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[Bosco685]

Amazon Said to Make $9 Billion Offer for MGM

Another potential acquisition.

 

[Bosco685]

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WarnerMedia wants to lure more streamers into the HBO Max tent with a cheaper version of the service — priced at $9.99 per month — that includes ads.

 

The ad-supported HBO Max, set to debut in the U.S. the first week of June, will be 33% less than the premium no-ads package at $14.99. The details were revealed at WarnerMedia’s upfront Wednesday.

 

HBO Max with ads will be “the most brand-safe, elegant experience for advertisers” in the industry, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar vowed in a prerecorded segment during the presentation.

 

WarnerMedia has talked up plans for the price-reduced, ad-supported version of HBO Max for several months. The lower-cost tier will not include the day-and-date Warner Bros. movie premieres throughout 2021 — but otherwise will be the same as the full-freight product. Also, the version of HBO Max with ads will not run commercials against HBO’s original programming.

 

Kilar, whose future as WarnerMedia’s chief exec is up in the air following AT&T’s deal to spin off the media conglomerate in a combo with Discovery, has said WarnerMedia will make the same amount of margin on HBO Max whether someone chooses the full ad-free HBO Max or the cheaper tier.

 

“I’m not at all worried” about cannibalization of the higher-priced service by HBO Max with ads, he said at an investor conference last week. It wouldn’t even matter, he said, if 100% of HBO Max’s existing subscribers opted to take the ad-supported tier.

 

[drotto]

On 5/17/2021 at 7:17 PM, Bosco685 said:

Amazon Said to Make $9 Billion Offer for MGM

Another potential acquisition.

 

So the march to having like 3 media/entertainment companies excellerates. 

 

I am really worried for the longevity of Marvel and DC comics (not necessarily the IP's).

[Bosco685]

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ViacomCBS has spoken. The conglom leaned into what it deemed its “beautiful ecosystem” of “premium content” in a upfronts presentation that opened with “Survivor” host Jeff Probst leading ViacomCBS stars on a faux “Celebrity Survivor Casting Special.”

 

Leaning in on the idea of synergy inside the ViacomCBS, this year’s presentation made no real distinction between channel brands (except for a brief roundup of the CBS schedule at the very end — with a voiceover rushing through the lineup).

 

Unlike the CBS upfronts of old, when the network would highlight night-by-night strategy and programming initiatives in detail, the focus here was on hammering home the entire company’s library. ViacomCBS’ programming was promoted as one holistic slate, separated by genre: Dramas, comedies, reality/unscripted, kids and family, latenight/daytime, specials/events and sports/news.

 

In one brief mention of the various brands, and taking the “Mountain of Entertainment” launch campaign for Paramount Plus even further, a ViacomCBS map also included an “Isle of Partnership Possibilities.” That included “linear oasis” featuring CBS, a “Bakish Bay” where MTV and BET reside, and a “Sea of Transparency” where Nickelodeon and Comedy Central are. Then there was the “land of streams” with Pluto TV next to Paramount TV peak.

 

[Bosco685]

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After days of speculation, the deal has been done! Amazon and MGM have signed a merger agreement that will see Amazon acquire MGM for the staggering price of $8.45 billion. The home of James Bond, and nearly a century of filmmaking history, is said to complement the works of Amazon Studios, which has primarily focused on producing TV show programming. The goal of Amazon will be to help preserve MGM's history and catalog of films by giving their customers much greater access to these films.

 

Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, had this to say about the historic acquisition:

"MGM has a vast catalog with more than 4,000 films—12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, and many other icons—as well as 17,000 TV shows—including Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Vikings—that have collectively won more than 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmys. The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling."

