Walt Disney Co. flagship streaming service Disney+ is growing at such a clip that the company’s world-wide subscriber count could triple to 260 million by 2024, the company said Thursday.
That is a massive increase from its current count of 86.8 million subscribers worldwide, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The revised guidance puts Disney’s year-old service in the league of its chief streaming competitor, Netflix Inc., which currently has nearly 200 million subscribers globally but isn’t growing as fast as Disney+. Disney+ has already surpassed the company’s previous guidance, when it said it hoped to reach between 60 million and 90 million subscribers by 2024.
Disney is raising the monthly price of Disney+ $1 to $7.99 next March as it is dramatically increasing its spending on TV shows and movies for the service.
The streaming platform, which launched last November, has topped the anticipated growth rates in part because of people stuck at home due to Covid-19 who are hungry for content. It added more than 13 million subscribers between early October and early December.
Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek highlighted the company’s intensified focus on its direct-to consumer business during an investor presentation. Disney said it will debut dozens of its films and shows directly on its Disney+ service, a move that de-emphasizes the importance of movie theaters.
Still, Disney said it will continue to release its biggest movies exclusively in theaters, falling short of matching the vast shift AT&T Inc.’s Warner Bros. announced last week when it said it will simultaneously release all of its 2021 films both in theaters and on its HBO Max streaming service.
Nonetheless, Disney focused the bulk of its presentation to investors on the dozens of shows and movies it is producing for its streaming service at a rate “much more robust than we originally anticipated,” Disney Executive Chairman Robert Iger said. The company plans to add more than 100 new titles to the service per year, he added, drawing on franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel Studios to lure viewers.
In addition to Disney+, the company said its Hulu service has 38.8 million subscribers and ESPN+ has close to 12 million subscribers. The company said Thursday that it expects the three services to collectively have between 300 million and 350 million subscribers by the end of 2024.
Disney’s ESPN has finalized a deal to buy the rights to college football’s most-watched television package for $300 million per season—at least five times the $55 million per year fee that current rights holder CBS pays the conference, Sportico confirmed. ESPNs expected purchase was first reported in December of 2019 when talks began, but sorting through legal issues amid a pandemic slowed the process.
The SEC and ESPN made the announcement official Thursday afternoon during Disney’s 2020 Investors’ Day event.
CBS’ current SEC package gives it the rights to the conference’s best game each week and the Conference Championship Game, which last season averaged 13.7 million viewers and a 7.9 household rating, making it the No. 2 regular-season college football game behind only CBS’s Nov. 9 broadcast of the Alabama-LSU game (16.6 million viewers/9.7 rating). The LSU-Georgia title tilt was the most watched conference championship of the season and generated a staggering $22.3M in advertising revenue for CBS, with individual 30-second units fetching as much as $330,000 a pop, per Standard Media Index data.
CBS is on course to have aired the top-rated and most lucrative college football package for 12 years running. Three of the five most valuable teams in terms of ad revenue generated in 2019 were in the SEC (LSU, Auburn and Alabama).
ESPN’s 10-year, $3 billion deal for the expanded rights package will pay the SEC about $20 million for each Game of the Week telecast and substantially up its media revenues. Disney also is the controlling stakeholder in the SEC Network, owning 80% of the joint venture. Hearst claims the remaining 20% in a structure that mirrors the ownership split in ESPN. With ownership of the conference’s network as well, ESPN will now own the rights to all SEC football games.
For Taylor Swift fans, Christmas is coming early: Ms. Swift on Thursday announced her ninth studio album, “Evermore,” which is the second unexpected release of the year for one of music’s most notoriously meticulous pop stars, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Released just five months after her intimate Grammy-nominated blockbuster “Folklore,” the new album, which Ms. Swift describes as “folklore’s sister record,” features many of the same collaborators, including The National’s Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff and Bon Iver. That continuity suggests a collection of “Folklore” leftovers and more songs written in a similarly hushed and folksy indie-rock vein.
The quick arrival of “Evermore” reflects a reality of today’s streaming-music economy: More is more.
Releasing more music makes sense for Ms. Swift’s business: Under her recent Universal Music Group record deal, she owns her new master recordings, which incentivizes more prodigious output. The more her new songs are streamed, the more they generate streaming royalties that fill her coffers. So far, “Folklore,” which Ms. Swift owns, has racked up 1.95 million in overall sales in the U.S., including copies of the full album and on-demand audio and video streams, according to MRC Data/Nielsen Music.
