Media Entertainment & Art Community

After more than 20 years as CEO of Netflix Inc., co-founder Reed Hastings steps down; Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, both longtime associates, take his place. They have recently released information regarding the company’s future, which includes a plan to end password sharing in many nations. According to Peters, the new co-CEO, the vast majority of Netflix users who use the service but do not pay for it will soon be required to do so. He added in an interview with Bloomberg by saying that the regulated password sharing would be deployed gradually in order to keep the user experience on the video streaming platform even after it is put into place. He predicted that not everyone would like the event and that the company would have to cope with some unhappy customers. As its subscriber base increases by 15 to 20 million, the company intends to concentrate on developing nations like India. In November, Netflix unveiled a brand-new tier that is supported by advertising. The performance of the ad tier has been mixed; in its first month, it was Netflix’s least popular plan. However, the new tier led to a spike in new sign-ups on its first day and increased its percentage of Netflix sign-ups in December. In addition to saying that the advertising tier has brought in new, budget-conscious users, Netflix expressed pleasure with its progress. According to Bloomberg, most users of the advertising tier are brand-new subscribers rather than those who had previously subscribed to a more expensive plan.

Netflix Inc. is anticipated to report its slowest quarterly revenue growth on Thursday as its ad-supported plan struggles to attract customers in the competitive U.S. market, which might put pressure on the firm to reduce content investment this year. The pioneer in streaming has been struggling due to dwindling customer spending, rising production costs, and heightened competition from Disney+ and Amazon Prime. It had staked its hopes on the introduction of the ad-supported tier, but according to analysts, there hasn’t been a sudden surge in subscriptions. It is anticipated that the company attracted 4.5 million customers in the fourth quarter, which would be the smallest number for the Holiday season since 2014. 8.3 million more subscribers were gained last year. According to analysts, the $6.99 a month ad-supported plan does not include access to all titles and is too expensive to draw in a sizable number of users in the United States and Canada. There are some challenges in achieving those subscriber targets, according to Jamie Lumley, an analyst at Third Bridge. “Looking at the saturation of the market and the variety of different options available, as well as the fact that the pricing is not necessarily significantly below the competition, there are some challenges in attaining those subscriber targets,” he said. This is likely to bring attention to Netflix’s robust content investment, which, according to finance head Spencer Neumann, will amount to roughly $17 billion each year for the next few years. According to Shahid Khan, partner and global head of media and entertainment at Arthur D. Little, “when debt was cheap, you could go and borrow a lot of money and invest that in content.” Netflix will have to be extremely careful about approving content and how they would finance it given current interest rates. Compared with Paramount Global, rival Walt Disney Co anticipates spending on content in the low $30 billion range for the fiscal year 2023. Disney does not separate its content spending across its streaming and other divisions. Source: Reuters

The 80th Golden Globes awarded Naatu Naatu, the upbeat hit from SS Rajamouli’s RRR, with the Best Song (Motion Picture) award. The song, which celebrates the friendship and dance-inspired energy of RRR’s lead actors Ram Charan and Jr. NTR, triumphed at the Golden Globes over competitors including Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift. Ram Charan said that if the film wins the Oscar, he and Jr. NTR will probably perform a dance on stage as well. Naatu Naatu has also been shortlisted in the Original Song category for the 95th Academy Awards. The veteran music director MM Keeravani composed the Telugu song Naatu Naatu, which was sung by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj. If Naatu Naatu receives a nomination, Charan was asked if he would dance with Jr. NTR on the Oscars stage in an interview for the NBP podcast. “Of course, if they are going to give us an award, why not. We will do it 17 times back again.” The Golden Globe victory for best song increases RRR’s chances of winning big again during the Hollywood award season, which culminates with the Oscars, whose nominations will be revealed on January 24. https://twitter.com/RRRMovie/status/1612989220045611008?cxt=HHwWgIDT9cnJvuIsAAAA The New York Film Critics Circle recently awarded SS Rajamouli with the Best Director award for his work on RRR. The filmmaker was announced as the recipient of the honour in December, and he personally accepted the trophy at a banquet held at New York’s TAO Downtown Restaurant. RRR is a fictionalised story of a pre-independence period that centres on the two real-life Indian rebels Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, played by Ram Charan and Jr. NTR, respectively.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs authorised a central sector scheme named “Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development” (BIND) on Wednesday for Prasar Bharati’s infrastructure development, including All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD), at a cost of 2,539.61 crore. The plan, put up by the information and broadcasting ministry, is a way to give Prasar Bharati financial help for costs associated with expanding and upgrading its broadcasting infrastructure, developing new content, and undertaking organization-related civil work. The I&B ministry announced that eight lakh DD Free Dish DTH Set Top Boxes (DTBs) would be given out to people living in remote, tribal, Left Wing Extremism (LWE), border areas, and smaller districts as part of the programme, which would increase All India Radio’s FM coverage to more than 80% of the country’s population. With better infrastructure, the public broadcaster will be able to upgrade its facilities significantly, expanding its reach to include LWE, border, and vital locations while offering viewers high-quality content. Another top priority area of the plan is the creation of top-notch content for both domestic and international audiences, as well as guaranteeing that viewers can access a variety of material by upgrading the DTH platform’s capacity to support more channels. The project will also include the purchase of OB vans and the digital upgrading of DD and AIR Studios to make them HD ready. Currently, All India Radio has more than 500 broadcasting facilities, and Doordarshan runs 36 TV channels, including 28 regional ones. According to the announcement, the Scheme would raise the geographic and population coverage of AIR FM transmitters in the country from 59% and 68% respectively to 66% and 80%, respectively. The project has the potential to increase the reach of public broadcasting while also creating indirect employment through manufacturing and services related to the supply and installation of broadcast equipment. For people with a variety of experiences in industries including television and radio production, transmission, and related media services, content generation and innovation for AIR and DD may result in indirect employment.

