Business

Jun

23

2021

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By Troy Warren

Business travel faces long road to recovery from pandemic

Business, TravelAirTravel, Atlanta, BusinessTravel, CorporateTravel, Travel

By Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Troy Warren for CNT Atlanta’s economic fortunes linked to corporate trips, conventions American leisure air travel is bouncing back quickly after plunging last year. But it could take months or years for business travel to return to normal — if ever — even as more companies prepare to bring workers back to offices. That spells uncertainty for metro Atlanta’s economy, which hosted hundreds of trade shows and conventions before the pandemic. Eighteen Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters in Georgia, also drawing a steady stream of visitors with expense accounts through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport until last year.…

Jun

22

2021

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By Troy Warren

NBC Approaches “Moral Hazard” Amid Tokyo Olympics Push During Pandemic

Business, COVID-19, Editors Pickscovid-19, JeffShell, NBC, TokyoOlympics

BY PATRICK BRZESKI | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT As health experts question the wisdom of proceeding with the games in Japan — where just 6 percent of the population is fully vaccinated — the broadcaster, with billions at stake, is taking a big risk. During the TV industry’s upfronts in May, Disney enlisted Jimmy Kimmel to liven up the proceedings with a stand-up routine. The ABC late-night star roasted the broadcast community but reserved his arguably sharpest words for NBCUniversal, saying, “NBC is planning to move forward with the Olympics this summer, even if they have to kill every last person in Japan to…

Jun

22

2021

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By Troy Warren

Delta to hire 1,000 pilots as pandemic recovery continues

Business, TravelDeltaAirlines, DeltaPilot, Travel

By Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Troy Warren for CNT Delta Air Lines plans to hire 1,000 pilots by next summer as it continues to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, Atlanta-based Delta cut more than 1,800 pilots from its payroll through early retirement packages and put about 1,700 junior pilots on inactive status. The cutbacks contributed to staffing issues that led Delta to cancel hundreds of flights around Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. The airline had more staffing challenges over Easter this year. Delta now has about 12,000 pilots. Operations chief John Laughter told pilots in a memo that the plan for hiring is a “positive…

Jun

21

2021

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By Troy Warren

Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners Signs Film Production Partnership With Netflix

Business, Entertainment, In The NewsAmblinPartners, FilmProduction, Netflix, StevenSpielberg

BY BORYS KIT | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT The deal is on top of the one Amblin already has with Universal. Amblin Partners, the production outfit run by Steven Spielberg, has signed a partnership with Netflix. The deal will see the company produce multiple films for the streamer per year and is on top of the long-standing output pact the company has with Universal, which is theatrical in nature and was renewed in December 2020. Amblin sees the deal as a way to increase its film slate. The Netflix deal has no restrictions regarding budget or genre, according to insiders. “At…

Jun

21

2021

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By Troy Warren

Vivendi’s Universal Music to Sell 10 Percent Stake to Bill Ackman SPAC, Valuing Label at $40B

Business, EntertainmentArnauddePuyfontaine, UMG, UniversalMusicGroup

BY GEORG SZALAI | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT The French media conglomerate finalized a deal to offload a 10 percent stake in the music major to a blank check company of Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square. French media conglomerate Vivendi has finalized a deal to sell a 10 percent stake in Universal Music Group to a so-called “blank check” company set up by Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square, valuing the music major at €35.0 billion ($40 billion). Vivendi had recently said it was in talks with the financial vehicle about selling it the stake in the label, home of the likes of Taylor…

Jun

21

2021

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By Troy Warren

Many workers need more than skills

Business, In The News, LifestyleGoogle, JobSkills, MarkleFoundation, Microsoft, TechSupport

By Steve Lohr, The New York Times Troy Warren for CNT Career guidance, moral support help overcome last-mile problems Rachelle Katchenago of Menasha, Wisconsin, lost her job as a call-center contract worker last year after the pandemic lockdowns took hold. No one was hiring. Katchenago, 37, eventually heard of career courses, paid for by Microsoft as part of a COVID relief program. She plunged in, learning online customer service and sales skills, hoping to improve her employment prospects. But it turned out that the technical skills, in the free classes from Microsoft’s LinkedIn job listing and training service, were not…

Jun

19

2021

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By Troy Warren

“The Netflix of Wellness”: Inside the Hollywoodization of Peloton

Business, In The NewsHollywoodization, Netflix

BY COURTNEY RUBIN | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT The bike company has become a global content brand via rigorous scripting of classes, canny promotion of instructors and entertainment industry partnerships. In the spring of 2018 — in the days before Peloton was ubiquitous — the company set out to make a TV ad cool enough to wipe away the perception that its internet-connected bike was a suburban mom thing. CEO and now-billionaire John Foley — a former president of ecommerce at Barnes & Noble — wanted to shoot for the moon, suggesting licensing tracks from bands he loved, including The…

Jun

19

2021

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By Troy Warren

Netflix, Spotify Need to Offer “More and More Services” to Avoid Churn, LionTree CEO Says

BusinessLionTree, Netflix, Spotify

BY ALEX WEPRIN | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT “It does frustrate classic industries to play defense,” Aryeh Bourkoff said at the Tribeca X conference Friday. WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery. Amazon’s acquisition of MGM. Sinclair’s finance raise to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming sports push. All these deals are critical pieces of a rapidly changing and consolidating entertainment and media industry. And it just so happens that one boutique investment bank, LionTree, has been an advisor on all those agreements. LionTree founder and CEO Aryeh Bourkoff explained his thinking behind the state of technology, entertainment and media at the Tribeca X conference in New York on Friday. “The consumer has a lot of power,” Bourkoff…

Jun

18

2021

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By Troy Warren

Pacific Theatres Files For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Business, Entertainment, In The NewsPacificTheatres

BY ETAN VLESSING | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT The exhibitor, which includes Arclight Cinemas, will liquidate assets to repay creditors. The impact of the pandemic has Pacific Theatres Exhibition Corporation not opening the doors on its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres locations. The embattled exhibitor, with in all 16 locations, has instead filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate its remaining assets for its creditors, the company said on Friday. “We are deeply grateful to our employees, our guests, and the film community for coming together over the past decades to create so many wonderful moviegoing experiences,” Pacific Theatres Exhibition…

Jun

18

2021

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By Troy Warren

Is a Famous Face a Form of Intellectual Property?

Business, CelebrityKarenHepp

BY ERIQ GARDNER | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT A Philadelphia news anchor's fight with digital giants, including Facebook, who hosted an unauthorized image of her in ads, raises novel questions about likeness rights and has drawn the attention of SAG-AFTRA. As the co-anchor for Good Day Philadelphia, the local Fox affiliate’s morning news program, Karen Hepp is accustomed to hearing and seeing all sorts of crazy stuff. But nothing could prepare this TV veteran for the moment three years ago when colleagues began taking her aside to show her something remarkable: a screenshot of Hepp smiling at a hidden security camera.…

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