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Business

Bob Iger returns as Disney CEO effective immediately

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Bob Iger is back.

Disney, in a shocking late Sunday announcement, said it had re-appointed Iger as chief executive, effective immediately, after Iger’s handpicked successor as CEO, Bob Chapek, came under fire for his management of the entertainment giant.

“It is with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility — and, I must admit, a bit of amazement — that I write to you this evening with the news that I am returning to The Walt Disney Company as Chief Executive Officer,” Iger wrote to employees in an email, which was obtained by CNBC.

The dramatic upheaval comes 11 months after Iger left Disney, and days after Chapek said he planned to cut costs at the company, which had been burdened by swelling costs at its streaming service, Disney+. The company’s earnings release earlier this month vastly underperformed Wall Street’s expectations. Even its theme park business, which reported a surge in revenue, delivered less than what analysts had projected.

Iger’s return also comes as legacy media companies contend with a rapidly shifting landscape, as ad dollars dry up and consumers increasingly cut off their cable subscriptions in favor of streaming.

Iger will help the company’s board develop a new successor, Disney said in a release.

Chapek was named chief executive in February 2020, succeeding Iger, who had previously said he wouldn’t return to the role.

Shares of Disney have fallen about 41% so far this year, as of Friday’s close. The stock hit a 52-week low Nov. 9.

Iger has signed on to work as CEO for two years, Disney said Sunday, “with a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the Company at the completion of his term.”

The company said Chapek stepped down. Soon after Chapek took over in 2020, Covid-19 became a pandemic and forced the shutdown of Disney’s theme parks and prevented it, for a time, from releasing movies in theaters. Nevertheless, the company’s stock soared in 2021, before crashing down to earth in recent months.

“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” said Susan Arnold, Disney’s board chair. She will remain in that role.

Chapek, whose contract as CEO was extended earlier this year, planned a hiring freeze, cost cuts and layoffs across the company, according to a memo CNBC obtained earlier this month. The internal memo came three days after the company’s poor quarterly earnings report.

Iger, who held the CEO role for 15 years at Disney, had favored Chapek as his successor. The two ultimately had a falling out, and their conflict cast a shadow over the company’s future. Chapek distanced himself from Iger with a series of decisions, including his new approach to streaming prices for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

Iger is a widely respected and liked figure at Disney. He oversaw its deals to acquire Pixar, Lucasfilm and its “Star Wars” properties, and Marvel – all of which have become multi-billion-dollar intellectual property behemoths.

Chapek, meanwhile, angered employees with his initial silence about the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida, where the company’s Walt Disney World resort is located. Then, he received blowback from Republican politicians, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for opposing it. He also received heat for his handling of the controversy over Scarlett Johansson’s pay for her work in the Marvel movie “Black Widow.”

Read Iger’s email to Disney employees here:

Dear Fellow Employees and Cast Members,

It is with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility—and, I must admit, a bit of amazement—that I write to you this evening with the news that I am returning to The Walt Disney Company as Chief Executive Officer.

When I look at the creative success of our teams across our Studios, Disney General Entertainment, ESPN and International, the rapid growth of our streaming services, the phenomenal reimagining and rebound of our Parks, the continued great work of ABC News, and so many other achievements across our businesses, I am in awe of your accomplishments and I am excited to embark with you on many new endeavors.

I know this company has asked so much of you during the past three years, and these times certainly remain quite challenging, but as you have heard me say before, I am an optimist, and if I learned one thing from my years at Disney, it is that even in the face of uncertainty—perhaps especially in the face of uncertainty—our employees and Cast Members achieve the impossible.

You will be hearing more from me and your leaders tomorrow and in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, allow me to express my deep gratitude for all that you do. Disney holds a special place in the hearts of people around the globe thanks to you, and your dedication to this company and its mission to bring joy to people through great storytelling is an inspiration to me every single day. 

Bob Iger

Read Disney’s full announcement here:

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) announced today that Robert A. Iger is returning to lead Disney as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Iger, who spent more than four decades at the Company, including 15 years as its CEO, has agreed to serve as Disney’s CEO for two years, with a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the Company at the completion of his term. Mr. Iger succeeds Bob Chapek, who has stepped down from his position. 

“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” said Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board. “The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period.”

“Mr. Iger has the deep respect of Disney’s senior leadership team, most of whom he worked closely with until his departure as executive chairman 11 months ago, and he is greatly admired by Disney employees worldwide–all of which will allow for a seamless transition of leadership,” she said.

The position of Chairman of the Board remains unchanged, with Ms. Arnold serving in that capacity.

