
Comcast debuts soccer-focused video package ahead of World Cup
Comcast has priced the offering, called "World Soccer Ticket", at $85 a month. The bundle includes nearly 60 broadcast, cable news, and sports channels, along with a premium subscription of NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service.
As cord cutting continues to hit traditional TV revenue, live sports content has emerged as one of the few formats that still draw millions of eyeballs and boost advertising demand.
The package comes ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Every match of the quadrennial tournament will be available in English on Fox and in Spanish across Telemundo, Universo, and Peacock, Comcast said on Wednesday.
The plan will also offer live coverage of major international leagues and competitions, including Premier League, UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, Liga MX and CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Besides, the package will include live coverage of other major sports and leagues like the NFL and NBA on the package's networks and Peacock.
Customers can access the package through X1 set-top box and Xfinity Stream TV app on supported platforms like Apple TV and Fire TV.
Comcast's new offering is expected to drive demand for its networks like NBC and boost subscriber growth for its flagship streaming platform, Peacock, which had 41 million paid subscribers at the end of June, far fewer than rival platforms.
Media companies are aggressively pursuing major sports deals to strengthen their streaming platforms. The newly merged Paramount secured exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for seven years in a $7.7 billion deal on Monday.
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Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Popular beach resort set to ban shops from displaying clothing emblazoned with vulgar slogans to clean up their reputation
The Virginia Beach City Council is trying to ban shops along the famous boardwalk from displaying clothing with raunchy slogans to 'clean up' the family-friendly resort. The southeastern Virginia coastal city has long attracted families for its abundance of activities for all ages and stunning shores. But its three-mile oceanfront boardwalk has always been the star of the show for its games, restaurants and stores. And many of those stores have caught the eye of visitors for their attention-grabbing merchandise, which local officials say is wildly inappropriate. Some clothing and gift shops sell shorts with innuendos on the back, with some pairs reading 'all you can eat,' 'it ain't gonna spank itself' and 'roll your weed on it' with marijuana leaves. Other items include profanity, such as shirts reading 'I'm not always a d*ck' and 'f*ck around and find out.' Another top reads, 'I [heart] boobs.' 'The new generation, they like this so much,' Adam Desouki, the manager of Ocean 11 Clothing and Gift Shop, told The Virginian-Pilot. Desouki said vulgar apparel flies off the shelves and guests, especially young adults, cannot get enough of the merchandise. The southeastern Virginia coastal city has long attracted families for its abundance of activities for all ages and stunning shores But local officials believe these novelty clothing items have no place lining the boardwalk. 'Enough is enough,' Councilman Worth Remick, who represents a portion of the Oceanfront Boardwalk community, told The Virginian-Pilot. He said many constituents are less than thrilled with the non-PG sentiments printed on the clothes. 'This is a calm, gentle, nice way to say this is not good for our brand, for our city.' On Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously voted to approve a resolution to request Oceanfront stores remove 'indecent' items from their displays. But the resolution is voluntary, as criminal enforcement for obscenity is a difficult threshold to meet. So, the members of the council are asking for retailers to abide by the resolution for the community's greater good. The resolution also asked for the Atlantic Avenue Association and the Resort Advisory Commission to back their stance and try to 'inspire Oceanfront retailers to act in accordance with such environment.' 'We're not telling store owners not to carry the shirts,' president of the Atlantic Avenue Association Deepak Nachnani told WHRO. 'We're just telling them to not put them in the store windows or on the mannequins at the front of the store.' Regardless, this 'peer pressure' approach being taken by the City Council is not sitting well with many of the boardwalk businesses. 'The owners need to make money in a certain period of time, and in the winter nobody's here,' Desouki said about Ocean 11. He believes that taking the controversial clothing off display would cause sales to plummet, as those shirts and shorts are a main attraction to the shop. But other businesses are willing to comply, as their management understands where the city is coming from on the matter. Avinash Basnet, owner of The T-Shirt Factory at the resort, told WHRO he would be willing to participate in this boardwalk clean-up, but it must be a unified effort. 'I'm willing to commit to that, but it has to be for everybody,' he told the outlet. Virginia Beach visitors have seemingly sided with the council, as the swear words and provocative language are far from family-friendly. 'They're just shoving this in kids' faces,' Kecia Magnus, of New Jersey, told WHRO. Angie Whitlock, 68, of Georgia, was also not fond of the clothing. 'I think it's awful. This is a family-friendly place, and as a community we need to protect our children. Maybe move that stuff to the back for the bachelors,' she told The Virginian-Pilot.


