business
Univision Ad Revenue Jumps 72 Percent
Quarterly ad revenue jumped 72 percent from the coronavirus pandemic-hit year-ago period to $407.2 million and “surpassed the second quarter of 2019,” when it had recorded $405.1 million, the company said. Core ad revenue, which is adjusted for political and advocacy ads, rose 70 percent. Media networks unit ad revenue increased 66 percent, or 63 percent when looking at core results. “The increase in media networks core advertising revenue was due to higher ad revenue driven by new brand activations, strong scatter volume and pricing, growth in previously low volume accounts, two major soccer tournaments, and improvements in the auto, retail, and beverage sectors, which are recovering from the negative impacts of COVID-19,” the company said. Said Davis: “This quarter marks another period o...
Kanye West’s Latest ‘Donda’ Event Is Most-Watched Apple Music Livestream Ever
West held a first Donda listening event on July 23 and since then has been living at Mercedes-Benz Stadium while putting the finishing touches on Donda, his 10th studio album. Between the two listening parties, West made considerable tweaks to the album, adding and removing features and entire songs, so it remains to be seen what the definitive version of Donda will sound like once the album is released. After numerous delays, Donda is expected to be released in the coming weeks. The second event on Aug. 5 also pulled in $7 million in revenue from in-person merchandise sales, sources say. That number matches the revenue for the first drop from Yeezy x Gap, West’s new collaboration with the Gap, which former Gap CEO Mickey Drexler told Yahoo Finance generated $7 million overnight when ...
Inside Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ Event, 4 Out of 40,000 Fans Got COVID-19 Vaccine
Before the event, the stadium remained active in its attempts to get fans vaccinated. On Aug. 4, the venue announced a two-hour pop-up for Atlanta Falcons fans looking to attend that weekend’s team open practice. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium rep informs Billboard that “about 30” vaccines were distributed for the Falcons Open Practice and that they “will continue to have vaccines available for Falcons games this NFL season.” From January to June, the sports and entertainment stadium has served as a community vaccination site for Atlanta residents. On Saturday, a mobile vaccination clinic operated for four hours ahead of Garth Brooks’ concert at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, and only 35 of the more than 70,000 concertgoers took advantage of...
Will Jennifer Hudson Extend Oscar Nomination Streak for Biopic Performances?
Three times before this streak, actors received lead acting nods two years in a row for playing real-life music personalities. Jamie Foxx won best actor for playing Ray Charles in Ray (2004). The following year, Joaquin Phoenix was nominated in that category for playing Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, and his co-star, Reese Witherspoon, won best actress for playing June Carter Cash. Twenty years earlier, Tom Hulce was nominated for best actor for playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus (1984), while his co-star, F. Murray Abraham, won in that category for playing his rival, Antonio Salieri. The following year, Jessica Lange was nominated for best actress for playing country legend Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams. The first time that actors received back-to-back Oscar nominations for playing r...
Will Young Leads Midweek U.K. Chart With ‘Crying On The Bathroom Floor’
Young shot to fame after winning the first edition of the U.K.’s Pop Idol in 2002. In the years since, he has bagged four U.K. No. 1 singles (including his first three releases) and 11 Top 10s. His albums have led the national albums chart on four occasions, with eight cracking the Top 10. Crying On The Bathroom Floor, a covers album, is the followup to 2019’s Lexicon, his first via indie label Cooking Vinyl, which peaked at No. 2. Earlier in his career, Young won two Brit Awards, for best British breakthrough act and best single, for “Your Game.” Close behind is George Harrison’s 1970 chart-topping solo album All Things Must Pass (Apple Corps), which surges following its 50th anniversary reissue. The late Beatles great blasts in at No. 2 on the Official Chart Update. Another British...
iHeartMedia Stock Drops 21%, Even as Radio Recovers
But iHeartMedia’s net loss per share was $0.22 compared to the $0.14 loss per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet, according to DowJones Newswire, and investors were clearly hesitant about the company’s future. iHeartMedia shares began Friday at $26.49 — 415% above its pandemic-era low of $4.31 — but fell by 17% on the day and another 4.9% on Monday (Aug. 9), bringing the two-day drop to 21.1%. Investors have also continued to hammer Audacy, the country’s third-largest radio company, after its $0.01 earnings per share on Friday fell well below the $0.09 consensus estimate. Audacy’s forecasted 10% revenue growth from the second to the third quarter was lackluster compared to iHeart (20%), and investors reacted accordingly. Audacy shares dropped 10....
