Sunday


CC™ Media Focus

Creating entertainment has been Walt Disney's niche since the 1920s; however, it now faces ever-increasing competition from rivals. In this piece, we take a look at Disney's journey thus far and who its main competitors are in the ever-evolving media landscape. 

Disney and Its Media Properties

The Walt Disney Company (DIS) has built a diverse empire since its beginning in the 1920s, creating a huge range of lucrative products in a number of marketplaces. As the largest mass media conglomerate in the world, Disney is best known for its film and TV productions and theme parks. Its television arm controls the ABC television network, with eight owned-and-operated broadcasting stations and over 230 affiliates, as well as a number of cable networks, including Freeform, Disney Channel and ESPN.

Walt Disney Pictures, Disney Animation and Pixar produce films for Walt Disney Studios, and Disney also owns Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm, which have become cash cows for them in the film and merchandise markets. It also has a presence in the travel industry, with the Disney Cruise line and theme parks, Walt Disney World and Disneyland, which have remained extremely popular for decades and now include foreign parks around the world.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Disney is a media and entertainment powerhouse, owning several brands and properties.
  • Because it has its hands in so many corners of the media industry, it also has many competitors.
  • Despite competition throughout the ages, Disney has been resilient, taking out the competition when necessary.
Disney's Competitors

Disney faces a number of competitors across its various markets, with Viacom (VIA), Time Warner (TWC), 21st Century Fox (FOX), Sony (SNE), CBS (CBS) and Comcast (CMCSA) being its main competitors. These companies compete with Disney's products mainly through TV, cable and other media markets such as DVD/Blue-ray, video games and the internet. The growth of multichannel video programming network distributors and cable networks has increased the competitive pressure for Disney. Contracts are renegotiated at certain points in these markets, and the rise of competition puts increased difficulty on Disney to renew the contracts with such favorable conditions as it has had in the past.

Disney also competes in the strong and lucrative sports market. It has done extremely well with sports channel ESPN, which provides 24% of its total revenues. This is due in part to the popularity of sports channels, but also to program bundling packages.

In the theme-park market, major rivals to Disney include Six Flags Entertainment (SIX), Cedar Fair (FUN), Universal Studios and Comcast. This competition has increased in recent times, particularly due to Universal's cashing in on the popularity of the Harry Potter books and movies. Universal Orlando has opened a Harry Potter-themed land in Orlando and Hollywood, which has boosted attendance numbers.

Entertainment Dominance

Disney's studio entertainment businesses continually manage to innovate, and profits often show this. Disney produces a range of consumer products with involvement in licensing, publishing and retail, and therefore competes with other vendors in these areas. However, according to Market Realist, Disney believes it is the largest worldwide licensor of character-based merchandise.

Recently, Disney and Fox made headlines when it was revealed that Disney had been negotiating with 21st Century Fox to acquire some of Fox's assets, particularly its film studio and the streaming service Hulu, in order to create a competitor to Netflix. On March 20, 2019, Disney officially acquired all the media assets of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion, making Disney the largest media powerhouse on the planet.

According to its 4Q 2018 quarterly report, Disney showed a revenue increase of a whopping 50% year-over-year. Disney said the growth was driven by “exceptional performance” of “Black Panther,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Incredibles 2. While Disney's profits do fluctuate, in part due to seasonality and timing of releases, it remains a massive presence in several industries and one that most people identify with when they think of animated films and theme parks.
Posted by CCG Media at 1:25 PM

Saturday

Following $38 billion final divorce settlement, Jeff Bezos will retain 12 percent stake in Amazon worth $114.8 billion and remains the world's richest person

