The streaming wars are officially in motion, with Netflix, Apple TV+, and Disney+ entering the decade with new fervor. But they aren’t the only players in the game. Now, WarnerMedia's HBO Max and NBCUniversal's Peacock will further crowd the field. While no one knows how consumers will embrace the multitude of options, executives from WarnerMedia tell Cheddar one thing is certain: all streaming distributors are aiming to upend the linear television business model.
"We're not competing head-to-head to convince someone not subscribe to Netflix. All of us are working on how to make this better for consumers," Andy Forssell, executive vice president and general manager of WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer, told Cheddar at CES 2020, the major consumer electronics trade show currently going on in Las Vegas.
As new players enter the streaming field, the average number of services consumers will sign up for is anyone's guess. One thing is certain, though: being different is one way to attract consumers. WarnerMedia's chief technology officer Jeremy Legg told Cheddar that developers are working on differentiating their ad-supported version of HBO Max to be more targeted and seamless for consumers. Legg essentially believes that more streaming options means more avenues for content distributors to monetize.
"You're going to have technology platforms that begin to allow companies to monetize in multiple ways," says Legg. "That doesn't mean that the traditional wholesale side of the business is going away, but I do think you're going to have a balance between wholesale distribution and direct-to-consumer distribution."
From the business side, Forssell says he welcomes streaming competition so that all players can experiment with distribution to see which are most suitable for consumers.
As for HBO Max, Forssell says the way to win over the public is through sophisticated and emotional content. "Where we start is that you need to matter to people. We need to make shows that matter to people."
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
