Received this email from a friend? Subscribe here.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Hollywood stays heated, Netflix readies earnings, Peacock raises rates, OnlyFans names new boss, right-wing media defends Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis exits the Fox-verse, Threads unspools new features, buzz for "Barbie" builds, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Distress at Disney

CNN Photo Illustration/David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Bob Iger is seeking to reassure an anxious arm of Disney's business.

In an off-site meeting on Tuesday, I'm told, the House of Mouse boss spoke to senior leaders of Disney's television businesses. The meeting came just days after Iger made decidedly candid remarks to CNBC's David Faber in which he said Disney's linear business "may not be core" to the entertainment giant — a comment that immediately sent shockwaves through the industry.

The admission to Faber naturally set off alarm bells inside Disney General Entertainment Content, the division of the Magic Kingdom that houses its linear business and operates quintessential broadcast and cable networks such as ABC, the Disney Channel, National Geographic, and FX.

Employees in the sizable division (there are thousands and thousands of employees who work for DGEC) have been experiencing "high anxiety," sources noted to me, with them adding that Iger had effectively left staff "in the dark" by not communicating directly them since the stunning interview. There have been no company-wide memos. No town halls. Nothing but silence since Iger jolted the organization with the news.

The chief executive on Tuesday sought to quell some of this unease as he fielded questions submitted by senior company leaders assembled at the off-site. He told the personnel gathered that the content created by the company's television production teams is "incredibly valuable to our business," according to a person with knowledge of his remarks.

And Iger talked up the importance of ABC News: "I'm ridiculously passionate about news," Iger said, according to the person familiar with his comments. "It's important to this company. We need to figure out how it makes the transition into streaming. And I happen to believe we will endure. It's too good, it's too important, and it's really fun."

Of course, those comments are unlikely to entirely calm the rattled nerves of those working in Disney's television businesses. While Iger did not explicitly tell Faber that he wanted to sell the linear stations and networks, he effectively put that sector of the business on the market with his comments.

Expressing passion for the news does not solve for that. No one has ever doubted Iger's love for the news business. And it comes as no surprise that Iger believes the content produced by the television production teams holds incredible value.

The important question is — and always has been — whether the linear television businesses are crucial to Disney, particularly as Iger positions the company for the future. Iger has already answered that — and candidly so. "They may not be core to Disney," he openly told Faber.

As one Disney insider told me on Tuesday, Iger's remarks to senior leaders were "the usual jewel in the crown stuff — except now we know that he's selling the jewel."

"It's great to say he loves the jewel. It's great to say that the jewel is important. It's great to say that the jewel is fun," the Disney insider said. "But he has revealed the truth: he wants to get the highest price he can for the jewel because he can't afford it anymore."

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Siegfried Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx /AP

Heated in Hollywood: The AMPTP, the trade association that represents the Hollywood studios, said Tuesday that it offered SAG-AFTRA a deal "worth more than $1 billion in wage increases, pension & health contributions and residual increases." But, the AMPTP said, the union walked away. The statement came as the war of words between the studios and unions intensifies. In releasing its statement, the AMPTP said, "SAG-AFTRA continues to mischaracterize the negotiations with AMPTP." For its part, the actors' union has said that it doesn't believe the studios were willing to "meaningfully engage on the most critical issues." Reuters' Lisa Richwine has more here.

► Related: "As tens of thousands of actors go into their fifth day of a strike versus the Hollywood studios, the two sides have shown no signs of returning to the bargaining table — and are even exchanging barbed messages that underscore how far apart they are," The NYT's John Koblin reports.

HOLLYWOOD HELL

The WGA and SAG-AFTRA filed a labor grievance claim with the National Labor Relations Board against NBCU. (THR)
"We agonized over this decision because going on strike is a very difficult decision," SAG-AFTRA New York boss Ezra Knight tells Lucas Manfredi. (The Wrap)
"Don't think that 2023 will escape harm": Anthony D'Alessandro breaks down how the SAG-AFTRA strike "could upend this year's movie release schedule and box office." (Deadline)
The actors' union said that it has exempted 39 independent film and TV projects from its strike after verifying there were no ties to AMPTP. (NYT)
"The studios thought they could handle a strike," Mary McNamara writes. "They might end up sparking a revolution." (LAT)
"Studios need a streaming viewership metric to end the strikes," argues Tyler Aquilina. (Variety)
"Rather than viewing the directors' contract as a blueprint, the actors' union deemed it insufficient," Nicole Sperling points out. (NYT)
Britain's actors union will strike in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA. (THR)