Record labels, for their part, are hungry for new releases in the streaming age and welcome more content. Over the past five years or so, the U.S. record business has been revitalized by revenue from music streaming on services such as Spotify and Apple Music. Much of what’s popular on streaming is music from the 21st century, not tunes from the 1960s and 1970s. Yet having a gusher of nonstop content can also create challenges when it comes to policing quality levels, music-industry observers say.
Ms. Swift’s announcement of “Evermore” arrived on the first night of Hanukkah and three days before her 31st birthday. “This time I thought I would give you something!” she said on social media. A music video for the album’s leadoff track, “Willow,” will drop Friday morning.
SpaceX plans to launch a radio communications satellite for SiriusXM on Friday from Florida.
UPI reports liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 11:20 a.m. from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with an opportunity to launch extending for two hours in case of delays.
The satellite, SXM-7, will aid delivery of SiriusXM's entertainment and data services to more than 100 million subscribers in North America, according to the company.
Weather for the launch looks good, with only a 10% likelihood that storm clouds would force a postponement by 24 hours, according to a U.S. Space Force forecast.
The satellite includes a large antenna and solar arrays, weighing in total over 15,400 pounds. Built by Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, Calif., it is designed to provide service for 15 years or longer.
SiriusXM comes installed in new vehicles from every major automaker in the United States and is available in nearly half of the preowned vehicles for sale in the country, according to the company.
SiriusXM and its streaming app, Pandora, reach 150 million people per month, the company said.
Maxar has built all seven of SiriusXM's satellites, including the first spacecraft that were launched in 2000.
Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for COVID-19, and production on her talk show will be paused until January.
A spokesperson confirmed production would be halted until January. The past seven days have been its deadliest of the pandemic, and there were more than 30,000 new infections for the third straight day.
2020 has not been kind for the host. The year has included an internal investigation after allegations of racism, sexual misconduct and other workplace problems. Three top producers were fired after staff raised complaints about poor communication, pay reductions and mistreatment.
The shutdown comes as ratings hit their highest rating since May during the week as part of the show’s annual “12 Days of Giveaways” series.
"Ellen" is the No. 3 syndicated talk show behind Live With Kelly and Ryan and Dr. Phil.
Over the past four years, Jacobs Media has led exclusive executive tours of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas each January.
These highly successful, curated events have provided radio broadcasting executives with a unique perspective on the latest and greatest tech innovations – and their impact on the industry. Past tours have included stops at Amazon, Google, Samsung, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Visteon, and many other big names in media and technology.
Thanks to the effects of COVID, CES 2021 is undergoing a massive change this year. Normally, more than 170,000 attendees from around the globe flock to Las Vegas in early January. Next month, CES is going virtual.
And so is Jacobs Media’s tour.
The company will be leading an online guided tour of CES, specifically curated for anyone and everyone in radio. While past tours have been limited mostly to corporate executives, this year’s Jacobs Media virtual tour will be accessible to all – at a price level that is affordable and accessible – without the expense of time, travel, hotels, casino losses – and sore feet.
Jacobs Media VP/GM Paul Jacobs comments, “Past Jacobs tours have been physically limited to the North and Central Halls of the Convention Center because it is so hard to navigate CES with a group. But thanks to virtual technology, we’ll have the run of the show, allowing us to provide a comprehensive tour of many exhibits relevant to the future of radio.”
The price of admission for the virtual tour is $99 (USD). Attendees will also be able to separately purchase registration for CES 2021 for an additional $149 (USD). However, it will not be necessary for Jacobs Media tour-goers to register for CES. Details and registration information can be found at https://jacobsmedia.com/ces2021/
Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs adds, “At this price point, people who have never been able to take the time or spend the money for CES will get a great taste of this amazing event. Our curated tour will focus on how radio can prepare for the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in 2021.”
Jacobs Media has teamed up with CES guide extraordinaire, Shawn DuBravac, best-selling author and former Chief Economist of CTA. Shawn has served as Sherpa for past Jacobs/CES tours, and is designing this virtual tour with Jacobs Media.
DuBravac remarks: “There is much excitement and optimism that we’ll turn a corner next year. CES has always provided a glimpse into the future. For this tour, the Jacobs brothers and I will be putting something special together to help radio broadcasters navigate what’s ahead in the new year.”
The tour will take place the afternoon of Wednesday, January 13th (exact times TBA) on desktops and laptops all over America – and the world.
