CinemaBlend
Last week, in a move that produced doubletakes among both streaming fans and Wall Street power players, AT&T announced it would spin off HBO, Time Warner and its other entertainment assets into a new company that will merge with Discovery, which owns Food Network, HGTV and more niche cable networks. The immediate assumption from most observers was that the company would combine its offerings into a single streaming service that could potentially rival the biggest players in the space. Well, we seemingly got confirmation of those plans from CEO David Zaslav, and now Iâm really fired up.
Twitter teases its upcoming ‘premium’ service, which it plans to release globally
Would you pay for an upgraded Twitter? That’s a question Twitter will soon answer when it rolls out a new subscription service that will present users with an expanded feature set available only to paid subscribers. This is a different offering than Twitter’s previously announced Super Follow subscription plans, which will allow users to subscribe to individual creators for access to exclusive content. Instead, the new subscription service will target Twitter’s power users who tweet frequently enough or otherwise engage with the product to the point that they’d be willing to pay to do even more.
Disney Plans To Close 100 Of International TV Channels
BURBANK (dpa-AFX) - Walt Disney Company (DIS) plans to close 100 of its international TV channels in 2021 as it moves toward a future where streaming services such as Disney+ are front and center, Bloomberg quoted Disney s Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek as saying at J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference.
The closures come in addition to the 30 international networks the company closed last year.
Chapek reportedly said the closures will depend on contracts the company has in individual markets. Profits from some of Disney s traditional TV networks are helping pay for programming that can run on its streaming services, which include Hulu and ESPN+ in the U.S.
AT&T Expects Increased Investment In 5G And Fiber To Support Longer-term Growth
DALLAS (dpa-AFX) - AT&T Inc. (T) expects that increased investment in 5G and fiber will support longer-term growth and healthy returns for shareholders.
WarnerMedia-Discovery deal will significantly improve AT&T s financial flexibility by providing $43 billion for debt reduction, John Stankey, chief executive officer of AT&T, Monday spoke at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference. AT&T last week announced a plan to separate its WarnerMedia operations and combine them with Discovery Inc.
Stankey said AT&T does not expect changes to the dividend prior to the close of the WarnerMedia-Discovery transaction, which is expected to occur in mid-2022.