Manchester City have agreed to sign winger Allan Elias from Palmeiras in a deal worth up to £34.2m.
The 22-year-old Brazilian will come in as a replacement for compatriot Savinho, who looks set to join Tottenham.
City have agreed to pay a fixed fee of £32m, plus £2.2m in add-ons, for Allan with a medical scheduled to take place in the coming days.
They remain in advanced talks to sell Egypt forward Omar Marmoush to Spurs, and sources with knowledge of the situation say there is a “good chance” the deal gets completed before the 1 September transfer deadline.
Discussions are ongoing between the two clubs and there are some details yet to be agreed.
Midfielder Nico Gonzalez may also depart Etihad Stadium before the end of the transfer window, with strong interest in the Spaniard from Newcastle.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta abruptly pulled out of a planned mediation session Monday to seek a resolution to the antitrust lawsuit that has stalled Paramount’s blockbuster $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Bonta, in a statement, cited Paramount’s alleged leaking and misrepresenting information the two sides discussed during a preliminary session Friday.
Representatives of Bonta and Paramount Skydance came together late last week to set ground rules for Monday’s meeting, which was to involve Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison.
One of the rules had been confidentiality of the mediation process.
“I have pulled down this meeting,” Bonta said in a statement. “As I have said before, generally for all cases, I prefer to resolve disputes in the boardroom, not the courtroom. As I’ve also said, if the opposing party in litigation wants to meet in good faith to make a sincere effort to resolve the case.”
Bonta went on to say “Not only did Paramount leak the alleged substance of the settlement discussions, but they misrepresented these discussions, demonstrating a lack of good faith.
“As soon as Paramount stops playing games and engages sincerely, my office is happy to meet again.”
This is a developing story.
Robert Way
For more than a decade, Los Angeles’ premier sports teams — the Lakers and the Dodgers — have relied on big-ticket TV rights deals to boost their operations and player payrolls.
But major changes are looming.
The prospective new Lakers owners — investor Joshua Kushner and former Walt Disney Co. chief executive Bob Iger — will inherit an uncertain long-term television picture for the team when they assume control of the storied franchise.
Charter Communications’ Spectrum service broadcasts Lakers games on its SportsNet cable channel. The Lakers are set this fall to enter the 15th year of their long-term, $3-billion agreement with the cable company to bring regular season action to local viewers.
But Charter executives have discussed exiting that relationship, which guarantees the team about $200 million a year in revenue, according to people familiar with the company’s plans who were not authorized to comment.
Charter months ago retained investment bankers to find a buyer for El Segundo-based Spectrum SportsNet, which the company runs in tandem with the Dodgers-owned channel, SportsNet LA.
Charter’s interest in jettisoning the channel as fewer consumers watch cable TV has sparked fears within the Lakers organization about the stability of the critical revenue stream, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Lakers and Kushner’s investment firm, Thrive Capital, declined to comment.
Stamford, Conn.-based Charter on Thursday finalized its $34.5-billion purchase of Cox Communications, making Spectrum the dominant internet and television provider in Southern California, covering Santa Barbara to the Mexican border.
In response to questions from The Times, Charter Chief Executive Chris Winfrey acknowledged the turmoil surrounding sports channels.
“The regional sports network business is significantly challenged,” Winfrey said during a Thursday conference call with reporters to highlight the Cox merger. “Most of the regional sports networks have gone bankrupt [but] Spectrum has so far remained committed.”
The company is seeking a new arrangement, but Winfrey declined to discuss ongoing conversations with the Lakers or the team’s potential proprietors after Lakers owner Mark Walter, who is facing a federal criminal investigation, abruptly decided to sell the team in a deal valued at $12.5 billion. A spokesperson for Walter and his holding company has stated that they are cooperating with authorities and expect the matter to be resolved “favorably.”
Spectrum, Winfrey said, “would love to find solutions” to make its relationship with the Dodgers and Lakers more acceptable. Over the years, the company has bled hundreds of millions of dollars providing the L.A. sports channels.
“We believe in the local teams, the Lakers and the Dodgers,” Winfrey said. “It’s very important to us. It’s very important to our customers — but that doesn’t mean that it’s a great economic agreement with us.”
The Lakers’ TV contract runs through 2032. The Dodgers’ arrangement with Spectrum extends to 2038, but clouds have been gathering for years as consumers find new ways to watch sports.
Millions of consumers over the last decade have migrated from pricey packages offered by Spectrum and other cable companies to lower-cost streaming options. Spiraling monthly cable bills — largely driven by increases in sports rights fees — have made cable TV less attractive to ordinary subscribers.
A pedestrian walks past Spectrum SportsNet in El Segundo on Aug. 13.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Cable TV audiences are shrinking and major sports leagues, including the NBA, recognize the younger viewers they desperately want to reach primarily get their entertainment on apps. Broken TV economics have prompted the NBA to begin making plans to build a centralized streaming platform for fans to watch basketball.
“It’s mostly the result of cord-cutting and just fewer homes receiving these networks,” said Scott Robson, a principal analyst with S&P Global Market Intelligence. “The league [would like] to create a centralized streaming hub and bring all 29 domestic clubs under one umbrella, whether that be through YouTube or some other streaming partner.”
But such plans could mean sharing revenue among the various teams, which could mean less money for large-market clubs such as the Lakers and world-champion New York Knicks, which benefit from their lucrative local TV contracts.
Earlier this year, Main Street Sports Group alerted the NBA, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball that it would cease operations, leaving teams scrambling to cobble together TV coverage for their games.
The group operated FanDuel-branded channels (previously Bally Sports) following the 2023 Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization of Diamond Sports Group. Those channels have long featured Clippers and Kings games.
Pressure was lifted off the NBA when the league struck its latest round of national TV contracts — $77 billion worth of deals that, beginning last fall, spread basketball games across ESPN, ABC, Amazon Prime Video, NBC and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service.
The current NBA contracts “provided more money than the previous deal, and as a result, the teams rely less on the local rights payments than they have in the past,” Robson said.
Headwinds for the local sports channels, including those operated by Spectrum, pose the latest rocky chapter for Los Angeles sports fans.