CC™ Breaking News

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos finalized their divorce Friday to the tune of a $38-billion settlement, Bloomberg News reported. Under the agreement, MacKenzie Bezos, 49, will receive approximately 19.7 million Amazon.com shares, giving her a four percent stake in the company valued at $38.3 billion and landing her at 22nd on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the news service said.
A judge in Washington state's King County finalized the divorce. Jeff Bezos, 55, will retain a 12 percent stake and remain the world's richest man.
MacKenzie Bezos, a novelist, has said she would give all of her stake in The Washington Post and the space exploration firm Blue Origin to her husband as well as voting control of her remaining Amazon stock.
She has also promised to donate half her fortune to charity, joining the ranks of the world's ultra-wealthy philanthropists as a signatory of the Giving Pledge.
The personal life of Jeff Bezos was thrust into the spotlight with the announcement in January that he and his wife were divorcing after 25 years of marriage and the revelation by the National Enquirer that he had been having an affair with a former news anchor, Lauren Sanchez. 
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos married in 1993 and have four children. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in their Seattle garage in 1994 and turned it into a colossus that dominates online retail. 
Posted by CCG Media at 2:42 AM

Friday

Walmart said to lose over $1B and may sell off money-losing online units

CC™ Business News

Walmart (WMT) is expected to lose at least $1 billion this year in its e-commerce division and may sell off money-losing units as the retail giant struggles to compete with Amazon (AMZN), according to a new report published on Wednesday.
Vox’s Recode cited multiple sources claiming Walmart’s efforts to challenge Amazon are falling short, leading to internal strains and a push to curb losses in its e-commerce division. The unit is projecting losses of over $1 billion on revenues between $21-22 billion, Vox reported.
According to the publication, Walmart is frustrated with Jet— an online shopping site it purchased for $3.3 billion back in 2016. The mounting losses have put CEO Marc Lore on the hot-seat with the company’s leadership, the report said.
Walmart’s board of directors and CEO, Doug McMillon, want Lore and his online business to cut losses, Vox reported. They are also reportedly upset by the credit Lore’s division has received in the media and on Wall Street about Walmart’s huge online grocery shopping growth.
Besides improving internal tensions, Walmart will look to sell at least one of its three fashion brands that was bought under Lore: Bonobos for $310 million, Eloquii for $100 million and ModCloth for less than $50 million. All three businesses are unprofitable, Vox’s report said.
Walmart declined to comment on the story to Yahoo Finance.
The company, which is a retail powerhouse in its own right, has seen its stock rally to new 52-week highs near $112. That move came on the heels of strong quarter in which online sales skyrocketed 43%.
Although Walmart is bolstering its online shopping offerings, it’s been in a long battle to ward off the disruptive effect of Amazon, to little avail.
Lore is reportedly in favor of adding more fulfillment warehouses to aid in the delivery process. Walmart has no more than 20 warehouses currently while Amazon has 110.

Source: Yahoo Finance
Posted by CCG Media at 1:42 AM

Wednesday

Again, Messi comes up short as Brazil top Argentina in Copa America semi-final

CC™ Headline Sports

Posted by CCG Media at 1:44 AM

Tuesday

Netflix officially orders 'Sandman' TV series from Neil Gaiman in deal with Warner Brothers


CC™ Media Watch

Netflix is ready to show you fear in a handful of dust. On Monday the streaming platform announced that it has officially given a series order to The Sandman, an adaptation of the iconic 1990s comic series by Neil Gaiman and a host of the genre’s best artists.
This is not the first time a Sandman adaptation has been floated, of course. Long-time fans surely remember back in 2013 when Joseph Gordon-Levitt was attached to star in a film version from New Line. That project fizzled out a few years later, and it felt like The Sandman might never make it to the screen. But this Netflix version already boasts a few key differences from past attempts. First of all, it’s a TV series (10 episodes total) rather than a movie, which might be a better fit for the comic’s characteristically disparate storytelling. Although Morpheus, the king of dreams, is the protagonists of The Sandman, there are dozens of other colorful characters who share the spotlight; some of the best issues of the comic series barely feature Morpheus at all.
Then there’s the direct involvement of Gaiman himself. Fresh off his experience as show runner of Amazon Prime’s Good Omens (an adaptation of his novel with Terry Pratchett), Gaiman will be both a writer and executive producer on Netflix’s The Sandman. He will share those titles with The Dark Knight screenwriter David S. Goyer, who was also attached to the Gordon-Levitt film. Wonder Woman screenwriter Allan Heinberg will be the official show runner. Luckily for fans, Heinberg is intimately familiar both with comics (he co-created Marvel’s Young Avengers with artist Jim Cheung in 2005) and with TV (he was a writer on Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, and more).
Gaiman, Goyer, and Heinberg will co-write the first episode of the series.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the brilliant team that is Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer and Allan Heinberg to finally bring Neil’s iconic comic book series, The Sandman, to life onscreen,” said Channing Dungey, VP of original programming at Netflix, said in a statement. “From its rich characters and story-lines to its intricately built-out worlds, we’re excited to create an epic original series that dives deep into this multi-layered universe beloved by fans around the world.”
Get ready to dream a little dream, Netflix viewers. Soon you’ll be able to better understand the references to The Sandman in other Netflix shows like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Source: Entertainment Weekly
Posted by CCG Media at 2:14 AM

