen as the modern alternative to cable. The services were cheaper, ad-free and tailored to specific interests for viewers looking to cut the cord.
But with rising prices and streamers putting their attention to ad-supported tiers, it is getting more difficult to tell the difference between streaming and cable. Some even began calling the streaming industry “Cable 2.0.”
According to research from the online platform Bango, the average American has 4.5 total subscriptions, including audio, fitness and news apps, as well as these streaming services.
Subscriptions to these streaming platforms cost the average customer in the U.S. $1,000 per year. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported the average cable plan costs around $83 per month, or $996 a year.
Price hikes for streaming seem to be just part of the process nowadays. NBC Universal recently announced a price hike for its Peacock service will go into effect just before this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Analysts at UBS Securities said Netflix users should prepare for another price hike this year following one last October.
Bloomberg reported Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to hike the price of its Max platform soon, as well.
As more media companies look to make a profit on their streaming services — and battle the reigning king of streaming, Netflix — they are turning to each other for help.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced their Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services will soon be offered in one bundle.
All the three streamers’ offerings — including content from HBO, HGTV, ABC, CNN and more — will be packaged together.
Sounds like a cable TV package, doesn’t it?
The bundle will be available in the U.S. starting in the summer, though the streamers have not shared a price yet. There will be versions with ads and without.
WWE and Netflix join forces for $5 billion, a tag-team blow to linear TV
There’s a new tag team in town hoping to take over the world of professional wrestling. WWE and Netflix are joining forces, stepping in the ring together for a 10-year streaming deal for WWE’s flagship television show, “Raw.”
After a 31-year relationship with linear TV, “Raw” will begin streaming on Netflix in January 2025. The show currently attracts more than 2 million viewers each week on the USA Network, according to TKO, WWE’s parent company.
Netflix has its sights set on being the head of the table when it comes to live-streamed content. The WWE programming follows last year’s Chris Rock special and its first live sporting event, the Netflix Cup golf tournament (the “Love is Blind” live reunion flop doesn’t make the cut, since Netflix failed to stream it live after agonizing technical difficulties).
In addition to streaming the weekly appointment TV of “Raw,” the Netflix deal also includes streaming all of WWE’s other offerings outside the U.S., including “SmackDown,” “NXT” and live premium events like the “Royal Rumble” and “Wrestlemania.”
The brass tacks
The WWE-Netflix deal is valued at more than $5 billion, according to a filing by TKO, the company formed with the WWE-UFC merger. That is nearly double the annual value of WWE’s current deal with NBCUniversal.
Netflix’s rights last for 10 years but the streaming giant has the option to extend the agreement for another 10 years if it doesn’t want the ride to end. On the other side, if it’s a subscriber flop, Netflix can opt-out after the first five years.
In other news
As if a major streaming deal wasn’t enough, TKO announced Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is joining its board of directors and taking a more direct role in promoting the brand.
TKO will pay Johnson $30 million in stock. Johnson is also gaining full ownership of his trademarked wrestling moniker, “The Rock.” That will allow the wrestling-giant-turned-Hollywood-A-lister to earn more money off his name, image and likeness.
As for what’s next for the People’s Champ, the wrestling world is on the edge of its seat for a potential family feud between TKO’s newest board member and his “cousin,” Roman Reigns.
TV ad spending in Iowa spikes as caucuses and primaries approach
Heading into 2024, the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15 mark the first election event of the year. New Hampshire’s presidential primary is set for later in the month on Jan. 23. Republican candidates are trying to gain support to overtake current GOP front-runner former President Donald Trump.
Television ad spending has soared in Iowa among the Republican presidential hopefuls.
Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is no longer spending his campaign money on TV advertising, saying spending money on TV ads has a low return on investment.
Presidential TV ad spending is idiotic, low-ROI & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ.
We’re doing it differently. Spending $$ in a way that follows data…apparently a crazy idea in US politics.
“Presidential TV ad spending is idiotic, low-ROI & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ,” Ramaswamy posted on X. “We’re doing it differently. Spending $$ in a way that follows data…apparently a crazy idea in US politics.”
Only Trump, Haley and DeSantis qualified for the debate. However, Trump will be hosting a town hall with Fox News in counter-programming to CNN’s primary debate, potentially leading to a one-on-one debate between Haley and DeSantis.
With primary voting kicking off, Trump is counting on continuing support among his base, which has been gaining steam.
Cable TV’s survival chances as streaming gobbles up live sports
Since people first started cutting the cable cord more than a decade ago, broadcast and cable networks have clung to two facets of live television for dear life: News and sports.