It’s a reversal of fortune from a quarter-century ago, when media giants, including Rupert Murdoch’s Fox, recognized there were huge profits to be made by launching regional sports networks.
Murdoch even owned the Dodgers for a stretch to corner the market on what was then a Wild West shoot-out among TV programmers to launch cable channels.
Charter’s predecessor, Time Warner Cable, wanted in on the action. In 2011, former Time Warner Cable executives hammered out the 20-year agreement with the Lakers, then owned by the late Jerry Buss. Two years later, Time Warner doled out an even richer $8.3-billion deal to the Dodgers, which at the time were under new ownership — Walter and his partners with Guggenheim Baseball Management.
The fees were so steep that other pay-TV providers, including Cox, Dish Network and, for many years, DirecTV, refused to carry the Dodgers channel — leading to one of the longest blackouts in sports TV.
Charter took over the two channels in 2016, when the company absorbed Time Warner Cable. Winfrey, on Thursday, made it clear he was not a fan of those deals, calling them “something that we inherited … not something we did on our own.”
Over the years, the company has lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Last year, Spectrum began offering a streaming-only option to expand the audience for Dodgers’ games. Spectrum subscribers can also watch Lakers’ games on a streaming app.
Last fall, Charter retained boutique bank the Raine Group to find a buyer for the Lakers channel. It’s not clear whether Charter would like to shed its deal with the Dodgers organization, which owns SportsNet LA.
Iger is well familiar with the fragmented sports landscape and economics after years overseeing ESPN and ABC.
Spectrum is seeking “innovative ways … to find a better long-term solution,” Winfrey said. “We’re trying to be constructive and respectful on all fronts.”
Tottenham have agreed a deal with Manchester City to sign winger Savinho for £75m, with a further £10m in potential add-ons.
Savinho, 22, has now been given permission to undergo a medical in north London before signing a long-term deal with Spurs.
More to follow.
Steph McGovern and Cordelia de Freitas(Image: BBC/Stellify)
BBC Two’s brand new series has been plunged into chaos as contestants clash on air.
Former BBC Breakfast host Steph McGovern has returned to television screens for the hit BBC series that is set to rival The Apprentice.
The Big Deal with Steph McGovern follows seven trainee art dealers from around the UK who are putting their creativity, negotiating and profit making skills to the test as they battle it out to win a piece of art worth a staggering amount.
Airing new episodes every Thursday at 8pm on BBC Two, tonight’s instalment (Thursday, August 20) follows the six remaining amateur pairs who are split into two teams and challenged to sell contemporary art to furnish multi million pound homes.
A synopsis read: “Host Steph McGovern and series mentor Cordelia de Freitas are joined by Peter Staunton, an award-winning luxury interior designer who is on hand to tell the dealers about his clients’ tastes, as well as sharing tips and tricks when it comes to investing in art for the home.”
The dealers had a limited time to hunt for the best works before pitching their ideas directly to the homeowners – those with the lowest amount of commission would face elimination.
And it wasn’t long before tensions started to rise as the show was plunged into chaos. The teams were split into two larger groups, with opinions regularly clashing between Daisy and Darren.
Later, series mentor and art dealer Cordelia de Freitas and Peter Staunton, award-winning luxury interior designer met up with the teams to see what art work they had bought.
Despite a brief of a bronze sculpture, Daisy and Rebecca returned with two blue pieces as Cordelia said “talk about that” when it came to discussing the artist.
However, Daisy replied: “But guys, we’re not pitching to you right now”, as Cordelia added: “We’re here to help.” Daisy went on to say: “No, no it’s been a long day trust me, we can turn it on tomorrow.”
Speaking to cameras, team member Darren admitted: “Would I have picked those blue whatever they were? No absolutely not.”
Darren and Graham and Daisy and Rebecca clashed again later on the show when they butted heads choosing a sculpture design to pitch.
When Darren said they would get to the story behind their chosen design, Rebecca hit back: “Is there much point if we’re not going to pitch it”, to which Daisy stated: “Mum just leave it.”
Clashing on their opinions, the group continued to talk over one another as their co-stars looking on from the sidelines, Deborah and Rebeckah, told cameras: “I had to clock out because I found it distasteful and I’m not here to disgrace myself so I wanted to step out of it.”
Also speaking to producers, Darren said: “There’s definitely a divide there but again, this comes down to personality and taste. We’re not always going to like what other people like and they aren’t going to like what we like.”
The Big Deal with Steph McGovern airs every Thursday at 8pm on BBC Two
The best part of a Happy Meal is the toy that comes with your food. But now that you’re all grown up, you might be looking for a different type of treat.
In an effort to fill seats during off hours and typically slow nights, L.A.’s restaurants and bars are tempting patrons with discounted burger combos that replace toys with cocktails. It’s an adult take on a kid’s Happy Meal. These deals also address a growing concern among restaurant-goers regarding the price of dining out, a cost that has risen in recent years due to factors such as increased minimum wage, rising rents and inflated food costs.
And because it’s L.A., you can expect global interpretations of the classic comfort dish, including a Mexico City-inspired hamburguesa that’s turned a Monday industry night into a citywide destination, a New York-founded Korean restaurant serving a short-rib burger with gochujang aioli and a French-hued take with cognac sauce and optional fondue.
Treats — er, drinks — run the gamut from classic martinis and house wine to margaritas, ice-cold beer and makgeolli. Often overlapping with happy hour, be sure to take note of the specific days and hours each deal is offered.
Here are 16 burger-and-drink combos for those times your inner kid needs an adult happy meal.
WHY settle for one pretty European island, when you could head to two?
Located just 25 minutes apart, you could head to both Lanzarote and La Graciosa in Spain in one holiday.
Travel experts at Sundeals have shared that you could head to both Lanzarote and neighbouring La Graciosa without having to get another flight.
And the best part? A seven-night package costs as little as £254 per person.
From Lanzarote, it only takes 25 minutes on the ferry to reach La Graciosa, which is a volcanic island with less than 750 residents.
The ferry costs around €32 (£27.37) return per person.