Monday

CC™ Picturesque.....

Posted by CCG Media at 12:01 PM

Buhari: Worst president Nigeria has ever had since 1999.....

Posted by CCG Media at 11:43 AM

Sunday

Gernot Rohr congratulates Madagascar on beating Nigeria

CC™ Sports Desk

Madagascar had never scored against Nigeria before much less beat Nigeria. Madagascar shocked Nigeria 2-0 to top their group at the ongoing AFCON 2019 in Egypt. Gernot Rohr's detractors will now have plenty of ammunition as to why the German tactician (who has never won anything on the African continent or elsewhere as a coach) should be fired, regardless of the outcome of this tournament. This was an embarrassing loss to a team almost 70 places below the Super Eagles in the FIFA rankings.
                         
Posted by CCG Media at 6:59 PM

Why a war with Iran would not be the best course of action for the United States

Image: Reuters
by Ted Galen Carpenter

Kenneth Adelman, a former assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and a prominent figure in the U.S. foreign policy community, famously predicted in 2002 that a war to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would be a “cakewalk.” President Donald Trump apparently learned nothing from Adelman’s hubris and rosy optimism. Although he aborted a planned airstrike on Iran at the last minute, Trump later warned Iranian leaders that the military option was still very much on the table. He added that if the United States used force against Iran, Washington would not put boots on the ground but would wage the conflict entirely with America’s vast air and naval power. There was no doubt in his mind about the outcome. He asserted that such a war “wouldn’t last very long,” and that it would mean the “obliteration” of Iran.

But history is littered with examples of wars that political leaders and the general public erroneously believed would be quick and easy. When Abraham Lincoln opted to confront the secession of the Southern states with force, his initial troop request was merely for90-day enlistments. People in Washington, DC, were so confident that the Union army would crush the upstart rebels at the impending battle of Manassas that hundreds drove out in carriages to view the likely battlefield. They treated it like a spectator event, in some cases complete with picnic baskets. Four years later, more than 500,000 American soldiers were dead.

Leaders and populations in the major European capitals in 1914 exuded optimism that the new war would be over in a matter of months—with their side winning a glorious victory, of course. Once again, the situation did not turn out as planned. The projected quick and relatively bloodless conflict became a prolonged, horrific slaughter consuming millions of young lives, toppling established political systems in Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia, and ushering in the plagues of fascism and communism. 

A common thread in the various blunders was the assumption that the initial phase of a conflict would be utterly decisive. That was Adelman’s error. Washington’s military encounter with Saddam’s forces was fairly close to being a cakewalk. The decrepit Iraqi army was no match for the U.S.-led invaders. When Saddam fell from power, President George W. Bush flew to a U.S. aircraft carrier that displayed a huge (later infamous) “Mission Accomplished” banner.

However, the initial military victory proved to be just the beginning of a giant headache for the United States. Within months, an insurgency arose against the U.S. occupation force, and political instability bordering on civil war plagued Iraq, paving the way for the rise of ISIS. At last count, more than 4,400 American troops have perished pursuing the Iraq mission, and the United States has spent well over a trillion dollars. Not exactly a cakewalk.

That is what makes President Trump’s cavalier attitude about a war with Iran so worrisome. He implicitly assumes that the United States has control over the twin processes of retaliation and escalation. U.S. officials made that same faulty assumption in Iraq—and decades earlier in Vietnam. But even adversaries that are inferior in terms of conventional military capabilities may have numerous options to wage asymmetric warfare. And that strategy can become a war of attrition that inflicts serious damage on the militarily superior United States.