Times
an hour ago
- Times
The degrees that may not be worth the paper they're written on
There are many reasons to go to university, whether that be a yearning for independence, a desire for further study or, for many, the chance to have an iron-clad excuse to have a good time. These are all worthy motivations but it's worth remembering the fundamental driver for getting a degree in the first place: the hope that in the future, you will earn more money because of that shiny certificate. While university might once have been the golden ticket to a good career, a soaring number of graduates, an increase in what critics describe as 'Mickey Mouse' degrees and the rising threat of artificial intelligence (AI) have all made the decision more complex. • The degrees that earn the best salaries — and protect you from AI According to the Department for Education, those who specifically study teaching as a first degree are unlikely to earn large salaries, even after a decade of working. The average salary of someone who had a degree in education and teaching was just £27,700 after 10 years — the lowest of all the subjects. The majority of teachers earn more than this, but will have studied different degrees. Other low-return degrees included performing arts, creative arts and design, and agricultural studies. Graduates of these subjects typically failed to breach the £30,000 salary mark after 10 years. For context, £34,300 is the median graduate earnings 10 years after graduation, according to the latest longitudinal education outcomes data from the ministry. Victoria McLean from the career consultants City CV and Hanover said: 'It's a shame, but some of the most intellectually rich and socially vital degrees often don't convert to high salaries, at least not in the early years. 'It's not a judgment on their value, but a reflection of how these sectors are structured and funded. It's entirely possible to build a brilliant, lucrative career from these degrees, but it takes longer and demands more pivots along the way.' • How do student loans work and when do you start repaying? Generic or wide-reaching degrees were also unlikely to lead to six-figure careers. A degree in 'combined and general studies' typically had a starting salary of £24,100 and after a decade, this moved up to £30,700. Oliver Sidwell from Higherin, an early careers jobs platform, said that such degrees were typically less likely to get you a degree-level job after university in the first place, so ended up leading to lower-paid jobs. He added that while degrees were still sought-after in general, this was increasingly becoming 'a more outdated view'. The money available in any given sector won't matter, however, if the jobs are likely to be done by AI in the future. Graduate jobs are already among the most affected by the advent of artificial intelligence software. The recruitment firm Adzuna found that the number of entry-level roles had fallen 32 per cent since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. David Morel from the London firm Tiger Recruitment said: 'We are already beginning to see a decline in entry-level job opportunities. Many sectors are cutting costs, and businesses are increasingly turning to software like AI to perform tasks that were once handled by less qualified employees.' • Read more money advice and tips on investing from our experts Data entry and content writing roles have been the first to go, while fields such as proofreading and customer service are now beginning to be automated. According to Lacey Kaelani, who has been tracking AI threats through her jobs platform Metaintro, there has been a drop in roles that require business graduates because AI can handle basic business analysis and generate reports. Kaelani said: 'There is also a 31 per cent decline in entry-level roles in communications roles, and we are seeing 25 per cent fewer 'economic analyst' graduate positions. In all industries, those who can interpret AI and combine AI with expertise and strategic thinking are managing to buck the trend.' Another way of judging AI risks is to look at AI occupational exposure (AIOE) scores — the higher the score, the more replaceable occupations are by AI. According to the Department for Education, industries such as sport, leisure and recreation, engineering and sociology are among the least exposed. Economics, maths and accounting are among the most. Vicky Harvey from the University of Salford said that the pace of change was rapid and so the true impact on jobs was unknown. But she added that many universities were integrating AI into their teaching and research to help students understand and adapt to the evolving landscape. If you want to look at the potential return on investment of different degrees, you need to first understand the initial cost. The average student debt built up by those studying in England is now £53,000, and this is likely to increase as the cap on fees for full-time students will rise to £9,535 a year from September, up from £9,250. However, most students never pay back their loans in full. Instead, those thinking about university should look at the repayment system and how it will affect their take-home pay in the future. Those starting university this year will be on the Plan 5 repayment system. This means that 9 per cent of earnings above £25,000 will go towards paying back their loan. If they have not repaid it within 40 years, the debt is cancelled. It gives a basic-rate taxpayer with a salary above that threshold a marginal tax rate of 37 per cent. A higher-rate taxpayer pays a marginal rate of 51 per cent. While the system can mean that high earners will begin to feel their student loan repayments in their pay cheque — someone earning £100,000 would pay £6,750 a year or £563 a month, for instance — those with smaller salaries are somewhat protected. Those on the average graduate salary of £34,300 a decade after graduation would pay just £837 a year, or £70 a month. McLean added: 'Before choosing a course, I would urge students to ask: what roles do I want to target? What do they pay? What's the outlook for three or five years? And is there a high enough salary to justify the debt? 'You don't need to have it all figured out by 18, but that doesn't mean you can't think strategically. This is one of the biggest investments you will make.'


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Angels complete season sweep of Dodgers with late rally
August 14 - Logan O'Hoppe hit a go-ahead two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning, rallying the Los Angeles Angels to a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif. The Angels completing a first-ever six-game Freeway Series sweep of their Southern California rivals. The Angels' only other season sweep vs. the Dodgers came when they went 4-0 in 2019. The Dodgers, who took their fourth straight loss, fell one game behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West. Los Angeles hadn't trailed in the division since April 27. With the bases loaded and the Dodgers up 5-4 in the eighth, O'Hoppe lined a 103.2 mph fastball from reliever Edgardo Henriquez into center field to drive in Mike Trout and Taylor Ward, who had both walked to start the inning against Justin Wrobleski (4-4). Jo Adell hit a one-out infield single and Luis Rengifo struck out before O'Hoppe delivered. Brock Burke (6-1) threw one inning of shutout relief and Kenley Jansen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to garner his 23rd save. Ward homered and scored two runs. Zach Neto added a two-run double for the Angels, and Bryce Teodosio doubled, singled and also reached above the center field fence to rob Andy Pages of a two-run homer in the seventh inning. For the Dodgers, Will Smith homered and drove in three runs, Mookie Betts went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run and Shohei Ohtani tripled, walked, scored a run and also threw a season-high 4 1/3 innings. Ohtani, making his first start at Anaheim Stadium since tearing his UCL in the second inning an Aug. 23, 2023, start for the Angels against the Cincinnati Reds, allowed four runs on five hits while striking out seven. It was the ninth start in his pitching comeback from Tommy John surgery. He threw a season-high 80 pitches, 50 for strikes. The Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Ohtani led off the game with a triple into the right field corner to extend his hitting streak to 12 games and the scored on a single by Betts. One out later, Smith drilled a two-run homer 407 feet into the left field bleachers. The Angels cut the deficit to 3-2 in the second on Ward's solo homer and a sacrifice fly by Rengifo, driving in Yoan Moncada, who had doubled. The Dodgers extended the lead to 5-2 in the fourth on a bases-loaded single by Betts and a bases-loaded walk by Smith. The Angels cut it to 5-4 in the fifth on a two-run double by Neto. --Field Level Media