Read more on travel inspo
Sarah Jooste, Product Executive at Sundeals said: “Taking the ferry across to La Graciosa for the day completely changes your perspective of Lanzarote and feels like discovering a hidden island that many visitors never see.”
“For lunch, I’d recommend Casa Enriqueta on La Graciosa, where tapas start from around €6 (£5.13) per dish, while traditional rice and seafood dishes such as paella are typically around €16 (£13.69) per portion, served overlooking the harbour.”
While on the island, you can also head to Caleta de Sebo, which is the main hub of the island where you will find local shops and places serving fresh fish.
For a beach spot, visit Playa de las Conchas, which boasts golden sand and amazing views.
Thanks to the rugged landscape, another popular activity is to head off on a 4×4 Jeep Safari across volcanic land formations.
Prefer hiking? Head up Montaña Amarilla for panoramic views over the sea and coast.
Of course, Lanzarote has many amazing spots too including diving around Museo Atlántico which is Europe’s only underwater sculpture museum, with more than 300 sculptures.
You could also head to Jameos del Agua where you’ll find an underground lagoon inhabited by tiny blind albino crabs found nowhere else in the world.
There is even a restaurant hidden inside the volcanic cave too.
The restaurant serves traditional Canarian dishes but you could also book onto the Insólita Experience guided tour, which includes access to hidden areas of the caves, a tasting at Bar Galería and entry to the Casa de los Volcanes Museum from €41.20 (£35.24) per person.
Sarah also recommends: “Back on Lanzarote, Bodega Rubicón, in the La Geria region, is a brilliant place to experience the island’s unique volcanic wine culture, with tastings from around €22 (£18.82). It is one of those places where the landscape is just as memorable as the wine itself.”
Kevin Nelson, Managing Director at Sundeals said: “Our research tells us travellers are looking for smart ways to book holidays that give them exactly the experiences they want, with flexibility and a great price.
“A two-in-one holiday, where you have a central base but other destinations or countries nearby to spend a day in, are a great way to pack a lot in for a low-cost.
“Lanzarote is a brilliant example of that. Visitors can enjoy everything they expect from a Canary Island escape but also discover a real hidden gem in La Graciosa.
“For anyone looking to make the most of their holiday time, Lanzarote offers something increasingly valuable – the chance to experience several different sides of a destination without spending your trip travelling between airports.”
BREAKINGBREAKING,
Trump announces pause on 50 percent duty on Canadian exports shortly before midnight deadline.
Published On 19 Aug 202619 Aug 2026
The United States and Canada have reached a deal to avert steep tariffs on billions of dollars of Canadian goods, US President Donald Trump has announced.
Trump made the announcement shortly before the expiry of a midnight deadline for imposing a 50 percent duty on a wide range of Canadian exports, including electronics, industrial machinery, furniture, and dairy products.
list of 4 itemsend of list
“I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!”
More to follow…
Aston Villa have agreed a deal sign West Ham defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
The DR Congo right-back will join on an initial loan deal with an obligation to buy at the end of the season.
Wan-Bissaka has been given permission to travel for a medical in the Midlands but the exact terms are not known, with the Hammers having previously asked interested clubs to pay a £25m fee.
The 28-year-old has missed Championship club West Ham’s first two matches of the season during negotiations.
West Ham have sold Mateus Fernandes to Tottenham for £85m and Crysencio Summerville for £60m this summer, but captain Jarrod Bowen has signed a new contract.
Villa, meanwhile, have also had a busy summer in the transfer market, most notably selling Morgan Rogers to Chelsea for £117m.
They currently have the lowest net spend in the Premier League, at about £110m after sales are taken into account.
Despite that, Villa have signed midfielders Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomes, as well as Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho on a loan deal with an obligation to buy. They have also added highly rated young centre-back Modou Keba Cisse.
Villa begin their Premier League campaign at Brighton on Sunday (14:00 BST) and will also compete in the Champions League after finishing fourth and winning the Europa League under Unai Emery last season.
Aug. 17 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Monday to bomb Oman if the nation’s leaders get “in the way of” any potential Iran deal with the United States.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the [expletive] out of them,” Trump told Fox News.
Oman is not part of the U.S. conflict with Iran, but Omani negotiators have been speaking with Iran over a deal between the two Middle Eastern nations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said Monday that Oman and Iran had reached an understanding about a map of the transit route in the waterway. About a third of the world’s crude oil passes through the strait.
Iranian officials have previously said that they’ll reopen the strait only after the United States ends its naval blockade of Iran’s ports and stops attacking Iran. They’ve also requested the end of sanctions and compensation for damage from the attacks.
A two-month window to negotiate peace with Iran, established in the June “memorandum of understanding” between the United States and Iran, officially ended Monday with no progress. The two countries have also strikes for more than a month despite the agreement. Trump told Fox News on Monday that he is “in no hurry” to reach a permanent deal.
“I have no time schedule,” Trump said. The president has repeatedly said that the conflict will end “soon” and promised imminent peace deals that haven’t come to fruition. He also said in the interview that Iran should “put up the white flag of surrender” and denied reports that the United States munitions have been depleted.
Trump previously threatened to “blow up” Oman in May during a Cabinet meeting. On Friday, he threatened to make the Strait of Hormuz “a territory of the United States.”
David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has asked a judge to force California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and his coalition of 11 other states to prepare to set aside as much as $1.9 billion as the Warner Bros. Discovery merger challenge heads into overtime.
In Monday’s court filing, Paramount requested the plaintiff states, including New York, Colorado, Oregon and Nevada, as well as the Writers Guild of America, post a bond that would cover the “ticking fees” Paramount promised to pay Warner shareholders should the deal stretch beyond its anticipated September close.
Ellison was confident his proposed Warner takeover would sail through its regulatory clearances. President Trump’s Justice Department approved the merger in June, as have dozens of other countries.
The states would not be required to pay the full $1.9 billion upfront. Instead, they would have to come up with a portion of that amount by Sept. 30. Should the Democrat state attorneys general and WGA lose their lawsuits, they would ultimately have to pay the full amount.
