Latest news with #Blockbuster
North Wales Live
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- North Wales Live
Parents say summer holidays were more fun before the internet
Two thirds of parents believe that summer holidays were more fun before the internet and social media, with 53 per cent saying they had to be more imaginative. And the survey reveals the nostalgic ways that Brits used to entertain themselves during the summer holidays before the internet, with playing hide and seek all day (44 percent), setting up a tent and camping in the garden (35 percent), choreographing dance routines just for fun (27 percent) and building a den in your sitting room (29 percent) all keeping Baby Boomers and Generation Xers busy for hours. Other ways that previous generations fought boredom, according to the survey by Boundless, include choreographing dance routines (27 percent), playing hopscotch (24 percent), baking a cake and being allowed to lick the spoon (24 percent), playing British bulldog (23 percent), going to the amusement arcades (22 percent) renting the latest hit film from Blockbuster (22 percent) and organising a kick about in the park, with jumpers for goal posts (21 percent). 39 per cent of mums and dads think technology is stopping modern kids from relaxing, while 36 percent think they have less freedom. On average, modern children spend five hours a day in front of a screen during the summer holidays leading eight in ten (77 percent) of mums and dads to believe that entertaining the kids during the summer break means either resorting to letting them play on screens or spending a fortune on screen-free activities. Darren Milton at Boundless, said: 'Many of us remember long summer holidays filled with simple pleasures - building dens, playing hide and seek or exploring outside until teatime. But for today's families, striking the balance between screen-free fun and affordability can be tough.'
Buzz Feed
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
21 Things Kids These Days Will Never Understand
Recently, u/Hidden_lust__ asked r/AskReddit, "What's something kids today will never understand?" And we thought we'd share some of the top responses. "Going into a phone booth, especially when you're a kid, just to jiggle the coin return in hopes of scoring a nickel or dime so you can buy some candy. My cousin Brenda beat me to a phone booth at the beach & got $1.15. She was the first rich person I ever knew." "Spending hours curating the perfect mix CD — carefully choosing the songs, getting the order just right, and writing the track list in Sharpie like it was a love letter. If someone made you a burned CD… That was real love." "Limewire. God, I gave one of my laptops a wild amount of viruses with it but I got to listen to Simple Plan on my mp3 player, so it was all worth it." "Renting a VHS from Blockbuster." "Performing surgery on a cassette tape to get it working again." "Dial-up internet: The screechy connection tones, and being kicked off the internet because someone picked up the landline phone." "That weird, magical era where you made plans, kept them, and just showed up — no texts, no tracking, no group chats. Just: 'See you at four' and somehow… everyone did." "Needing to have a quarter (or a dime if you're THAT old) on you just in case you needed to call home with a payphone." "The desperation to get snacks from the kitchen quickly or going to the bathroom fast during a commercial break while watching an episode you waited all week for. Bonus points if your sibling screamed, 'it's back!' when you were still out of the room and you had to run back, lol. "Getting a new phone number every time you moved." "The peace of not having a cell phone." "Actually knowing phone numbers. Like your parents number, the numbers of several friends... Shit, I still know some of those numbers even today." "That sacred moment when your favourite song came on the radio, and you had to run to hit 'record' on the cassette player, hoping no one spoke over the intro." "How before Google you had to look through an encyclopedia in the library or in a large home collection and possibly spend hours looking, only to still not find what you're searching for. Yes, back then, if your parents and/or teachers didn't know the answer to something, and you couldn't find it in the library, then you really had no idea how to figure it out then." "The Dewey decimal system and the physical card catalogue at the library." "How exciting it was when Pong was invented. We could interact with the square ball on the TV! It was incredible! Being able to control the paddle (in that ever exciting up and down thing it did, lol) just seemed to be so futuristic." "We were really poor growing up and couldn't afford to buy VHS tapes so my parents would tape Wonderful World of Disney every Saturday night." "Playing outside all day and inventing your own games, using your imagination and without needing money." "People smoking literally everywhere. Airplanes, restaurants, hotels, even hospitals. So much that old technology like typewriters or radios are still often covered in nicotine residue when you find them. It's so rare now that when I come across a smoker, I can't get past the stench." "Blowing into a game cartridge like your life depended on it, praying it would finally load so you could play Mario before your sibling claimed the TV." "When I was a kid, if one of my parents was expecting an important phone call, it meant I wasn't allowed to use the internet." H/T to u/Hidden_lust__ and r/AskReddit for having the discussion! Any more to add? Let us know in the comments below!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Following a 112,700% Gain Since Its IPO, Is Netflix Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold in 2025?
