The New York Budgets

Category: Streaming

  • Roku is acquiring the subscription streaming service Frndly TV in a deal valued at $185 million

    Roku is acquiring the subscription streaming service Frndly TV in a deal valued at $185 million

    Roku is making a significant acquisition that will propel it further in the content space.

    The streaming platform says that it is acquiring the subscription streaming service Frndly TV in a deal valued at $185 million. The deal, which should be completed in Q2, will give Roku a foothold in the subscription streaming market and vMVPD sector, complementing its free Roku Channel.

    Frndly blends aspects of virtual multichannel video providers like YouTube TV with on-demand entertainment programming, with a focus on family-friendly fare. It streams channels that include Hallmark, History, Lifetime and A&E. Its plans start at $6.99 per month.

    “Frndly TV’s impressive growth and expertise in direct-to-consumer subscription services make it a compelling addition to Roku,” said Anthony Wood, Roku’s Founder and CEO. “This acquisition supports our focus on growing platform revenue and Roku-billed subscriptions, with a live content offering our users love at an industry-leading price point.”

    “We’re incredibly excited to join Roku and continue our mission to provide customers feel-good, quality entertainment as the most affordable live TV subscription streaming service in America,” adds Andy Karofsky, Frndly TV CEO and co-founder. “Roku’s pioneering role in streaming and its longstanding commitment to customers aligns perfectly with our strategic vision. We believe this combination will help us accelerate subscription growth, given the alignment in core customer demographics and Roku’s leadership position in the connected TV ecosystem.”

    The $185 million deal includes $75 million which is being held back for an earn-out over the next two years.

    The deal was connected to Roku’s Q1 earnings report, which saw revenue rise by 16 percent to $1.02 billion, and a net loss of $27.4 million.

  • Tariffs uncertainty didn’t prevent Apple Services, with contributions from TV+ and Music, from achieving $26.6 billion in quarterly revenue

    Tariffs uncertainty didn’t prevent Apple Services, with contributions from TV+ and Music, from achieving $26.6 billion in quarterly revenue

    Tech giant Apple, led by CEO Tim Cook, delivered revenue of $95.36 billion for the second quarter of 2025 overshadowed by sweeping new tariffs imposed on China by the Trump administration. 

    The iPhone maker’s overall revenues, up 5 percent year-on-year, surpassed analyst expectations after a consensus estimate from FactSet forecast Apple would record $94.4 billion in revenue.

    Apple’s services segment, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade and other products, posted overall revenue of $26.65 billion, up 11.6 percent from a year-earlier $23.8 billion and a slight miss on an analyst consensus estimate for $26.70 billion for Q2 2025.

    The iPhone maker reported net income of $24.7 billion, up from $23.6 billion in 2024, and earnings per-share came in at $1.65, up from a year-earlier $1.53, and beating an analyst forecast of $1.63 for the latest quarter. 

    During an after-market analyst call, Apple execs are expected to discuss a potential impact on demand for its products from the U.S.-China trade war and how the tech giant will deal with fall out from the Trump administration’s global trade war affecting supply chain costs out of China, Vietnam and India.

    Tariff exemptions have been allowed for smartphones and other electronics, if only temporarily. But the looming talks on reducing or ending sweeping new tariffs on China has rattled investors for its potential impact on Apple’s global-spanning business. 

    Other tariffs-induced impacts, including recessionary pressures on a wobbly economy leading to lower consumer spending, could impact subscriber numbers for Apple TV+ and Apple Music and whether iPhone users upgrade to the newer handsets. The tech giant reported “record viewership” for Apple TV+ during the second quarter, without breaking out numbers. 

    CEO Cook during an analyst call pointed to plans to spend around $500 billion over four years in the U.S. market, and to open a factory for “advanced server manufacturing” in Texas this year for high-performance computing, data centers and other applications. But that was far short of answering calls from U.S. President Donald Trump to move production of the iPhone and other popular electrical products to the U.S., rather than continue to off-shore manufacturing.

    Cook said the tariffs impact on Apple during the second quarter to March 29, 2025 was “limited” as the company managed its supply chain costs and product inventory and consumers bought new products before Trump’s tariffs regime kicks in. But making projections for the third quarter and the rest of 2025 has been more problematic. 