Monday’s court filing highlights Ellison’s frustrations and the financial pressures that deal delays will bring the media company. The filing also continues Paramount’s full-court political pressure campaign to get Bonta and the other states to abandon their antitrust lawsuit.
Paramount did not expect such a spirited challenge from Bonta and the 11 other Democratic state attorneys general who banded together with the WGA to try to block the $111-billion merger of two historic Hollywood studios.
Paramount’s 23-page filing, signed by former high profiile federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon, was intended to rattle the states.
Paramount is trying to create divisions among the plaintiff states by prompting them to question their resolve in fighting a protracted and potentially expensive legal battle, according to a person familiar with Paramount’s strategy who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Because WGA has separately sued to unravel the deal, Paramount has asked the judge to have the union post a bond to cover some of the costs, too.
In its motion, Paramount cited the Clayton Antitrust Act, which is the foundation for Bonta’s lawsuit. The law carries a provision to require plaintiffs to post a bond to cover the potential financial harms of halting a transaction.
The bond gives a defendant, in this case Paramount, a way to recover lost funds should they ultimately prevail in court.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will be asked to rule on the request during a Wednesday court hearing.
“We have satisfied all closing conditions under our merger agreement, having received regulatory clearances from 68 jurisdictions,” Paramount said in a statement. “These two lawsuits are the only barrier to closing this transaction.”
Paramount is incurring considerable legal fees and deal-related costs.
The company cited a potential eight-month merger delay because Martínez-Olguín scheduled the trial for March 2. If the case goes to trial, it might not be decided until next May.
At issue are the “ticking fees” that Paramount in February agreed pay to Warner investors should the merger be delayed . Paramount agreed to pay $.25 a share for every quarter until the acquisition finalizes.
The fees add up to $7 million a day, or $650 million per quarter.
Paramount is facing a June 4 deadline to close the deal. That’s when Warner Bros. Discovery can demand a $7-billion break-up fee.
Paramount wants to get the deal done as soon as possible, and with the approval of Mexican regulators last week, only Bonta and the states’ lawsuit stands in their way.
Paramount also is cognizant of shifting winds in Washington should Democrats regain control of Congress in November, which could bring fresh scrutiny to the merger .
Ticking fees weren’t the only costs of the extended timeline.
“There will be no integration and no ramped-up investment in content, production, and creative talent by the combined company,” Paramount said . “Employees of both Paramount and WBD are also harmed by the uncertainties caused by the delay.”
Last week, the Directors Guild of America and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — which represent a combined 200,000 union members — waded into the clash over the merger, which continues to carve deep divisions throughout the industry.
“We remain confident that plaintiffs’ case is without merit and will defend our pro-competitive transaction in court,” Paramount said. “We look forward to closing this transaction and delivering its benefits to consumers and entertainment industry workers in California, the United States and around the world.”
Nvidia has recruited Wall Street to bankroll its own customers.
The US chipmaker said last week it had signed memorandums of understanding with Wall Street’s largest asset managers, including Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs and KKR to raise upwards of half a trillion dollars for AI companies to borrow against, money that will buy its chips and build the servers that run them.
The six firms will set up what Nvidia calls “compute financing platforms,” drawing on institutional money, insurance funds and private credit. Borrowers can use the proceeds for the chips as well as servers, networking equipment, buildings and power supply.
Nvidia has the option to guarantee up to a quarter of any given deal, which lowers the interest rate its customers pay while leaving most of the credit risk with the lenders.
CEO Jensen Huang said he approached only these six companies and none refused.
Keeping that spending off their own books is precisely the point, and the fact that such a structure is needed at all tells investors a great deal about where the constraints in the AI boom now lie.
The financial engineering rests on a single reclassification. Graphics processing units (GPUs) have always been treated as equipment that loses value quickly, superseded whenever a faster generation arrives.
Nvidia is effectively asking lenders to treat them instead as long-lived infrastructure, closer to a toll road or a power plant, that can be borrowed against for years.
“These are revenue-generating assets now,” Huang said, describing them as productive, long-lived and transferable between customers.
The timing reflects a squeeze that has been building all year.
Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and other hyperscalers whose cloud platforms host most of the world’s AI workloads have together guided roughly $720 billion (€624bn) to $745 billion (€646bn) of capital spending in 2026, an increase of about 77% on last year.
What analysts expect the hyperscalers to spend in 2027 alone has more than doubled in the space of a year, from a consensus of $480 billion (€416bn) in August 2025 to $1.08 trillion (€943bn) this month, a rise of about 127%, according to Bank of America.
The pattern has repeated at every stage.
Analysts who already considered last year’s investment unsustainable then watched the hyperscalers guide higher at the start of 2026, revise those figures upward again through the year, and pencil in larger sums still for next year and 2028.
Moody’s has warned that spending on this scale is eating into free cash flow and pushing tech groups into heavier borrowing. Alphabet recorded negative free cash flow of $5.9 billion (€5.1bn) in a quarter when it spent $44.9 billion (€38.9bn) on projects.
That is the pressure the structure of Nvidia’s Wall Street deal relieves.
Debt raised through these “compute financing platforms” sits with the financing vehicles rather than on a hyperscaler’s own accounts and also has Nvidia’s backing, which protects credit ratings and leaves room for conventional borrowing elsewhere.
For smaller operators the effect is larger still as companies such as CoreWeave and Nebius, which lack investment-grade ratings and pay dearly for credit, gain access to capital on terms previously reserved for the giants.
The reaction was more ambivalent than the headline number suggests, and came weeks after a July selloff driven by doubts over whether AI spending will pay for itself.
Essentially, equity investors saw a bottleneck being cleared while credit investors saw something else: the cost of insuring Nvidia’s own debt against default rose after the news and has roughly doubled since late May.
Their doubt concentrates on the reclassification previously mentioned.
“Chips depreciate fast and lose value the moment a newer generation arrives,” warned Nigel Green of financial advisory firm deVere Group, noting that lending against them only works if the collateral holds its value.
Critics also point out that Nvidia is helping finance purchases of its own products, deepening the circularity that already worries the sector.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon called it “a pivotal moment of a historic AI investment cycle.”
