After 56 years on PBS, Big Bird and friends are finding new life on Netflix following President Donald Trump's threat to pull the plug on publicly-funded media, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"The streaming giant has reached an agreement to broadcast new episodes of 'Sesame Street,' giving the beloved children’s show a home after Warner Bros. Discovery said it was stepping away from the program," the report said.
Netflix plans to air 90 hours of previous episodes, while new episodes "will also air on PBS stations and PBS Kids the same day they debut on Netflix," the report said.
The Journal quoted Sesame Workshop saying the deal serves “as a unique public-private partnership to enable ‘Sesame Street’ to continue to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder."
Meghan McCain is slamming Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, for releasing the "highly curated, produced and out of touch" trailer to her new Netflix show during a time of turmoil.
Markle and husband Prince Harry, who famously quit British royal duties to live in the United States, have a $100 million deal with Netflix to produce programs through their company, Archwell Productions. Their current offering, called simply "Polo," received poor reviews and was dubbed "unintentionally hilarious" by the UK's The Guardian.
The aspirational show, called "With Love, Meghan," is set to be released Jan. 15.
According to Forbes, "The nearly two-minute-long trailer released by Netflix on Thursday shows Markle wandering the rows of a meticulously kept garden, choosing fresh flowers, harvesting honey, kneading homemade bread and working in the kitchen with a lineup of famous friends."
McCain posted to X on Friday:
"I was originally a Meghan Markle supporter, I thought she was cool, stylish and refreshing. Like the rest of the world my opinion changed when she disrespected the royal family. Now that she wants to be American again instead of British aristocracy what she seems to forget is Americans want real, raw, uncensored. All of this even in the trailer is highly curated, produced and out of touch. There have been 2 terror attacks in 2 days, major wars raging and Americans can’t pay for groceries. We are a country in rage, uncertainty and intensity right now. This concept is ill advised. I would have told her to do a show helping bring fresh food to food deserts in low income neighborhoods. Do something to help people instead of your ego. This is why the world doesn’t like you, nothing else. Just completely and utterly tone deaf to the moment."
The "lifestyle series" was first announced by Netflix in April. It followed the launch of Markle's lifestyle brand called "American Riviera Orchard," which, according to Forbes, "has yet to produce any content or products."
“Tiger King”-star-turned-presidential-candidate Joe Exotic is earning income in creative ways while in prison — despite facing a hefty liability from his big cat rescue foe Carole Baskin, according to a new federal financial disclosure filing.
Exotic — real name Joseph Maldonado — reported just one liability on his disclosure report, a requirement for all presidential candidates: a “$814,465 judgment from “Big Cat Rescue (Carole Baskin).”
Maldonado is in federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, serving a 21-year sentence for two counts of murder-for-hire related to alleged plans to kill Baskin, along with 17 other crimes, including violations of a law prohibiting illegal wildlife trading.
Baskin and Maldonado’s animosity toward each other as rivals in the big cat rescue industry was the center of the Netflix documentary, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” that was a cultural touchpoint in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite serving a lengthy prison sentence, Maldonado is bringing in some income from diverse sources, ranging from a book advance to toy payments and music royalties.
Maldonado reported a $35,000 advance from Simon & Schuster for a book payment, a $5,000 advance from a contract with Wilder Toys and $2,000 payment for an NFT promotion from a contract with E&J Holdings.
Plus, he’s earned $11,197 in royalties from SoSouth Music Publishing, $3,150 in podcast and interview stipends and $1,017 from Facebook views, according to the filing.
Maldonado is running for president as an ultra-long-shot Democratic candidate against President Joe Biden, environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and author Marianne Williamson — a field that’s a fraction of the size of the Republican race, which former President Donald Trump leads despite his own legal issues.
Maldonado’s campaign, Joseph Maldonado to Free America, reported raising $10,294.10 with $1,764.49 cash on hand as of June 30, after spending most of the funds on campaign merchandise, according to the Maldonado campaign’s most recent financial filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Maldonado's press secretary, Michael Robison, was not immediately available for comment.
