Latest news with #MatrixResurrections'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
John Oliver Slams the 'Genius' Who Keeps Changing HBO Max's Name, Admonishes Parent Company Exec for Anticipating His 'Hot Take'
John Oliver didn't disappoint his corporate overlords Sunday night by addressing the recent HBO Max name reversal — the latest in a series of changes for the streaming service. During his main segment on Last Week Tonight, which was about President Donald Trump's often antagonistic relationship with the press, Oliver referred to the current administration's decision to ban the Associated Press from the Oval Office for refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America,' a move Trump made soon after taking office. More from The Hollywood Reporter Second 'Mountainhead' Trailer Suggests AI (and Its Billionaire Characters) Are the Villains Behind Warner Bros.' $125 Million Arbitration Win Against Village Roadshow Over 'Matrix Resurrections' Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Explains Reasoning Behind Max Rebrand, Potential Company Split Justifying the AP's decision, Oliver noted: 'It has clients all over the world, and lots of them still use the term the Gulf of Mexico, so it's not as simple as you're making out there, especially because it can take time for people to adjust to a stupid name change.' He then turned to the recent decision by Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO and HBO Max, where Last Week Tonight airs. Showing the various logos/names onscreen, Oliver noted: 'Sometimes, hypothetically, before we can even get used to one dumb name [HBO Go], some genius comes along and only makes it dumber [HBO Now], then somehow it gets dumber still [HBO Max], and then against all the odds, somehow it becomes even worse [Max], before inexplicably going back to the stupid thing it was before [HBO Max].' Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery streaming marketing chief Shauna Spenley last week said she was anxiously awaiting Oliver's take on the streamer's name change. Oliver notoriously isn't afraid to go after whatever corporation owns his home network (from Time Warner to AT&T to Warner Bros. Discovery) on his show. 'We just cannot wait for his hot take on this whole rebrand,' Spenley told advertisers during the company's upfront presentation to advertisers last week. 'We think it's going to be pretty hot.' Oliver noted her comments, saying: 'Incidentally, only this week, my parent company apparently said they cannot wait for my hot take on this whole rebrand — believing that whatever I say about this change was going to be pretty hot, so please look me in the eyes when I say this: Fuck you, don't tell me what to do. I'm not gonna do it if you want it unless, wait, hold on, maybe you thought baiting me like that would be a good way to stop me from doing it, but on the other hand, how can a company be that smart when they're the same people that came up with so many stupid fucking names?' The show also featured a brief graphic at the end of the opening credits with the various logos the streamer has used with the caption 'Mutatis Mutandis.' Also during Sunday's show, his 'And Now This' segment featured a humorous montage of various local news outlets' 'pretty hot takes on HBO's latest rebranding.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Warner Bros. Discovery Credit Rating Cut to Junk Bond Status on Linear TV's Decline
Warner Bros. Discovery has been downgraded to BB+, or junk bond status, for 2025 and 2026 by S&P Global over linear TV weakness as the Hollywood studio continues to pivot to the streaming space. The ratings firm continued its outlook for WBD as stable, but pointed to weak credit metrics overall to explain its bond rating markdown to speculative grade. 'We lowered our 2025 and 2026 forecast due to continued challenges in WBD's linear television networks segment, which we forecast will offset growth at its studio and streaming segments,' S&P Global said in a statement. More from The Hollywood Reporter John Oliver Slams the "Genius" Who Keeps Changing HBO Max's Name, Admonishes Parent Company Exec for Anticipating His "Hot Take" Behind Warner Bros.' $125 Million Arbitration Win Against Village Roadshow Over 'Matrix Resurrections' Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Explains Reasoning Behind Max Rebrand, Potential Company Split WBD, like its industry rivals, has been under pressure from Wall Street amid industrywide challenges, including advertising softness and cord-cutting, as investors look for a return on an expensive transition from legacy linear TV networks to the digital streaming world. The possibility of WBD doing a major split of the company — with WB studios being potentially paired with a rebranded HBO Max and the Discovery linear cable channels being spun off into a separate company – hasn't exactly cheered the ratings firm. S&P Global has not factored into its ratings downgrade any potential split of the company because one hasn't been formally announced. But the ratings firm added 'a separation would likely pressure ratings because it would weaken our view on the individual businesses, particularly the Global Linear Networks company, due to ongoing secular pressure in the linear television ecosystem.' WBD has already begun to reorganize the company with an eye to a possible spinoff of its legacy TV assets. In Dec. 2024, the studio said it had reworked its corporate structure into a global linear TV division, separate from its streaming and studios division. WBD added it had begun the early steps leading toward the new corporate reorganization, with a completion set for mid-2025. A possible split of the company at WBD would follow rival Comcast unveiling a plan to spin off its less lucrative cable networks away from its film and TV studio entertainment and parks businesses. While the cable business used to be a cash driver for studios, the TV channels lately have become a drag on earnings, and investors have dinged companies that have been weighed down by channels tied to bundles that have fast fallen out of out of favor with consumers who've spent instead on individual streaming services. As a result, S&P Global analysts said they expect WBD to only 'modestly reduce leverage,' or its borrowings, this year and next by generating cash flow. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