“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO,” Mr. Iger said. “Disney and its incomparable brands and franchises hold a special place in the hearts of so many people around the globe—most especially in the hearts of our employees, whose dedication to this company and its mission is an inspiration. I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling.

“During his 15 years as CEO, from 2005 to 2020, Mr. Iger helped build Disney into one of the world’s most successful and admired media and entertainment companies with a strategic vision focused on creative excellence, technological innovation and international growth. He expanded on Disney’s legacy of unparalleled storytelling with the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox and increased the Company’s market capitalization fivefold during his time as CEO. Mr. Iger continued to direct Disney’s creative endeavors until his departure as Executive Chairman last December, and the Company’s robust pipeline of content is a testament to his leadership and vision.”

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Business

Disney plans job cuts and hiring freeze, CEO Bob Chapek says in memo

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Disney plans to institute a targeted hiring freeze as well as some job cuts, according to an internal memo sent to executives.

“We are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze,” CEO Bob Chapek said in a memo to division leads sent Friday and obtained by CNBC. “Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.”

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He added: “As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review.” Disney has approximately 190,000 employees.

Chapek also told executives business travel should be limited to essential trips only. Meetings should be conducted virtually as much as possible, he wrote in the memo.

Disney is also establishing “a cost structure taskforce” to be made up of Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy, General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez and Chapek.

“I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams,” Chapek wrote. “We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time.”

The moves come after Disney reported disappointing quarterly results. Shares of the company fell sharply Wednesday, hitting a new 52-week low, before rebounding later in the week.

McCarthy said during Disney’s earnings call Tuesday that the company was looking for ways to trim costs.

“We are actively evaluating our cost base currently, and we’re looking for meaningful efficiencies,” she said. “Some of those are going to provide some near-term savings, and others are going to drive longer-term structural benefits.”

Disney’s streaming services lost $1.47 billion last quarter, more than double the unit’s loss from a year prior. McCarthy said losses will improve in 2023, and Chapek has promised streaming will become profitable by the end of 2024.

Other large media and entertainment companies, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix, have cut jobs this year as valuations have slumped. Disney hasn’t announced any plans to eliminate jobs.

The full memo can be read here:

Disney Leaders-

As we begin fiscal 2023, I want to communicate with you directly about the cost management efforts Christine McCarthy and I referenced on this week’s earnings call. These efforts will help us to both achieve the important goal of reaching profitability for Disney+ in fiscal 2024 and make us a more efficient and nimble company overall. This work is occurring against a backdrop of economic uncertainty that all companies and our industry are contending with.

While certain macroeconomic factors are out of our control, meeting these goals requires all of us to continue doing our part to manage the things we can control—most notably, our costs. You all will have critical roles to play in this effort, and as senior leaders, I know you will get it done.

To be clear, I am confident in our ability to reach the targets we have set, and in this management team to get us there.

To help guide us on this journey, I have established a cost structure taskforce of executive officers: our CFO, Christine McCarthy and General Counsel, Horacio Gutierrez. Along with me, this team will make the critical big picture decisions necessary to achieve our objectives.

We are not starting this work from scratch and have already set several next steps—which I wanted you to hear about directly from me.

First, we have undertaken a rigorous review of the company’s content and marketing spending working with our content leaders and their teams. While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine, we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company.

Second, we are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze. Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.

Third, we are reviewing our SG&A costs and have determined that there is room for improved efficiency—as well as an opportunity to transform the organization to be more nimble. The taskforce will drive this work in partnership with segment teams to achieve both savings and organizational enhancements. As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review. In the immediate term, business travel should now be limited to essential trips only. In-person work sessions or offsites requiring travel will need advance approval and review from a member of your executive team (i.e., direct report of the segment chairman or corporate executive officer). As much as possible, these meetings should be conducted virtually. Attendance at conferences and other external events will also be restricted and require approvals from a member of your executive team.

Our transformation is designed to ensure we thrive not just today, but well into the future—and you will hear more from our taskforce in the weeks and months ahead.

I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams. We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time. Our company has weathered many challenges during our 100-year history, and I have no doubt we will achieve our goals and create a more nimble company better suited to the environment of tomorrow.

Thank you again for your leadership.

-Bob

WATCH: Disney had to get into streaming, but Meta just did too much hiring

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Business

Stock futures flat as Wall Street awaits U.S. midterm elections

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 7, 2022. 

Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

Stock futures were flat Monday evening following a winning day for markets as investors looked ahead to U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial average rose 12 points or 0.04%, after erasing earlier gains. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were both fractionally lower. Shares of Lyft fell 13% while Take-Two Interactive and Tripadvisor slumped more than 15% each after reporting disappointing quarterly results.

