Discovery’s Warner Brothers Aquisition Leads To HBO Max Job Cuts

(copyright Warner Bros. Discovery)

Yeah, I'm feeling not feeling very charitable today. I've been struggling to overcome a new health problem that cropped up last week, and it's helped sour my mood towards this topic. But, is anyone not surprised by this? Corporate mergers usually mean getting kicked to the curb for the worker.

 

It's one thing to be nimble and versatile. I was at a lecture at Otis a few years ago where the panel discussed how new animation artists now have to be ready to make lateral moves away from the traditional studios to games, new media, and online companies that you would never associate with animation. But I still feel we need to really twist congress' arms as far as helping Americans cope with factors such as the outsourcing of jobs, and the repeal of the fairness doctrine. This situation with Discovery, and the overreach of Netflix sounds like another dotcom bubble to me. Here's an oldie but a goodie-

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh6Hf5_ZYPI

https://animationre-creation.blogspot.com/2022/04/discovery-aquires-warner-media-from-at.html

 https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/heres-why-hbo-max-is-pulling-dozens-of-films-and-tv-series-from-its-streaming-platform.html

 https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-08-26/why-some-of-your-favorite-shows-are-disappearing-from-hbo-max

 https://www.thewrap.com/hbo-max-cuts-catalog-demand-infinity-train/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/this-hbo-max-and-warner-bros-discovery-drama-is-a-big-depressing-mess

 

 

Discovery Aquires Warner Media From AT&T

Hello group, I'm grateful to the readers who still follow this blog. Health and work issues have kept me away again, but I felt this article deserved some attention. The course of the old Time-Warner corporation has always has always held my interest, mainly due to its animation history. And the old WB was me bread 'n' butter back in the 1990's.

But now, Bugs Bunny, Batman and the whole Warner media empire will go to work for the Discovery Channel. This group includes the Food Network, Animal Planet and TLC. Do they know they will be inheriting skeletons in the closet like Pepe Le Pew? Will they actually see the real ingredients of a Scooby-Snack? Maybe Superman will show how he bakes one of his giant super cakes? 

I'm just bellyachin' here folks, bear with me.

 (original copyright Warner Brothers)

At first, I was surprised that AT&T would sell off a library like Warner's when they still have all these digital arteries to fill. But now I'm wondering if the ol' "Ma Bell" isn't doing well with streaming. It looks like they have some big bills to pay off. And it's not like Discovery is a young, agile, cutting-edge new media entity like Amazon or Netflix either. This purchase looks more like another incident of buying up competitors, selling off the new surplus resources, and cutting jobs. 

Meanwhile, the remnants of the old Hollywood studios only seem to be flashy accessories that get passed around, like old antiques.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/discovery-warnermedia-merger-close-warner-bros-discovery-1235200983/?fbclid=IwAR1e3zcxH9IizjuSMSb9MNMs82yKCRYSb0Tz4w4A_YoAloP4q3IvfJw28uw

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/discovery-warnermedia-merger-shareholders-approve-1235097326/

Streaming Animation - Rights for Artists and Viewers

Credit where credit is due: I think this article by Alex Dudok de Wit on Cartoon Brew gives a thorough rundown on the situation of streaming sources and their rates. Excellent research.

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/streaming/the-ultimate-guide-to-streaming-animation-comparing-netflix-amazon-prime-video-hulu-disney-apple-tv-hbo-max-177645.html

 Alex's article took me back to my concerns about the rights of animation artists working in new media, and the rights of consumers. It looks like we have simply gone back to paying for a new type of cable TV, on top of paying our internet bills. And will the new media studios try to continue in nickel and diming the artists to death? My Spidey-Sense says yes.

https://animationre-creation.blogspot.com/search/label/corporate%20mergers

And then there's this: After months of negotiations with ShadowMachine, animation artists finally succeeded in signing a Guild labor contract on Bojack Horseman. Now, after a six year run, Netflix is pulling the plug on the show.

