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SAG-AFTRA taps Nielsen for streaming data to enforce new contract
SAG-AFTRA has tapped audience measurement company Nielsen to provide streaming data that will inform how the performers union enforces certain terms of its new contract with the top studios.
Nielsen announced Thursday that it will function as the official third-party provider of streaming viewership numbers for the Screen Actors Guild-American ...Read more
Sony and Apollo make formal $26 billion joint bid for Paramount
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management have officially put in a bid for Paramount Global, as competition for the storied film and TV company continues to heat up.
Sony and Apollo submitted their $26 billion all-cash offer this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment.
Under the ...Read more
Elon Musk, Argentina's president headline 27th Milken conference
Free-market enthusiasts and mutual admirers Elon Musk and Javier Milei, Argentina's new president, will headline next week's Milken Institute Global Conference, the annual Beverly Hills confab that tackles the world's most pressing problems with a dash of celebrity and Hollywood.
The Beverly Hilton event draws several thousand people from ...Read more
Michigan Senate may defund a $20 million grant used to buy $4,500 coffeemaker
LANSING, Mich. — Any remaining grant funding yet to be disbursed to a Metro Detroit businesswoman who spent $4,500 in taxpayer dollars on a coffeemaker will be blocked under a spending bill the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee approved Wednesday.
The supplemental budget bill includes language directing the State Budget Office to lapse...Read more
US labor costs rise by most in a year as productivity cools
U.S. labor costs increased in the first quarter by the most in a year as productivity gains slowed, potentially adding to risks inflation will remain elevated.
Unit labor costs, or what a business pays employees to produce one unit of output after taking into account changes in productivity, climbed at a 4.7% annual rate. That marked a notable ...Read more
Ford April sales decline, while hybrid sales peak
Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales declined 2.4% in April, though hybrid deliveries hit a new all-time monthly sales peak, the automaker said Thursday.
The drop from 184,002 vehicles to 179,588 came from declines for F-Series trucks, Broncos and other SUVs. Auto prices are declining, and automakers, including Ford, said they are increasing incentives,...Read more
Biden opens door for tax credits so corn farmers can grow jet fuel
To cut greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes, the Biden administration issued guidelines this week that could shape U.S. farming for decades by offering corn growers tax credits to turn their crop into jet fuel.
To qualify, farmers would have to do three things on the land where they grow the corn: plant cover crops, avoid tilling the soil ...Read more
It's the last Free Comic Book Day at the place where it was created
Joe Field needed something to write about.
“I came up with the idea for Free Comic Book Day when I was a columnist for an industry trade magazine,” says Field, who is the owner of the Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff store in Concord, California. “I was scratching for ideas when my deadline was looming, looked out the front ...Read more
Food companies keep pushing protein. How much do we actually need?
Wheaties is getting yoked.
The Breakfast of Champions is releasing a new line of cereals with more than 20 grams of protein per serving "to serve today's modern athletes who are striving to be better everyday," General Mills recently announced.
But it's not just athletes looking to boost their protein intake, as the grocery baskets of many ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: Do I have to sell condo to another owner in building?
Q: When we decided to sell our apartment, one of our friends wanted to buy it, and we agreed to sell it to him at a discounted price. When he went for his interview with the condo board, he was told that he could not buy it because another owner in the building was going to. Do I need to sell it to my neighbor at the discounted price, or can I ...Read more
DEA's big marijuana shift could be a lifeline for California's troubled pot industry
If the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reclassified marijuana as a less dangerous drug, it wouldn't eliminate the conflicts between the feds and states such as California that have legalized many uses of the substance.
But it would bring one significant shift that could give California's licensed pot companies a badly needed boost: a ...Read more
Federal agency wants help protecting domestic violence victims from high-tech cars
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission wants feedback on how it can better protect domestic violence survivors from stalking and abuse carried out through internet-connected technology in cars.
The public comment window is open through May 23, and responses are starting to come in.
“We need to collaborate with law enforcement ...Read more
Global film and TV production down 7% this year following Hollywood strikes, report says
Global film and TV production was down 7% during the first quarter of 2024 compared with the previous year, according to a Wednesday report by film and TV tracking company ProdPro that illustrates Hollywood's slow return to work in the wake of the writers' and actors' strikes.
ProdPro, a relatively new firm that follows film and TV production ...Read more
Can AI-powered drive-throughs save the day for fast food operators?
It didn't take long for Harshraj Ghai to respond to the impact of California's new $20 an hour minimum wage for his 3,700 fast-food employees.
Ghai and his family operate 180 Burger Kings, Taco Bells and Popeyes chicken restaurants across the state, and one of the first things they did after the law took effect April 1 was to start capping ...Read more
US job openings hit three-year low, showing cooling labor market
U.S. job openings fell in March to the lowest level in three years while quits and hiring slowed, indicating more softening in the labor market.
Available positions decreased to 8.49 million from an upwardly revised 8.81 million reading in the prior month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS, ...Read more
Starbucks CEO's honeymoon is over after sales slump, shares dive
Laxman Narasimhan’s honeymoon phase is over.
The chief executive officer of Starbucks Corp., who officially took over the coffee behemoth just over a year ago, on Tuesday cut annual guidance for a third straight quarter after the company’s worst performance since the pandemic. Each of Starbucks’ geographic segments posted a decline, ...Read more
How a negotiation over cable fees could weigh on Paramount's sale
Paramount Global's sale talks with David Ellison's Skydance Media face a milestone later this week, but the battered Redstone family-controlled media company has been scrambling to meet another deadline — one that also carries huge implications.
On Tuesday, Paramount and Charter Communications agreed to a deadline extension as the two sides ...Read more
Millions of semi-trucks on US roads still rely on fossil fuels. Cutting-edge EV tech could change that
On a recent cloudless spring day on the outskirts of Gilroy, California, Christian Martorella accelerated an 18-wheeler past budding orchards. But instead of the roar of a diesel engine, the cab filled with the gentle hum of an electric motor.
After driving diesel trucks for 10 years, Martorella initially eyed electric trucks skeptically. Now, ...Read more
An artificial mind, with a lifelike body: Amid a world of evolving AI, a Las Vegas man brings his creations to life
You wanna see her move? I think that’s the fun part.
The room is thick with anticipation and fabricated skulls.
She’s gonna wake up. Give her a second.
Matt McMullen eyes his creation as her eyes flutter open in return, her gaze settling upon all the disembodied faces and mechanical mandibles surrounding her in this workshop where fake ...Read more
Tech review: Tech gifts for your graduate
It is high school (and college) graduation time and that usually means some gift-giving.
I’ve got a few gift ideas for your graduates that will be welcomed whether they’re headed off to college or still trying to figure out what’s next.
Here are three gadgets, and oddly, two of them are named Flow.
Tribit Stormbox Flow
I think ...Read more
Popular Stories
- An artificial mind, with a lifelike body: Amid a world of evolving AI, a Las Vegas man brings his creations to life
- DEA's big marijuana shift could be a lifeline for California's troubled pot industry
- Can AI-powered drive-throughs save the day for fast food operators?
- Federal agency wants help protecting domestic violence victims from high-tech cars
- It's the last Free Comic Book Day at the place where it was created