The moves come after a day when all major indexes notched a second straight positive session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 423.78 points, or 1.31%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 gained 0.96%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.85%.

Investors are awaiting Tuesday’s midterm election results. They will determine which party controls Congress and steer future policy and spending.

Any market reaction will likely hinge on whether Republicans take back the House of Representatives, the Senate or both.

“The idea that [Republicans are] going to take back the house is pretty much baked into the market,” said Lori Calvasina, RBC Capital Markets on CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Monday. “I’m not saying it won’t be a good thing, that we won’t have a few days of feeling good or that it won’t provide some stability, but I think for a big kicker in the S&P they need to take back the Senate as well.”

Wall Street will also closely watch Thursday’s consumer price index report for the latest data on how much the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have tamed high inflation. This reading could also signal the central bank’s path forward – another hotter-than-anticipated report could embolden the Fed to raise rates aggressively in December.

Earnings season continues this week. On Tuesday, Lordstown Motors, Lucid Group, Walt Disney and AMC Entertainment all report their latest quarterly results.

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Entertainment

Shonda Rhimes, other creators unhappy with Netflix’s new mid-video ads

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Shonda Rhimes attends 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 4, 2018 in Beverly Hills, CA. 

Presley Ann | Patrick McMullan | Getty Images

Shonda Rhimes, the high-powered producer behind “Bridgerton” and “Inventing Anna,” is among a number of showrunners, creators and writers who have expressed displeasure with Netflix‘s decision to include mid-video ads in their content, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rhimes and Intrepid Pictures’ Trevor Macy and Mike Flanagan are among a group of creators who have told Netflix executives they believe the ads interrupt their storytelling, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Netflix has told creators it won’t be sharing any revenue from advertising with them, the people said.

Netflix isn’t the first streamer to have an ad-supported tier. But it has used its previous aversion to commercials as a marketing tool to help land deals with creators. Rhimes signed a multiyear deal with Netflix in 2021 to exclusively make content for the streaming service. When she inked the deal, Netflix had a firm policy not to include advertising in its programming, a longtime tenet of co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings. Both Rhimes and Netflix declined to comment.

Netflix released a lower-priced advertising-supported service in the U.S. and other countries this week. Netflix made the decision to offer an ad-supported tier as revenue and subscriber growth have plateaued coinciding with the end of the global coronavirus pandemic. Netflix has about 223 million global subscribers.

Netflix executives have told creators they have thoughtfully placed midroll advertising at intervals that make sense with each episode’s storyline, according to people familiar with the matter. They’ve also told creators they don’t expect that many people to sign up for the basic advertising tier relative to subscribers who will pay for no commercials, the people said.

“We’re using our internal content tagging teams essentially to find those natural breakpoints so that we can deliver the ad in the least obtrusive point,” Netflix operating chief Greg Peters said in October.

Still, several creators haven’t been pleased with the explanations. Intrepid Pictures makes horror films and series for Netflix. Those are particularly bad fits for ad insertions because they kill building tension. One 50-minute episode of Intrepid’s “The Haunting of Hill House” is comprised of five long, single-shot takes.

That episode, the series’ sixth (“Two Storms”), is now interrupted by three one-minute long commercial breaks, made up of three ads each, in the $6.99 tier. One the main reasons Intrepid signed an exclusive overall deal with Netflix in 2019 was the streamer’s total avoidance of advertising, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. A spokesperson for Intrepid declined to comment.

No revenue share

Not all creators are upset with Netflix. Ryan Murphy, who signed a $300 million with Netflix in 2018, crafts his series’ episodes in three acts, leading to easy ad placement, according to a person familiar his work. Scott Frank, co-creator of “The Queen’s Gambit,” has also not complained, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

The Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America declined to comment for this story.

Splitting revenue from advertising, especially commercials that interrupt the storytelling flow, could be a way to mollify irritated creators who feel Netflix has changed the rules midgame. But Netflix won’t be doing that, according to people familiar with the matter. Netflix owns its original programming and can insert ads where and when it wants, giving creators little leverage other than voicing complaints.

Still, other media and entertainment companies have avoided the issue of interruptive ads or agreed to share revenue in some cases. Warner Bros. Discovery‘s HBO Max decided not to include midroll advertising in HBO programming to skirt the issue of interrupting prestige programming. When HBO has sold shows to linear cable networks in syndication, such as when “The Sopranos” aired on A&E, creators have been able to participate in revenue sharing, according to a person familiar with the matter. An HBO spokesperson declined to comment.

Some creators that have made content exclusively for Disney+ also have rights to participate in advertising revenue sharing, depending on contractual language, according to a person familiar with Disney‘s policies. But unlike Netflix, Disney owns linear cable networks that could eventually air Disney+ programming with commercials. A Disney spokesperson declined to comment.