Key Points Netflix used to mail DVDs to customers, but it now operates the world's largest video streaming platform. Blockbuster passed up the chance to buy Netflix for $50 million in 2000, and the streaming giant is now worth over $500 billion. Netflix stock is up 112,700% since its IPO in 2002 -- and there might still be room for upside. 10 stocks we like better than Netflix › Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) was founded in 1997 to disrupt the video rental industry. Its business model introduced convenience by mailing DVDs to customers so they no longer had to visit a physical store. Blockbuster, which operated America's largest movie rental chain at the time, didn't see the value in Netflix's idea, because it turned down an opportunity to acquire the budding start-up for just $50 million in 2000. Netflix shifted its focus to streaming in 2007, which eliminated the need for discs and other hardware altogether. This created an existential crisis for rental chains like Blockbuster, which are now a distant memory for most consumers. Investors who bought Netflix stock at the time of its initial public offering (IPO) and kept the faith are now sitting on a whopping 112,700% return. The company's valuation now stands at over half a trillion dollars -- talk about a missed opportunity for Blockbuster. But can the streaming giant still deliver upside for investors who buy it today? Advertising and live events are key to Netflix's future growth Netflix has over 300 million paying subscribers, which is far more than Amazon Prime's estimated 200 million subscribers, and more than double the 126 million subscribers using Disney's Disney+. The larger Netflix becomes, the harder it is to generate growth, so the company is taking full advantage of its incredible scale to outspend its competitors in an effort to remain the most attractive platform in the industry. The company is on track to invest $18 billion to create and license content this year alone, and live events are becoming more of a focus because they are big draw cards for new members. Netflix exclusively showed both Christmas Day NFL games last year, which each attracted more than 30 million viewers. This made them the most streamed matches in the sport's history, so they'll be back again in 2025. Moreover, following the success of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match last November, Netflix doubled down on the sport this year. The platform livestreamed the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano bout on July 11, and it will show the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford matchup in September. In addition to attracting new members, live events also attract advertisers. Netflix now offers three subscription tiers: Premium ($24.99 per month), Standard ($17.99 per month), and Standard with ads ($7.99 per month). Ad-tier subscribers become more valuable over time because in addition to paying a monthly subscription fee, Netflix monetizes them through ads. The larger this user base becomes, the more money Netflix can charge businesses for ad slots. Netflix's advertising revenue doubled in 2024, and management expects it to double again in 2025. As of the last update (in the fourth quarter of 2024), the ad-supported tier accounted for 55% of all new sign-ups in countries where it's available, so it's creating a huge opportunity for Netflix to bring advertisers to the platform. Netflix's revenue growth is reaccelerating Netflix generated a record $11.1 billion in total revenue during the second quarter of 2025 (ended June 30). It represented a 15.9% increase from the year-ago period, which was an acceleration from the company's first-quarter growth of 12.5%. According to management's guidance, revenue growth is likely to accelerate yet again to 17.3% in the upcoming third quarter (which ends on Sept. 30). This trend highlights the company's momentum, thanks in part to its booming advertising business. Netflix also delivered a record $3.1 billion in net income during the second quarter, which marked a whopping 45% jump from the year-ago period. It translated to $7.19 in earnings per share (EPS), comfortably above Wall Street's consensus estimate of $7.08. Netflix is one of the few profitable pure-play streaming providers, which is key because this cash flow fuels its content spending, which in turn attracts more members and keeps the flywheel spinning. Without its billions of dollars in quarterly net income, the company would have to rein in its formidable content engine, which could result in a loss of market share. Netflix stock isn't cheap right now, but long-term investors can still do well Since Netflix stock is up by a staggering 112,700% since its IPO, are you late to the party if you don't already own it? It certainly isn't cheap at the moment -- it's trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 51.5, which is twice what you'd pay for the S&P 500 right now (24.7). In other words, Netflix is far more expensive than the broader market. The stock looks a little more reasonable if we value it based on its future potential earnings. Wall Street's consensus estimate (provided by Yahoo! Finance) suggests Netflix will generate $30.87 in EPS in 2026, placing its stock at a forward P/E ratio of around 38. No matter which way we look at it, investors who want to buy Netflix stock right now have to get comfortable paying a premium. Whether significant returns will follow might depend on an investor's time horizon. For example, an investor who is looking for big gains in the next 12 months might be left disappointed because of Netflix's valuation, but an investor willing to hold on to it for the next five years could do extremely well if the company's earnings continue to grow. A five-year time horizon will give Netflix's advertising business time to flourish, which could be a major tailwind for its stock price. In fact, according to an internal forecast, the company plans to double its total 2024 revenue of $39 billion by 2030, with $9 billion set to come from selling ads. If those targets are met, the next five years will probably be very rewarding for shareholders. Should you buy stock in Netflix right now? Before you buy stock in Netflix, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Netflix wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $665,092!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,050,477!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,055% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Netflix, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Following a 112,700% Gain Since Its IPO, Is Netflix Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold in 2025? was originally published by The Motley Fool
