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    Comcast Explores Spin-Out of Cable Business

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    The company’s president, Mike Cavanagh, said the company was also considering finding a partner for its Peacock streaming service.Comcast, one of the nation’s biggest television companies, said on Thursday that it was weighing whether to cleave its cable networks from the rest of the company, a move that could put it in position to shake up the struggling cable industry.Mike Cavanagh, the company’s president, said on an earnings call that the company could put the cable networks owned by its NBCUniversal division — which include Syfy, Bravo and USA — into a new company.As Americans continue to drop their cable TV subscriptions, cable networks are generally considered the most problematic part of traditional media businesses like NBCUniversal.“Like many of our peers in media, we are experiencing the effects of the transition in our video businesses, and we have been studying the best path forward for these assets,” Mr. Cavanagh said.Mr. Cavanagh said that the new company would be owned by Comcast shareholders and that it would be “well capitalized” — implying that it would not be loaded up with debt from its parent company, a common tactic for corporate spinoffs. NBC — a broadcast network owned by Comcast — would probably not fit into the new company.His comments came after Comcast reported a 3.3 percent decrease in net income last quarter, even as revenue increased by 6.5 percent, to $32 billion. The company reported losses of 87,000 U.S. customers for its broadband services compared with the same period last year, and cable TV subscribers continued to decrease. The company’s share price was up nearly 3 percent in midmorning trading.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Warner Bros. Discovery Is Said to Match Amazon’s Bid for NBA Rights

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      The company, a longtime broadcaster of N.B.A. games, is trying to keep the lucrative broadcast rights as the league negotiates a new contract.Warner Bros. Discovery said on Monday that it had matched a rival offer to air N.B.A. games, a move aimed at allowing the company to keep the lucrative broadcast rights it has held for decades.The competing offer was from Amazon, which has offered to pay the league a little more than $1.9 billion per season, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss contract talks.“We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement. An N.B.A. spokesperson said, “We’ve received W.B.D.’s proposal and are in the process of reviewing it.”Warner Bros. Discovery did not identify which broadcast package it matched, but said its current contract allowed it to keep the rights if it matched competing offers. This so-called matching rights provision is “an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it,” the company’s statement said, adding, “We look forward to the N.B.A. executing our new contract.”The N.B.A. has negotiated new rights contracts to broadcast its games the season after next. Last week, the league’s board of governors approved deals with Disney, Comcast and Amazon which are expected to bring in about $76 billion over the next 11 years. Disney, the parent of ESPN, and Warner Bros. Discovery paid roughly $2.66 billion annually under the old deal. Warner Bros. Discovery has been broadcasting N.B.A. games since the 1980s. Its channel, TNT, is home to the beloved show “Inside the N.B.A.” in which former players Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal banter about the N.B.A. with Ernie Johnson, the show’s host.If the N.B.A. declines to accept Warner Bros. Discovery’s matching efforts, the two sides will continue conversations, and Warner Bros. Discovery could pursue legal action, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions.Amazon’s package of games would include one conference finals series every other year, split with Comcast; the league’s newly renamed in-season tournament; and the play-in tournament.Amazon would stream all of its games on its Prime streaming service, which could represent a tension point in the matching discussions. Warner Bros. Discovery primarily broadcasts games on TNT, though it did simulcast all TNT games on the streaming service Max last season.The company had an exclusive negotiating window, as did Disney, which also broadcasts N.B.A. games under the current contract. But while Disney reached an agreement with the league during that time, Warner Bros. Discovery did not.“Regrettably, the league notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision,” the statement from TNT Sports read.The N.B.A. sent the rival contracts to Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday, giving the company five days to submit an offer to match. More

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      CNN Cuts 100 Jobs, and Announces Plan for Digital Subscription Product