–CNBC’s Sarah Whitten contributed to this article.

WATCH: Netflix launches ad-based subscription plan

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US

This family owns a ‘princess cottage’ in Disney’s gated community—where homes sell for $12M: Look inside

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In 2020, when the pandemic put our travels to a halt, my family bought a four-bedroom, 3,600-square-foot home in Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

My parents had been wanting to buy a vacation home for some time. I have a now five-year-old daughter, and my brother was about to become a father, so we were looking for a place to spend quality time together.

My husband and I live about three and a half hours away in Miami, but Golden Oak is our home away from home. Since we both work remotely, we’re able to visit at least twice a month with our daughter.

As a travel and parenting blogger, I get a lot of questions from my followers about what it’s like to have a home in Disney’s highly coveted residential community.

What is Disney’s Golden Oak?

Disney’s Golden Oak is a gated property of luxury, single-family homes, just four miles from Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park.

There are about 300 homes that range from 1,800 square feet to 12,000 square feet. One house sold for $12 million this year, and another is currently listed at $9.5 million.

Sectioned into eight neighborhoods, the homes were designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the Walt Disney Company division that oversees the design and construction of its theme parks.

Residents have access to pools, a fitness center, restaurants and other Disney resorts. They also have membership to the exclusive Golden Oak Club, which offers “concierge-style services,” including private VIP park tours and special event tickets.

Buying a home in Disney’s Golden Oak

Golden Oak first started listing homes in 2010. But despite being a Disney regular, I’d never heard of it until my parents visited friends at their vacation home there in 2020.

Cristie lives in Miami with her husband and their daughter, but they travel to their Disney-themed vacation home near Orlando, Florida twice a month.

Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

During their visit, they got to tour one of the newer houses. They FaceTimed my brother and me to show us the home. We all fell in love with the place and put a contract in at full asking price.

Houses in Golden Oak sell quickly, but we got lucky with timing. The entire first floor came furnished, so we were all able to enjoy Thanksgiving weekend there together just days after closing that year.

A look inside our ‘princess cottage’

We live in The Cottages at Symphony Grove neighborhood. Each house has its own whimsical look. Ours was inspired by Belle’s cottage in “Beauty and the Beast.”

Each house in The Cottages at Symphony Grove has its own unique theme.

Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

One thing that all the Golden Oak homes have in common are the tiny Disney-themed details. Our property, for example, has over 50 hidden Mickey Mouses. The kids love trying to find them every time they come over.

Our house is styled as a French cottage, particularly on the first floor.

The entrance to the home is styled with a carved door and an elegant chandelier.

Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

The kitchen and dining room are complete with wooden beams and other countryside accents.

Distressed wooden details, intricate tiles and a towering kitchen hood give the space a French-countryside feel.

Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

Upstairs, the house becomes more clearly Disney-themed. On the second floor, my bedroom has a quote from “Beauty and the Beast” above the bed.

My brother’s room has “Winnie the Pooh” characters hand-painted on the walls.

The bunkbed room (a.k.a. the “Bambi” room) is tiny but full of beautiful details like wood-paneled walls and a small nightlight for each bed.

The cozy bunk beds in this “Bambi”-themed room makes it a family favorite.

Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

My favorite feature in entire house is a spiral staircase on the second floor that leads to “Belle’s Reading Room” on the third floor, which is now the girls’ playroom.

It has reclaimed wood beams on the ceilings, hand-painted drawings on the walls, a built-in bookshelf, and the same railing as the staircase on the windows.

Finally, there’s a guest suite that connects to the home through the outdoor patio. That whole area feels like you’ve entered a princess suite, thanks to a few Disney touches like the “Alice in Wonderland” doorknob.

We also have a small pool and jacuzzi. It’s completely surrounded by the home, making the space more private. In the patio area, there’s a dining table for six, a sitting area with a couch and chairs, a fireplace and an outdoor kitchen.

Inside the Golden Oak neighborhood

We don’t visit the theme parks too often when we’re in Golden Oak. Most of the time, we mostly just enjoy the neighborhood and spend time at home together.

We have golf carts that we can use to visit Golden Oak’s playground, parks and resident-only clubhouse.

The kids love watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the dock at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. We also take my daughter there to ride ponies. In the summer, we use their splash pad and pool that has an amazing slide.

For us, this truly is the happiest place on earth.

Cristie Anne Cabrera, a.k.a. The Traveling Red, is a Miami-based mom, social media influencer and travel blogger. Follow her on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and her blog for a look into her travels to Disney’s Golden Oak and road trips in her school bus conversion.