Pele, one of the all-time great football players, passed away on Thursday at the age of 82 years after battling cancer. Footballers, clubs, and national federations are still in shock over the death of the Brazilian legend. A year has passed since the passing of Diego Maradona, the Prince of Peace of football. Brazil has proclaimed three days of mourning and lit up Christ the Redeemer in green. Pele, whose colon tumour had been removed in 2021, was hospitalised at São Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital in November due to health problems. According to the hospital, “our dear King of Football” passed away at 3:27 p.m. local time “due to the failure of multiple organs, a result of the advancement of colon cancer related with his previous clinical condition,” according to the hospital statement. According to a statement on Pelé’s official Instagram page, “Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pelé, who peacefully passed away today. On his journey, Edson enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love. His message today becomes a legacy for future generations. Love, love and love, forever”. As soon as the news was announced, tributes poured in from all around the world. US President Joe Biden tweeted, “For a sport that brings the world together like no other, Pelé’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend is a story of what is possible. Today, Jill and I’s thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him.” For a sport that brings the world together like no other, Pelé’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend is a story of what is possible. Today, Jill and I's thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him. pic.twitter.com/EkDDkqQgLo — President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2022 Manchester United Club tweeted, “Rest in peace, Pele. Thank you for the joy you brought to football fans around the world ❤️” Rest in peace, Pele. Thank you for the joy you brought to football fans around the world ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Ypo6NGxdqS — Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 29, 2022 FIFA federation tweeted, “”For everyone who loves the beautiful game, this is the day we never wanted to come. The day we lost Pelé.” FIFA President Gianni Infantino pays tribute to Pelé:” "For everyone who loves the beautiful game, this is the day we never wanted to come. The day we lost Pelé." FIFA President Gianni Infantino pays tribute to Pelé: — FIFA (@FIFAcom) December 29, 2022

It took James Cameron’s Avatar sequel just under 13 days to surpass the $1 billion milestone at the box office, despite its release thirteen years after the first movie of the science-fiction franchise. As of December 26, estimates indicate that the 2009 epic drama’s sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” had made over $955 million at the box office globally. Considering the Tuesday box office results, the movie is predicted to easily surpass the $1 billion mark. This places “Avatar: The Way of Water” after “Jurassic World Dominion” and “Top Gun: Maverick” as the third-highest-grossing film of 2022. Although it took Jurassic World four months and “Top Gun” more than a month to reach the milestone, “Avatar 2” did so in only 12 days. The film is anticipated to surpass the $2 billion mark and tie Avatar’s box office haul with the holiday season in full swing. Prior to the release of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s climactic “Avengers: Endgame,” Avatar held the record for biggest box office gross. The Avengers are once again overtaken by Avatar due to a 2019 rerelease in China. Although the Avatar sequel had a poor start in theatres, it has been picking up steam over time, particularly in international markets. As of Monday, the film had earned over $661 million worldwide. According to Deadline, the biggest international markets for the film are China ($104.5M), France ($60.5M), Korea ($55.4M), Germany ($41.5M), and India ($39.2M). The film has already outperformed top-grossing Bollywood films including “The Kashmir Files,” “Drishyam 2,” and “Brahmastra” in India. The Avatar: Way of Water is anticipated to be one of the highest-grossing films of the year in India and the highest-grossing Hollywood film in the nation as long as collections continue to be strong. On the beautiful planet of Pandora, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) continue their adventure in Avatar 2.

