Steve Pond's Blog, page 1992
February 6, 2020
WWE Exceeds Q4 Earnings Estimates, but WWE Network Subs Sink 10%
WWE beat fourth-quarter 2019 earnings estimates but missed on revenue expectations, despite reaching a record high thanks to its big “SmackDown” on Fox deal.
Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of 73 cents on $333.28 million in revenue, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Yahoo Finance. On Thursday, WWE actually reported EPS of 78 cents on $322.8 million in revenue for its 2019 Q4.
WWE Network’s average paid subscribers dropped 10% to 1.42 million during the company’s fourth quarter. That’s slightly lower than the company’s 1.43 million subscriber projection.
Also Read: Is WWE About to Tap Out? Wrestlenomics Analyst Brandon Thurston Talks Stock Crash, Q4 Earnings
Fewer live events led to a decline in North American ticket sales, though there was a slight bump in international sales, primarily due to the increased average ticket price for those events. Consumer products also declined as video game “WWE 2K20” was very poorly received.
For 2019 as a whole, WWE reported EPS of 85 cents (down from $1.12 in 2018) on $960.4 million in revenue, which is a full-year revenue record for the company.
“During the fourth quarter, we expanded the reach of WWE’s live programming and further engaged with diverse audiences across platforms and formats,” WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon said. “We believe the value of live sports will continue to increase, particularly in today’s evolving media landscape, and we are well positioned to take advantage of this trend to maximize the value of our content.”
Also Read: WWE Stock Sinks 20% on News of George Barrios, Michelle Wilson Exits
Frank Riddick, interim chief financial officer, added: “For the year, we achieved record revenue and Adjusted OIBDA. However, with the delay in completing a Middle East distribution agreement as well as lower business performance than anticipated, our results were at the low-end of guidance. As we work to strengthen engagement in 2020, we are pursuing several strategic initiatives that could increase the monetization of our content, including the distribution of content in the Middle East and India as well as strategic alternatives for our direct-to-consumer service, WWE Network. Excluding the potential impact of these initiatives, we expect significant revenue growth based on the full year impact of our new content distribution agreements in the U.S. and anticipate Adjusted OIBDA of $250 to $300 million. Management believes it has the potential to exceed this range, but is unable to provide additional guidance at this time.”
WWE stock closed Wednesday afternoon at $49.00 per share, up $1.64. The regular trading day for the U.S. stock markets open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Looking past Wednesday’s gains, it’s been a rough couple of days for WWE stock. Last Thursday, the company parted ways with co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson and shareholders in the publicly traded company panicked, with stock plummeting 20% in after-hours trading. At that time, shares were selling for less than $50 apiece — just four days after WWE’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
Also Read: George Barrios and Michelle Wilson Out as WWE Co-Presidents, Board Members
McMahon and other WWE executives will host a conference call at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the quarter and full year in greater detail. Barrios and Wilson will not be part of the call, but their presence will undoubtedly loom.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Is WWE About to Tap Out? Wrestlenomics Analyst Brandon Thurston Talks Stock Crash, Q4 Earnings
WWE Stock Sinks 20% on News of George Barrios, Michelle Wilson Exits
George Barrios and Michelle Wilson Out as WWE Co-Presidents, Board Members
Twitter Tops 150 Million Daily Users, Reports First $1 Billion Sales Quarter During Q4
Twitter is growing faster than it ever has, with the company crossing the 150 million daily users threshold — and posting its first quarter with $1 billion in revenue — when it reported its Q4 earnings on Thursday morning. Those two milestones appeared to be enough to satiate Wall Street, with Twitter’s stock receiving a 5% boost in pre-market trading, despite the company falling short of earnings estimates.
For Q4, Twitter reported sales of $1.01 billion, marking an 11% year-over-year increase and edging past analyst revenue projections of $997 million. Its earnings of $0.25 per share came in below estimates of $0.29 EPS.
Perhaps most importantly for investors, Twitter’s “monetizable daily active users,” its internal metric for DAUs, increased 21% year-over-year to 152 million; Twitter entered the quarter with 145 million daily users. The 21% year-over-year increase was the best-ever for the company, according to Twitter’s report. Twitter attributed the new users, in part, to its work connecting users to their favorite topics.
Also Read: How Facebook and Twitter's Content Moderation Could Open a Legal 'Pandora's Box'
“2019 was a great year for Twitter. Our work to increase relevance and ease of use delivered 21% mDAU growth in Q4, with more than half of the 26 million mDAU added in 2019 directly driven by product improvements,” Twitter chief Jack Dorsey said in a statement. “Entering 2020, we are building on our momentum — learning faster, prioritizing better, shipping more and hiring remarkable talent. All of which put us in a stronger position as we address the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
Twitter’s stock jumped about 5% soon after the report came out, pushing it to $35 per share.
The company said it “continued to make progress on health” during the fourth quarter, saying it’s started to “proactively limit the visibility of unhealthy content.” This led to a 27% decrease in users having to report other users for violating the company’s rules.