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Business

Disney reaches deal with Third Point, will add former Meta exec to its board

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The Disney+ website on a laptop computer in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Monday, July 18, 2022.

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Disney has reached a deal with activist investor Dan Loeb’s Third Point, which includes adding former Meta executive Carolyn Everson to its board of directors, the companies said on Friday.

The deal comes weeks after Third Point took a new stake in Disney valued at about $1 billion, or 0.4% of the company, and urged the media company to spin out its sports property, ESPN.

Initially, Loeb said breaking off ESPN would give Disney more flexibility to pursue sports betting and other business initiatives. However, shortly after Loeb reversed course.

“We have a better understanding of @espn’s potential as a standalone business and another vertical for $DIS to reach a global audience to generate ad and subscriber revenues,” Loeb said earlier this month in a tweet.

On Friday, Disney said in a public filing that, with Third Point’s support, it would add Everson to its board ahead of its board meeting in November.

As part of the deal, Third Point agreed to some standstill provisions, including that it wouldn’t take a stake in Disney that’s larger than 2% and that it wouldn’t solicit proxies or present proposals. Third Point also won’t get involved in board nominations, according to the filing.

Everson was at Meta, formerly Facebook, for more than 10 years, where she served as the social media platform’s ads chief. Although Everson had been considered one of the most prominent women — alongside Facebook’s former COO Sheryl Sandberg — she left the company after Marne Levine was promoted to chief business officer last summer.

Most recently, she did a brief stint as president of grocery delivery service Instacart, where she left after just three months. At the time, Instacart and Everson told CNBC the decision for her to leave was mutual.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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Business

5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday, September 26

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Raphael Bostic at Jackson Hole, Wyoming

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Bad start for stocks

Stocks are still in a funk. The three major indices were down Monday, indicating that last week’s troubles would continue. On Friday, the Dow hit a new intraday low for 2022, while the S&P 500 briefly went below its June low. Investors are trying to figure out how to play the Federal Reserve’s aggressive plan to fight inflation with rate hikes. Right now, the central bank’s benchmark rate sits at 3% to 3.25%, but policy makers said they could raise the rate as high as 4.6%, and fairly soon, to bring inflation down. Markets are also digesting comments from Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic, who told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he expected some job losses pain from the Fed’s campaign against price increases – “smaller than what we’ve seen in other situations.”

Read more: International currencies slide

2. A new tax bill for corporate giants

An Andy Warhol-like print of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett hangs outside a clothing stand during the first in-person annual meeting since 2019 of Berkshire Hathaway Inc in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. April 30, 2022.

Scott Morgan | Reuters

Amazon and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would likely pay the most under the new corporate minimum tax, according to a study from the University of North Carolina Tax Center. The researchers used corporate earnings from 2021 as a test case, and found that the tax would affect 78 companies, also including Ford and AT&T. The new tax, which President Joe Biden signed into law along with the rest of the Inflation Reduction Act in August, is intended to target companies that earn over $1 billion in a year. Overall, the UNC research shows that the tax would have reaped $31.8 billion in 2021. A similar study, from the nonpartisan Joint Center for Taxation, had said the tax would affect 150 companies and harvest $34 billion in revenue. Read the UNC study here.

3. Italy’s rightward shift

The political leader of the Brothers Of Italy, Giorgia Meloni.

Marco Cantile | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Europe is already dealing with a great deal of upheaval, between Russia’s war in Ukraine and the resultant energy price inflation. Italy’s voters just added another complication to the list: the rise of Brothers of Italy, a far right political party that grew from the neo-fascist movement left behind after Benito Mussolini’s death during the final months of World War II. The party’s leader, Giorgia Meloni, is also poised to become the nation’s first female prime minister under a broader center-right coalition. She claims the party has ridded itself of fascist elements, and it seeks to make the European Union less bureaucratic. Critics warn, however, that Meloni’s government could be more confrontational with European leadership and end up relegated to a second tier of leadership within the bloc.

4. ‘The consequences would be horrific’

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with Reuters, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 16, 2022. 

Valentyn Ogirenko | Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wasn’t bluffing when he warned last week that he could unleash nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine. Volodomyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, believes him, too. “He wants to scare the whole world. These are the first steps of his nuclear blackmail. I don’t think he’s bluffing,” Zelenskyy said on CBS’ “Face the Nation. Western governments are taking the threat seriously, as well. “The consequences would be horrific,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also told CBS. Elsewhere in the war, separatists were pushing widely criticized votes to annex parts of Ukraine for Russia, while protests continued in response to Putin’s decision to call up hundreds of thousands of reservists in a bid to rescue his failing war. Follow updates here.

