The streaming giant plans to release a staggering 80 films in 2018 as it continues to become a OC powerhouse.

The WSJ had been one of the outlets least willing to abide by Google’s playbook, disabling access to articles reached via Google search earlier this year.

The technology is expected to first launch in the U.S., South Korea, and Japan.

Wenner already sold a 49% stake in Rolling Stone to Singapore’s BandLab Technologies late last year.

21st Century Fox readies a counter-punch after being taken by surprise by the bid from CBS.

Amazon’s largest hit so far is likely ‘The Man in High Castle,’ which has not managed to develop the cultural cachet of HBO or Netflix hits.

Broadcast-only households are also younger and more multicultural than the average TV household.

The statement was little more than a process update and does not give much insight. Fox remains optimistic the deal with go through, though not until 2018.

Finally some good news for a movie and theater industry reeling from the worst summer in over a decade.

China’s box office was in large part propelled by domestic mega-hit Wolf Warrior 2. The U.S. movie market dropped below $4 Billion for the Summer for the first time since 2006.

The deal, which surprised some analysts, gives CBS a true international footprint and boosts their ad revenue.

The lack of major releases, the unprecedented storm in Texas, and a premier PPV event all contributed to the box office slide.

Earlier in August, James Murdoch expressed optimism that the deal would go through – though not until 2018. Fox would have to pay Sky a hefty fee for the delay under the terms of their agreement.

Price also took time to disagree with the notion of ‘”peak TV,” noting that Hollywood was not “running out of ideas.”

PCV notes that the FCC is overwhelmingly likely to side with Sinclair, having already rolled back an Obama-era rule that would have blocked the acquisition outright.

There is already rampant speculation that Breitbart will soon begin firing at some of the more establishment, “globalist” figures in the White House.

The amount of cash the tech giants are willing to throw at OC immediately makes them industry heavyweights. Hollywood is on notice.

The news batters a sector that has been troubled in recent months by negative movie reviews driving down revenue from films projected to be big draws.

Sports, perhaps the strongest selling point for traditional cable bundles, are increasingly moving OTT.

The Expo, scheduled for October, brings together a ‘who’s who’ of industry execs from the two largest film markets at a time of upheaval in the global industry.

Disney’s recent OTT push is seen by some as evidence of further – unacknowledged – weakness in the cable market.

The dizzy pace of the acquisitions is in line with CEO Masayoshi Son’s history of bold, speculative expansion.

While good scores have been touted widely by studios since last year, Hollywood is now scrambling to understand and mitigate the effects of ‘green splats,’ which have played a role in dooming several big budget productions this year.

Comcast will try to revive its standing with younger customers by joining the growing OTT market.

The success of ‘Baby Driver’ and better than expected streaming music revenue have also helped propel growth in 2017.

Amazon’s history of successful investment gives it leniency from investors few, if any, companies can match.

Short-form amateur video has thrived on the internet. Now Jeffrey Katzenberg thinks Hollywood can embrace the medium.

The Murdoch’s talked about the review in the context of Brexit, saying the world would watch to see how business friendly a totally independent Britain will be.

Netflix produced 16 films in 2016. Some experts doubt that consumers will be quick to give up the century old tradition of watching movies in theaters.

Netflix passed the 100 million subscriber mark this quarter as viewers and critics react positively to its major investments in original content.

Sequel fatigue seems to be setting in as both franchises stumble in their recent installments. The genre was once among the most reliable for Hollywood execs.

AT&T is said to favor a strategy whereby their acquired companies would retain a high degree of autonomy. Separation of the businesses will likely please regulators worried about the prioritization of Time Warner content on the company’s networks.

However, there were some signs that growth may be tapering off after years of robust gains. The MPAA has pushed China to boost the number of foreign films allowed to air annually from 34 to at least 50.

Highlights include the staying power of ‘Wonder Woman’ and the massive legal battle surrounding longtime smash-hit ‘The Walking Dead.’

A lighter regulatory touch from the Trump Administration, along with the pressures of cord-cutting and streaming services, is likely to set off the wave.

The lack of movement on negotiations in recent weeks leads observers to believe that the UK government will formally call for an extended review sometime next week.

Spotify, which has nearly double the subscribers of its next largest competitor, Apple Music, now only needs to hash out a deal with Warner Music Group before it has the investor confidence to go public.

Eastern Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia are the first targets for expansion beyond the MENA region.