Whether it proves pivotal in the direction Solomon means depends on a question nobody can yet answer: what will the value of a current GPU be in five years?
HAVE you ever just wanted to pack up your bags and move away somewhere for a month?
Well you’re in luck – as there is a holiday deal which includes your flights and hotel for 28 nights… and it is less than the average mortgage cost for the month.
The deal is for a month in Malta for just £410 per person.
With the average UK mortgage costing between £1,355 to £1,592 (and average rent costing £1,369), you would still be saving money compared to just living a month in the UK.
Even if you head on holiday with another person, it will still be less than a mortgage or rent at £820 for two people.
The trip includes return flights from either Bournemouth on January 16, 2027, or Birmingham on January 6, 2027 and then 28 nights accommodation at the hotel.
Read more on travel inspo
If you want to fly from another UK airport you can, it might just cost you a fiver or tenner more.
You’d stay at the Relax Inn in Bugibba, Malta, just a few minutes’ walk from the sea.
At the hotel there are 40 rooms, including single, twin and triple rooms with each one having its own bathroom as well as a balcony.
There’s also a bar in the hotel, where you can grab a tipple before heading to the lounge to watch a movie or the games room.
As for Bugibba, you’ll find cosy restaurants, bars and a number of shops to explore.
You’ll have to factor in some costs for food and drink, but it isn’t far from the centre of town which has lots of pubs and outdoor cafes.
The only downside? Don’t expect to use the rooftop swimming pool as it will be closed until the summer season.
While Malta won’t be hot in January, it is still warmer than the UK, at around 16C compared to our 7C.
You can head to Perched Beach – a man-made beach with lounging areas.
You can also go on boat trips from the town including to the Blue Lagoon in Comino.
To get to the hotel, you will fly into the capital of Valetta which is a half hour drive away.
The tiny city is known for St John’s Co-Cathedral, the Grand Master’s Palace and the Upper Barrakka Gardens.
Mikel Arteta has said that supporters “don’t have to worry about” his future at Arsenal as he wants to extend his contract and the time left on his deal is “not an issue”.
The Gunners boss is into the final 12 months of his agreement that he signed in 2024 but says he is relaxed about formal talks taking place regarding a renewal.
Arteta has been in charge of Arsenal since 2019 and led the club to their first Premier League title in 22 years last season.
Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday (15:00 BST) and Arteta was asked in his news conference about the concern some supporters may have given he is yet to agreed a new deal before the 2026-27 campaign kicks off.
“No, they don’t have to worry about any of that because I want to be here, I’m extremely happy,” Arteta said.
“I feel very grateful to work with the people that I work with and whenever we have the possibility we will resolve that and that’s it.”
The Gunners are attempting to build on their success of last season and strengthen their squad in the transfer window.
They were unsuccessful in their pursuit of Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr but have signed midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle, Greece international winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge and made Piero Hincapie’s loan move from Bayern Leverkusen into a permanent transfer for a combined £143.5m.
Goalkeeper Illan Meslier has also arrived on a free transfer from Leeds United while, from last season’s squad, Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Christian Norgaard have been moved on.
The Gunners remain interested in Aston Villa‘s Ezri Konsa or Jarell Quansah of Bayer Leverkusen as a further defensive reinforcement in the market following injuries to William Saliba and Jurrien Timber.
With the transfer window open until 1 September, the feeling at the club is that finalising a contract can come at a quieter period in the season.
“There’s always another priority I think and that’s the way we’ve been treating it. Arteta added.
“I think because everybody feels comfortable that the time on the contract is not going to be an issue.
“I think because my will certainly is to be here and I’m very happy here.
“And my feeling from the club is is the same one so I think that’s why everybody doing it things in a really organic way.”
Arsenal also reached the Champions League final last season where they were beaten by Paris St-Germain and Arteta has repeatedly spoken of his ambition since that loss to take the Gunners to next level.
“I’m not going to talk about any individuals, obviously what I can tell you is the ambition of the club.” Arteta said.
“It’s big that we want to improve the squad, we want to evolve the squad in order to achieve that.
“We have obviously detected some areas that they can be strengthened and that’s what we are trying to do.”
Rangers have withdrawn from a proposed deal to sign PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech, with the player carrying an injury.
The 24-year-old was at Ibrox to watch Rangers’s 1-1 draw with Jagiellonia Bialystok, but will now return to the Dutch champions.
Driouech, who predominantly plays on the left, scored nine goals and provided eight assists in 40 appearances last season.
However, he was often used as a substitute, starting just once in PSV’s eight Champions League outings and coming off the bench 24 times in the Eredivisie.
Rangers have signed nine players over the summer and chairman Andrew Cavenagh said on Monday he expected “three to five more” while “a number will possibly go out”, with midfielder Mohamed Diomande sold to Turkish club Corum on Wednesday.
Having come through the youth ranks at Heerenveen, Driouech rose to prominence with Excelsior, making 101 appearances and scoring 16 goals before his high-profile transfer to PSV in the summer of 2024.
Known for his quick feet, speed, precise finishing and ability to play on both wings, Haarlem-born Driouech had the choice of also representing France and the Netherlands but was part of the Morocco squad that won the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in 2023.
California regulators have approved the sale of Cox Communications to cable giant Charter Communications — the final hurdle in a marathon review to clear the $34.5-billion cable consolidation.
With Thursday’s sign-off by the California Public Utilities Commission, the mammoth merger is expected to close next week.
The deal will make Charter’s Spectrum the dominant broadband internet and cable television service in Southern California, with millions of customers scattered throughout Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Palos Verdes Estates, Newport Beach, Irvine, Riverside and San Diego.
Charter’s acquisition of Cox, unveiled 15 months ago, will solidify Charter’s status as the nation’s largest cable company, eclipsing Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., which serves San Francisco and other Northern California communities.
“This transformative deal will benefit millions of consumers who will soon have access to greater value and opportunities to save, including our fully converged mobile-broadband bundle savings guarantee, combined with our industry-leading Customer Commitment and the 100% U.S.-based sales and service employees Spectrum is known for,” Charter said in a statement.
After weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the CPUC voted unanimously to approve two settlement agreements with Charter that allow the merger to move forward. The agency attached conditions that it hopes will protect consumers and expand broadband access.
“This decision secures significant commitments that will benefit Californians through expanded affordable broadband options, major infrastructure investments, improved customer protections, and meaningful support for digital inclusion,” Commissioner Matthew Baker, who helped negotiate the agreements, said in a statement.
Federal regulators approved the deal months ago, as had other state regulators.
“This proceeding was a heavy lift for everyone,” Commissioner Darcie L. Houck acknowledged during Thursday’s hearing, which was held in San Francisco.
Through the settlements, Houck said she hoped Charter would address a disparity in which low-income residents are often stuck with higher phone and internet bills than residents in more affluent areas. Higher-income neighborhoods often benefit from increased competition as multiple providers jockey for business.
“There are many areas of the state that do have low-income communities that are paying higher costs for telecommunication services,” Houck said. “I’m hopeful that the provisions in this settlement agreement will help ensure more equity in pricing.”
Atlanta-based Cox has long been viewed as a lucrative prize. In addition to serving coastal communities in Southern California, it also has customers in growing population hubs such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson.
To win CPUC approval, the Stamford, Conn.-based cable giant agreed to offer more affordable packages for low-income residents, including several tiers of the California LifeLine service, for up to five years.
Advocates had pushed for a longer commitment.
Charter promised to invest $30 million in education and awareness initiatives in California, including community outreach and digital literacy training. In addition, Charter agreed to spend at least $275 million on upgrades to its equipment in its existing Spectrum service area — including completing a 1-gigabit service buildout — within three years.
The company also must provide free broadband and Wi-Fi service for dozens of eligible community centers, including schools and libraries.
Spectrum will be required to provide automatic bill credits for customers for qualifying service outages that last at least two hours. And the company must honor eligible “price for life” service agreements held by some residential subscribers.
Charter Chief Executive Chris Winfrey has told investors that his firm was aiming to close the merger this month. Several commissioners noted the looming deadline as they opted for the settlement that Baker helped negotiate.
Regulators said the two companies generate more than $10 billion in revenue from their California customers. In addition to serving more than 5 million homes, they also provide telephone service to 1.5 million subscribers in the state.
California regulators have approved Charter’s $34.5-billion purchase of Cox Communications.
(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)
After the deal closes, Cox customers will be switched to Spectrum service, most likely by mid-September. They should also get SportsNet LA — the Dodgers’ television channel — as part oftheir lineups.
For more than a decade, Cox has refused to carry the channel, owned by the Dodgers organization, due to its high license fee — leading to one of the television industry’s longest blackouts.
It will take someone better versed in finance, corporate law, family psychology and, perhaps, the impact of great wealth on brain chemistry than I to analyze the recent actions of Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison.
To a cultural journalist, however, it seems like he continues to make himself the best argument yet for opposing his company’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Mere days after taking to the media to insist that he is a misunderstood film buff who just wants to save Hollywood, he threatened to help destroy it.
If California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and state attorneys general from 11 other states, including New York, New Jersey, Washington and Colorado, refuse to negotiate a settlement of their antitrust lawsuit, Ellison said he will yank Paramount Studios, and potentially Warner Bros., out of California.
Um, OK, Ultron.
So that’s how Ellison wants to prove that he will be a steward of the flailing entertainment industry — by threatening to rip out a big part of its still-beating heart and implant it in Texas or Tennessee?
Will he be taking the Hollywood sign as well, to stick atop the Grand Ole Opry or, better yet, the Alamo?
Not only does this grant Bonta VIP access to the moral highground, it all but negates Ellison’s recent New York Times guest essay. Especially the part in which he wrote: “The states claim this deal will give one company too much influence over theatrical releases and cable operators, while the W.G.A. argues that our combined market power will hurt writers.”
If one man can decide, in a fit of pique, to scoop up a huge portion of the entertainment industry and float it thousands of miles away, I’d say that’s a decent argument for “too much influence.”
Also, good luck with the landing. Texas and Tennessee are both fine states with vibrant cities, undeniable corporate incentives and lower costs of living, but their draconian abortion laws and restrictive LGBTQ+ legislation may give many in the entertainment industry pause.
Still, according to Ellison, it’s Bonta and his gang who are trying to make things political, not him; in his essay, Ellison claimed that the suit is mostly about preventing his ownership of CNN, despite his insistence that (the hiring of Bari Weiss to oversee CBS News to the contrary) the news network would remain autonomous.
As a journalist, I would love to believe that Bonta and the other attorneys general are simply going to bat for the Fourth Estate; with President Trump openly longing for the day when Ellison controls CNN, it is no doubt a concern. But as Ellison seems intent on personally underscoring, the bigger issue is how to prevent a dwindling number of individuals from controlling enormous portions of an industry that not only employs millions, but also plays a vital role in shaping the nature of art and culture in this country and the world.
(Never mind the queasy fact that Ellison is being bankrolled by his billionaire father Larry, who is putting many, if not all, of his eggs in the AI basket, to the detriment of his employees.)
Shaping art and culture is, of course, precisely why Ellison wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, almost literally at all costs. When he first lost the bid for Warner Bros. to Netflix, he (and his dad) responded by offering enough money (including a $7-billion payout should the deal not clear antitrust regulation) to make Ted Sarandos blink. Money has always been a ladder to power and influence in this country, and the widening wealth gap, not to mention the current administration, has turned the ladder into a rocket ship. (See please Elon Musk.)
Ellison has continually stressed his love of cinematic storytelling. Under the proposed Paramount Warner, he promises to produce 30 theatrical films and 170 television series a year and create more work for everyone.
That would be lovely (if fiscally difficult) to believe. If only he hadn’t just tried to hold the state that gave birth to cinematic storytelling hostage by threatening to kidnap one of its kids.
As negotiating tactics go, it certainly undermines whatever public approval he hoped to gain with his “I’m just a guy, standing in front of the movie biz asking it to love me” bit.