The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Jon Stewart rips CBS over Colbert cancellation: ‘F—ing wrong'
Comedian Jon Stewart tore into CBS on Monday for canceling 'The Late Show' with Stephen Colbert, which the network described as a 'financial' decision. Stewart, during the latest episode of 'The Daily Show,' defended his friend and raised the possibility that the move could be an effort to appease President Trump, who has railed against Colbert at times on social media. 'Watching Stephen exceed all expectations in the role and become the number one late-night show on television has been an undeniable great pleasure for me as a viewer and as his friend, and now Stephen has been canceled for purely financial reasons,' he said. 'And by the way, not just Stephen's show. CBS has canceled the entirety of The Late Show franchise. Gone.' 'Now I acknowledge, losing money. Late-night TV is a struggling financial model. We're all basically operating a Blockbuster kiosk inside of a Tower Records,' the comedian continued. 'But when your industry is faced with changes, you don't just call it a day. My God — when CDs stopped selling, they didn't just go, 'Oh well, music, it's been a good run.'' Stewart noted he's curious why CBS, which is owned by Paramount Global, did not do more to save the flagship program. He said, 'The fact that CBS didn't try to save their number one rated network late-night franchise that's been on the air for over three decades is part of what's making everybody wonder, was this purely financial?' 'Or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger with killing a show that you know rankled a fragile and vengeful president, so insecure, suffering terribly from a case of chronic penis insufficiency,' the late-show veteran added. 'Truly it's a vicious disease.' Paramount is working to secure a multi-billion-dollar merger with fellow entertainment giant Skydance, a transaction that will need approval from Trump's government regulators. The company also agreed to pay Trump earlier this month to settle a $16 million lawsuit the president filed against CBS over a '60 Minutes' interview with former Vice President Harris during the 2024 presidential election. 'Look, I understand the corporate fear. I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake. But understand this, truly: The shows that you now seek to cancel, censor, and control — a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those f—ing shows,' he said. 'That's what made you that money — shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid.' 'Believe me, this is not a 'We speak truth to power.' We don't. We speak opinions to television cameras, but we try. We f—ing try every night,' Stewart added. The host continued, 'And if you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar, A) Why will anyone watch you? And you are f—ing wrong.' Stewart also lamented the 'the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions at this very moment,' suggesting that is the real reason Colbert's show is ending. 'Institutions that have chosen not to fight the vengeful and vindictive actions of our pubic-hair-doodling commander-in-chief,' he said. 'This is not the moment to give in. I'm not giving in. I'm not going anywhere… I think.' The 'Late Show' host also railed against his employer over the decision on Monday and pressed back against Trump's criticism. Other late night show hosts — including Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, have also stood behind Colbert, who has hosted the show since 2015.
South Wales Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
How to get free cinema tickets across the UK this summer
Luckily, a major cinema chain is offering free tickets to customers, making life much easier for parents looking to save some money. Until August 28, customers who watch three films in XPlus will receive a free ticket in return for enjoying another movie. This comes as a number of Blockbuster's hit the big screen this summer, including Jurassic World: Rebirth, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. A post shared by Showcase Cinemas UK (@showcasecinemasuk) XPlus is ideal for those looking for a "supersized" cinema experience. Featuring a giant screen with "next-generation" projection to give the film a "crystal-clear" image, the service also boasts a 360° Dolby Atmos sound system. This delivers a "fully immersive, powerful, and dramatic listening experience like no other." Discussing the XPlus experience and how moviegoers can get free cinema tickets, Jon Dixon, UK Marketing Director at Showcase Cinemas, said: 'XPlus is the ultimate way to feel every moment when watching a film, with huge screens, crystal-clear visuals, and powerful Dolby Atmos sound. "We know how much our customers value this amazing experience, so this offer is our way of saying thank you. 'If you're planning to see the biggest films of the summer, this is the best way to do it.' A post shared by Showcase Cinemas UK (@showcasecinemasuk) Those wanting to check out XPlus for themselves can do so at the following UK locations: This free ticket offering at Showcase lasts until August 28.
