and so it begins. May 1st, 2023.

It's so sad that HBO, I mean, Warner Bros Discovery doesn't give a single fuck about any of it's creators

Do you guys remember when Warner Bros. Discovery said Batman and the Looney Tunes characters were important brands? Because all I'm seeing is them throwing them away

Uh huh.

RT isn't going away cause:

they went "broke"

they rightfully kicked perverts/creeps/incels/and disgusting ass people to the curb

they dared to evolve in having various new talent

because people there failed at any damn thing

They're going away because David Zaslav's, a corpo piece of shit stuck in old media ignorant af of new media, bullshit view; where he gets to erase media via a pen stroke. Just like Batgirl, just like Coyote vs. Acme, Infinity Train, etc. May that piece of shit fall into a deep pit of a metaphorical hell and if WBD has any chance in hell of ever being taken seriously again may he be kicked to the goddamn curb where he belongs.

People who know what to do archive the shit out of everything RT because of WBs/David Zaslavs recent behavior I'm scared everything that's not directly show related(hell I'm scared for the main shows) is gonna be wiped out.

A very unhappy 1 month anniversary of The Cancellation to WBD, may their stock continue to sink.🕯✨️🙏

Personally, I try to have a nuanced view on Piracy. I do believe in trying to support the original product and/or that there are times when it is more beneficial to purchase the original thing even if the big bad corporation gets my money. And I also believe that commiting Piracy purely on believing that doing so is "Doing Activism Better" than people who pay for the stuff is a bad way to approach things.

With that in mind: It is 100% moral and right to pirate HBO Max content. Not when they are finishing removing them from the service, either, but right now.

Because the people in charge have made it absolutely clear they dont give a shit about anything they have, that they disrespect literally everyone. Not just their audience, not just their content, but every person working for them as well.

Pirate their shows. Share them. Share the content they believed was worthless

And may they be the most pirated shows in the whole damn world. May HBO Max and everything Zaslav touched be burned to the ground. May everyone know that Zaslav poisoned the well and ruined any chances WBD had of recovery.

August 7, 2023

By Maureen Lee Lenker

(Entertainment Weekly) — We'll always have Paris, but for a time, it seemed as if we might not always have Turner Classic Movies.

Since 1994, TCM has aired films, uncut and commercial-free, 24 hours a day, all enhanced by monthly themed and curated programming, hosted introductions and conclusions (known as outros), conversations with filmmakers and talent, and original content. In its nearly 30 years of existence, the network has expanded beyond its already estimable remit as a cable network-meets-film-school, with fan events including a film festival and cruise.

The brand also plays a key role in global film preservation efforts. Restorations of bigger studio titles are typically done by the studios themselves, but TCM is more often than not the showcase for such work — both on air and at the annual film festival. TCM won a Peabody Award in 2008 for its "commitment to film preservation and restoration." 

In 2023 alone, TCM partnered with the Film Foundation and the studio to restore 10 classics for the Warner Bros. 100th anniversary, including 1932's One Way Passage, 1941's The Strawberry Blonde, 1959's Rio Bravo, and 1955's East of Eden, all of which screened at the film festival and aired on the network. Last year, TCM celebrated its expanded partnership with the Film Foundation with the premiere of a 4K restoration of the Elizabeth Taylor/James Dean/Rock Hudson epic Giant at the 2022 festival. (Going even further back, in 2007, TCM tracked down the rights to six "lost" RKO films, including William Powell comedy Double Harness and Ginger Rogers rom-com Rafter Romance, not seen in over 50 years).

But on June 20, all of that seemed to be in peril as news broke that the entire executive leadership team of TCM (most of whom boasted 20-plus years of experience with the network) were being laid off alongside other members of the staff. The latest round of layoffs, which network staff tell EW they were blindsided by, are part of Warner Bros. Discovery's continuing attempts to cut costs across the studio.

Some backtracking from the executives at WBD is alright (especially in terms of staff rehires and bringing back the TCMFF Director), but they cut away at something that wasn't broken to begin with!

Wouldn’t it be wild if a horde of mentally ill queer fans of a show about the crew of the “Revenge” ended David Zaslav’s career.

Y’know. As Revenge 😌

I sent a few email to HBO customer support requesting they sell the show to another streamer. Very politely of course 😊. I know there is no chance of them doing so but still I think being vocal and consistent is really important.

WBD CEO: We can’t have a guy who said/did racist and homophobic things in his past on TV he has since fully apologized for. Not even a tribute show after he dies taking his daughter to cheerleading practice!

Also, WBD CEO: We’re doubling down on Harry Potter and that guy who slapped the fuck out of his wife on camera two weeks ago!!!

Edit/Update: See also, the FUCKING FLASH

This sprite of Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion from Mortal Kombat!

The Spectre of the Netherrealm!

Continuing my ongoing effort to help push DC's Blue Beetle as we get closer to its release date, DC isn't pushing it across other social media platforms, it's been revealed that an officially licensed Blue Beetle Scarab magnetic pin is being exclusively sold by GameStop! Here's some more details: At an impressive 12cm (4.72”) tall, this is perfect to wear as a bold fashion statement or cosplay centerpiece, or displayed in the collector’s quality box. Only 8,000 units of this pin are being sold.

https://twitter.com/CineGeekNews/status/1735028345794855200

Warner Bros Discovery currently has an over 60% Probability of Bankruptcy.