5. Blue clues

Pirated 21 million timesTwelve years after the release of “Titanic,” Oscar-winning director James Cameron returned to movie theaters with the science-fiction epic “Avatar.”

Twentieth Century Fox

“Avatar” changed the moviegoing world when it was released in 2009, showing just how important the Chinese and international box offices had become for Hollywood. For years, audiences wondered when a sequel would come, and we’re finally getting one, “The Way of Water,” this December. To gauge interest in James Cameron’s next eco-sci-fi epic, Disney – which bought “Avatar” studio 20th Century Fox during the period between releases – rereleased the original movie in theaters this past weekend. It was shown in 3D, which had largely fallen out of favor, in premium-priced Imax theaters. The movie’s international haul of about $20 million showed the franchise still has muscle overseas. But its domestic gross of about $10 million wasn’t so convincing to box office experts. “We can’t confidently say the audience turnout here provided enough of a litmus test on exclusive 3D rollouts given how rereleases, in general, have performed in recent years,” said Shawn Robbins of BoxOffice.com.

Read more: Who’s the most powerful person in Hollywood? Bryan Lourd is a good answer.

– CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel, Jack Stebbins, Natasha Turak, Matt Clinch and Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.

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Entertainment

Emmys 2022 live coverage of highlights, winners from 74th annual awards

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 12: 74th ANNUAL PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS — Pictured: Jason Sudeikis accepts the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award for “Ted Lasso” on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. — (Photo by Chris Haston/NBC via Getty Images)

Chris Haston/nbc | Nbcuniversal | Getty Images

HBO’s “Succession” and AppleTV+’s “Ted Lasso” were among the most nominated titles for 74th annual Emmy Awards, but they faced steep competition from shows like “Squid Game,” “Severance,” “Abbott Elementary” and “Hacks.”

“Saturday Night Live” cast member Kenan Thompson is hosting the ceremony which is airing on NBC and is being streamed live on Peacock from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

While the ceremony typically airs on Sunday, NBC also has broadcast rights to National Football League games on Sunday nights, so it has opted to showcase the award winners on Monday.

Emmy voters spread awards across various shows before “The White Lotus” started rolling, powered by writer-director Mike White. Other winners included Michael Keaton for “Dopesick,” Jennifer Coolidge for “The White Lotus” and Julia Garner for “Ozark.”

Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”) won for best supporting actress in a comedy series, becoming only the second Black woman in the history of the Emmys to win in this category. Jackee Harry took home the prize for “227″ in 1987. “Squid Game” helmer Hwang Dong-hyuk was the first South Korean to win for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. At 26, Zendaya, of “Euphoria,” is the youngest person to win the award for Outstanding Leading Actress prize twice.

Amanda Seyfried won for her portrayal of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in “The Dropout.”

“Succession” earned 25 nominations, the most of any series, while “Ted Lasso” and HBO’s “The White Lotus” each garnered 20 nominations. Following close behind were HBO Max’s “Hacks” and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” — each with 17 nominations — and HBO’s “Euphoria,” which nabbed 16.

The Television Academy did not break out awards by network this year. Last year, there was some mild controversy about how nominations were tallied, as many networks also have streaming services. While it seemed suitable to lump network shows and streaming shows from the same company together, some in the industry felt they should be considered separate distributors.

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Business

Comcast executives expect Disney to buy remaining stake in Hulu

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Hulu

Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

The future of Hulu continues to be an open question as Comcast and Disney still haven’t agreed on terms that will settle the company’s future ownership.

But Comcast executives are planning on Disney buying them out — even if they’d prefer otherwise.

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Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu and has an option to buy the remaining 33% from Comcast as early as January 2024. Some analysts and industry watchers have speculated Comcast might try to buy Hulu from Disney rather than the other way around. Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts has been a long-time believer in Hulu and has historically pushed to keep the asset rather than sell, including in 2013, when Roberts nixed talks with DirecTV, according to people familiar with the matter.

Comcast broached the idea of buying all of Hulu from Disney after Disney agreed to acquire the majority of Fox’s assets as part of a $71 billion deal that closed in early 2019, said two of the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. Disney, armed with 66% ownership after acquiring Fox’s minority stake in Hulu, dismissed the idea, the people said.

Blocked from buying all of Hulu, Comcast’s sustained belief in the business led to the unusual agreement the two companies reached in May 2019, with Comcast agreeing to sell Disney its minority stake as early as 2024. As part of that transaction, Disney guaranteed a sale price valuing Hulu at a minimum of $27.5 billion.

That amount spiked earlier in the pandemic, giving Comcast some hope that Disney may choose to unload Hulu rather than pay Comcast a huge check for the remainder, two of the people said. Offloading Hulu would have allowed Disney to put its focus and money primarily on Disney+.