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      The network’s C.E.O., Mark Thompson, has promised a more robust digital strategy as people flee traditional cable packages.CNN’s top leader announced 100 job cuts on Wednesday as well as a digital strategy that would include a new subscription-only digital offering by the end of the year.The company is laying off around 100 people, or about 3 percent of its work force. The layoffs would come “across the company,” Mark Thompson, the network’s chairman, said in a memo to employees. CNN last had significant layoffs in late 2022.Mr. Thompson announced the job cuts as the company began to unveil steps on a digital plan that he said would help the network “regain a leadership position in the news experiences of the future.”Mr. Thompson, the former chief executive of The New York Times and a senior leader at the BBC, has been in charge of CNN since October 2023. He has promised a more robust digital strategy as people flee traditional cable packages in favor of streaming entertainment.CNN’s ratings have plummeted over the last two years, more so than those of its primary competitors, Fox News and MSNBC. Additionally, CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, has an enormous debt load, and its share price has fallen sharply this year.CNN got a recent shot in the arm when it organized and broadcast the first presidential debate in late June, an event that continued to set off alarm bells within the Democratic Party about the future of President Biden’s campaign. CNN made the debate available for other outlets to broadcast, and it drew more than 50 million viewers overall. About 9.5 million of those watched on CNN.As part of the announcement on Wednesday, Mr. Thompson said CNN.com’s “first subscription product” would debut later this year. He also said the company would create “a growing stable of ‘news you can use’ offerings” in lifestyle coverage. Additionally, he said the company would make a push into artificial intelligence.Mr. Thompson laid out a reorganization that would include merging three separate newsrooms (U.S. news gathering, international news gathering and digital news) under one leader, Virginia Moseley. And on the prime-time television front, he has directed deputies to “increase audience competitiveness and also keep a close eye on production costs.”“Turning a great news organization toward the future is not a one-day affair,” Mr. Thompson wrote in a memo to employees. “It happens in stages and over time. Today’s announcements do not answer every question or seek to solve every challenge we face. However, they do represent a significant step forward.” More

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      Skydance Reaches Deal to Merge With Paramount

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      The deal, approved by Paramount’s board, ushers in a new chapter for the company, which owns CBS and the movie studio behind “Top Gun.”Paramount’s board on Sunday signed off on a deal to merge with Skydance, according to two people familiar with the negotiations, ushering in a new era for CBS, Nickelodeon and the film studio behind the “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises.The deal is a turning point for the Redstone family, whose fortunes have been intertwined with the rise and fall of the traditional entertainment industry during the decades of its tumultuous ownership of Paramount and its predecessors. Ms. Redstone, Paramount’s board chair, is cashing in much of her ownership in the company she fought to preserve and control.The merger will anoint a new mogul in Hollywood. David Ellison, the tech scion behind Skydance, will become the top power broker at Paramount. The deal is in some ways the story of media writ large, with a family that made its fortune in traditional entertainment largely replaced by one enriched by technology — Mr. Ellison is the son of the Oracle founder Larry Ellison. The Ellisons’ considerable resources was a major selling point for the Redstones, who were seeking to fortify Paramount for the long-term.In recent years, Paramount has become the poster child of a traditional media industry that has been limping along in the shadows of the streaming giant Netflix and tech companies like Amazon, which have plenty of cash to spend on their media bets. Paramount has tried to replace its fading cable TV enterprise with streaming businesses like Paramount+, but those efforts are still nowhere near as profitable as traditional TV operations.The full value of the merger was not immediately clear because the deal is complex. Skydance and its financial backers will acquire National Amusements, the company that holds the Redstone family’s voting stock in Paramount, for roughly $1.75 billion. Paramount is also merging with Skydance, leaving the studio and its backers in charge of a media empire that includes film, TV and news properties.Paramount’s market capitalization — the value the stock market places on the company — is around $8.2 billion. Skydance’s last disclosed valuation was north of $4 billion.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Cómo ver el debate presidencial Biden-Trump