(copyright Netflix)

https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/28/aaron-paul-says-netflix-decided-end-bojack-horseman/

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/bojack-horseman-final-season-netflix-1203351456/ 

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2481223/why-is-netflixs-bojack-horseman-ending-aaron-paul-seems-to-have-a-different-explanation

With the financial and technology situations changing so rapidly, I can see why the studios want to hedge their bets on labor and other production costs. But I still think animation artists and technicians need representation in new media, and citizens still need a Digital Bill of Rights. Especially when it comes to our savings, and our privacy. And just our plain old satisfaction when we plunk down in front of whatever screen we choose for entertainment.

https://www.awn.com/news/bojack-horseman-crew-votes-unionize

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/breaking-bojack-horseman-crew-is-victorious-in-unionizing-with-animation-guild-176148.html

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflixs-bojack-horseman-animators-push-union-wages-1205833

Disney Acquires 21st Century Fox for $71 Billion

Grrr... The next mega-merger! So the Mouse finally owns the rights to the original Star Wars? Someday soon there will be just only one channel/theater/website. Less choices, less jobs!

None of the links below talk about lost jobs and only mention employees briefly.

Shows you where their priorities are.

UPDATE:

"Thousands of layoffs expected"

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/read-the-memo-disney-ceo-bob-iger-sent-to-employees-after-closing-the-dollar71-billion-fox-deal/ar-BBV0D1Y?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

(copyright Disney, of course)

https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/disney-fox-deal-complete-1203167374/?fbclid=IwAR30g3HSqxs0_UD2dUeesGohV3WLlZhV9HuFbIz46EmL27iaBmTHpyjKtCA

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/disney-closes-dollar71-billion-deal-with-fox/ar-BBUYFq5?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/business/media/walt-disney-21st-century-fox-deal.html

http://www.talkmedianews.com/featured/2019/03/19/ryan-joins-board-of-foxs-newly-established-public-company/

T-Mobile and Sprint merger

Well, I only just found out about the T-Mobile and Sprint merger at a St. Patrick's Day party.
Another merger, and I feel like we're being boxed in, and losing our choices.
And it's more dough for a privileged few.
No mention on the usual news sources.

https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-and-sprint-are-merging-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/14/18223819/t-mobile-sprint-merger-regulators-congress-hearing

https://www.wired.com/story/t-mobile-sprint-merger-is-scrambling-telecom-politics/

https://consumerist.com/2014/02/12/why-sprints-case-for-t-mobile-merger-is-logical-but-bad-for-consumers/

AT&T Time Warner merger

Ma Bell now owns Batman, Bugs Bunny and half of Hollywood???

 

Enjoy your stay.

 

(From Porky Pig's Feat, directed by Frank Tashlin. Original copyright Warner Bros.)

 

Will research and update asap.

Ghosts of Christmas Future

Politicking is dangerous, but not speaking out is also a great risk.
These are my opinions, and I have tried to be well informed.
It's not so much about how Trump won, but how Hillary lost.

HRC needed to be more than just the anti-trump. She finally adopted some of Sanders' talking points, but the DNC could not connect with the battleground states, and took the "firewall" states for granted.

Millions of voters in middle America believe liberals have left them to rot. And they have proof. There are other factors at work, and critics can't lay this at the feet of Jill Stein or Bernie Sanders:

Billions of dollars in free media exposure for Trump.

Electoral college countermanded the popular vote.

Voter suppression among minorities.

Public's perceived electability of candidates vs. actual capabilities.

Low voter turnout due to unappealing candidates on both sides.

Mysogyny, and the hatred of Obama.

Gerrymandering.

* * * * * * * * * *

Trump has exploited the fears, prejudices, and misery that the GOP has created in the South and the Midwest. Many people there believe the money elites have abandoned them, left their towns to rot, and also coddled other people who are "unworthy". A Trump administration may toss a few bones to these states with infrastructure projects, but will also run up colossal deficits. I believe quite a few people in the U.S. also hope the "unworthy" people will quickly deported... or imprisoned.