Change is coming for Paramount Studios — the lot on Melrose Avenue — either way. If Paramount Skydance acquires Warner Bros., production will likely shift to the Warner Bros. lot, with Paramount leased or sold.
Now, it seems, Ellison is willing to have a fire sale — he’ll certainly need to raise a bunch of cash if he’s going to quickly flee to redder pastures. As for the thousands of local workers who depend on Paramount production to make a living, well, Ellison and his executives may be able to afford to relocate or (more probably) commute out of state, but most of the people who actually make movies and television cannot.
Business, of course, is business and it has become financially and politically fashionable to desert California to avoid whatever local law, regulation or tax you now find unfair. Tech mavens, including Musk, have ditched California for the Lone Star State. Ellison’s father recently took Oracle out of Redwood City, first to Austin, Texas, then to Nashville, workers be damned.
But Ellison taking Paramount and potentially Warner Bros. out of Los Angeles isn’t about business. It’s pure politics, of the savage, oligarchical variety.
Given the stakes, it’s difficult to imagine that some sort of deal won’t be struck that allows the sale to go through. But Ellison isn’t saving the entertainment industry, he’s leveraging it.
And if he has to spit in Hollywood’s face to save his own, well, apparently that’s fine too.
Atletico Madrid have agreed a £34.2m (40m euros) fee to sign Cristian Romero from Tottenham.
The 28-year-old is set to become Atletico’s fourth signing of the summer, while Spurs will also retain a 15 per cent sell-on clause as part of the deal.
Argentina international Romero was the subject of interest from Premier League champions Arsenal in recent days, but Tottenham did not want to sell their captain to their north London rivals.
He leaves Tottenham after five seasons, having made 156 appearances for them, scoring 13 times, following an initial campaign on loan from Atalanta in 2021.
The centre-back played for Argentina during their run to the World Cup final this summer, missing just one game.
Romero was scheduled to return to pre-season with Spurs in the coming week after being given extra time off following the tournament in North America.
He captained the side last season as Tottenham narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League.
Having signed permanently from Atalanta in a £42.5m deal, Romero became a key figure in their defence.
The news will be a blow to Spurs fans who are also set to lose Djed Spence to Inter Milan, who are in advanced talks to sign the England full-back in a £25.6m (30m euros) deal.
With the additions of midfielders Kang-in Lee and Morten Hjulmand and left-back Alejandro Grimaldo, Atletico are set to take their transfer spending over £100m this summer should they complete the Romero deal.
Head coach Diego Simeone is aiming to strengthen his squad after they finished fourth in La Liga last season, with Villarreal beating them to third place.
The Los Angeles Lakers are to be sold for a reported record-breaking $12.5bn, external (£9.3bn) – less than a year after Mark Walter took a majority stake in the NBA franchise.
Josh Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger are buying the controlling interest in one of the world’s most iconic sports teams.
Walter bought his share, reportedly worth an estimated $10bn (£7.45bn), from the Buss family in a deal that was unanimously approved by the NBA Board of Governors in October 2025.
Kushner and Iger said in a statement: “As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honoured for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world.
“We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss.
“Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”
More to follow.
In less than a month, Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison has exhibited a dizzying range of emotions as the goal line for the coveted $111-billion Warner Bros. Discovery deal has moved farther away.
The tech scion initially exuded confidence that Hollywood’s biggest merger in decades was on a fast track to completion by September. Ellison and others downplayed efforts by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to challenge the acquisition — until Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general gained momentum in their antitrust lawsuit, which now threatens to derail Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal or, at least, make it significantly more expensive.
Ellison and his executives have vacillated from anger to acceptance. Last week, Ellison attempted a high-profile reputation reboot, extolling his love for movies and blaming politics for opposition to the deal.
The mogul has told investors the company is willing to negotiate a settlement with Bonta in hopes of completing the massive merger as soon as possible.
But Ellison also is making contingency plans to shift Paramount’s historic home base from Melrose Avenue to Tennessee — or perhaps Texas — as early as this fall.
Paramount’s board has approved Ellison’s relocation plans, according to people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly. Ellison shared the concept with his executive leadership team in a meeting last Wednesday but said his preference was to remain in California, these people said.
The proposal includes potentially selling the 65-acre Paramount lot in Hollywood — as well as the larger Warner Bros. campus in Burbank, should Paramount prevail in the merger battle. Such sales would generate revenue to help pay merger costs, one of the knowledgeable sources said.
Paramount’s sudden relocation plan has further rattled Hollywood, which already is reeling from thousands of job losses in recent years.
Bonta, in a statement Tuesday, blasted Paramount’s latest strategy, calling it “another attempt to blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through.”
“Paramount has lost the plot as it continues to lose in court,” Bonta said. “My office remains committed to stopping illegal consolidation and protecting a vibrant California economy for businesses that play by the rules.”
Behind Paramount’s pivot is a desperate scramble to bolster its legal case and muster funds to help finance a deal Warner shareholders approved in April.
Paramount offered to pay Warner investors $31 a share as well as so-called “ticking fees” of 25 cents per share for every quarter after Sept. 30 until the transaction closes.
That sweetener was intended as a show of confidence that Paramount’s deal would sail through its regulatory reviews, unlike a Netflix acquisition that faced more regulatory scrutiny. Netflix subsequently dropped its bid.
Paramount was banking on the swift approval of the U.S. Department of Justice, which arrived in June. President Trump is friendly with the Ellison family, and he has been eager for a shakeup at CNN, one of Warner’s properties.
“Ellison thought he had an ace in the hole with Trump [and] the DOJ, but it backfired on him because the clearance was so obviously rubber-stamping,” London-based media analyst Alice Enders said. “Now, the issues have resurfaced and it’s a costly potential delay.”
The ticking fees could add $7 million a day — or $650 million a quarter — to the $81 billion that Paramount had already anticipated paying Warner shareholders. (Paramount also agreed to absorb about $30 billion of Warner Bros. debt left over from last merger, in 2022.)
Ellison has repeatedly defended his proposed purchase, saying the tie-up does not threaten competition because Hollywood has been transformed by Netflix and other deep-pocketed tech giants.
