Latest news with #viewership
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Blow for Stephen Colbert's ego as canceled talk show host Samantha Bee says his axing was 'no brainer'
Canceled late-night host Samantha Bee has said Stephen Colbert's Late Show was terminated for 'hemorrhaging' money and viewers, in a 'no-brainer' move by CBS. Bee, 55, who had hosted TBS's 'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee' before it was canceled in 2022, gave her two cents on the decision by the broadcaster to end Colbert's show. Speaking on the Breaking Bread with Tom Papa podcast, Bee said she believes the show was failing and that CBS parent company Paramount was also currying favor with Trump in order to gain federal approval for their merger deal with Skydance when they axed Colbert. 'I think both things are true. It definitely was hemorrhaging money. These legacy shows are hemorrhaging money with no real end to that in sight, people are just not tuning in', she said. Bee added: 'People are literally on their phones all the time for one thing, so they actually don't necessarily need a recap of the day's events. They're very well-versed in what has happened. 'It is also true that when the president of the United States has to give his sign off on a corporate merger, the thing you can't do is make jokes about him. 'He's a thin-skinned idiot and we know he's like a pernicious cancer and he cares about that stuff', she later said the move to axe Colbert was a 'no brainer'. CBS said the move to axe Colbert was due to low viewership and a decline in profits, but critics have echoed Bee's sentiment that the network crumbled under pressure from Trump. Bee said she believes the show was failing and that CBS parent company Paramount was also currying favor with Trump to greenlight their merger with Skydance CBS said the move to axe Colbert was due to low viewership and a decline in profits Paramount decided to settle for $16 million on a suit over deceptive editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris filed by Trump. Colbert then used the term 'big fat bribe' to describe the settlement on-air, two days later it was announced that his show would disappear from screens. Paramount was planning a merger with media company Skydance at the time and needed the approval of Trump's Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The merger clears the way for an $8.4 billion sale of some of the most prominent names in entertainment, including CBS, Paramount Pictures, and Nickelodeon. 'Insiders' immediately maintained to publications like Puck and Variety the top-rated show was canceled due to being a money pit what was losing $40million a year. Colbert earns between $15 million and $20 million a year, with his staff likely making up most of the rest of the cost. Following the announcement of The Late Show's cancellation, Trump took to Truth Social to gloat over the news in a celebratory post. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,' he wrote. Critics believe that the network crumbled under pressure from Trump and his administration in axing Colbert The merger deal was approved by the FCC last week. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency's review of the proposed merger was not connected to the lawsuit. Carr said he welcomed 'Skydance's commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network. 'In particular, Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company's programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum.' Carr also hailed what he called a victory in 'the FCC's efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination.' The FCC voted 2-1 to approve the deal, with Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez dissenting.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
YouTube vs Netflix: User-led 'open' platforms rise in popularity
Alphabet-owned (GOOG, GOOGL) YouTube captures the largest shares of US video viewership, even when compared to streaming giants like Netflix (NFLX). Citi managing director Jason Bazinet explains how YouTube's dominance showcased the rise in open platforms compared to closed content ecosystems. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. When investors are trying to decide where, if anywhere within media, uh, to put their money, you had a really interesting note recently, where you, um, framed it sort of differently than, sort of, streamers versus legacy, or what have you. You framed it as open versus closed, right? Sort of a gatekeeper-led company like a Netflix versus something like YouTube, which is creator-led. And how do you think that's going to play out? And is that indeed the better place for investors to be on those sort of more open systems? Yeah, it's, it's really strange because, you know, the internet has been around for what? 30 years? Smartphones have been around for 15. And suddenly in the last 18 months, we've just seen, no matter what rock we we turn over, just real signal that consumers have a strong preference for open platforms over closed. So it is YouTube versus Netflix, um, is one example. But it's also happening in the video game space. It's happening in the publishing space. I think that's, that's where you want to go. Why is it happening right now? I think there's a couple of vectors. I think AI is allowing the right content to be surfaced in these open platforms, uh, more successfully. That's capturing consumers' attention. Consumers' attention spans, I think, are shortening. And a lot of these short-form, uh, types of content are more, uh, amenable to open platforms relative to a one-hour TV show or a two, two-hour movie. Um, and so, those are two powerful vectors that I, that I just don't see changing. So I think open is preferred over closed. And the, and the real question, you know, frankly, is are we going to see companies change their strategy? That, that's what we haven't yet seen. I mean, we still have legacy media companies in a closed ecosystem battling it out to try and get viewership or ratings points or ad dollars. Um, but there's a whole parallel ecosystem happening where there seems to be a natural tailwind. And yet we haven't seen any traditional media company really lean into these open platforms that don't have a gatekeeper. Related Videos Paramount, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery: Media earnings preview Why YouTube is the most valuable company in TV today Alphabet Boosted by AI, Cloud Demand Google's Q2 doesn't show 'any sign' of negative ChatGPT impact Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Over 16 million watched England win Euros final, BBC and ITV figures say