Sony’s Funimation Completes $1.175 Billion USD Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T
Originally announced back in December of 2020, Sony Pictures Entertainment and AT&T have announced that Sony‘s Funimation Global Group has officially acquired Crunchyroll from AT&T. Funimation’s purchase of the leading anime streaming platform cost $1.175 billion USD and was paid in cash at closing. Although it is unclear of how Funimation and Crunchyroll will merge, AT&T is expected to use proceeds from the sale for its debt reduction efforts. In an official statement, Crunchyroll wrote, “The two brands you know and love will be working together, and we believe this is a great thing for fans and the industry, alike! Both teams are knowledgeable, passionate, and have been committed to the anime community for decades. We couldn’t ask for better partners. We know you may have que...
Sony’s Funimation Completes $1.175 Billion USD Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T
Originally announced back in December of 2020, Sony Pictures Entertainment and AT&T have announced that Sony‘s Funimation Global Group has officially acquired Crunchyroll from AT&T. Funimation’s purchase of the leading anime streaming platform cost $1.175 billion USD and was paid in cash at closing. Although it is unclear of how Funimation and Crunchyroll will merge, AT&T is expected to use proceeds from the sale for its debt reduction efforts. In an official statement, Crunchyroll wrote, “The two brands you know and love will be working together, and we believe this is a great thing for fans and the industry, alike! Both teams are knowledgeable, passionate, and have been committed to the anime community for decades. We couldn’t ask for better partners. We know you may have que...
Hollywood Park Opens New 6,000-Capacity YouTube Theater
Hollywood Park and So-Fi Stadium managing director Jason Gannon says YouTube Theater is complimentary to the stadium, which can hold 45,000 to 100,000 guests. “From a flexibility standpoint, it was really important for us to do something like this in a conditioned space,” he says. “We’re very excited to open it up in a couple of weeks from a technology standpoint,” Gannon continues. “There’s a lot of screens and a lot of interactive things around here. That was important in putting this together and also in the partnership with YouTube.” YouTube Theater features a 13 feet by 10 feet digital signage display of the YouTube icon, which can be transformed into an immersive video screen for guests to interact with. The th...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: Delta ‘Just the Beginning’ If Vaccinations Don’t Improve
How was Record Store Day? Much, much better than June. That wouldn’t take a whole lot, but it went smoothly. There were very few hiccups. There were a couple of titles from June that were bumped to July that the distributor missed, but I caught that early enough thanks to some of my coalition friends who I quickly asked, “Do have these titles?” And they all resoundingly answered yes, and so I realized I had a problem and they were able to fix it. So that was good. And compared to June, it was a minor blip. It sounds like everything went really well. Were you able to do sort of the full enchilada, in the sense of offering all the fun stuff for people waiting in line? For both the June and July date we poured beer and we had either doughnuts or bacon outside, so that was de...
Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’ Reigns Over U.K. Chart
According to the OCC, Eilish becomes the first international female artist to reach No. 1 with her first two albums since Lana Del Rey did it seven years ago, with Born To Die and Ultraviolence. Off the back of her new sophomore album release, the alternative pop star’s debut album from 2019, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, returns to the Top 40, lifting 47-36 on this week’s survey. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? has logged three weeks at No. 1 during its chart journey. Meanwhile, Dave’s We’re All Alone In This Together (Dave Neighbourhood) dips 1-2 but remains the most-streamed album of the week, while Prince’s posthumous release Welcome 2 America is new at No. 5. Previously recorded in 2010 and unlocked from the Prince vault for the first time, Welcome 2 Am...
Ariana Grande Is Taking Over ‘Fortnite’ This Weekend: Inside The Rift Tour
Over the past several years, the music industry has opened its eyes to gaming as a new way to connect with fans and drive revenue. In-game performances offer multiple revenue streams to artists, from up-front payments to virtual goods and a streaming spike for the artist’s music that tends to follow an in-game show. Compared to “Astronomical,” Grande’s performance is less visually chaotic, with fewer scene changes, and has an expanded focus on the player experience. In Grande’s world — which looks like if the Lisa Frank brand were an entire planet — players aren’t just watching the show, but actively participating in it, a key element that will be part of future experiences, according to Phil Rampulla, head of brand at Epic Games, Fortnite‘s parent company. “You’ll ...