An acquisition of Dish by Amazon is considered unlikely. However, a partnership may be in the offing, and the two CEOs have reportedly hit it off personally.

Downward pressures on earnings played a large role in the WGA’s contract negotiations earlier this year. The Guild authorized strike and hammered out a new contract only an hour before the last had expired.

‘Baby Driver’ continued to impress while ‘The House’ crashed out of the gate after decidedly negative reviews.

Although OTT options are forecast to only grow in market share, DirecTV Now has seen a drop-off in new subscriptions after an initial surge in January. A more robust local presence may deliver the growth their looking for.

Asian IT companies now account for over a quarter of total index capitalization in emerging markets. A decade ago, they accounted for less than 12%.

Previous entries in the Spiderman catalog have all grossed over $700 million at the international box and generated over $200 in merchandise sales.

The music industry increased revenue for the first time in over a decade last year. Tiny services like Saavn lead the way toward profitability but giants like Spotify may not be far behind.

Cinedigm is a frequent collaborator with streaming giants Amazon and Netflix.

Sony’s modestly budgeted ‘Baby Driver’ also looks poised for a big holiday weekend. Despicable Me 3 will be released in China on June 7th. The last installment took in more than $50 million at the Chinese box office in early 2014.

However, Sky shares rose on the expectation that Fox would be able to get over this last regulatory hurdle.

The takeover had been previously cleared in Austria, Germany, and Italy.

Streaming services such as SlingTV and Playstation Vue are expected to serve over 11 million households by 2021.

Accurate numbers are vital as many Hollywood films are shown in China under revenue-sharing agreements with domestic companies. China is poised to play host to the largest film market in the world by end of decade.

The disappointing state-side results don’t tell the whole story. Many in the industry believe the movie was implicitly made to cater the the Chinese market. International returns should buoy the numbers towards respectability.

June 23, 2017 ‘As the TV world turns less linear and more on-demand, Discovery Communications is experimenting with ways to make its content more accessible to more consumers. The international nonfiction content company is now considering whether to convert two over-the-top products now being distributed through Amazon Prime into direct-to-consumer services.’ Read the Full Story

PCV notes that Chinese companies buying stakes in Hollywood productions is becoming more common. On Monday, Dadi’s major rival, Wanda, took a stake in the new ‘Transformers’ movie.

The lines between the tech and entertainment industries continues to blur as giants like Facebook and Apple join the push for original content.

There is some speculation that Apple’s content push could lead them to acquiring a Hollywood studio.

The AT&T/Time Warner merger as well as 21st Century Fox’s bid for full control of Sky will surely be topics of discussion.

The app helps users find friends in crowded venues such as festivals, concerts and sporting events.

Some E3 attendees were skeptical of the optimistic projections. One issue to tackle is the current lack of market penetration for VR headsets.

The last Transformers film is the third highest grossing Hollywood film ever in China, raking in $320 million in 2014.

Yahoo’s investment assets, mainly stakes in China’s Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, will continue to operate under a new name: Altaba.

A Premium Video-on-Demand (PVOD) model seems to be picking up steam and studios may publicly address the concept by the end of this business year.

The IPO is expected to help the company with future acquisitions. Class B stockholders will still retain 98% of voting power following the move.

PCV notes that The Mummy’s stumble out of the gate, especially domestically, questions the viability of Universal’s planned ‘monster-verse’ of film titles.

Whenever it launches, Verizon’s service will wade in a market that has seen a number of new and well funded entities enter in the last year.

Hollywood blockbuster routinely blow past the threshold, making the law a rather transparent attempt to limit their presence in Russia. The recent Pirates of the Caribbean film took 56% of screening the week of its release.

The discount was previously eliminated under President Obama’s FCC.

FoxNext plans to leverage 21st Century Fox’s large flim and TV library to develop new games.

PCV notes that the record breaks the one set by ‘Train to Busan’ only last year.

The announcement comes on the heels of another hack and early release of high-profile content, this time ABC’s new Steve Harvey show.

June 4, 2017 ‘The Dark Overlord is back: The hacker who previously leaked almost the entire fifth season of Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” targeted ABC with a new leak Sunday night, apparently releasing eight episodes of the network’s still-unaired show “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome” on The Pirate Bay. “Time to play another round,” the […]

The numbers are especially significant given the fact that 52% of Wonder Woman’s viewers were female. This is a 12% shift from the average superhero film, whose viewers skew male 60-40.

