Even as businesses begin to open up again, the coronavirus pandemic is still fueling streaming viewership — and media companies see an opportunity to expand overseas.
Fox will launch Fox News International starting in Mexico on August 20, with plans to be in 20 countries by the end of 2020. ViacomCBS is planning streaming services in Australia and Latin America, among other countries, slated for next year. Disney will also launch an overseas version of their streaming content called Star.
Even streaming giant Netflix sees a chance to extend its reach, with its eyes set on Southeast Asia. The company told Reuters it will continue to expand its sub-$5 monthly mobile-only streaming plans there and increase local language content. It currently has more than a million subscribers in the region.
Streaming has been one of the only profitable segments of many media companies’ quarterly earnings during the pandemic with no signs of stopping. Video view times in July were up 28 percent year-over-year in the U.S., according to a new study from Adobe. The rate is about the same as it was this March, when the first stay-at-home orders were put in place.
The data falls in line with recent research from Conviva, which found that pandemic global viewership has only increased throughout the year. Domestically, streaming viewership now makes up 25 percent of total viewership in the U.S. compared to 19 percent last year, per Nielsen’s total audience report.
Some analysts point to a second wave of shutdowns to explain the consistently high viewership through the summer. Other analysts believe the return of live sports has drawn viewers back to their televisions. In either case, the pandemic has shown that consumers are willing to consider entertainment as part of their essential budgets, and media companies are hoping the global phenomenon is here to stay.
Multinational food company Kellogg’s reported an earnings beat amid supply chain issues and an extended labor strike. Kellogg’s Chairman and CEO c joined Cheddar News to discuss overcoming the obstacles and what's to come for the company. "The first half of the year is really going to be one about rebuilding inventory, and into the second quarter, starting to reestablish promotional activity for our customers and our consumers," Cahillane said. "And then the back half of the year, obviously, we're really much more back in business, and we expect to exit the year with our business in cereal being just as strong as it's ever been."
Sting has sold his catalog of more than 600 songs for $300 million to Universal Music. The deal gives the label the rights to all of his work, including “Every Breath You Take," as well as all future royalties.
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Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
Jason Moser, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to talk about the big takeaways from Disney's Q1 report, which showed the company nearing 130 million Disney+ subscribers as parks revenue ticks up.
The airline industry is seeing a major consolidation as Frontier and Spirit Airlines have agreed to merge in a deal valued at $6.6 billion dollars. Frontier will control just over 51% of the company, and Spirit will control the other 48%, creating what would become the fifth-largest airline in the U.S. The deal was approved over the weekend, with Spirit CEO Ted Christie saying that the merger aims to create an aggressive, low-fare competitor focused on consumer-friendly pricing. John Grant, Senior Analyst at OAG explains the gravity of the merger, and the wider impact it could have on competition and the airline industry as a whole.
Cheeze, Inc. is a media platform that hopes to help photographers to tell stories through the use of NFT’s. Simon Hudson, founder and CEO of Cheeze, Inc. joined Cheddar News to explain the process as well as teasing its "Women of Authenticity" display for Women’s History Month. "We've made it very simple and focused very hard on reducing all of the friction to bring their items to the blockchain." Hudson explained. He also addressed reports that cloud software giant Salesforce could be getting into the NFT marketplace.