In 2023, every major news agency has an online presence. CNN just announced a streamed version of the network live on Max. And in more bad news for linear TV, sports are now all over these streaming platforms.
DirecTV lost NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube, Paramount+ carries local CBS NFL games, and Amazon Prime has “Thursday Night Football.” And all of that is just for the NFL, the most profitable league in the United States.
Max started streaming live sports just in time for MLB playoffs, and now the NBA has a big decision to make: Cable or streaming? The broadcast rights expire after next year’s season.
Are streaming services about to achieve the big payday that’s so far largely eluded them? Is it the end of linear TV? Michael Pachter joins Straight Arrow News to discuss. Pachter covers Netflix, FuboTV and Amazon as the managing director of equity research with Wedbush Securities.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Broadcast contracts come up every decade or so. Do you think NBA to Netflix is a real possibility?
A: I don’t. I don’t think Netflix will ever dedicate enough cash to win those rights. I think, unfortunately, all the leagues are looking for maximum dollars. And I think they’re far less interested in reaching the maximum audience.
Netflix will just never pay as much as linear broadcast. There’s a possibility somebody like Max, like Warner Brothers Discovery, would pay that much. But I don’t see Netflix competing at all.
Q: The NBA may want to divvy up broadcast rights amongst a few bidders. Do you think that’s an area where streamers are going to be able to compete?
A: Able to, sure. Disney can do whatever it wants, and Warner Brothers Discovery, who’s debt laden, already has NBA rights, so they certainly can change how those rights are broadcast.
I think the sad thing is that they’re going to cut out a chunk of the audience. We have this in Los Angeles, with Spectrum having the rights to Dodgers broadcasts, so fewer people were able to see their home team.
It’s really lame of Warner Brothers Discovery to think that they’re going to shift broadcast rights from linear television to a subscription streaming service, because you’re going to take away from people who would otherwise watch it, the ability to see that stuff, and then impose a fee.
All that does is exacerbate the issue that they already face, which is cord-cutting. Their lifeblood is not streaming; their lifeblood is retransmission fees. So if they suddenly tell me the only reason I have cable is no longer a reason to have cable, they make it very, very easy to cut the cord.
I think they’re going to do it. I think they’re immensely stupid. And I think that they’re going to end up just sealing the fate of cable and driving people to cut the cord.
What is served by making “Thursday Night Football” only available through Amazon Prime? There’s just a giant chunk of households who have cable TV, and certainly have rabbit ears so they could watch a game on ABC or NBC, who either can’t afford Prime or don’t choose to be Prime members.
By definition, it’s probably about 40% of households who lost access to “Thursday Night Football.” That’s just stupid. The more they do that, the NFL is going to hurt itself, because it’s going to have fewer and fewer fans if all of its broadcasts go to streaming. And the NBA is going to hurt itself.
I already have a problem with my streaming services just trying to remember what channel anything I watch is on. I predict that all of this stuff is going to end up being consolidated by cable TV. They’re going to see the light, they’re going to say, “You can’t even get Max unless you have a cable subscription.” That’s a smarter way to run the business.
Disney is not going that way. Disney is trying to split ESPN off as a separate subscription. Really dumb. And again, I think [Bob] Iger probably has 100 IQ points on me. He’s a pretty smart man. Really stupid about streaming.
Q: Do you think local rights are going to be linear TV’s saving grace, in that the cord will never truly be cut off?
A: Linear TV has two things going for it that you really can’t get elsewhere. That’s live sports, any live sports. So long as live sports are available exclusively on linear TV, there’s a reason to subscribe. And the second is live events that we care about: “Academy Awards” or “American Idol” or “The Bachelor.”
Each has a different constituency. I’ve never watched “The Bachelor,” but I used to watch “American Idol,” and I remember back in the day when we all went to the office, I didn’t want anybody to tell me who got booted off the night before, because I had recorded it and I wanted to watch it the next day. That’s how we feel about live sports as well.
Q: Do you think Amazon’s decision to make the “Thursday Night Football” deal will be a financial winner?
A: Oh, absolutely not. Absolute zero. They’re an interesting company, because they only do streaming to reinforce the value of a subscription to something else.
We signed up for Amazon for free shipping, period. And the only person who churns out of Amazon and quits is the person who finds that they didn’t buy enough stuff to justify that $120 a year. So if you go three or four months without ordering something on Amazon, you might say, “This just isn’t worth it.”
But if you watch a TV show every month, just one, or an NFL broadcast, they think that’s enough that you’ll say, “I can’t give this up.” So I think it’s smart for anti-churn. But they can produce a lot of content for the price that they’re paying for “Thursday Night Football.” They can produce literally dozens of television shows if they want. I think they’re trying to make a splash.