CUMULUS MEDIA announces that 99.5 zpl/WZPL-FM, its Top 40 station in Indianapolis, IN, has raised a total of $1,003,919 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through the 24th annual Make-A-Wish Request-A-Thon, a 36-hour fundraising event to help make life-changing wishes come true for local children battling critical illnesses.
The Make-A-Wish Request-A-Thon is 99.5 zpl’s signature community event and this year’s radiothon, which was held virtually for the first time in its 24-year-history, set a new record for funds raised. Hosted by the Smiley Morning Show, the Request-A-Thon kicked off on Thursday, December 3rd, at 6:00am and ran through Friday, Decembers 4th, at 6:00pm. Listeners called in to the station during that time and requested their favorite songs in exchange for a donation to Make-A-Wish.
Chuck Fredrick, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Indianapolis, said: “Making special wishes come true for children is what it’s all about, especially now. The entire Smiley Morning Show and team tirelessly spread the word for the children. Indianapolis responded in a huge way and deserves a congratulations and thank you!”
JR Ammons, Operations Manager, Cumulus Indianapolis, noted: “For a couple days every December, zpl gives Ari, Justin and The Weeknd a break and we open the doors to Van Halen, The Spice Girls, The Zac Brown Band and whoever else gets requested - all with the goal of raising as much money as possible for children and their families right here in Central Indiana.”
Ammons added: “It’s beyond humbling to work with a group of such talented and dedicated personalities. The results each year are a direct reaction to the passion Dave, Nikki, Will, Toni and Cole pour into these two days. I’m at a loss for words…in a year filled with so much bad, it’s so nice to close out 2020 like this. A special thanks to Gentle Dentist and Window Nation for helping to make it all possible.”
Entercom raised over $200,000 to benefit University Hospitals (UH) Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital during WDOK Star 102’s “2020 Rainbow Radiothon” in Cleveland. Funds donated during the 18th annual event helped bring the station’s radiothon contributions to $4.7 million since 2003.
“We’re proud to support UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and its mission to make miracles happen for children and families every day,” said Tom Herschel, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom Cleveland. “I am so thankful for everyone who made this Radiothon successful, including Jen and Tim, the Entercom Cleveland staff and the hospital team. I am so grateful for the incredible generosity of our listeners.”
Hosted by Star 102 morning show co-hosts Jen Toohey and Tim Richards, “2020 Rainbow Radiothon” was broadcast live from the Star 102 Studios from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 4. Throughout the event, Toohey and Richards showcased stories of love, hope and compassion featuring the hospital’s young patients and dedicated staff who care for them.
With more than 1-million patient visits per year, UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital provides nationally recognized pediatric care close to home. The money raised from the “Rainbow Radiothon” helps advance the personalized care the hospital can provide to its young patients.
Entercom is committed to supporting the health and success of the communities that are the heart of its business. “2020 Rainbow Radiothon” is a part of Entercom Serves, the Company’s social impact platform that raises awareness of social issues and brings communities together for good. Entercom unites with its listeners and brands to support sound communities through several pillars of impact: children’s health, mental health and anti-bullying, veterans and service members, the environment, civic education, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
CUMULUS MEDIA announces that NewsTalk KBOI 670 AM and Idaho Central Credit Union hosted Idaho’s biggest toy drive on Thursday, December 3rd through Sunday, December 6th, bringing in well over 70,000 toys and $27,000 in cash donations benefiting the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program for Treasure Valley children in need this holiday season.
From 5am, Thursday, December 3rd, through 5pm, Sunday, December 6th, 670 KBOI listeners and sponsors completely filled a 53-foot trailer donated by Utility Trailer of Boise and decorated by Image 360.The fourth annual toy collection event was held at the Sportsman’s Warehouse parking lot in Meridian, ID.
670 KBOI’s Kasper & Chris broadcasted live Thursday and Friday mornings from the Allan Marsh Travel Center RV. Nate Shelman debuted “Shelman Claus” during his afternoon show on KBOI, while the KBOI news staff all volunteered their time for the cause. Supporting partners CBS2, Right Now Heating & Air, Radix Construction, Everything Hearing, Franz Whitte Landscaping, and Harold’s Auto Body donated well over $30,000 in toys for local children, in addition to supporting the drive with advertising. 670 KBOI also worked with Boise Valley POW-MIA, a veterans group dedicated to the honoring of veterans of all U.S. Armed Forces branches and eras, to make the drive a tremendous success.
