Latest Business News
France’s Mediawan, Germany’s Leonine Merge to Form Euro Mini-Major
French studio Mediawan and Germany’s Leonine have signed a deal to merge their operation, forming one of Europe’s biggest film and TV companies. The all-stock transaction, announced Sunday, will create a mini-major with companies and operations across 13 countries and annual revenues of more than €1 billion ($1.06 billion). Mediawan took a 25 percent stake […]
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Paramount Expected to Part Ways With CEO Bob Bakish Amid Deal Talks
The Bob Bakish era at Paramount appears to be nearing its end. The Paramount CEO is expected to part ways with the entertainment giant in the next couple of days. Paramount reports its quarterly earnings on Monday afternoon, meaning that if he does leave, it will likely be before then. A Paramount spokesperson declined to […]
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Remaining West Coast IATSE Locals Reach Craft-Specific Tentative Agreements With Studios
All West Coast IATSE Locals have now reached tentative agreements with studios and streamers on their craft-specific issues. The remaining two Locals of the crew union that had yet to cement provisional agreements, the propmakers’ and set decorators’ union Local 44 and the studios teachers’ union Local 884, reached their deals on Thursday and the […]
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‘Mixed-ish’ Creators Prevail In Idea Theft Lawsuit
After a trip to a state appeals court, a lawsuit from actress Hayley Marie Norman accusing ABC, Tracee Ellis Ross and Kenya Barris of lifting ideas from a show she’d been pitching that she alleges was turned into Black-ish spinoff Mixed-ish without her involvement has been dismissed. The 2nd District Court of Appeal found that […]
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Comcast CEO Brian Roberts’ Pay Rises to $35.5M, President Michael Cavanagh’s Drops to $29.6M in 2023
NBCUniversal owner Comcast has disclosed higher 2023 compensation packages for chairman and CEO Brian Roberts and president Michael Cavanagh, along with pay details for other top executives. Comcast’s proxy statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, a day after the company’s first-quarter 2024 earnings report, showed that Roberts’ pay hit $35.5 million in […]
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CBS Sports, Pluto TV Launch Champions League Soccer FAST Channel
CBS Sports has launched Champions League, a 24-hour streaming channel with nonstop goals and highlights from the flagship UEFA Champions League soccer club games out of Europe. The FAST channel featuring current season and historic game recaps will debut for free on Pluto TV and on connected TV sets through the CBS Sports app. The […]
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EverWonder Launches Live Division, Adds Michael Antinoro as President (Exclusive)
EverWonder Studio, the nonfiction production venture led by Ian Orefice and financed by Jeff Zucker’s RedBird IMI, has hired Michael Antinoro as its president, and is making a significant push into live programming with a new division. The studio says that Antinoro will oversee production and strategy for the company, as well as its nascent […]
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AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan’s Pay Hits $14.6M in First Year
AMC Networks on Friday unveiled the 2023 compensation packages paid out to its leadership team after surprise executive suite turmoil a year ago at the company that operates such cable networks as AMC, IFC and Sundance TV. Kristin Dolan, who was named CEO of the company in Feb. 2023, earned $14.6 million last year, the firm […]
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Greg Maffei’s Liberty Media CEO Pay Rises to $28.7M in 2023
Media mogul John Malone’s Liberty Media — which owns audio entertainment powerhouse SiriusXM, the Formula One racing circuit, and a stake in events promoter Live Nation Entertainment, among others — has disclosed that president and CEO Greg Maffei’s 2023 compensation package amounted to $28.66 million, compared with $22.36 million in 2022. He had earned $21.58 million in […]
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Charter Loses 392,000 Pay TV Subscribers in First Quarter
Cable and broadband giant Charter Communications has seen its losses of pay TV customers quicken as it reported its first-quarter results Friday. The company, led by president and CEO Chris Winfrey, shed 392,000 residential video customers during the latest quarter, which compared to a year-earlier decline of 237,000 subscribers. Charter had 13.1 million pay TV subscribers […]
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Why the New York Appeals Court Judges Reversed Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction
It was Valentine’s Day earlier this year when, in an Albany courtroom, the seven judges that make up the New York State Court of Appeals spent part of their day hearing oral arguments about potentially overturning the nearly four-year-old landmark trial in which Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of two of five felony […]
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Freelance Casting Assistants Launch Attempt to Unionize With Teamsters
Freelance casting assistants are launching an attempt to unionize with the Teamsters. Nearly 150 New York- and Los Angeles-based casting assistants are supporting the drive to unionize with Teamsters Local 399 and Teamsters Local 817, the former union announced on Thursday. The group has requested voluntary recognition from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television […]
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Billie Eilish, Green Day, Sia Among 250-Plus Artists Backing Bill That Would Reform Live Event Ticketing
More than 250 artists, including Billie Eilish, Green Day, Sia and Cyndi Lauper, signed a letter Thursday urging the Senate Commerce Committee to support a bill that would reform the ticketing system for live events. The Fans First Act, which was initially introduced in December by Sens. John Cornyn, Amy Klobuchar, Marsha Blackburn, Peter Welch, […]
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Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Pay Hits Nearly $84M in 2023
Endeavor chief Ari Emanuel received a roughly $84 million pay package last year — between his base salary, bonus, stock awards and other compensation — the company disclosed in its proxy filing on Thursday. President Mark Shapiro received $38.8 million, by those same measures, in 2023, while executive chairman Patrick Whitesell saw $13.2 million in […]
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Roku Narrows Quarterly Net Loss to $51M As Monthly Users Top 81M
Roku reported total net revenue of $882 million in the first quarter, up 19 percent year over year. Both platform revenue and devices revenue saw a year-over-year increase of 19 percent in the first quarter results reported Thursday, with platform revenue of $754.9 million, driven by both the streaming service distribution and advertising, and devices […]
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Sony Pictures Taps Jill Ratner as General Counsel
Jill Ratner is moving from Disney to Sony. The executive is joining Sony Pictures Entertainment as executive vice president and general counsel. She steps into a role vacated by Leah Weil, who announced in January she would transition to an advisory position after 30 years with the company. Ratner begins her new post on May […]
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