This post is grim, and it is meant to be. The idea the pendulum will swing back to the left is obsolete. We also thought George W. Bush was the worst, but conditions in the U.S. will only bring out people like Trump. And worse.

Happy Holidays.

That's All Folks - AT&T owns Time/Warner

AT&T owns Batman, Bugs Bunny and the HB library...

Nuff said.

UPDATE

http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/22/media/att-time-warner/index.html

Okay, I'm confused:

http://qz.com/821938/the-us-government-just-summoned-time-warner-cable-twc-instead-of-time-warner-twx-to-testify-about-the-att-t-deal/

AT&T to buy Time Warner Inc.?

 Groovy, just what we need:

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/merger-mania.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/peter-chernin-poised-top-time-940567

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/time-warner-at-t-deal-940450

Less jobs, less customer choice, and more media mono culture.

(copyright Time/Warner...for now.)

UPDATE

It's done.

http://www.avclub.com/article/t-buys-time-warner-85-billion-giving-it-hbo-cnn-an-244676

Walt Disney - American Experience on PBS

Well, I have to post this:

(copyright PBS)

(UPDATE) Man, where to start? What Walt did with film making, technology, copyright, marketing and celebrityship (if that can be a word) laid the foundation for the world presently we have. I would compare him to Thomas Edison, or even Steve Jobs. I think the key thing here is power. Walt had a vision, and an incredible sense of direction. By a combination of charisma, determination, and what  I believe were just plain lucky breaks, Walt saw ways to go beyond what even Windsor McCay was doing. And he wasn't afraid to push the envelope.

But success has its price. There are many stories of artists who created great works, but quite a few were impossible to live with. Walt was going to get what he wanted, and that was that.

The established studios that were successful at the time seemed to keep Disney on the run. Mintz studios? Gone. Fleischer? People still remember Popeye and Betty Boop, but those characters belong to King Features. Warner Bros. has Bugs Bunny, but with no "Walt" or Chuck Jones at Time/Warner to support him, he's fallen by the wayside.

Micky Mouse is known around the world, and is here to stay.

I will try to have another update asap.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/walt-disney/?utm_source=amex_homepage&utm_medium=direct&utm_campaign=waltdisney_2015

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/

http://www.pbssocal.org/tv/schedule/#page=schedule&day=20150914&provider=Broadcast

http://www.pbs.org/about/news/archive/2014/american-experience-disney/

I wouldn't be here, many people wouldn't be here, for better or for worse, if it weren't for Walt Disney.

President Obama supports net neutrality

With such a pro-corporate bias in Washington, it's amazing that President Obama is taking a stand on net neutrality. But I applaud him on this, since he's been too eager to give in on so many other issues.

Craig Aaron's talk on KPFK's Uprising with Sonali Kolhatkar caught my ear; I think he outlined the situation very clearly.

Sonali Kolhatkar

Sonali Kolhatkar

Sonali Kolhatkar

Sonali Kolhatkar

Sonali Kolhatkar

 

http://uprisingradio.org/home/2014/11/11/obama-pleasantly-susprises-progressives-for-once-on-net-neutrality/

Our society depends so much on phones, electricity, radio and TV, the premise of not reclassifying the internet as a Title II telecommunications service seems extremely unfair. And kind of absurd. Especially with the media mergers like the Comcast/Time-Warner deal still in the works.

http://deadline.com/2014/11/writers-guild-obama-net-neutrality-protect-free-speech-1201280513/

One thing that puzzles me is how they expect us to buy stuff online if our connections are slow. It would take forever to see the merchandise!

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/better-net.html

The FCC's Chairman Tom Wheeler is still basically in favor of a two tiered system; "big pipes" for corporations who can afford to pay more...

And let the rest of us eat cake...

Time to keep calling your senators on this! And Tom Wheeler as well.
http://act.freepress.net/letter/internet_fcc_nprm_oliver/?source=faq

 (my pinwheel of death)