Already, Paramount has received clearances from 65 foreign regulators, including Britain and the European Commission.
To accelerate California approvals, Paramount requested a November trial date for Bonta’s suit. Instead, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín scheduled a March 2 trial — dealing another blow to Paramount.
Ticking fees alone could add $2.1 billion to the cost of buying Warner Bros. In addition, Paramount said that delaying the transaction until next spring will add $190 million in bridge loan financing costs.
Paramount disclosed that it had $1.6 billion in cash on hand and a revolving loan of $3.2 billion available for its use.
If the deal fails to close by June 4, Paramount would have to pay Warner Bros. a $7-billion breakup fee. That’s when Warner’s board could pull the plug on the Paramount deal.
Puck News first reported Ellison’s latest plan to quickly move Paramount’s operations as soon as October.
“This is a plan — not a threat,” said a person who was in the room when Ellison discussed his plans but who was not authorized to comment.
The relocation campaign echoes a tactic employed by software giant Oracle Corp., co-founded by Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison.
Oracle was based in Redwood City for three decades, but in late 2020, the company moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas, joining other California tech firms leaving in protest of the state’s high taxes and steep cost of living.
Then, two years ago, the elder Ellison announced that Nashville would host Oracle’s new headquarters. At the time, Oracle saw that state’s healthcare industry as a promising growth business. Oracle since has bet heavily on artificial intelligence.
In contrast, it would be difficult for Paramount to pack up its operations because it depends on producers, directors, writers and stars to make its TV shows and movies. The two studio lots also boast dozens of soundstages; century-old fortresses that would not be easily duplicated. And many Paramount executives are not eager to leave Los Angeles.
Some observers questioned Paramount’s willingness to carry out a move, which surfaced a week after David Ellison’s guest essay in the New York Times, which described his love of Hollywood and movies ever since he was a boy.
Ellison believes the proposed Warner merger is the best way to save Hollywood, saying the combination of two storied studios would strengthen not harm the film industry.
“One moment he’s promising to reinvigorate theatrical releases. The next he’s talking about uprooting two historic companies and moving them 2,000 miles away in order to avoid a lawsuit,” said Gabriel Kahn, journalism professor at USC Annenberg School for Communication.
Paramount’s corporate headquarters are in New York but after the Ellison family’s acquisition last year, the center of gravity shifted west. Ellison and other top executives live in Los Angeles.
Another corporate move wouldn’t disrupt Bonta’s lawsuit, experts say.
Instead, they suggested Paramount’s flurry of recent activities — including winning the support of two large theater chains, AMC and Regal, with promises of a robust movie pipeline post-merger — appeared to be part of a public relations and pressure campaign.
“They lost a lot of leverage now that the trial is set for March,” said Abiel Garcia, a former prosecutor and partner at the Manhattan Beach firm Kesselman Brantly Stockinger.
“And when you don’t have leverage in court, you go the political route,” he said, adding that Paramount seems to be angling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to join the fight.
Newsom, who has presidential ambitions, has been sensitive to the flight of companies from California. However, he has avoided picking a side in the messy merger squabble.
What’s more, the governor lacks authority to intervene in the lawsuit brought by Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general.
“All I know is that if I was governor, I wouldn’t want to lose Hollywood from this state, I wouldn’t want to lose a major company like Paramount to another state,” Paramount Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim said late Tuesday at a Politico Live conference in Sacramento. He had been asked about the stances of Newsom and his potential successor, Xavier Becerra, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.
“I hope it settles before court,” Becerra said at the conference. “It is easier to stand in a conference room and settle than it is to stand in a courtroom.”
Delaying the trial until March has been “devastating,” Delrahim said, adding that Paramount proposed settlement terms on May 19 — but the state attorneys general instead moved forward with their suit.
“It’s costing jobs. It’s costing a lot of uncertainty for a lot of our employees, for Warner Bros. employees,” Delrahim said.
Still, Garcia and others expressed doubts about Paramount’s full-court press.
“It just feels a little over the top. It feels like a PR blitz,” Garcia said. “It suggests to me that they think their case is weaker than I even thought.”
Video podcasts from the Jonas Brothers and the cast of “Boy Meets World” are heading to Disney+ as part of a new licensing partnership with iHeartMedia designed to capture viewers on mobile and beyond.
The agreement will bring six iHeartMedia podcasts to Disney+ and Hulu, starting with “Hey Jonas!” hosted by Kevin, Nick and Joe Jonas on both streaming services. “Pod Meets World,” hosted by the stars of the ’90s sitcom “Boy Meets World,” will also appear on Disney+ later this month.
Other podcasts coming this fall to Hulu include “Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald” hosted by the stars of medical comedy “Scrubs,” “Desperately Devoted” that will discuss drama “Desperate Housewives,” “StraightioLab,” that delves into straight culture and “Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim.”
“Fans can’t get enough of the stories and talent they love, and podcasts have become one of the fastest growing ways for audiences to connect with them,” said Lauren Tempest, Head of Content Planning & Partnerships, DTC at The Walt Disney Company in a statement.
The additional iHeartMedia content adds to Disney+ and Hulu’s existing collection of 30 podcasts available to stream in the U.S.
Disney and iHeartMedia declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal.
“From iconic rewatch series and fan-favorite conversations to original storytelling, this deal gives both existing listeners and new viewers an easy way to discover and connect with some of podcasting’s most engaging voices through video,” Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO for iHeartMedia, said in a statement.
Podcasts initially started as audio only, but over the years, have delved into showing video too. Other streamers, including Netflix and HBO Max, have video podcasts available on their platforms.
Netflix made deals with Spotify and iHeartMedia to bring popular video podcasts, including “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” “The Breakfast Club” and “My Favorite Murder” to its streaming service.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in an April 16 earnings presentation that people consume podcasts on Netflix during the day, at a time when the streamer historically has less engagement and they’re watching the podcasts more on mobile devices, where professional TV and film historically makes up a small percentage of mobile viewing, he said.
“It’s great that we get to meet members where they are, even when they’re enjoying other forms of entertainment,” Sarandos said.