“I think if Disney could roll back the clock today, I’m not so sure they would enter into that deal,” said Neil Begley, an analyst for Moody’s Investors Services. “Disney has this huge bill to pay in 2024 at a time when they’re already investing a lot of money into Disney+.”

Acquiring Hulu from Disney would also supercharge Comcast’s streaming efforts. Hulu would instantly become Comcast’s flagship streaming asset, replacing NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which has added just 13 million paid subscribers in its nearly two years of existence. Hulu has 46.2 million subscribers. Peacock could live on as NBCUniversal’s free advertising-supported option. Peacock already has a free tier, with millions of users.

Several top Comcast executives also think Hulu doesn’t make as much sense paired with Disney’s assets as it would at NBCUniversal, especially with the recent announcement that Disney+ plans to launch an advertising-supported tier in December, according to people familiar with the matter. Hulu has been Disney’s advertising-supported service for years. Disney could have positioned Hulu as its advertising play going forward, but CEO Bob Chapek has chosen to make versions of both Disney+ and Hulu with and without commercials.

Spokespeople for Disney and Comcast declined to comment.

Bob Chapek, CEO of the Walt Disney Company and former head of Walt Disney Parks and Experiences, speaks during a media preview of the D23 Expo 2019 in Anaheim, California, Aug. 22, 2019.

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Why Disney wants Hulu

Netflix’s slowing growth this year has led to an overall devaluation in the streaming sector. Comcast executives value Hulu “significantly higher” than $27.5 billion, and possibly up to $50 billion, one of the people said. That’s down from around $60 billion during the pandemic, the person said. If Disney sticks to its plan to buy out Comcast by January 2024, there’s still time for significant valuation fluctuations.

Disney’s decision to lower Disney+’s 2024 guidance and its subsequent move to raise prices signaled to Wall Street that Chapek is no longer focused on adding subscribers at all costs.

It’s sent a signal to Comcast that Hulu is likely in Disney’s long-term plans. Excluding Hulu with Live TV, Hulu’s average revenue per user is $12.92 per month. That’s nearly triple Disney+’s global ARPU of $4.35 and more than double Disney+’s ARPU in the U.S. and Canada ($6.27).

Disney has built a streaming strategy around bundling Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. While Disney raised Disney+’s price by 38% and ESPN+’s price by 43%, it only bumped its bundled offering of Disney+, Hulu (with ads) and ESPN+ by $1, from $13.99 to $14.99. That suggests Disney’s most preferred option is customers pay for the entire bundle, including Hulu.

Media and entertainment companies have begun focusing on building profitable subscribers, rather than simply acquiring subscribers, in recent months as industrywide streaming growth has slowed. If Disney isn’t trading on Disney+ growth, Hulu becomes a more important part of its long-term strategy.

“People are getting more judicious about their spend,” Kevin Mayer, Disney’s former head of streaming, said on CNBC last month. “There’s a renewed emphasis from Wall Street not just on the topline subscriber number but on the bottom line. I think that’s healthy.”

Comcast vs. Disney

There’s also the issue of competitive dynamics. A primary reason Disney held on to Hulu, and acquired other Fox assets, was specifically to keep them from Comcast, according to people familiar with the matter. Handing Hulu to Comcast would alter the balance of power in the media world and weaken Disney, then-CEO Bob Iger thought, the people said.

Comcast has already taken steps to weaken Hulu, assuming Disney will keep it. Earlier this year, Comcast made the decision to remove content such as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Voice” from the streaming service and put it on Peacock instead. That change takes place later this month.

Comcast has already earmarked some of the proceeds it’ll receive toward paying down debt. Comcast executives say they don’t need the cash and aren’t independently looking to accelerate a timeline, two of the people said.

Dan Loeb’s desire

Daniel Loeb

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Activist investor Dan Loeb’s Third Point Capital bought a new stake in Disney last month, arguing Disney should not only complete its deal for Hulu, it should accelerate its timing.

“We urge the company to make every attempt to acquire Comcast’s remaining minority stake prior to the contractual deadline in early 2024,” Loeb said in a letter addressed to Chapek. “We believe that it would even be prudent for Disney to pay a modest premium to accelerate the integration but are cognizant that the seller may have an unreasonable price expectation at this time (while noting the seller has already made the decision to prematurely remove their own content from the platform.) We know this is a priority for you and hope there is a deal to be had before Comcast is contractually obligated to do so in about 18 months.”

Disney hasn’t publicly addressed the specifics of Loeb’s requests and hasn’t made a decision on whether it plans to speed up a timeline to buy Comcast’s stake in Hulu, according to people familiar with the matter.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC.