“Here is my comment,” Stone wrote, attaching a black-and-white photo of a “DONALD TRUMP DID NOTHING WRONG!” T-shirt.
Image sent to Raw Story by Roger Stone.
Trump and Stone are united in their legal troubles, which lately overlap.
Stone is unabashedly one of the most notorious, morally-dubious and unflinching (even while under court-ordered gag rules) political provocateurs in American political history. Netflix gave him a documentary – “Get Me Roger Stone” – before a Florida judge gave him a three year prison sentence for lying to Congress and threatening a witness, among other Stone-ian charges.
Trump didn’t like the thought of his favorite fixer locked up, so he publicly lashed out at his own Justice Department. That led to an unheard of televised rebuke from the nation’s top lawyer, his own attorney general, William Barr.
Trump wasn’t having that, either. Over protests from Barr and other lawyers, the former president commuted Stone’s sentence mere days before he was slated to head to the slammer. Trump then pardoned Stone about a month before leaving the White House
With no prison sentence to serve, Stone was free to help plan Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.
The U.S. House’s select Jan. 6 committee viewed Stone – and his posse of Proud Boys – as playing a particularly venomous role in the biggest attack on American democracy since President Richard Nixon put himself above the law.
In Stone’s eyes, Nixon’s mistake was resigning. Perhaps if he had whipped up some “Nixon did nothing wrong!” tees, American politics would have been different decades ago. Just the way Stone seems to like it — embers, ashes and all.
Netflix says its new ad-subsidized subscription tier is starting out better than expected, and that it will begin a broad rollout of paid plans for people who share passwords with other households
San Francisco (AFP) - Netflix on Tuesday said that its number of subscribers hit a record high 232.5 million in the first quarter of the year and that its nascent ad-supported tier was faring well.
The streaming television giant reported a quarterly profit of $1.3 billion, in line with expectations, but said it had delayed a broad crackdown on sharing of account passwords "to improve the experience for members."
Netflix said it expects to begin rolling out its options for paid password sharing this quarter instead.
"It's clear that the company wants to manage any fallout from the new strategy," said Third Bridge analyst Jamie Lumley.
That means some membership and revenue benefits resulting from the move were postponed, Netflix said in a letter to shareholders.
Netflix has dabbled with "borrower" or "shared" accounts in a few markets, but plans to roll them out in the United States and elsewhere this month, co-chief executive Greg Peters said in a streamed earnings interview.
Netflix said it is taking time to make sure subscribers have seamless access to the service away from home or on various devices such as tablets, TVs or smartphones.
"We learned from this last set of launches about some improvements we can do," Peters said.
"It was better to take a little bit of extra time to incorporate those learnings and make this transition as smooth as possible for members."
And while a new ad-subsidized subscription tier at Netflix is in its early days, engagement is above initial expectations and Netflix has seen "very little switching from our standard and premium plans."
Market tracker Insider Intelligence forecast that Netflix will bring in $770 million in ad revenue from the new tier this year, and that revenue figure will top $1 billion next year.
As growth at Netflix cooled last year, the Silicon Valley based streaming company focused on creating a lower priced subscription tier with advertising.
Netflix also set out to nudge people watching for free with shared passwords to begin paying for the service without alienating subscribers.
"This account sharing initiative helps us have a larger base of potential paying members and grow Netflix long term," said co-chief executive Ted Sarandos.
Future of TV
For the first time ever, US adults will spend more time this year watching digital video on platforms such as Netflix, TikTok and YouTube than viewing traditional television, Insider Intelligence has forecast.
The market tracker expects "linear TV" to account for less than half of daily viewing for the first time ever.
"This milestone is driven by people spending more and more time watching video on their biggest and smallest screens, whether it's an immersive drama on a connected TV or a viral clip on a smartphone," Insider Intelligence principal analyst Paul Verna said in a release.
Netflix and YouTube are "neck and neck" leaders when it comes to digital video audience attention, according to Insider Intelligence.