The move helps transition Plex from targeting an audience with large local media collections to targeting the ever growing number of cord-cutters.

Universal Pictures hopes the global appeal of Tom Cruise will propel the series of films to worldwide success.

The streaming service has been able to somewhat crack the apartment market that previously proved elusive due to DirectTV’s satellite hardware requirements.

The investment in Euronews, seen as a sort of European CNN, will focus on expanding coverage and programming across Europe.

iflix’s expansion into the MENA region has produced unique challenges and opportunities.

The film, which tried to follow in the footsteps of the successful ’21 Jump Street,’ never got off its feet after intensely negative critical reaction.

Oscar Inundated La-La Land proved to be a big boost to Lionsgate’s film profits.

The deal underscores the increasing importance of the Chinese market to companies in Hollywood.

The Lions Conference Features all the glitz and glamour of the film festival along with talks on the future of the media and advertising businesses.

PCV notes that union membership turnout for the ratification vote was dwarfed by the earlier strike authorization vote, an indication of the appeal of the deal hammered out to WGA members.

Deadline publishes its second annual issue of ‘Disruptors,’ a special release covering the media titans and upstarts who are taking risks in the fast changing digital media landscape.

Georgia led the list with 17 of the 100 highest grossing films of 2016 having been shot there.

Sony’ film business is set to contribute to just 8% of the company’s operating income this fiscal year.

Consuming content on mobile devices is already the method of choice in many regions of the world, perhaps most notably in the Asia Pacific.

While a sale is not imminent, the Vivendi boss feels that the company’s shares are under-priced due to a too-low valuation of their music business.

The low price reflects the decision to not offer the premium sports and news channels common on other services that offer over-the-top content.

The current contract ends on June 30th. Unlike negotiations with the WGA, not hiccups are expected as a new deal is hammered out.

Digital ad spending surpassed traditional TV advertising last year and continues to grow.

Mr. Ailes, a controversial figure who recently stepped down amid scandal, was undoubtedly one of the most influential political and media figures of the last two decades.

PCV notes that this trend has squeezed independent studios margins and may increase speculation that Sony is considering a sale of its studio assets. CBS has been speculated as a buyer due to their ownership of a major network and CEO Leslie Moonves long held desire for a legitimate film studio.

PCV notes that caps on the number of American movies released, along with the astounding size and growth of the Chinese movie market, make partnerships with local companies very financially attractive. MPAA is currently in negotiation with the Chinese government to set a new 5 year quota on the number of movies released in China.

Recently, Mr. Fox had focused his efforts on China, whose film market has come to rival that of the United Stares. Projections of continued growth in that market will surely make it a top priority for his successor.

The availability of streaming services is beginning to unlock the music market in China, which in the past had been dampened by rampant piracy.

Streaming entrants that have offered broadcast and sports networks, rather than those that are purely entertainment, have had more success being including in the new streaming packages.

Leslie Moonves of CBS has been speculated to be a potential buyer given his long standing desire for a premier film studio. CBS might be a good fit for Sony, which has been hurt by its lack of an affiliated network.

The Chinese market, which increasing poses a challenge to the US as the top media and tech market, will be a priority for DMG. Investments will occur across a range of industries, including television, film, e-commerce, and OTT media.

The move comes as cord-cutting and the instant availability of sports highlights on mobile devices undercut the relevance of the traditional SportsCenter model.

The new contract reflects the growing percentage of revenue that is generated by streaming services.

Investors bet that the Tubi’s large library and lack of subscription fee will convince users to sit through commercials.

PCV notes that if the President gets his wish on tax reform there would be a huge monetary incentive for individuals to reclassify themselves as ‘pass-through’ businesses. Actors and Producers are both groups likely to take advantage this incentive.

Hulu’s foray into live TV follows efforts by Sony, Dish, AT&T, and Google.

China, Korea, and Russia led the international charge for the Disney/Marvel sequel.

PCV notes that this comes after CEO Kevin Tsujihara divulged last week that Warner Bros. was also considering the idea.

Revenue from streaming music significantly boosted the company’s bottom line and now dwarfs revenue from music downloads.

Media companies covet the exposure to young audiences that Snapchat’s Discover feature can deliver.

PCV notes that although the FCC relaxed ownership rules earlier this year, Sinclair will likely have to divest from some local stations to stay within the national audience cap.

The move comes as cable companies seek to grab a piece of the growing mobile broadcast and VOD markets.