Notably, Twitter decided to ban nearly all political advertising during the fourth quarter. Dorsey, explaining the move, said it would address the “challenges to civic discourse” internet political ads present, including “machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes.” The ban, which went into place in late November, encompasses candidate ads and issue ads. Ads encouraging people to register to vote are still permitted.
Also Read: Twitter Will 'Probably' Never Add an Edit Button, Jack Dorsey Says
Twitter’s decision put the company in stark contrast to Facebook, which has received heavy criticism in recent months for its decision to not fact-check political ads. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company’s move was inspired by the First Amendment. “As a principle,” Zuckerberg said during an October speech at Georgetown University, “in a democracy, I believe people should decide what is credible, not tech companies.”
Dorsey and Twitter received plenty of kudos for banning political ads, with pundits from CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times all championing the move. But Dorsey’s decision was also made easier because of how inconsequential political ads are in terms of Twitter’s overall ad business. Twitter CFO Ned Segal, in October, shared that the company made about $3 million from political ads during the 2018 midterm election cycle — coming out to about 0.46% of the $650 million in total ad revenue Twitter received during the third quarter of 2018.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Ben Platt's SXSW Favorite 'Run This Town' Partners With Twitter
Twitter Will 'Probably' Never Add an Edit Button, Jack Dorsey Says
Twitter to Verify Primary Candidates, Relaunch 'Election Labels' on Candidate Profiles
Decisions in Hollywood Still Largely Made by White Men, New Study Shows
Hollywood in recent years has taken steps to correct a lack of diversity and inclusion both in front and behind the camera. But at top studios, leadership and decision-making positions are still overwhelmingly held by white men, according to UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report.
The heads at the 11 major and mid-major film studios were 91% white and 82% male, according to the report, which was authored by UCLA dean of social sciences Darnell Hunt and the department’s research director Ana-Christina Ramón.
A level down in the executive hierarchy, the senior management teams were 93% white and 80% male. The report did find that executives responsible for casting, marketing, legal and other core studio functions were a little more diverse in terms of gender (only 59% male), but they too were still overwhelmingly white at 86%.
“Hollywood seems to have turned a corner in the past few years with respect to the inclusion of women and people of color on the big screen… But behind the camera is a different story,” Hunt and Ramón wrote. “Change at the very top of the Hollywood power structure has been glacial at best. White men remain firmly in charge of the executive suites at the major studios, the privileged spaces where decisions are made about which films to greenlight, who will direct them, and how they will be marketed.”
UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report is the seventh in a series of annual studies produced by the university’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. The UCLA department of social sciences’s Hollywood Advancement Project began the series in order to explore the relationships between diversity and the bottom line in the Hollywood entertainment industry.
Also Read: Female Lead Roles in Films Reaches 13-Year High, Matches TV Representation for 2019
Even so, progress has been made. In 2015, the same year the #OscarsSoWhite campaign erupted, studio heads were 94% white and 100% male, according to the report, while senior management teams were 92% white and 83% male. Division heads in 2015 were 96% white and 61% male.
Among writers and directors, white men still vastly dominate credits for top Hollywood films. People of color would need to nearly triple their 2019 share of writing credits in order to reach proportionate representation. And while female directors have been trending upward, they were still underrepresented by a factor of more than 3-to-1 in 2019. Even more troubling: People of color saw their share of director roles drop roughly five percentage points in 2019, compared with the year before.
None of these figures are representative of the makeup of a country that is more than 40% minority and more than 50% female.
What’s more, minority groups are overrepresented at the box office, and especially frequent moviegoers — those who go to the movies once a month or more, which accounted for half of all ticket sales in 2019.
Also Read: Oscars 2020: Fewer Movies (and Nonwhite Actors) Get More Nominations, and That's No Joke
Onscreen representation among women and people of color has however improved in recent years, “so much so that women and people of color (though some individual minority groups remain invisible), for the first time, are within striking distance of proportionate representation in front of the camera,” Hunt and Ramón write. “The march toward increasing overall cast diversity in Hollywood films has been slow but steady. This trend is marked most notably by the sharp decline in films with casts that are less than 11 percent minority and the concurrent rise of top films with majority-minority casts in recent years.
“Nonetheless, when individual racial and ethnic groups are considered in isolation, it is clear that women remained underrepresented among cast members for nearly all groups,” the report continues. “This finding is likely related to the fact that decisions about which film projects will be greenlighted, and which stories will be told, are still overwhelming made by (white) men.”
Related stories from TheWrap:
Gamechanger CEO Effie T Brown on How Financing Fund Will Develop Diverse Voices
Emma Watts Out as President of Production at Disney-Owned Twentieth Century Studios
Joaquin Phoenix Calls Out BAFTAs for Lack of Diversity During 'Joker' Acceptance Speech (Video)
Recording Academy CEO Promises Diversity, but Deborah Dugan Calls It 'Smoke and Mirrors'
February 5, 2020
Colbert Has Nothing but Contempt for Republicans Who Acquitted Trump – Especially Susan Collins (Video)
During his monologue on Wednesday’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert laid into Republicans for letting Donald Trump off the hook in his impeachment trial, especially Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who he likened to a Lovecraftian monster.