 

According to "Deadline", the completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, but this is merely a case of dotting all the I's and crossing all the T's. The news of the acquisition comes days after AT&T announced a $43 billion plan on May 17, 2021, to spinoff its WanerMedia division, which includes HBO and Warner Bros., to Discovery. These deals are rattling the entertainment industry a bit because some of these power plays show just how eager some of these companies are to come out on top. In the case of Amazon, which disclosed in April that 175 million Prime members have viewed movies and TV shows on its platform in the past year, they're in a battle with Netflix (207 million global subscribers) and Disney+ (103 subscribers) for global domination among the top streaming platforms. The streamer has already made big moves with films by gaining Oscar-nominated fare (Sound of Metal and One Night In Miami), crowd-pleasing comedies (Coming 2 America and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), and potential franchise starters (Tom Clancy's Without Remorse). On the television side, Amazon launched Barry Jenkins' limited series The Underground Railroad this month and they have a perennial Emmy nominee candidate with the comedy, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Their biggest television endeavor is the pricey The Lord of the Rings series which they hope to make their Game of Thrones.

 

What is still clear is that the upcoming Bond entry, NO TIME TO DIE, will still see a theatrical release despite this new partnership. 

 

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

$3/month for a streaming service??!! Wow.

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

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The finale of Mare of Easttown accomplished a rare feat on HBO.

 

The closing episode of the limited series hit a same-day viewership high, drawing some 3 million viewers in its first 24 hours across all platforms (the initial HBO airing, replays and streaming on HBO Max). HBO says 4 million people watched the finale over the Memorial Day weekend.

 

The Kate Winslet-led series grew its audience with every episode following its premiere — something only one other HBO series, last fall’s The Undoing, has accomplished.

What a solid show.

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On 5/26/2021 at 9:33 AM, Bosco685 said:

 

I’m pretty much an Amazon Prime member for life so I’m excited that Prime Video’s library will expand. 

[1Cool]

5 hours ago, Oddball said:

I’m pretty much an Amazon Prime member for life so I’m excited that Prime Video’s library will expand. 

I'd be surprised if Amazon Prime TV isn't a paid membership service by next year with their recent acquisition.  Amazon Prime is not cheap but neither is shipping all those billions of packages.  I'm thinking Amazon Prime TV will be a $9.99 monthly service in the near future.  

[Bosco685]

1 minute ago, 1Cool said:

I'd be surprised if Amazon Prime TV isn't a paid membership service by next year with their recent acquisition.  Amazon Prime is not cheap but neither is shipping all those billions of packages.  I'm thinking Amazon Prime TV will be a $9.99 monthly service in the near future.  

I have been assuming the same thing. Amazon knows how to keep the money flowing. It didn't make this MGM investment to maintain the status quo.

[Bosco685]

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Streaming Fatigue? Average Number of Services Per User Falls for First Time: Study

"After the 2020 explosion of VOD growth, we’re seeing a cooling of the market, partially driven by viewing habits normalizing and industry consolidation," says Omdia.

 

Indeed, Wall Street and other analysts have often argued that streamers with deep pockets and big global subscriber numbers, such as Netflix and Disney+, will be fine in an increasingly competitive space, but there could be a shake-out among smaller players.

 

While pay TV is “largely stable and SVOD continues to grow,” Omdia found that “a significant number of users are eschewing AVOD and instead increasingly consuming content via paid alternatives.” One reason is that entertainment giants’ AVOD services “draw viewers away” from TV networks’ VOD offerings, “reducing the overall number of services that a consumer must manage, while maintaining access to the same volume of content,” the firm argued.

 

[Bosco685]

You get a + service...and you get a + service...

[Bosco685]

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HBO and HBO Max added 2.8 million subscribers in the second quarter, reaching 47 million in the U.S. and helping parent AT&T beat Wall Street forecasts.

 

Total AT&T revenue of $44 billion rose almost 8% from the year-earlier period and topped analysts’ consensus estimate of $42.6 billion. Earnings per share went up 7% to 89 cents, well ahead of analysts’ outlook of 79 cents.

 

At WarnerMedia, revenue surged 31% to $8.8 million in the quarter, which ended June 30, as comparisons with the rough 2020 quarter grew favorable. Advertising revenue zoomed 49% as sports returned to form.

 

Several Warner Bros film titles scored during the quarter, both in theaters and on HBO Max, as the studio continued its day-and-date release strategy. Godzilla vs. Kong, released the day before the quarter began, collected most of its returns during the period.