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      El debate será transmitido desde Atlanta a partir de las 9 p. m. hora del Este el jueves.El momento se ha estado gestando durante cuatro años: el presidente Joe Biden y el expresidente Donald Trump en el escenario de un debate, otro punto álgido de sus largas hostilidades.El debate, organizado por CNN en sus estudios de Atlanta a partir de las 9 p. m., hora del Este, se llevará a cabo sin público y antes de que Trump y Biden acepten formalmente las candidaturas de sus partidos este verano, en un cambio radical respecto al pasado.¿Dónde puedo verlo?The New York Times retransmitirá el debate con comentarios y análisis en tiempo real de los periodistas.CNN emitirá el debate en todas sus plataformas, incluido su principal canal por cable, así como CNN International, CNN en Español y CNN Max. La cadena también tiene previsto retransmitir el debate en CNN.com. No será necesario iniciar sesión ni estar suscrito para ver la transmisión.CNN también compartirá su señal con otras cadenas de televisión y de noticias por cable para que puedan emitir el debate simultáneamente. Eso significa que también podrás verlo en Fox News, ABC News y probablemente en otros sitios.¿Robert F. Kennedy Jr. estará en el escenario?No. No cumplió los requisitos de CNN, lo que significa que Ross Perot sigue siendo el último candidato independiente que se ha clasificado para un debate presidencial de elecciones generales, y eso fue en 1992. Para este debate, los participantes tenían que recibir al menos un 15 por ciento de apoyo en cuatro encuestas nacionales aprobadas y clasificarse para la votación en suficientes estados para tener la oportunidad de obtener los 270 votos electorales necesarios para ganar la presidencia.¿Quién moderará el debate?Los moderadores serán Jake Tapper y Dana Bash, quienes son presentadores fijos en la mesa de CNN y los anfitriones del programa dominical de entrevistas políticas de la cadena, State of the Union. Tapper es el corresponsal jefe de CNN en Washington y Bash es jefa de la corresponsalía política de la cadena.Neil Vigdor cubre temas políticos para el Times, y se enfoca en cuestiones relacionadas con el derecho al voto y la desinformación electoral. Más de Neil Vigdor More

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      J.D. Vance Says He’ll Be Disappointed if Trump Doesn’t Pick Him for V.P.

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      Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio has long been considered one of Donald J. Trump’s top running mate choices and worked as hard as anyone to win the job — raising money for the campaign, speaking with a seemingly endless stream of cable news reporters and even sitting in the Manhattan courtroom with the former president to demonstrate his support.Now, as Mr. Trump’s increasingly theatrical selection process enters its final phase, Mr. Vance acknowledged Wednesday that he would feel a tinge of dejection if he were not the pick.“I’m human, right?” Mr. Vance said in an interview on Fox News. “So when you know this thing is a possibility, if it doesn’t happen, there is certainly going to be a little bit of disappointment.”Mr. Trump has said he would announce his pick closer to the Republican National Convention next month, but his campaign has fed speculation that an announcement could happen as soon as this week.Mr. Vance and other top contenders for the job, including Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, have been invited to join Mr. Trump in Atlanta on Thursday for the former president’s first debate this year with President Biden, campaign aides said. Mr. Vance’s interview is the first of a series announced by Fox News on Tuesday that will feature a handful of the leading prospects. Mr. Burgum and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina will also appear in the coming days to essentially pitch themselves to viewers on their qualifications to be vice president, alongside their significant others.Mr. Vance and his wife, Usha, sat for an interview at their home in Ohio. When asked about what issue she may focus on if she became “second lady,” Ms. Vance laughed off the question, saying it was “getting a little ahead of ourselves there.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Alice Stewart, a CNN Political Commentator, Dies at 58

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      Ms. Stewart had appeared on CNN as a conservative commentator since the 2016 presidential race. A seasoned political strategist, she also had worked for Republican presidential candidates.Alice Stewart, a Republican strategist and political commentator on CNN, has died. She was 58.Her death was announced by CNN. The company said the police found Ms. Stewart’s body outdoors in Northern Virginia early Saturday morning. The authorities believe she had a medical emergency.Mark Thompson, CNN’s chief executive, described her in an email to staff members as “a political veteran and an Emmy Award-winning journalist who brought an incomparable spark to CNN’s coverage” and who was known not just “for her political savvy, but for her unwavering kindness,” CNN reported.Ms. Stewart had appeared on the cable news outlet as a conservative commentator since the 2016 presidential race. Before that, Ms. Stewart had worked on several Republican presidential campaigns.She was the communications director for the 2008 presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, and went on to serve in similar roles for Republican candidates in two following elections, including Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz, according to her LinkedIn profile.Ms. Stewart served as the deputy secretary of state in Arkansas, according to the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, where she was a fellow in 2020. She had also done work for the Republican Party and conservative organizations.At CNN, Ms. Stewart viewed herself as a faithful promoter of conservatism while the Republican Party reshaped itself under the leadership of former President Donald J. Trump.“I don’t think everything that he does is great, and I don’t think everything that he does is bad,” Ms. Stewart said of Mr. Trump in a 2020 interview with Harvard Political Review. “My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice yet an independent thinker.”In an opinion piece published on CNN last year, Ms. Stewart asked Republican voters to reconsider their unconditional support for Mr. Trump’s 2024 election bid given the various criminal charges he faces.“This is a campaign about self-preservation, not selfless public service,” Ms. Stewart wrote. “I’m not convinced that’s how you Make America Great Again.”Ms. Stewart had experience presenting ideas on live television long before she joined CNN.Before transitioning to politics in 2005 with a job as press secretary in the administration of Mr. Huckabee, Ms. Stewart was a news anchor and reporter for seven years at an NBC television affiliate in Little Rock, Ark., according to LinkedIn.“I loved covering politics. I loved courts. I loved breaking news,” Ms. Stewart said in a 2020 interview with Harvard International Review. “But, several years ago, I just realized that there might be something different for me to do.”Ms. Stewart was born on March 11, 1966, in Atlanta, according to CNN. She earned a degree in broadcast news and political science from the University of Georgia, according to Harvard International Review.Ms. Stewart last appeared on CNN on Friday on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” CNN said.A list of survivors was not immediately available. More