PCV notes that the interest in having OC on Snapchat comes at a time when Twitter has also announced plans to expand its live video broadcasts.

Netflix makes another big bet that its OC will continue to propel subscriber growth.

May 4, 2017 ‘YouTube has already invested in original programming for its subscription-only YouTube Red service. Now the video giant is going to launch original series — with celebrities and some of YouTube’s biggest creators — on the free, ad-supported service.’ Read the Full Story

PCV notes that this continues the narrative of the growing Chinese presence in the global film industry.

PCV note to look at the film’s performance abroad, especially in China, where the recent Fate of the Furious set records. International performance is increasingly a key component of a film’s success.

PCV notes that Warner Bros. boss Kevin Tsujihara mentioned that a premium Video-on-Demand service for recently released movies was under consideration. Such a move might make film piracy less appealing as services such as Spotify and Netflix have for the music and TV industries.

The subscription model has increasingly put a dent in the spread of pirated content.

May 2, 2017 ‘Lawmakers are using the omnibus appropriations bill to backstop FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s rollback of the FCC’s tightening of joint sales agreement reviews under former chairman Tom Wheeler. The appropriations bill deal announced Monday includes a provision that the FCC can’t require the termination or modification of a JSA as a condition of […]

The tentative 3 year deal avoids a damaging work stoppage that had seemed likely just hours before.

May 1, 2017 ‘Twitter will partner with Bloomberg as part of its plans to stream live video 24 hours a day, The Wall Street Journal reports. The deal will see Bloomberg producing news programming specifically for Twitter, mixing live news reported from Bloomberg’s global bureaus with videos posted by verified Twitter users, and streaming around […]

The decision is not very impactful given FCC Chairman Pai’s proposed rollback of much of the regulation in question.

The interest comes following an FCC rule change in April that would make Tribune’s acquisition easier.

Less than 24 hours remain before a work stoppage is set to begin. Estimates put the cost of the 2007 WGA strike at around $2 billion.

UPDATE: Variety is reporting that the hacker has followed through on his plans. Link after the jump.

He will be succeeded by former Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin.

Keep an eye on this as negotiations go down to the wire.

An almost $1 Billion impairment charge leaned heavily on the company’s bottom line. However, Sony projects that expansion in its gaming, semiconductor, and film businesses will buoy operating profits to a 20 year high in 2018.

Mr. Burke stressed that both sides stand to suffer should a deal prove elusive.

The move comes as the Disney sports giant seeks to adapt to the rise of cord-cutting.

April 26, 2017 ‘Paramount Pictures has revived its $1 billion slate deal with two Chinese media companies, which was presumed dead last month, according to several sources. First announced in January, the Chinese financing deal hit a roadblock in March as China continued to apply greater scrutiny to overseas investments.’ Read the Full Story

The news was unveiled at the APOS 2017 conference in Bali, Indonesia. PCV’s Mike Regan had to opportunity to open up the conference on Tuesday.

April 25, 2017 ‘It’s difficult to see how a multi-hundred million dollar gap will be bridged prior to the May 1 contract expiration, but on an issue-by-issue basis, the parties have moved closer.’ Read the Full Story

April 24, 2017 ‘Netflix said Monday that it was planning to raise 1 billion euros, or $1.09 billion, via a bond offering outside the U.S. “Netflix intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, which may include content acquisitions, capital expenditures, investments, working capital and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions,” […]

PCV says fingers crossed as this existential threat hopefully passes, neither side can afford this, nor the collateral damage it will wreak to the industry.

April 23, 2017 While the action film shows signs of waning enthusiasm in the domestic market (that said, it continues to dominate overall), the Fast and Furious franchise’s eighth installment is roaring to new heights overseas. By the end of the weekend, Universal’s latest is estimated to make $744.8 million internationally, and $908.4 million worldwide. “Fate” continues to […]

April 21, 2017 ‘The RIAA is suing the San Marcos, Texas-based ISP Grande Communications for copyright infringement on behalf of its member companies, in a case that potentially could help define how Internet services must deal with consumers who repeatedly download music and other copyrighted works illegally. The lawsuit, filed today in an Austin, Texas, district court, […]

PCV believes this is another example of a mutually beneficial deal between great distribution and premium content that should be a winner for both companies.

PCV believes this is worth watching because of the domino effect it has had on all aspects of industry in Hollywood in the past.

PCV believes that the pending AT&T/Time Warner merger could set off a stream of M&As within the industry as competitors seek to play catch-up.