Nate Shelman, Program Director, NewsTalk 670 KBOI, said: “Seeing the outpouring of support in our fourth year and in this year of shutdowns and nationwide frustration was simply breathtaking. We’re proud to contribute to the mission of the US Marine Corps Toys For Tots program!”
Sgt. Brandon Miller, USMC, said: “The donations of cash and toys will allow the Toys for Tots program to cover the needs of over 20,000 kids from Baker City, Oregon southeast through Caldwell, Nampa, Boise, Mountain Home, Twin Falls and Pocatello, Idaho. We’re excited to be bringing these families a happy holiday.”
➦In 1899...The fame of radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi took a leap forward on this day when William Preece, the Chief Electrical Engineer of the British Post Office, gave a public lecture in London called "Telegraphy without Wires", praising the Italian's ideas. Marconi had left his native Italy earlier in the year believing that his work was unappreciated by his countrymen. Aged 21, he thought he would have more success in the United Kingdom.
Preece became involved when he was alerted by a Customs officer at Dover who found electrical apparatus in Marconi's case. The Post Office man became fascinated by the Italian's experiments and they formed a friendship which led to Preece's lecture. From then on Marconi's fame grew, culminating in the first transatlantic radio communication in December 1901. It was transmitted from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, and received at St John's Newfoundland. An excited Marconi later wrote about the experience:
"I placed the single earphone to my ear and started listening. The receiver on the table before me was very crude – a few coils and condensers and a coherer; no valves, no amplifiers, not even a crystal.
➦In 1936... King Edward VIII, decided to abdicate the British throne. He made the announcement in a worldwide radio broadcast.
He famously said, "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love."
He added that the "decision was mine and mine alone ... The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course".
Edward departed Britain for Austria the following day; he was unable to join Simpson until her divorce became final, several months later. His brother, the Duke of York, succeeded to the throne as George VI. George VI's elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth (currently Queen), became heir presumptive.
➦In 1944..."The Chesterfield Supper Club," a 15-minute weekday program airing at 7:00 p.m. (ET), debuted on NBC Radio. Initially, Perry Como hosted all the shows. Beginning with the second season, he reduced his schedule to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while Jo Stafford hosted Tuesdays and Thursdays. In 1948, Peggy Lee took over the Thursday broadcast. In September 1949, the show aired weekly and it was extended to 30-minutes.
➦In 1954...Allan Waters purchased 10-year old Toronto radio station CHUM 1050 AM from patent medicine king Jack Part, for shares Waters held in Part’s companies, and $500 a month.
CHUM 1050 AM (50 Kw-DA) Red-Local Coverage
CHUM was a 1000 watt daytime-only station, which Waters built into a 50,000 watt top 40 juggernaut.
Less than three years after Waters acquired the station, and soon after bringing the new full-time transmitter online, a major programming change was made. On May 27, 1957, at 6 AM, Waters switched the station to a "Top 50" format that had proven itself popular in some U.S. cities; Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" was the first song played. "1050 CHUM" pioneered rock and roll radio in Toronto, and was noteworthy for hosting many noteworthy rock concerts including, among others, visits to Maple Leaf Gardens by Elvis Presley (1957) and the Beatles (1964, 1965, and 1966).
The station rose in popularity in Toronto in the late 1950s and early 1960s; though it never supplanted perennial Toronto ratings champ CFRB at the top of the ratings chart, it was still a major broadcasting powerhouse with a particular appeal to the teen market. As the station became more successful, it also built yet another new transmitter in Mississauga, Ontario (a few miles west of the current Toronto city line) along the Lake Ontario shoreline, and raised its power once again to its current 50,000 watts around the clock.
➦In 1964...Soul and gospel singer 33-year-old Sam Cooke was shot to death. He died at the Hacienda Motel, in Los Angeles. Answering separate reports of a shooting and of a kidnapping at the motel, police found Cooke's body, clad only in a sports jacket and shoes but no shirt, pants or underwear. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, which was later determined to have pierced his heart. The motel's manager, Bertha Franklin, said she had shot Cooke in self-defense after he broke into her office residence and attacked her. Her account was immediately disputed by Cooke's acquaintances.