 

HBO Max, which launched in May 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, has now topped 67 million global subscribers. AT&T upped its subscriber guidance to between 70 and 73 million subscribers by the end of 2021. (Previously, the number was 67 million to 70 million.)

 

[Bosco685]

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And as much as Netflix has poked, prodded and willed this new world order into being, it also benefited from being the first entrant in the increasingly crowded streaming space, as well as from a global pandemic that shattered the theatrical paradigm. Like it or not, and many cinema purists decidedly do not, we are living in an entertainment landscape that Netflix and Stuber have seeded. It’s one in which media conglomerates and tech titans are focused on building the best subscription streaming service, spending enormous sums of money to create can’t-miss content that people can binge from the comfort of home.

 

“For so long people talked about how technology is going to change things and everything will be different, but they thought it was three or four years away,” says Bryan Lourd, co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency. “Then it happened all at once. COVID sped up things in so many ways and forced artists to step back and understand that change wasn’t coming. It had occurred.”

 

At Netflix, Stuber has taken the shell of a studio he inherited and expanded it into a global distribution powerhouse. The year before he accepted the job, the company had released 21 original films. Its highest-profile movie had been “Beasts of No Nation,” a child-soldier drama that earned a grand total of zero Oscar nominations. This year, Netflix will release more than 70 films, amounting to at least one new movie every week. Critics say that quantity does not always equate with quality. And yet Netflix also topped all other entertainment companies to score the most Academy Award nods in both 2020 and 2021, though a best picture prize remains stubbornly elusive.

 

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More than a year after HBO Max debuted, LG Electronics USA and WarnerMedia reached a deal to distribute the HBO Max app on recent-model LG smart TVs in the U.S.

 

The arrival of HBO Max on LG smart TVs in the States comes after the streaming service went live on certain models of LG internet-connected televisions in select territories in Latin America and the Caribbean in June.

 

LG Smart TV owners in the U.S. can now access HBO Max on the TV’s webOS platform by opening the HBO Max app using their remote or when available, by saying “HBO Max” into their LG Magic Remote. HBO Max is available on LG OLED TVs, LG QNED Mini LED TVs and LG NanoCell TVs from model years 2018-2021 via webOS 4.0 and higher.

I have every app on my Vizio TV other than HBO Max which I have to watch on my iPad or cast it onto the TV.

Talk about horrible distribution planning.

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Anime purveyor Crunchyroll has surpassed 5 million streaming subscribers and has also teamed with Zoe Saldana on Dark Star Squadron, a project it describes as an “epic animated space opera.”

 

Crunchyroll, founded in 2006, is owned by WarnerMedia. The AT&T division entered into an agreement last December to sell Crunchyroll to Sony for almost $1.2 billion, but regulators have not yet signed off on the transaction.

 

Dark Star Squadron is backed by Saldana’s Cinestar Pictures. Todd Ludy, whose credits include Voltron: Legendary Defender, is onboard to write it. Saldana and her sisters, Cisely and Mariel Saldana of Cinestar are exec producers. Sonia A. Gambaro and Maytal Gilboa from Pollinate Entertainment are also producers on the film.

 

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The ad sales unit of WarnerMedia has launched a new brand studio, House of Max.

 

The venture follows the launch of HBO Max with Ads in June. The lower-priced, ad-supported tier of the streaming service featured 35 initial advertisers and came after the debut of ad-free HBO Max in May 2020. The AVOD version of HBO Max competes with a number of “ad-lite” subscription services in the market. In the subscription game, major players range from well-established entities like Hulu and Paramount+ (an expansion of the six-year-old CBS All Access), and relative newcomers like Peacock and Discovery+.

 

Other streaming outlets and media companies have rolled out brand studios as they manage through a reordering of the TV landscape. Roku’s debuted earlier this year and Hulu’s in 2020. While linear viewing still exists at great scale, ratings are dropping and the push toward streaming has been accompanied by advertiser interest in the kind of targeting capabilities only possible in digital. Brand studios also afford flexibility in terms of what form brand messages take — House of Max can deliver long-form, episodic or anything in between. According to the official announcement, the main goal is to “create an effective environment that aligns with marketers’ goals and puts the viewer at the heart of the streaming experience.”