More than 16million people in the UK watched England's second consecutive European Championship final win on Sunday, just over a million shy of the 2022 final. The BBC announced on Monday that a peak of 12.2m viewers tuned in to the match against world champions Spain — which went to penalties after extra-time ended with the score at 1-1 — while a peak of 4.2m watched on ITV 1, according to the broadcaster's press release. An average of 12m watched the duration of the match across both platforms. Advertisement A peak audience of 17.4million watched the previous 2022 Euros final which was shown on BBC One. This year, the final was also shown on ITV simultaneously, splitting the viewing figures into two portions. ITV had a 25 per cent share of the viewers that watched through television alone for the final but the broadcaster's highest-viewing figures of 2025 came in England's semi-final against Italy, where viewership peaked at 10.2m. The increase in engagement extended across mediums in comparison with the previous Euros. Over 1.1m tuned in via BBC Sounds, live commentary on Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra – a 122 per cent increase from 2022. 10.1 million signed-in accounts accessed content from the tournament across all of the BBC's digital services, an increase of 15 per cent. This included content from iPlayer, Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app. The BBC's social media accounts also amassed 231m total views across the tournament, with over 100m of those coming from their TikTok account. The broadcasters shared the rights to the 2023 World Cup and on Sunday secured a similar deal for the 2027 World Cup, meaning the tournament will stay free-to-air for fans. In Spain, broadcaster La 1 averaged 6m viewers and a 58 per cent audience share, the highest ever for a women's football game on Spanish television. England conceded first to a Mariona Caldentey header, before Alessia Russo equalised in the second half to send the game to penalties. It was the second game in a row that Arsenal's Chloe Kelly scored the winner from the spot and was head coach Sarina Wiegman's third Euros victory, after also winning the tournament with the Netherlands in 2017.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
WNBA All-Star Weekend sets all kinds of viewership history
The post WNBA All-Star Weekend sets all kinds of viewership history appeared first on ClutchPoints. The WNBA is gaining steam in terms of popularity and attention. Television ratings for the league have steadily increased over the past year, and this year's All-Star weekend continued that trend. The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game was the second-highest watched All-Star game ever for the league, per ESPN. ESPN released a graphic that showed viewership was up 158 percent from the 2023 game. About 2.2 million people watched the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game on television and streaming services. The WNBA Skills Challenge and 3-point Contest also drew in big numbers. TV viewership was up 89 percent from last year, ESPN said. It was the highest-rated skills contest and 3-point challenge ever on TV for the league. The skills contest also was the most-viewed program across all TV in primetime for people under 35 years of age, per ESPN. This is obviously very good news for the league. The WNBA has lost money consistently since its inception, but there is hope that the league's growing popularity will turn it into a profitable enterprise. Caitlin Clark sat out WNBA All-Star Game activities One of the WNBA's biggest stars is Caitlin Clark, who plays for the Indiana Fever. Due to an injury, Clark sat out All-Star weekend festivities. Even without her on the floor, the league was able to get plenty of eyes on their festivities. The 2025 All-Star Game was not able to match the viewership ratings though of last year's game. Many believe that is because Clark wasn't able to suit up. She still appeared on the TV broadcast, even though she didn't officially play. 'Caitlin Clark effect manifests itself in 2 ways: Anything with Clark, then without, drops hard. NCAA title game -54%. Draft -49%. All-Star -36%. Regular-season -50% during her time out (but still up for 2025),' Sports Business Journal reporter Austin Karp wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 'Numbers even without Caitlin well above years before her arrival.' In the All-Star Game, Team Collier won 151-131 over Team Clark. Napheesa Collier led her team with 36 points. Kelsey Mitchell had 20 points to lead Team Clark. WNBA fans hope this trend continues flowing in the right direction. Related: WNBA rumors: Why financial losses are irrelevant in CBA negotiations Related: 2025 WNBA midseason awards tracker
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Breaking down Netflix viewership in 1H25
-- Netflix viewership rose slightly in the first half of 2025, though underlying engagement trends show mixed signals, according to MoffettNathanson. In a note to clients this week, the firm told investors that 'overall engagement grew +1% in 1H25 to 95.2 billion hours,' but noted that 'on a per-subscriber level, we estimate this represents a high-single-digit decrease in engagement.' However, adjusting for the volatility introduced by password-sharing changes, engagement appears more stable. 'On an owner household basis, stripping out the volatility of password sharing, engagement has been steady over the past 2.5 years,' MoffettNathanson wrote, citing Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)'s own comments on its second-quarter earnings call. Series are said to have continued to outpace films in driving viewership. The firm said series viewing rose 4% year over year to 71.1 billion hours, while film viewership declined 7% to 24.1 billion. 'Original series in 1H25 drove the second-highest level of engagement of any half since Netflix started releasing this data in 2023,' analysts said. Critically, the reception of Netflix's top shows has improved. 'Netflix continues to balance the need of producing a vast amount of content... while also focusing on the quality,' the note stated. However, original films have lagged. 'The reception to Netflix's original films remains muted,' analysts added, though they expect improvements in the second half of 2025, helped by recovery from the 2023 Hollywood strikes and recent management changes. Looking ahead, MoffettNathanson expects engagement to rise. A stronger content slate, including Wednesday Season 2, Stranger Things Season 5, and NFL Christmas Day programming, 'should also drive even higher advertising and further monetization opportunities across its subscriber base.' Related articles Breaking down Netflix viewership in 1H25 Apollo economist warns: AI bubble now bigger than 1990s tech mania If Powell goes, does Fed trust go with him? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