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Entertainment

Here’s why HBO Max is pulling dozens of films and TV series

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Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max is removing 36 movies and TV series from its platform. There are three main reasons why it’s happening.

The films and series − which include 20 original HBO Max shows such as teen drama “Generation,” and “Sesame Street” spinoff “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo” − will be removed by end of Friday. The decision comes ahead of Warner Bros. Discovery plans to combine Discovery+ with HBO Max into a new service that will launch in the U.S. in mid-2023.

“As we work toward bringing our content catalogs under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and Discovery+. That will include the removal of some content from both platforms,” an HBO Max spokesman said in a statement.

It may seem strange for HBO Max to remove series it specifically made for the platform − streaming services are full of little-watched shows and movies. But for Warner Bros. Discovery, there are three main motivations behind the cuts: slashing costs, moving away from content aimed at kids and families and decluttering the service.

Cost cutting

While HBO Max already paid for the production of these shows, it’s still on the hook for residuals, including so-called back-end payments to cast, crew and writers, based on long-term viewership metrics.

By removing these films and shows, especially the ones HBO Max created rather than licensed, executives can cut expenses immediately. Warner Bros. Discovery has promised at least $3 billion in synergies stemming from the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, announced in May.

The content eliminations in total will save “tens of millions of dollars,” according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the finances are private.

The reasoning isn’t the same as why superhero movie “Batgirl” was scrapped earlier this month. That decision took advantage of a change-of-strategy merger tax benefit that allowed for writing off incomplete projects. The HBO Max shows already launched and have been on the service, so they don’t apply for that benefit.

Eschewing kids and family

Most of what HBO Max is pulling is either reality TV or kids and family content. (A full list of removed content is at the end of this story).

HBO Max will get its unscripted content from Discovery, which will add nearly its entire catalog of reality TV, including from HGTV, Food Network and Animal Plant, to the combined service next year. HBO Max laid off 14% of its staff earlier this week, including many from its unscripted division.

The move away from kids and family content is new. HBO Max executives decided viewers are simply not going to the service to watch kids programming. Even “Sesame Street,” which HBO Max acquired in 2019 in a five-year deal, isn’t pulling strong numbers, according to people familiar with the matter. That prompted the removal of “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo,” the people said.

HBO specializes in adult-themed content that skews toward a male audience. Discovery specializes in adult-themed reality content that is watched by more women. While the combined services hit both adult gender demographics, they don’t target kids. Instead of adding more content to fill that niche, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to move away from the category with its future investment budget, said the people.

Decluttering

Streaming executives across the industry frequently talk of Netflix having a “discovery” problem. Netflix has so much content, they say, that it’s hard to search for its best stuff. While Netflix tries to mitigate this with algorithms and Top 10 lists, the service has hundreds of shows that get lost in the shuffle because there’s so much content gumming up the search process.

Everything getting pulled from “HBO Max” was infrequently watched, according to people familiar with the matter.

With the coming addition of Discovery+ content, Warner Bros. Discovery executives are concerned HBO Max may get bogged down with little-watched films and shows. That could cause viewers to associate the service with having a lot of stuff they don’t want to watch — the “Netflix problem,” said one HBO Max executive, who asked not to be named because the decision was private.

Traditional pay-TV has also struggled with the problem. Cable TV has ballooned in cost, averaging about $100 per month, while adding more and more poorly viewed cable networks over the years. The result is that customers have been rejecting cable TV in droves.

This risk of having too much content is one of the reasons Disney has historically kept Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu separate. Disney executives have long felt consumers will pay a lower price for a more tailored experience.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav may want to raise the price for a combined HBO Max-Discovery+ offering, especially as competitors Disney and Netflix have recently raised prices. Eliminating little watched content, while adding a slew of new Discovery + content, could help justify the increase.

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HBO Max announced the following series will be removed this week:

12 Dates of Christmas

About Last Night

Aquaman: King of Atlantis

Close Enough

Detention Adventure

Dodo

Ellen’s Next Great Designer

Elliott From Earth

Esme & Roy

The Fungies! 

Generation Hustle 

Genera+ion

Infinity Train

Little Ellen 

Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart

Messy Goes to Okido

Mia’s Magic Playground

Mighty Magiswords

My Dinner with Herve

My Mom, Your Dad

Odo

OK K.O.! – Let’s Be Heroes

The Ollie & Moon Show

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures

Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness

Select Sesame Street Specials 

Make It Big, Make It Small

Share

Squish

Summer Camp Island

The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo 

The Runaway Bunny – Special

Theodosia

Tig n’ Seek 

Uncle Grandpa

Victor and Valentino

Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs

 WATCH: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav speaks to CNBC about his strategy

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