Netflix planned to continue spending about $17 billion annually on shows and films, with that amount perhaps climbing after next year.
"Netflix subscriber growth shows that the streaming wars are still on," said analyst Lumley.
"The company is ahead of where it was this time last year but still clearly facing the pressure from all the players in this crowded space."
Netflix is cracking down on password sharing. If you don't pay for the service but are using someone else's password, the enjoy it while you still can. Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Nearly six years ago, Netflix made a simple claim on Twitter: "Love is sharing a password."
A lot of love has been going around since then — more than 100 million Netflix users share passwords with their friends, families, exes and even complete strangers, according to the company's fourth-quarter shareholder letter.
But it seems the streaming giant has changed its mind on the meaning of love.
On Wednesday, Netflix announced it will begin rolling out new password-sharing rules in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain.
The announcement comes after Netflix last week updated its online frequently asked questions page with information on account sharing. The company also detailed how it aims to crack down on password sharing in the United States in a January company earnings call.
The biggest change — and the one that caused all the rage — is that Netflix redefined which users can share an account.
The new password-sharing rules detailed protocols to prevent people in different households from using the same Netflix account.
Under those rules, which are in practice in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, Netflix users would be required to verify their home devices every month. Devices outside the home would be blocked and users encouraged to create an account of their own at a discounted rate.
But on February 1, the streaming platform said it had "errantly" posted this information, and the original version has been removed from the website, according to The Streamable.
The first line in the updated FAQ now reads, "A Netflix account is for people who live together in a single household." A household, as Netflix defines it, is based on proximity and determined by location-based information such as IP addresses and device IDs.
So if all the users on a Netflix account live in the same location, no problem.
If you're a college student, a frequent traveler or someone who doesn't have a home base, it gets a little bit trickier. Once you start introducing multiple devices, Wi-Fi networks and locations, that's where the new rules — expected to take effect in March — will come into play.
In Netflix's most recent earnings call, Gregory Peters, chief operating officer and chief product officer, said Netflix is seeking to monetize the viewing value that it delivers to get subscriber growth back on track.
"We've got folks that are watching Netflix who aren't paying us as part of basically borrowing somebody else's credentials," Peters said, "and our goal is over this year to basically work through that situation and convert many of those folks to be paid accounts or to have the account owner pay for them."
Peters noted this would not be a "universally popular move."
"We'll see a bit of a cancel reaction to that," he said.
Here's what to know about the new password-sharing policy:
The new rules in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain
For users in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain, the new password-sharing rules began Wednesday, Netflix said in its online announcement.
Netflix said it will help users set up a primary location where anyone living in that household can access the account.
For those living outside the primary household, Netflix will introduce the option to transfer a profile to a new paid account so users can keep their personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games and more.
As for travelers, "members can still easily watch Netflix on their personal devices or log into a new TV, like at a hotel or holiday rental," the company said.
For members using a standard or premium plan, up to two people outside of a household can be added to the account at an additional charge. The out-of-household users will each have their own profile, personalized recommendations and their own login and password. Users on basic and ad-supported plans will not be able to add more members.
You can no longer share your Netflix account with someone who doesn't live in the same household
"People who do not live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix," the streaming service said online.
Netflix said it may ask people to verify their devices if someone logs into an account from a device outside the household.
For now, the company says it won't "automatically charge you" if someone logs in outside your home network.
You'll need to verify your device
Let's say you're traveling and will be away from home for some time. If you try to access your Netflix account or sign into a device not associated with your home Wi-Fi, Netflix may ask you to verify your device.
You'll have to enter a four-digit code sent to the account owner's email or phone within a 15-minute expiration window.
"We do this to confirm that the device using the account is authorized to do so," the streaming service said online.
Netflix users in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru have to renew their account credentials every 31 days, and the streaming platform said "device verification may be required periodically" for users in the United States.
You won't have to verify your device if you're using the same internet connection in the primary account owner's household.