    Cook did forecast the current global tariff rates, absent new ones to come from the Trump administration, would add around $900 million to costs at Apple for its April-to-June quarter. “I don’t want to predict the future, because I’m not sure what will happen with the tariffs,” the Apple CEO added when pressed by an analyst to forecast future tariff-related costs for the tech giant, which so far have mostly hinged on a product’s country of origin.

    “As we look ahead, we remain confident that we will continue to build the world’s best products and services, confident in our ability to innovate and enrich our users’ lives and confident that we continue to run our company in a way that has always set Apple apart,” the Apple boss did tell analysts in earlier prepared remarks on the conference call. 

    Cook spoke against a global market background where Apple is caught between being unable to move the manufacture of electronic products to the U.S. market without years of delay to new American factories, and facing likely consumer pushback for its marquee products in China and elsewhere internationally as Trump imposes fast-shifting tariffs to reshape global trade.

    Apple is working hard to move production of its iPhones and other electronic products out of China, which faces the steepest U.S. tariffs globally, based on the country of origin for manufacturing. For the current third quarter to June 2025, Cook predicted India will be where the “majority” of iPhones sold in the U.S. originate, and Vietnam will be where virtually all iPads, Mac computers, Apple Watches and AirPods are made. 

    “What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it, and so we have over time and with certain parts of the supply chain — not the whole thing, but certain parts of it — opened up new sources of supply, and you could see that kind of thing in the future,” Cook said in answer to an analyst question about supply chain risks. 

    Cook didn’t make predictions on the mix of country of origins to produce iPhones and other Apple electrical products beyond the third quarter. To weigh possible future tariff-related costs, the Cupertino, California-based company and other major U.S. retailers face a Section 232 investigation due to the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, where the U.S. Secretary of Commerce is probing the impact from imports on U.S. national security.

  • Live Nation’s revenue fell to $3.3 billion in the first quarter

    Live Nation’s revenue fell to $3.3 billion in the first quarter

    Live Nation reported $3.3 billion in revenue for the first financial quarter of 2025, an 11 percent drop from the particularly strong first quarter the live music giant had posted a year ago. 

    Adjusted operating income fell 6 percent to $341 million from 362.5 million year over year. In the concerts division, revenue fell 14 percent to $2.84 billion, and ticketing revenue fell 4 percent to $694.7 million. Sponsorship and advertising, however, grew slightly, up 2 percent to $216.1 million. 

    While the year has started out slower, in its report, Live Nation points to $5.4 billion in deferred revenue for concerts and another $270 million in deferred revenue on tickets — a 24 percent and 13 percent bump for each category — which the company said suggests stronger figures in the months ahead as the concert season gets more into full swing.

    Live Nation’s earnings report comes as there’s been significant discourse over the past year regarding the demand for arena and stadium level artists given increasingly expensive concert tickets and a murky economic outlook in the months ahead. Beyoncé, for example, has garnered headlines as there are still tickets available for dates on her just-started Cowboy Carter Tour, leading to the question on if sales are weakening as consumers tighten their belts. (Live Nation itself has disputed the notion of a surplus of tickets and said in March that she’d sold 94 percent of her tickets, according to Billboard.)

    In a statement, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino maintained that the company’s seen no indication to expect lower demand from fans ahead despite a less-than-rosy broader economic picture. He said Live Nation is “on track to deliver double-digit growth in operating income and AOI this year.”

    “As more artists tour the world, fan demand is reaching new heights across ticket sales, show attendance, and on-site spending,” Rapino said. “Ticket sales are pacing well ahead of last year, with deferred revenue for both concerts and ticketing at record levels. To support even more fans seeing their favorite artists, we’re continuing to expand our global venue network, adding 20 major venues through 2026. As the global experience economy grows, the live music industry is leading the way, and we’re positioned to compound growth by double-digits over many years.”

    During the company’s earnings call Thursday afternoon, Rapino pointed toward on-sales from April 1st to April 21st, calling it the “most relevant on-sale” period and specifically mentioning strong on-sales for Chris Brown and Lady Gaga tours. 

    “We haven’t seen a consumer pullback in any genre, club, theater, stadium, amphitheater, we haven’t seen that happen yet,” Rapino said. 

    Outside of its quarterly earnings, Live Nation of course still faces a DOJ antitrust lawsuit over monopoly allegations as the Justice department called for a breakup of the eponymous concert promoter and ticketing giant Ticketmaster last year. Live Nation has consistently denied the allegations, and CFO Joe Berchtold said at a conference last year that “I expect we’re going to prevail.” Still, both advocates and lawmakers have been vocal in recent months calling for the DOJ to continue to pursue the lawsuit and break up the company.