Sam Cooke
The official police record states that Franklin fatally shot Cooke, who had checked in earlier that evening. Franklin said that Cooke had broken into the manager's office-apartment in a rage, wearing nothing but a shoe and a sports coat, demanding to know the whereabouts of a woman who had accompanied him to the motel. Franklin said the woman was not in the office and that she told Cooke this, but the enraged Cooke did not believe her and violently grabbed her, demanding again to know the woman's whereabouts. According to Franklin, she grappled with Cooke, the two of them fell to the floor, and she then got up and ran to retrieve a gun. She said she then fired at Cooke in self-defense because she feared for her life. Cooke was struck once in the torso.
According to Franklin, he exclaimed, "Lady, you shot me," before mounting a last charge at her. She said she beat him over his head with a broomstick before he finally fell, mortally wounded by the gunshot.
➦In 1985...General Electric Corp., long eager to enter the broadcasting business, announced it would purchase RCA Corp., parent of the NBC radio and the television network, for $6.28 billion in cash.
RCA has been the subject of takeover talk for months, fueled by the improved fortunes of NBC and the wave of mergers and acquisitions that has taken place in the broadcast industry.
A takeover of RCA meant that all three national networks have been the subject of merger activity this year. American Broadcasting Cos. is being acquired by Capital Cities Communications. CBS successfully fought off a takeover by cable entrepreneur Ted Turner but, in the process, was forced to take on substantial debt and sell off a number of assets.
Ironically, RCA was organized in 1919 by Westinghouse and General Electric as a means of entering the new field of radio broadcasting. The company was spun off by the two in 1930.
Robert Q Lewis - 1956
➦In 1991...Robert Q. Lewis died at age 71 (Born Robert Goldberg; April 25, 1920). He was a radio and television personality, game show host, and actor.
Lewis is perhaps best known for his game show participation, having been the first host of The Name's the Same and regularly appearing on other Goodson-Todman panel shows. He also hosted and appeared on a multitude of television shows of the 1940s through the 1970s.
Lewis made his radio debut in 1931, at age 11, on a local radio show, "Dr. Posner's Kiddie Hour". In 1942 he left to enlist in the U.S. Army during the second world war and became a radio operator in the Signal Corps, After the war, he became an announcer and disc jockey. He had stints WNEW 1130 AM , WNBC 660 AM, both in NYC. Also KHJ, 1961-62; KFI, 1972-75; KRLA, 1975 in Los Angeles.
Lewis made his radio debut in 1931, at age 11, on a local radio show, "Dr. Posner's Kiddie Hour". He enrolled in the University of Michigan in 1938, where he was a member of the Phi Sigma Delta fraternity. He left to enlist in the U.S. Army in 1942 and became a radio operator in the Signal Corps.
➦In 1992...After 58-years, WNEW 1130 AM, New York City signed-off. Upon the breakup of the Metromedia Radio network in 1986, WNEW-AM was sold to outside investors. Over the next couple of years the station changed hands again, ultimately ending up with Michael Bloomberg. WNEW-AM was shut down on December 15th, 1992, and the Bloomberg Financial Radio was launched.
WNEW ended live programming on December 11, 1992 at 8pm.
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Karla Souza is 34
Actor Rita Moreno is 89.
Singer David Gates of Bread is 80.
Actor Donna Mills (“Knots Landing”) is 80.
Singer Brenda Lee is 76.
Singer Paul Beasley of The Blind Boys of Alabama is 76.
Actor Linda Day George (TV’s “Mission: Impossible”) is 76.
Actor Teri Garr is 73.
Actor Bess Armstrong is 67.
Singer Jermaine Jackson is 66.
Bassist Mike Mesaros of The Smithereens is 63.
Bassist Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue is 62.
Actor Ben Browder (“Stargate SG-1”) is 58.
Singer-bassist Justin Currie of Del Amitri is 56.
Bassist David Schools of Widespread Panic is 56.
Actor Gary Dourdan (“C.S.I.”) is 54.
Actor-comedian Mo’Nique is 53.
Actor Max Martini (“The Unit”) is 51.
Rapper-actor Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) is 47.
Actor Rider Strong (“Boy Meets World”) is 41.
Actor Xosha Roquemore (“The Mindy Project”) is 36.
Actor Karla Souza (“How to Get Away with Murder”) is 34.
Bell Media's iHeartRadio Canada announced today the first live international launch of The obby Bones Show on Pure Country CIMX 89 (88.fm FM) in Windsor, Ont.
Beginning Monday, Dec. 14, the Country Music Association Award and Academy of Country Music Award-winning country radio show airs weekday mornings from 6 – 10 a.m. ET. Each morning, host Bobby Bones and his co-hosts Amy, Lunchbox, and Eddie welcome the biggest names in country music and entertain listeners with their unique mix of pop-culture news and information, crazy stunts, and hilarious conversations.