I honestly am not sure if this is good or bad for the SPN revival. On the one hand, WB is NOT going to want to spend money on such a niche IP (that will really mostly only draw ppl who were already fans) if they are in such dire straits financially. On the other hand, they could bring in money by selling the IP to another studio who would obviously then want to actually do something with it since they spent money on it. But that also depends on another studio or streaming service wanting to do something with it which will be tougher. Netflix would make sense since they currently have SPN for streaming, except they will be losing their streaming rights at the end of 2025. A revival wouldn't even be released until then so why would Netflix want to put money into a revival of show that will, at that time, be streaming on a competitor (most likely Max since it will revert back to WB). Amazon is a possibility since both Jensen and Kripke are there (especially if they want to bring Kripke on for it) and Kripke seems to have some sway over there. But again, unless they buy the rights to SPN to stream on their platform, why would they want to make a show that will inadvertently benefit their competitor?

Thoughts?

https://www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/WBD/Probability-Of-Bankruptcy#google_vignette

[full disclosure, I sent this same ask to someone else as well, I'm not trying to spam people with it, I just wanted both your opinions!]

I went cross eyed reading the article, it looks like it was written by an A.I, which is not out of the realm of possibility given how many "journalists" are fired and Sports Illustrated was busted for using AI to write articles.

It really does not take much to avoid bankruptcy. Usually when a company is going to go under, the signs of it are obvious inaction for a long time and it inevitably dooms the business.   The prime reason why WBD is not going broke is because they took immediate actions after the merger. What happens is the profitable parts of the business stays, while losses are either "turned around" or the business gets eliminated. Sometimes things like streaming subscribers will drop a quarter or two. Maybe a movie or two never gets released. But housecleaning is far more important than anything right now so that money is not wasted. The result is growing cash flow without losing much of the business.

Remember what I've said that cash flow is king? You can run a non-profitable company indefinitely with positive cash flow, but run a profitable company into the ground without cash flow. AT&T generated next to no cash flow. WBD exists for the very purpose of dismantling the legacy Time Warner conglomerate, that was the intention when AT&T sold it to Zaslav. It’s why they removed HBO from the name of Max. His job is to clean up its balance sheets, prepare its parts for sale, and pay himself handsomely in tune of $200 million last year. I begrudgingly admire Zaslav’s sticking with his controversial strategy, which saw other studios eventually following that same strategy.

By 2023, WBD paid off $12 billion in debt.  That was a demonstration of faith by management in the turnaround efforts or else they would have kept the cash "just in case."  The interest on the debt alone is eating $2 to $3 billion in free cash flow. Thats a lot of free growth in their bottom line when debt is paid down. Against all odds, WBD's streaming service HBO Max (and then just Max) is creating most of the cash flow improvement with $5 billion in cash flow. Advertising is growing in this segment at a robust pace. That said, the content decline for third-party licensing will have implications now that the strike is over and WBD has to start spending money on new contents on their prized IPs i.e. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, DC, etc.

For niche IPs like Supernatural, I see 50% chance of WBD still licensing it to Netflix because third-party licensing is the new king. WBD will also offload low-performing shows in the same bundle with higher-performing Supernatural because it will allow WBD to continue their 'creative accounting' to avoid paying residuals to low-tier actors. Then I can see Netflix doing what they did with Gilmore Girls and produce a revival limited series for Supernatural, which will increase viewership for the OG SPN and continue to help retain subscribers.

On the other hand, WBD is rebooting every niche IP under the sun and I'm pretty certain they will make the same attempt with Supernatural. The strike is over and WBD need to make new contents to attract back subscribers they lost over two quarters during the strike. When SPN goes back to Max in 2025, an announcement of a reboot/revival will mean free marketing from devoted fans and ensure continual interest and viewership of the OG SPN.

Will forever regret that my Netflix is Dead post was true in that they dropped $200 in stock from losing out on some big streaming deals, shuttered their animation unit in such a hostile way that the whole industry was pissed at them, added an ad tier reinforcing the Streaming is the gentrified Cable outlook, and they greenlit several extra seasons of Big Mouth all within the span of two days;

Resulting in them having their lowest stock value in 4 years, after already just losing their Record Peak Value when their new suits layed off so many employees and cancelled projects left and right during the main Pandemic period, bringing them down an additional $300.

Which by the end of it all left them with not enough yearly revenue to cover the costs or debt they accrued over that time according to multiple sources reporting on it in real time.

Yet they suddenly and miraculously rebounded in under a month seemingly out of nowhere. And since have clawed their way back up to almost $500 in less than a year. Which has resulted in so many people continuing to reblog the post to either

A) Tell me Im wrong and Netflix aint dead (Obvious)

B) Use this as an opportunity to disparage things about me (Mean & Unwarranted)

C) Tell me I need to improve on reporting things, site sources better, and not spread misinformation (Wasnt intended as misinformation, but Ive already taken the other two to heart long ago thank you and please stop now)

D) Falsely believe Netflix is about to die, not realizing I made that post just under 2 years ago (Ruh Roh)

Now I'm sitting here watching all these companies starting to ditch and begin shutting down their streaming platforms and aggregate behind Netflix again to stop Disney+ from becoming profitable, and just really eating all those words I typed once again.

Still on the edge of my seat waiting for WBD to fall apart either 2025-26, you cannot operate a company at an $8 Billion yearly loss with the revenue they got.