To verify accounts within the same household, Netflix said, it will use information including IP addresses, device IDs and account activity from devices signed into the account.
Can you still use Netflix while traveling?
The streaming platform said "if you are traveling or live between different homes, we want you to be able to enjoy Netflix anywhere, anytime."
But if you are the primary account owner (or live with the owner) and you're away from your household for "an extended period of time," the streaming platform will prompt you to verify your device.
Almost makes you miss the simpler days when you could order a movie online and a DVD would arrive in a red envelope in the mail, right?
Elliot Page has discussed how life has changed for them, personally and professionally, since announcing they are trans in December 2020, and how this experience led to his "Umbrella Academy" character coming forward as transgender. Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix/dpa
Elliot Page is giving audiences a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes discussions that led to his "Umbrella Academy" character coming forward as transgender.
While appearing Tuesday on US talk show "Late Night With Seth Meyers," Page discussed how life has changed for them, personally and professionally, since announcing they are trans in December 2020.
"What I want to focus on right now and has been so extraordinary is the degree of joy that I feel," Page told Meyers. "I feel a way that I really never thought possible for a long, long time. ... But of course, moments can be overwhelming. ...
"It's so unfortunate because it's like, we're all on the same team here. Whether you're trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, cis - we all have these expectations and these limits and constraints because of people's obsession with the binary ... It'd be so special for us to all be able to connect and talk about how similar we are in all of our journeys."
In March, Netflix and Page confirmed that the actor's sonically gifted "Umbrella Academy" character, Viktor Hargreeves, would use he/him/his pronouns in the upcoming third season of the superhero series.
According to the Oscar-nominee, "Umbrella Academy" showrunner and "wonderful person" Steve Blackman "seemed really excited" to incorporate Page's trans identity into the plot of Season 3, which premiered Wednesday on Netflix.
Additionally, the show tapped journalist and author Thomas Page McBee - the first trans man to box at New York City's Madison Square Garden - to consult on Viktor's character arc. In 2018, McBee released a memoir, "Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man," about his physical and internal journey to Madison Square Garden.
"[McBee's] book and his work in general are so much about masculinity and what it means and exploring that," Page said. "So Thomas came on board and helped out, and I feel proud of it and excited for people to see."
Page also explained how coming forward as trans has made him a better performer, person and friend.
"That's obviously a big component and part of my life and a beautiful thing to experience now," Page said. "A lot of the time, my life was just trying to move forward, and so getting to embrace the experience as much as I get to now ... it's made me better in so many facets."
Since issuing a powerful statement about their transition in December 2020, Page has been showered with love and support from friends and colleagues, as well as the larger trans community. They have also been met with negativity as they continue to use their platform to amplify trans voices.
"I reflect on certain very difficult times in my life and certain struggles and obstacles and all that, and ultimately getting through that — I think it really deepens your empathy," Page told Meyers.
"I think of the times in my life where I was the most uncomfortable, where I was the most unwell, and those are the times when I was the most angry, and that I was the most unkind to myself or self-righteous or all of those things. [Transitioning has] improved my life drastically, and I hope maybe people who do have an issue with me could maybe try and hear that or embrace that on some level."
Elliot Page (second from left) starring as Viktor Hargreeves in season 3 of the Netflix series "Umbrella Academy". -/Netflix 2022/dpa
Netflix is turning the deadly contest from its hit show "Squid Game" into a real-world reality show with a prize money of $4.56 million. "All players will leave unscathed," Netflix says. Rodrigo Reyes Marin/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The prize money is a record-setting $4.56 million, except this time you don't die if you lose: Netflix is turning the deadly contest from "Squid Game" into a real-world reality show, albeit with a less brutal ending for unsuccessful contestants.
Just like in the hit show, 456 participants will compete against each other in various games, as Netflix announced on Tuesday with a teaser trailer for "Squid Game: The Challenge".
"Please note: Win or lose, all players will leave unscathed," the streaming giant says, underlining that - in contrast to the battle royale game organizers in the series - Netflix does not plan on killing off the 455 losing contestants.