“My focus is always to do a really compelling show,” said host Bobby Bones. “I’m so excited that we’re ending the year expanding our morning show reach in Canada and I look forward to hanging out with our new friends every morning.”
“The Pure Country brand has become the premier country music brand in Canada,” said Rob Farina, Head of Radio Content, Strategy, and iHeartRadio. “We’re so excited to be the first international market to feature The Bobby Bones Show on morning radio.”
“Pure Country 89 is thrilled that The Bobby Bones Show will be joining our Windsor-Essex community every morning, bringing his passion for country music with a ton of fun, energy, and excitement for country music radio and its artists,” said Jennifer McLellan, General Manager, Radio and TV – Southwestern Ontario, Bell Media.
Syndicated by Premiere Networks, The bobby Bones Show broadcasts to more than 170 stations and is the #1 country morning show in the U.S. with millions of weekly listeners. The show received two Country Music Association Awards for National On-Air Personality of the Year, and four Academy of Country Music Awards in the same category. For his work on the program, Bones earned the title of youngest-ever inductee into the prestigious National Radio Hall of Fame.
Americans plan to approach the upcoming winter holidays inclusive of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve cautiously with health top of mind, as 79% say they plan to celebrate at home and 54% in smaller groups, according to a new consumer survey commissioned by NCSolutions (NCS).
Looking ahead to 2021, consumers indicated optimism that the nation’s health would improve. Almost half (45%) are optimistic that the conditions will improve, 32% think it will stay the same and 23% believe it will decline.
Optimistic Americans, those who believe the country’s overall health situation will improve, also plan to celebrate the winter holidays at a greater rate (94%), according to the survey findings. In addition, more than one in four (26%) say they plan to spend more this year than they did last on food and in-home meals/celebrations, compared to 14% of those who feel the situation will stay the same and 17% who feel it will decline.
"Consumers are optimistic about the future and have warm associations with celebratory foods around the holiday season,” said Linda Dupree, CEO, NCSolutions “In general, holiday advertising planning is a critical time for brands. Consumers have emotional associations and loyalties to the products found at the tables and celebrations for all holidays throughout the year. In 2020, in particular, more people will be celebrating at home - and cooks are more likely to experiment with new dishes, ingredients and food items. It’s an excellent moment for brands to connect and engage new and loyal buyers alike."
When asked when they thought the COVID-19 pandemic would subside in the U.S., Americans voiced a range of predictions including 68% who said 2021, 20% who are looking to 2022, and 12% who believe it will be 2023 or later.
Two-thirds (66%) of Americans plan to celebrate New Year’s Eve this year, and 28% are planning to hold a virtual New Year’s Eve celebration or participate in a virtual watch party. This rate is even higher among those who expect the country's health situation to improve: 35% of these optimistic Americans plan to have a virtual New Year’s Eve celebration.
When looking for recipes or meal inspiration, these virtual celebrators plan to do the following:
61% plan to use social media
54% indicate they will use cooking websites
47% say they will watch TV
“The news that consumers are optimistic about 2021 is a powerful call-to-action for both retailers and CPG brands,” Dupree said. “The consumer behavior changes we’ve seen in 2020 will be fundamental inputs to advertising plans in the first half of 2021. However, positive consumer sentiment paired with intentions to spend more on holiday celebrations and meals this season — as shown in our recent survey — is a reflection that collectively consumers see a light in these darker days of the pandemic. We all yearn and look forward to an era of less pandemic-focused living. ”
Al Michaels, 76, first a voice of the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants in the 1970s before calling some of the most compelling national baseball broadcasts of the last 40 years, was named the recipient of the 2021 Ford C. Frick Award Wednesday, given annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to honor broadcasting excellence.
According to the Boston Globe, Michaels is best known for confirming that we should indeed believe in miracles with his iconic call of the final moments of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team’s upset of the Soviet Union.
He’s most recently known as the play-by-play voice of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” a role he has had since its inception in 2006.
He was selected from a list of eight finalists whose main contributions came as national announcers. The Hall of Fame has a three-year rotation of honoring national announcers, announcers associated with a particular market, and broadcasting pioneers with the award.
The other finalists this year were Joe Buck, Dave Campbell, Dizzy Dean, Don Drysdale, Ernesto Jerez, Buddy Blattner, and Dan Shulman.