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Mike Blake/Reuters

Will Netflix Thrill? Netflix is set to kick off earnings season Wednesday for the media and technology industry. Investors will surely be curious to see what executives have to say about the dual strikes that have brought Hollywood to a standstill. It goes without saying that the era of streaming ushered in by Netflix has given rise to many of the most pressing complaints from both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. Also on Wednesday's menu: Investors will be looking to see how Netflix's crackdown on password sharing has impacted the streamer's bottom line. The company will report earnings after the bell.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Peacock has become the latest streamer to raise its rates. Both tiers offered to subscribers will increase in cost starting August 17, with Peacock Premium moving up $1 a month to $5.99 and Peacock Premium Plus growing $2 a month to $11.99. (WSJ)
Warner Music Group announced a multi-year licensing deal with TikTok. The major agreement will allow the record company to grow its social revenue. (THR)
Regional sports networks giant Bally Sports received a win on Tuesday, with a bankruptcy judge authorizing it to end its television deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Major League Baseball said it will stream the games moving forward. (Bloomberg)
OpenAI "will commit $5 million in funding for local news initiatives," Sara Fischer reports. The move calls back memories of Facebook throwing change at the news industry as it massively disrupted it. (Axios)
Relatedly: Peter Kafka reports on how G/O Media will be producing A.I.-written stories, "whether you like it or not." (Vox)
Local news outlets have created an advocacy group, The Coalition for Local News, to lobby for modernized streaming regulations. (The Wrap)
Sean McCreesh reports on how Penguin Random House is "cleaning house," through layoffs and buyouts: "In certain uptown literati circles, this is like watching a Borzoi be fed to a wood chipper." (NY Mag)
Adrian Carrasquillo reports that profit sharing issues NAHJ had with NABJ led to the groups abandoning the joint Unity Conference they once held. (Messenger)
Bloomberg Media has seen an increase on CMPs after ditching open-market programmatic advertising, Mark Stenberg reports. (AdWeek)

MEDIA MOVES

OnlyFans named Keily Blair as its new chief executive. (Variety)
The Atlantic hired Michael Powell and Zoë Schlanger as staff writers. (The Atlantic)
NBC News tapped Liz Kreutz as a correspondent based in Los Angeles. (TV Newser)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Charlie Riedel/AP

Defending the Donald: No surprise here. Right-wing media on Tuesday leapt to Donald Trump's defense after the disgraced former president revealed he is a target of special counsel Jack Smith's probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. While the major organs in MAGA Media hyped allegations against Hunter Biden (a story about him is currently leading Fox News' home page, for instance), conservative pundits and outlets downplayed the allegations facing Trump. In that information ecosystem, Trump is the victim of menacing forces that have hijacked American institutions and are aiming to persecute those who they politically disagree with. It's dangerous, but commonplace rhetoric.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Trump was on Sean Hannity's program for a *taped* town hall on Tuesday night. As one would expect, Hannity allowed Trump free airtime to complain about the probes into him and assail the Justice Department.
Ron DeSantis has officially granted an interview outside Murdoch Media. The culture warrior — and Florida governor — spoke to Jake Tapper on Tuesday, downplaying concerns about the state of his campaign. Of course, the fact DeSantis was on a channel not named Fox News says quite a bit about how he actually views the state of his campaign. (CNN)
Ratings are in for Fox News' new prime time lineup. The first night delivered a boost to the right-wing channel's evening ratings, with Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld all averaging north of 2 million viewers. But the verdict is "still out on matching Tucker Carlson's audience," Ted Johnson writes. (Deadline)
Moms have the best advice! Watters' mother called into his first show to give him advice not to "tumble into any conspiracy rabbit holes." (Variety)
🤔 The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center of New York City said it has "no record" of an anti-trans activist recently interviewed by Fox News having worked at the organization. (Blade)
The next culture war story: CMT has pulled the music video for Jason Aldean's controversial song, "Try That In a Small Town," Melinda Newman reports. (Billboard)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Unspooling New Threads: Meta's nascent Twitter rival, Threads, is being infused with some new features. Software engineer Cameron Roth on Tuesday unveiled a list of usability updates to the app, including a follows tab on the activity feed. That said, Threads is still missing some very basic features, such as a desktop solution. On that front, Casey Newton reported that Threads "will soon let users post and browse from the desktop." So we'll stay tuned. Until such features are released, Twitter will likely maintain its stranglehold on power users.

TOO MANY TABS

Wait, there are rate limits on Threads now? (WaPo)
Elon Musk said Twitter Notes will support mixed media. (TechCrunch)
Cameo laid off more employees, leaving fewer than 50 staffers at the company, Natasha Mascarenhas and Kaya Yurieff report. (The Info)
Meta will make its A.I. chatbot available for wider use via partnerships with major cloud service providers, such as Microsoft. (Bloomberg)
Microsoft's A.I.-enabled Bing search engine will now allow users to conduct visual searches. In practice, this allows people to upload a photo and ask for more information on it. (CNBC)
Microsoft will charge at least 53% more for users to access the new A.I. tools used in the company's Office suite. (Reuters)
Spain's antitrust watchdog announced Amazon and Apple were hit with a 194-million-euro fine for working together to edge out competitors. (AP)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Warner Bros.

Buzz for 'Barbie': The reviews are in for Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" — and life in plastic is looking fantastic. With 70 reviews, the Warner Bros. Pictures film is boasting a 90% ratings score on Rotten Tomatoes. The site summarized what critics are saying like this: "Critics say Greta Gerwig's send-up of the iconic doll is a thoughtfully self-aware, laugh-out-loud comedy that benefits from a flawless Margot Robbie and a scene-stealing Ryan Gosling." Read more here.

OFF STAGE

How big will "Barbie" open at the box office? Projections are all over the place, ranging from $75 million to $140 million, Rebecca Rubin reports. "Oppenheimer" is projected for about $50 million. (Variety)
Paul Schrader called Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" the "best, most important film of this century" ahead of Wednesday's critic review embargo. (THR)
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough sat down with Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Emily Blunt — prior to the announcement of the SAG-AFTRA strike — as well as Kai Bird, whose "American Prometheus" inspired Nolan's film. (MSNBC)
A new development: Las Vegas police have executed a search warrant in connection with the still open murder case of Tupac Shakur. (CNN)
Rachel Zegler of "West Side Story" fame called racist comments over her being cast as the titular heroine in the upcoming "Snow White" live-action film "nonsensical discourse." (NBC News)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.