Iran may be especially effective if it adopts that course. Indeed, just in the narrow military sense, Iranian capabilities are far from trivial. Retired Admiral James Stavridis notes that Iran has “exceptionally strong asymmetric warfare capability” in several areas. “Cyber [attacks], swarm small-boat tactics, diesel submarines, special forces and surface-to-surface cruise missiles are all high-level assets,” Stavridis stated. “They are also very experienced at employing them in the demanding environment of the Middle East.”

Beyond utilizing its direct military capabilities, Tehran might well call upon its network of Shia political and military allies in the Middle East to create havoc for the United States. Iran maintains very close ties with Hezbollah in Lebanon and several Shia militias in Iraq. The residual U.S. force deployed in the latter country could be especially vulnerable to harassment and lethal attacks. And one should not ignore or discount the potential role of the angry, oppressed Shia majority in Bahrain. If their seething discontent at the Sunni-controlled regime that Washington backs explodes into outright conflict, the Trump administration could find it increasingly difficult to continue basing the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

Going to war against Iran would be no minor matter, and President Trump is irresponsible to act in such a flippant manner. Attacking Iran could trigger a prolonged, costly nightmare in both treasure and blood. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), a Democratic presidential candidate, likely is prophetic that a war against Iran would make the Iraq War look like a cakewalk. Tehran certainly has a multitude of ways to retaliate for U.S. aggression and to escalate the bilateral confrontation. U.S. leaders would be wise not to venture farther down that perilous path.
Source: The National Interest
Posted by CCG Media at 5:21 PM

Pamela Anderson's French boy-toy leaves her high and dry......

Pamela Anderson (L) and French soccer star Adil Rami
CC™ Entertainment News

Pamela Anderson has responded to ex-boyfriend Adil Rami's recent denial of infidelity with what she says is further proof that the French soccer player cheated on her.
Anderson, 51, wrote a lengthy blog post criticizing Rami's rebuttal as a "carefully worded response ... written either by his sister, lawyer or his current football team for damage control." 
The "Baywatch" alum publicly dumped Rami last week in an Instagram post calling him a "monster" and a "narcissist," alleging that she's worried for her safety.
Anderson also included what she says are letters written between herself and fashion company founder Sidonie Biémont, Rami's ex and the mother of his children, Zayn and Madi. The letters show Anderson reaching out in an attempt to become friendly with her. 
According to Biémont's response, she was "quite shocked and sad" to discover that Rami had lied about the beginning of his relationship with Anderson. She also alleged the two had kept up a relationship "as lovers" for nearly a year and a half after rumors arose that he and Anderson were dating, because he claimed the actress was just a friend. 
Biémont responded to the allegations Wednesday an Instagram post written in French, in which she admitted to being "deaf and blind" in her relationship with Rami.
"We hang on to everything, at the slightest sign, we interpret, we over-react, we leave room for the biggest lies," she wrote, according to an English translation. "When we are in love we want to believe more than anything, we dream that one day the family will be united, we think we were right to choose this person for half, we idealize ... We excuse, we forgive, we minimize. Then one day we see each other again, and we darken. I was very in love with Adil."
In a separate post, she said Rami "never subjected me to any physical violence and was never the hysteric or even the pathological jealousy currently described."
In an Instagram post Tuesday written in French and translated to English, Rami, 33, said he "deeply respects" Anderson and denied allegations that he had been living a "double life." 
"A break is never easy," Rami wrote. "As often in these situations, emotion can take over and let excessive things express itself. Pamela is a whole person, whom I deeply respect, who has convictions, who is sincere in her struggles, and for whom my love has always been sincere. That's what I want to remember."
Instead, he argued, he was trying to "preserve a lasting relationship" with his children and their mother, but admitted he could have been more transparent.
The athlete revealed the next day that he had been removed from his role as an ambassador for Solidarité Femmes, a French organization dedicated to helping female victims of violence. Anderson previously argued that he "should not be the face of protecting women from domestic violence, or protecting women at all." 
Rami said he respects the organization's decision, but is is "saddened" that Anderson used "lies about violence to hurt me. ... She knows that my commitment to the cause of violence against women is something that is really important to me." 
Posted by CCG Media at 3:19 PM
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