  • Cinemark reported a loss in the first quarter, citing a weak box office environment

    Cinemark reported a loss in the first quarter, citing a weak box office environment

    Exhibition giant Cinemark reported revenue of $541 million, down 7 percent year-over-year from $579 million, for the first quarter of 2025 and swung to a quarterly loss of $39 million, compared to a year-earlier profit of $25 million.

    But the company touted: “North American industry box office momentum accelerated in April, nearly doubling year-over-year, leading into a blockbuster summer film slate.”

    Quarterly admissions revenue decreased 8.9 percent to $264.1 million, while concession revenue dropped 6.2 percent to $210.4 million, as Cinemark posted a 7.8 percent decrease in attendance to 36.6 million patrons. Worldwide average ticket price came in at $7.22, and concession revenue per patron amounted to $5.75.

    The company also posted quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), another profitability metric, of $36.4 million, down from $70.7 million in the year-ago period. 

    “Cinemark once again delivered outsized box office results in the first quarter, surpassing industry benchmarks both domestically and internationally, despite a suppressed box office environment that was impacted by lingering effects of the 2023 Hollywood strikes,” CEO Sean Gamble said in the press release. “We continue to expect a favorable rebound in our industry’s recovery trajectory this year, and the second quarter is already pacing well ahead of 2024’s box office results, showcasing the strong, sustained enthusiasm consumers have for experiencing a diverse range of compelling, well-marketed films in theaters.”

    He added: “As we look ahead, we remain highly encouraged about the future direction of our industry and company based on resilient consumer trends, a continued resurgence of wide release volume, Cinemark’s advantaged financial and competitive positions, and meaningful opportunities we have to generate incremental value creation through our ongoing strategic initiatives.”

    On the earnings call, Gamble said momentum starting picking up with A Minecraft Movie, which delivered Cinemark’s highest three-day opening of all time for a family film, and continued with the faith-based film King of Kings, Sinners and The Accountant 2. 

    Moving forward, Gamble said that he also expects Cinemark and the film industry would be able to continue on an upswing during “an uncertain and evolving macroeconomic landscape,” due to the fact that in six of the past eight recesssions, North American box office has grown. “Based on our observations during strained economic periods, people continue to pursue out of experiences, and they tend to prioritize value and affordability,” he said.

    Concluded Gamble: “Considering the health of our company and our positive outlook, we paid our first dividend since the pandemic during the quarter and executed $200 million of share repurchases. This marks our first-ever stock buyback program and has put us out in front of managing potential dilution related to our upcoming convertible notes settlement.”

  • FuboTV lost subscribers during the first quarter

    FuboTV lost subscribers during the first quarter

    The sports streaming platform FuboTV reported it ended the first quarter with 1.47 million paid subscribers in North America, down from 1.67 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024 and 1.61 million at the end of the third quarter that year.

    Fubo had 1.51 million North American subscribers in the year-ago period. The streamer in the first quarter had overall revenue at $416.3 million, up from year-earlier $402.3 million. That beat an analyst projection of revenues at $415.45 million, according to TipRanks Analyst Forecasts.

    Fubo saw subscription revenue rise to $391.4 million, against $373.7 million in the same period of 2024. The company reiterated it looked to get to profitability for its sports-centric streamer in 2025. 

    Advertising revenue dropped to $22.8 million, compared to a year earlier $27.4 million. The streamer swung to a net income from continuing operations at $188.4 million, compared to a year-earlier net loss of $56.3 million.

    The latest quarter included a $220 million gain on the settlement of antitrust litigation. In January 2024, Venu, the sports-focused streaming service proposed by The Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp. was abandoned in the face of opposition from Fubo.

    Fubo execs unveiled a separate deal that will see Disney  merge its Hulu + Live TV service with Fubo.  “We also remain excited about our agreement with The Walt Disney Company to combine Fubo with Hulu + Live TV, and its potential to increase competition in the Pay TV space. We continue to work through the regulatory process, and look forward to sharing more information when we are able,” David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of Fubo, said in prepared remarks during a pre-market analyst call on Friday. 

    Gandler discussed an ongoing dispute after TelevisaUnivision pulled its networks from Fubo in Dec. 2024, with the prospect of talks between the parties getting started to resolve their content pricing differences. “We’re certainly open to those discussions on acceptable terms,” the Fubo CEO told analysts.