Q: To that end, is that why you say you don’t see Netflix ponying up a large amount of money to get into sports, because they could use that money to create so much more content?
A: Yeah, I think Netflix might have been leaning that way at one point. They aired a Chris Rock live special last year. They made a big deal about it, and then you never heard about it again. They never put out any data about how few people actually tuned in by appointment.
Netflix is not by-appointment TV, period. It is catch-up TV. And it’s antithetical to what Netflix is, to its mission, to turn themselves into by-appointment TV. They drop all episodes of every season when the show comes out, and they refuse to move off of that. So why is that important? Because people don’t want to tune in every week to catch the next episode.
Hulu is by-appointment TV, HBO is by-appointment TV, not Netflix. So they’re the last guys in the world that should be doing live broadcasts of anything. And as dumb as I think everybody in streaming is, Netflix guys are the smartest guys in the room. So I think they are smart enough not to overpay for something that won’t resonate with their customers.
Q: NFL’s broadcast agreement doesn’t end until 2033. I’m curious how you see the streaming and linear landscape a decade from now, when those rights are back up.
A: I’m pretty infamous, notorious, for having a sell on Netflix into 2011 and keeping it until 2022. I was convinced that streaming was a race to the bottom, and was convinced that either the broadcast guys would shun Netflix and pull their content, or they would try to compete and pull their content. The latter happened, but it didn’t happen till 2019, and it didn’t become obvious till 2021.
So I’m making the same kind of prediction here about sports. I actually think, in the next 10 years, you’re going to see a reconsolidation of streaming with cable, because I think the constituents that lose, which are anybody who is in broadcast and anybody who creates content for broadcast, are going to figure out that a monthly $100 cable bill plus an add-on $15 for HBO is better than $15 standalone for HBO.
There’s $115 in the ecosystem to pay for content if we keep people subscribing to cable. And even if they replace cable with $40 or $50 or $60 worth of streaming, there’s less money for everybody to get paid.
So I think that the sports leagues are going to figure out that they lose money if that ecosystem shrinks. The money in a consumer’s pocket is not going to the talent that creates the experience. So the NFL is not going to make as much money, and studio actors and writers aren’t going to make as much money.
The ultimate solution is a reconsolidation. We all have a cable system with a Netflix button on our remote. That should be automatic. We should have a Disney+ button. We should have an integrated program guide that helps old people like me figure out what show they were watching and where it is. And we don’t have that right now.
“The purpose of the Oct. 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level,” the release said. “In case the Oct. 4 test is postponed due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, the back-up testing date is Oct. 11.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said the message consumers will see on their phones reads: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
The message will be displayed in English or Spanish depending on the language settings on each device.
FEMA announced it will also test the emergency alert system on radios and TVs across the U.S. This portion of the test is set to last one minute. It will say: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”
Broadcast, cable television viewing drops to historic low in July
According to Nielsen data, broadcast and cable television made up less than half of TV viewing for the first time in July 2023. The two forms of linear television combined for just 49.6% of viewership. The TV viewing breakdown looked like this:
Streaming: 38.7%
Cable: 29.6%
Broadcast: 20%
Other: 11.6%
The share of broadcast and cable television viewing dropped 3.6% and 2.9% respectively in July. Year-over-year, broadcast viewership has fallen 5.4%, with cable TV dropping 12.5%.
The 38.7% of television viewership that streaming brought in was a record high, rising 25.3% year over year. YouTube and Netflix alone had nearly as many viewers as broadcast television. Some of the notable streamers for July include:
YouTube: 9.2%
Netflix: 8.5%
Hulu: 3.6%
Amazon Prime Video: 3.4%
Disney+: 2%
“An array of new original programs arrived on streaming platforms in July, including The Witcher and The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Prime Video and The Bear on Hulu, but acquired content was the stand-out for the month,” Nielsen said. “Suits, streaming on Netflix and Peacock, and Bluey on Disney+ were the most watched programs in July, accounting for 23 billion viewing minutes.”
The Nielsen numbers came as streaming services appear to be changing its strategy from collecting subscribers to shoring up profits with high prices. Disney recently announced that it’s hiking Disney+ prices for the second time in less than a year, increasing the monthly cost of its ad-free plan $3 to $13.99.
Hulu, which Disney holds a majority stake in, will also increase the monthly cost of its ad-free subscription by $3 to $17.99. Max, Paramount+ and Peacock have also made similar announcements in 2023.
