☀️ PEACOCK Q1 Subs Pop, But Losses Still Massive
Big Hollywood casting day / APOLLO's other bidding war notches up / India Streaming pricing war escalates
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY, April 25, 2024.
Where you know times are tough out there when even Kim Kardashian is encountering difficulty in finding people to give her money 🫰.
It seems the consumer-focused PE firm she cofounded with former CARLYLE exec Jay Sammon, called SKKY Partners, is having difficulty raising funds since its announcement a little over a year ago, according to Axios.
It had aspirations of raising about $1B to $2B . . . but as of the end of March, it only had $121M in commitments, $80M of which is involved as a minority investment in a . . . truffle hot sauce business 🤷♂️.
Apparently the Consumer Goods PE sector isn’t too hot in the investment community, even for the woman who largely made SKIMS into a company valued at $4B — but overall just a testament to the challenges in the 2024 dealmaking market. APOLLO, SKYDANCE — any interest in some truffle hot sauce?
ALSO: President Biden signed the TIKTOK / Ukraine aid bill, so the clock is ticking with a January 19, 2025 deadline — again, with a potential 90-day extension, and I’m sure many court dates to come. Inauguration Day is January 20, 2025 👀.
Let the deal talk begin . . . although at that tier of price tag, it’s not a large conversation (esp. with META and GOOGLE likely out for competitive reasons).
But just to stretch our imagination into the future — it would certainly be quite the turn of events if a year from now, Larry Ellison had a large ownership stake in both a movie studio and a social platform.
Additional note: TIKTOK hit pause on offering rewards for using “TIKTOK Lite” product in the EU (please don’t make Lite the new + 🙏), which offered users points that could be redeemed for gift cards when they do things like complete watching a given video.
The EU raised concerns about its addictive design.
OOF: The U.S. birthrate hit a new at least 40-year low in 2023, going back to 1979.
AND: This Brooke Baldwin piece in VF from Brooke herself was a #goodread, detailing the events around her departure from CNN . . . and her unsuccessful attempts to change her producer at the network when their relationship deteriorated, which led to her exit.
PSA: If you have a GM car — it may still be reporting your driving data (where you went, hard braking incidents, speeding) to insurance companies, even if your account says you’re not enrolled in its OnStar program (i.e. you did not give them permission to do so) . . . as the person who broke that story in the NY Times last month found out herself 🤯!
This data has then been used to raise the rates of some drivers they get the data for. #SuperShadyGM
WAKEUP BOX-OFFICE POLL
Challengers is slated to open to around $15M, perhaps a bit under. So, who’s going long on the Zendaya-stans and heavy digital marketing campaign bringing out the young’uns, and who’s calling Love? (Elaine — is that tennis metaphor anywhere near correct?)
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Is PEACOCK saving NBCU’s linear losses — actually yes! Is it still losing way too much money? Yes! Take a dive into the nuance that is PEACOCK, and see if the NFL subs actually stuck around (and if it justifies that $100M playoff game pricetag).
Plus the larger challenges COMCAST is facing solidify a bit in Q1, with likely more headwinds in Q2 (Q3 and Q4 though — hey lookin’ great!).
New JIO’s India streaming price plan and competitor comps further demonstrate why NETFLIX is making their 2025 data reporting changes.
A big casting day in Hollywood, plus APOLLO’s other bidding war goes up another notch, and more.
COMCAST Growth Stunted in Q1
#medianerd🤓 Q1 week 2 👇
So I guess “steady” is the word here in Q2 . . . and Wall Street really prefers “growth.” CMCSA stock is about -6% this morning so far. Here’s what’s afoot.