Netflix appears prepared to prohibit users from sharing passwords as of the beginning of 2023. The market leader in streaming has been discussing this move for some time. Netflix has experienced losses as a result of the password-sharing feature, causing CEO Reed Hastings to stop the practise. Hastings stated that the platform will now concentrate on content, marketing, and a more affordable plan with advertising after it added 2.4 million customers in the third quarter. Additionally, the company had stated during its financial report that it anticipated adding more subscribers in the upcoming months. Moreover, it is implementing a number of adjustments, including the launch of a less priced alternative with advertisements next month, according to Netflix.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check Unit (FCU) said on Tuesday that it has busted three YouTube channels that were spreading misleading information in India, following a series of over 40 fact-checks. According to the bureau these YouTube channels had about 33 lakh subscribers and their videos, almost all of which were found to be false, garnered over 30 crore views. This is the first time, according to a statement, that PIB has exposed entire YouTube channels against individual posts on social media for promoting false information. The YouTube channels in question are News Headlines, which has 9.67 lakh subscribers and over 31 crore views; Sarkari Update, which has 22.6 lakh subscribers and over eight lakh views; and आज तक LIVE, which has 65.6 thousand subscribers and over one crore views. The statement cited fake news such as the ‘Supreme Supreme Court has ruled that future elections will be conducted by ballot papers,’ the ‘Government giving money to people who have bank accounts, Aadhar Cards, and PAN cards,’ and the ‘ban on EVMs,’ among others. According to the PIB statement, the YouTube channels were found to be using fake and sensational thumbnails with logos of TV channels and photographs of their news anchors to mislead viewers into believing the news was legitimate. These channels were also found to be placing ads on their videos, thus monetising misinformation on YouTube. The PIB Fact Check Unit’s action follows the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s recent blocking of over a hundred YouTube channels.

The government is spending less than half of what it did seven years ago on print and television advertising, according to a response to Parliament from the information and broadcasting ministry on Tuesday. The ministry reported that it spent 424.84 crore and 473.67 crore on print and TV advertising in 2014-15, respectively, and 508.22 crore and 531.60 crore the following year. In 2016-17, the expenditure on print ads was roughly 468.53 crore and 609.15 crore on TV, which increased to 636.09 crore and 468.92 crore the following year. In 2018-19, it fell to 429.54 crore and 514.28 crore, respectively. In 2019-20, the spending was 295.05 crore and 317.11 crore. During the years when Covid was looming large, the government spent just approximately 197.49 crore on print ads and 167.98 crore on TV in 2020-21. Last year, it was 179.04 crore and 101.24 crore, respectively. This year, the government has spent 91.96 crore on print advertising and 76.84 crore on television advertising. The Central Bureau of Communication has been responsible for all expenditures.

On December 10, legendary athlete PT Usha was elected as the first woman president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Usha, a multiple Asian Games gold medallist and fourth-place finisher in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final, was declared unopposed for the leading spot in the polls. The elections were overseen by retired Supreme Court judge L Nageswara Rao, who was appointed by the Supreme Court. According to reports, Usha’s election to the top job brought an end to the long-running issue in the faction-ridden IOA, which had been warned with suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) if elections were not held this month. However, the polls were initially scheduled for December 2021. Nobody was willing to fight Usha, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in July, as the lone candidate for the top post. Apart from Usha, Ajay Patel of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) was elected unopposed as senior vice-president. As vice presidents, Olympic medalist shooter Gagan Narang and Rowing Federation of India president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo were elected unopposed. Sahdev Yadav, president of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF), has been elected treasurer. Former goalkeeper and All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey was chosen unopposed as joint secretary (male). After a three-way battle, Alaknanda Ashok of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) was elected as joint secretary (female). Suman Kaushik and Shalini Thakur Chawla were also in the race. Usha, fondly known as the ‘Payyoli Express,’ was the first Olympian and first international medallist to represent the IOA in its 95-year history. She is also the first sportsperson to have represented the country and also elected IOA president since Maharaja Yadavindra Singh in 1934. Singh was the third president of the IOA, serving from 1938 to 1960.