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      Comcast Plans Streaming Bundle With Netflix, Apple TV+

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      The bundle, called StreamSaver, is the latest joint effort from entertainment companies looking to woo price-weary customers.Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, is planning to offer its streaming service Peacock in a bundle with Netflix and Apple TV+, Brian Roberts, the company’s chief executive, said at an investor conference on Tuesday.Called StreamSaver, the bundle will be sold at a deep discount compared with subscribing to all three services separately, Mr. Roberts said. He didn’t specify a price for the service, which is expected to debut later this month.“We’ve been bundling video successfully and creatively for 60 years,” Mr. Roberts said. “This is the latest iteration of that. And I think this will be a pretty compelling package.”Over the past year, several entertainment companies have joined forces to entice customers who are weary of signing up and paying for numerous individual streaming services.Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and Disney announced that they were teaming up to offer a streaming service with games from the National Basketball Association and the National Football League. Last week, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery said that they would bundle their streaming services, selling users a package that included Disney+, Hulu and Max.Comcast has long offered its users a menu of streaming services on Xfinity, its package of services that includes cable television and broadband internet. For years, the company has offered services like Netflix and Apple TV+ as add-ons to its existing television bundle, acting as a vendor for those companies. This is the first time that Comcast has offered both services as part of a discounted bundle.Comcast, which has millions of broadband and cable television customers across the United States, has different incentives to bundle streaming services together than many of its competitors have. If Comcast can give its customers additional reasons to stick with the company, or convince them to pay for more features through Xfinity, the effort to bundle services will have been worth it.Many other internet providers have sold bundles that include streaming services. When Disney+ launched, Verizon offered a promotional bundle with that service. When the short-lived, short-form streaming service Quibi launched, T-Mobile offered to bundle its wireless offering with that service.Comcast has been willing to spend big to gain a foothold in the competitive video streaming business. Peacock, which launched in 2020, lost $2.7 billion last year, Comcast said in a filing, but paying subscribers increased to 31 million. The company has said that Peacock’s losses were narrowing as the service matured. More

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      Paramount Chief Executive Bob Bakish Could Be Out Next Week

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      He was once a staunch ally of the company’s biggest owner, Shari Redstone, but the relationship soured in recent months.Paramount is preparing to announce the departure of its chief executive, Bob Bakish, as soon as next week, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, a sudden development even as the company is exploring a merger.The impending move is a result of Mr. Bakish’s worsening relationship with Shari Redstone, the company’s controlling shareholder, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a delicate matter. Ms. Redstone grew frustrated with what she saw as his inability to get important deals across the finish line, including a sale of the Showtime and BET cable channels, the people said.Two people familiar with the matter said several of Paramount’s senior executives had expressed reservations about the direction of the company to a representative of the board of directors in recent weeks, further eroding Mr. Bakish’s standing with Ms. Redstone.The company is in talks to merge with Skydance, a media company controlled by David Ellison, the tech scion and Hollywood producer. It is also negotiating a lucrative deal to keep channels like Nickelodeon and MTV on the Charter cable system.National Amusements, Paramount’s owner, is contemplating various options to replace Mr. Bakish, 60, who has led Paramount and its predecessor company, Viacom, since 2016 and has worked at the company since 1997. In one possibility, Paramount would be run by an “office of the C.E.O.” led by division chiefs like Brian Robbins, the head of the Paramount movie studio; George Cheeks, the top executive of CBS; and Chris McCarthy, president of Paramount’s entertainment and youth brands. The company could also choose to put an acting chief executive in place.Paramount declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Paramount’s board was considering replacing Mr. Bakish.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More