Netflix says the prize money of $4.56 million is the highest ever in a game show. Little of the planned reality show is to be seen in the trailer, as Netflix is currently still recruiting contestants and has issued a casting call for interested people in the US, UK and elsewhere.
According to the announcement, people from all over the world who speak English can now apply online to join "the largest cast in reality TV history." Filming is expected to take place in early 2023.
The South Korean series became the most successful Netflix launch to date, clocking 111 million views in a month after it was released in September 2021.
In nine episodes, it tells the story of 456 people who have fallen into debt and are then made to compete against each other in children's games for the chance to win millions in prize money. Anyone who loses, dies.
Paris Hilton gets her own cooking show on Netflix - Nearly two decades since Paris Hilton became a household name with her reality TV show "The Simple Life," the famous hotel heiress is getting her own cooking show on Netflix. - Diego Pineda/colprensa/dpa
Nearly two decades since Paris Hilton became a household name with her reality TV show "The Simple Life," the famous hotel heiress is returning to television with a show on streaming giant Netflix.
This time, however, she'll be cooking, writes Hilton on Instagram.
In the post announcing her new show, Hilton is posed on the front of a cookbook in a pink evening gown and matching gloves while holding a whisk in one hand and a little white dog in the other.
"That's hot. Literally," says Hilton in the teaser video.
Inspired by the unforgettable YouTube video of Hilton making lasagne in early 2020, the "Cooking with Paris" Netflix series will feature the reality show star whipping up "simple recipes from the kitchen of Paris Hilton."
The six-part show will feature Hilton trying out new recipes and ingredients with celebrity guests, according to US media reports.
The reproductive rights of women in the U.S. are currently under attack by the same "pro-lifers" who are the most vociferous against policies that help babies and new mothers.
During an interview with Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," Fiorina states that "for the government to tell others how to do things when the government hasn't gotten its basic house in order is not only ineffective, it's hypocritical."
Remember everyone, the government isn't effective enough to regulate the private sector, but they're crucial in the quest to regulate your private parts! Fiorina seems to think that the corporations are above government regulation, while the feds are entitled to deciding what happens to a woman's uterus.
She continues to dig herself in a deeper ideological hole when she utters that she doesn't "think it's the role of government to dictate to the private sector how to manage their businesses, especially when it's pretty clear that the private sector, like Netflix is doing the right thing because they know it helps them attract the right talent."
In other words, if you're "skilled" labor, you deserve paid leave to take care of your baby. If you're an "unskilled" minimum wage worker, you and your baby can figure it out for yourselves. Bootstraps people!
These right-wing talking points aren't just ideas - they're already being put into practice by businesses. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 39 percent of U.S. private-sector workers don't even have access to any paid sick days. Unsurprisingly, there's a huge disparity among the rich and the poor. Among the top 10 percent of wage earners, 86 percent have paid sick leave, while among the bottom 10 percent, only 22 percent do.
Some might think that the disparity is justified, but that means supporting the idea that our value is not defined by who we are as people, but rather what we do for work. It's a little sick for Fiorina and other conservatives to call themselves pro-life while simultaneously treating the working class like throwaways who don't deserve the same paid time off to take care of their babies or their own health.
Unlike every other developed country, the U.S. has no law that guarantees paid maternity or paternity leave. Under The Family and Medical Leave Act, qualifying workers can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off, but it's left up to companies to decide whether or not they pay their workers while they get their personal lives in order.
All anyone has to do is look at the big picture to understand that the pro-life movement isn't very pro-life at all. From cutting food stamps that feed hungry children, to fighting bills that would make it easier for parents to spend time with their kids, each policy is meant to help the corporations that pay for their campaigns and nothing more.
So the next time another highly edited and fabricated video is released by right-wingers looking to close every Planned Parenthood in the country, question what their intentions are. The Republicans in Congress who are up in arms about abortion are simply pandering to their religious base. The reality is that their policies do nothing but neglect the babies they claim they want to protect.