Michaels will receive the Frick Award as part of the Hall of Fame ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., July 24.
Facebook, Messenger and Instagram have all stopped working for some users this morning.
The Facebook-owned social media apps went down at around 09.30 GMT, according to the website Downdetector, which monitors online outages.
Users are unable to send messages and are being flashed an error message which says the app is 'waiting for network'.
More than half (52 per cent) of reported issues with Messenger are related to sending and receiving messages whereas the main Facebook site's biggest reported problem is total blackout, accounting for 41 per cent of problems.
It is currently unknown what is causing the issue and how long it will last. Not all users are affected.
'We are aware that some people are having trouble sending messages on Messenger, Instagram and Workplace Chat,' a Facebook spokesperson told MailOnline.
'We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.'
Facebook's private messaging app, Messenger, appears to be facing the most significant issues, with the majority of reports coming from the UK and Europe.
Instagram and Facebook are experiencing complaints in the hundreds, but Messenger is suffering thousands, according to Downdetector.
The U.S. had more than 3,000 deaths in one day from the coronavirus for the first time since the pandemic began on Wednesday, according to The Covid Tracking Project, which reported 3,054 deaths. It also said there were 210,000 new confirmed cases and a record 106,688 hospitalized Covid-19 patients, as hospitals continue to be stressed by the rising case load, with some at or beyond capacity, as the fall and winter surge continues to expand.
Hospitals are preparing for a high-stakes COVID-19 vaccine rollout — and there's little room for error.
"We've never done anything like this as a country or in the world, as significant as this exercise is," one hospital executive said.https://t.co/qkMAa7fbR7
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel will be meeting today to look at the data on Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, and it's expected hey will advise the FDA to approve emergency use, meaning people could begin to be vaccinated within days of that happening, with health care workers and those in nursing homes and other health care facilities to get the shots first. In one reported snag, however, officials in the U.K., which began giving people the vaccine earlier this week, are saying that people with a history of serious allergic reactions shouldn’t get the vaccine, at least for now, as they're investigating two reports of allergic reactions that occurred.
➤FED GOV'T., 48 STATES SUE FACEBOOK, ACCUSE MARKET POWER ABUSE TO CRUSH SMALLER COMPETITORS: The federal government and 48 states and districts sued Facebook yesterday, charging that it abused its market power to crush smaller competitors. The landmark antitrust lawsuits announced by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James seek remedies that could include forcing Facebook to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC said Facebook had used a, quote, "systematic strategy" to eliminate competition, including buying small but growing rivals like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. Facebook noted that the FTC cleared both acquisitions at the time, and called the government actions "revisionist history." This latest antitrust action against Big Tech comes after the Justice Department sued Google in October for abusing its dominance in online search and advertising.
'Chinese honey trap spy had sex with two mayors and targeted Dem politicians' https://t.co/ccwDSY6lun
➤BOEING 737 MAX PLANES RETURN TO SKIES FOR FIRST TIME IN NEARLY TWO YEARS: Boeing 737 Max planes returned to the skies yesterday for the first time since they were grounded around the world nearly two years ago following two crashes that killed everyone on board within a matter of months. The first flight was by Brazil's Gol Airlines, which used a 737 Max 8 on a flight from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre. The planes were grounded in March 2019, soon after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash that was five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that also was a 737 Max. A total of 346 people were killed in both crashes. A problem with the 737 Max's flight stabilization system was blamed, and Boeing upgraded the safety systems and software before getting approval to fly again. 737 Max flights in the U.S. are expected to begin again soon, likely by the end of the month.
➤POLL: 54 PERCENT WANT TO CONTINUE WORKING FROM HOME: A new Pew Research Center poll out yesterday found that more than half, 54 percent, of Americans who are working from home because of the pandemic would like to be able to continue to do so all or most of the time after the pandemic is over. A majority of those who've been working from home said that transition hasn't been a problem, saying that it's been easily to meet deadlines and work without interruptions, and that they have access to the technology, equipment and workspace that they need. However, half of parents with kids under age 18 say it's been difficult to get work done without interruptions, compared to just 20 percent of workers with older children or no children.
🏈BIG TEN CLEARS WAY FOR OHIO STATE TO PLAY NORTHWESTERN FOR TITLE: The Big Ten Conference yesterday dropped its six-game minimum requirement for the league championship game, clearing the way for Number 3 Ohio State to play Number 15 Northwestern for the conference title on December 19th. Ohio State finished the regular season with only five games after Michigan had to pull out of Saturday’s game because of positive coronavirus tests. The Big Ten had said before the season that teams would have to play six of their eight scheduled games to qualify for the championship game. Ohio State has missed three games because of pandemic issues.
🏈LSU SELF-IMPOSES BAN ON BOWL GAME PARTICIPATION: LSU announced last night that it won't participate in any bowl games this season, a ban that's part of its own self-imposed sanctions resulting from the NCAA's investigation into improper booster payments to its football players. LSU is currently 3-5 with two games left, but could still have been eligible for a bowl game if they finished under .500 because of changes made this year due to the pandemic. LSU has also self-imposed a loss of eight scholarships over two years and a reduction in recruiting visits, evaluations and communication.
🏈BRONCOS' BOUYE SUSPENDED FOR SIX GAMES FOR PED VIOLATION: Denver Broncos cornerback A.J. Bouye has been suspended for six games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Denver's KOA radio reported that Buoye received the supplement from the same medical professional that led to two Houston Texans getting suspended for six games last week, who'd said they'd been assured it was safe. But instead it contained a banned substance.
The quarterback for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has apologized for eating sushi off a nude model during an episode of the Bravo reality show 'Below Deck.' https://t.co/TRdTFUis88
🏀ABDUL-JABBAR REVEALS HE HAD PROSTATE CANCER: NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revealed yesterday that he had prostate cancer. The disclosure came in an article he wrote for WebMD about health risks faced by Black people. The 73-year-old NBA career scoring leader didn't give further details in the article, in which he also said he had heart bypass surgery. Abdul-Jabbar said he'd been able to get better care than many Blacks, in part because of his celebrity and also because two sons work in the health care field. Abdul-Jabbar was also diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in 2008.
⚽MLS MARKS 25TH ANNIVERSARY: Major League Soccer is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and it marked the milestone yesterday with the release of the MLS 25 Greatest players. Among the former players on the list are Cobi Jones, Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Clint Dempsey and Robbie Keane. The anniversary came during this coronavirus-affected year in which MLS suspended the season in March after teams had played just two games. The league returned in the summer to play an abbreviated season, which will end this Saturday with the MLS Cup final between the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders.
Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis and President Chad Lopez have announced that Talkradio 77 WABC, New York, has promoted James Incorvaia to Local Sales Manager.
In his new role, Incorvaia will oversee and lead a team of account executives for WABC and sister station Talk Radio 107.1, Long Island, focusing on the development and growth of new and existing direct accounts. Incorvaia will report to Glen Tacinelli, Vice President of Sales for Red Apple Media.
“James’s incredible work ethic and his ability to uncover tremendous opportunities for Red Apple Media makes him the perfect person to take our local sales effort to the next level,” said Tacinelli. “His success with our advertisers has contributed to our revenue growth, and his insights will be an asset to our sales team as we continue to build out Red Apple Media.”
“I’m honored at the trust that Chad and Glen have shown in me,” commented James. “I look forward to working closely with the sales teams and our advertisers as we continue to grow Red Apple Media across platforms.”
Beasley Media Group announces Brian Schneekloth has been promoted to Director of Sales at the company’s Boston-based radio cluster, including WBZ-FM, WKLB-FM, WROR-FM, WBOS-FM and WBQT-FM. He will begin his new position, effective immediately.
In addition to serving as the General Sales Manager of WBZ-FM/98.5 The Sports Hub and WBOS-FM/Rock 92.9, Schneekloth has been responsible for leading the sales efforts of The New England Patriots Radio Network, the Boston Bruins Radio Network and the Boston Celtics Radio Network.
In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the traditional and interactive sales efforts on behalf of the entire cluster (including WKLB-FM, WBQT-FM and WROR-FM).
“Brian has been a driving force of our success for years,” said Beasley Media Group Boston Vice President and Market Manager, Mary Menna. “He is the most creative and passionate manager that I have had the privilege of working with. An innovative and collaborative partner, Brian is a solutions-oriented manager who works tirelessly to create winning strategies for our partners. We are thrilled to be able to promote him to Director of Sales.”
“I am honored to lead such an amazing group of people who show up to work every day with a positive attitude and a deep passion for creating comprehensive solutions for our clients,” said Schneekloth. “Many thanks to Caroline, Bruce and Brian Beasley as well as our VP of Sales, Tina Murley, and Mary Menna for entrusting in me this great opportunity.”