The impeachment trialon Wednesday reached it’s almost completely predictable conclusion when, despite all the evidence that Trump abused his power, he was acquitted anyway after almost every Senate Republican voted not to convict him.
“There it is, it’s official: Nothing means anything. Right is wrong, up is down, Missouri is Kansas,” Colbert said about the acquittal. “Now we know that asking a foreign power to interfere in our election is the new normal. The Democrats have no choice but to do the same thing.”
Also Read: Senate Acquits Trump in Impeachment Trial, Mitt Romney Casts Lone GOP Guilty Vote
Then, in what sounded like an impersonation of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Colbert said “Russia, if you’re listening, I could really use that ‘pee pee tape.’ Milk milk, lemonade, around the corner justice is made.”
Colbert then got to mocking Republicans, specifically those who made unconvincing claims that they believe Trump will change his behavior despite not being convicted. Like Collins, who has been widely mocked for saying on Tuesday that she believes Trump “will be much more cautious in the future.”
“By the way Mr. President if you need help getting rid of a body, I’m your girl,” Colbert said, imitating Collins. “The secret is removing the hands and teeth then killing the guy who sold you the shovel. There’s a reason that the master of horror Stephen King lives in Maine; I seem really folksy but if you listen closely to what I’m justifying, suddenly I seem like a skinbag filled with writing tentacles.”
But Colbert wasn’t done. He noted Collins turned around and on Wednesday said she probably shouldn’t have said she “believes” Trump would change for the better and that a better word would be “hopes.”
“Yes,” Colbert said about that. “And a better word for ‘Senator Susan Collins’ would be ‘former Senator Susan Collins.'” Watch the clip below:
TONIGHT: Trump was not legit but the Senate still voted to acquit. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/DhwPZw66WZ
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) February 6, 2020
Related stories from TheWrap:
'The Daily Show' Reimagines Trump's 2020 State of the Union Speech as a Telenovela (Video)
Senate Acquits Trump in Impeachment Trial, Mitt Romney Casts Lone GOP Guilty Vote
Stephen Colbert Mocks Trump's State of the Union Address While 'Drunk at Work' (Video)
‘The Daily Show’ Reimagines Trump’s 2020 State of the Union Speech as a Telenovela (Video)
Donald Trump’s combative State of the Union address was full of drama — and not just when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped a copy of the speech up at the end. But could it have been even more riveting as a scripted drama?
According to “The Daily Show,” the answer is hell yes, and they proved it with a fun short video presenting the wild night as the latest installment of a telenovela called “El Estado De La Unión.”
The video, cut like a trailer for an upcoming episode, promises “El drama,” like the moment when Pelosi appeared to try and shake Trump’s hand, only for Trump to petulantly turn away. Then it offers viewers “la pasion,” AKA the moment the Speaker ripped up the speech. Next, we’re promised “El Rushbo Triste,” (“the sad Rushbo”), when right wing personality Rush Limbaugh teared up after being praised by Trump.
Also Read: Nancy Pelosi Tears Up Trump's Speech at the End of the State of the Union Address (Video)
The clip also offers up “Las Mujeres Vestidas de Blanco” (“women dressed in white”), referring to female congressional Democrats who wore white to the speech in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. And, we’re told, “Los Hombres son Blancos” (“the men are white”) and as seen in the clip, boy are they.
Next comes the stars: “El Presidente Bufon,” which we probably don’t need to translate; “La Reina de la Casa,” obviously referring to Pelosi; and “El Hombre de Mayonesa,” AKA Vice President Mike Pence.
“Esto es America Ahora” — “This is America now” — we’re told. “Ay Dios Mio.” Watch the clip below.
El Drama… La Pasión…
Esta semana por "El Estado De La Unión" pic.twitter.com/KNqayEV7NI
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 5, 2020
Related stories from TheWrap:
Senate Acquits Trump in Impeachment Trial, Mitt Romney Casts Lone GOP Guilty Vote
Stephen Colbert Mocks Trump's State of the Union Address While 'Drunk at Work' (Video)
‘Hollywood’s Architect’ Paul R. Williams Finally Gets to Shine in the Spotlight (Guest Blog)
What do Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra, Denzel Washington, Bob Iger, Cary Grant and Michelle Pfeiffer have in common? They all lived in homes designed by a man who, some 40 years after his death, is finally having his moment.
“Hollywood’s Architect,” a new documentary directed and produced by Royal Kennedy Rodgers and Kathy McCampbell Vance — which will air on PBS stations this month– chronicles the life and work of Paul R. Williams, the African American architect behind more than 3000 famous homes and sites, particularly in Los Angeles. One Holmby Hills home formerly owned by Reagan and Jane Wyman recently went on the market for $7 million. (It cost Williams a little over $12,000 to build in 1938.) Williams was known for mastering the Spanish Colonial, modernist California look, with grand entryways and spiral staircases that made just about everyone feel like a star. Sinatra proudly gave Edward R. Murrow a tour of his Williams home on an episode of “Person to Person.”
In addition to all the homes, parts of the Los Angeles Airport, the Hollywood hangout Chasens and the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel were designed by the formerly underappreciated architect. (That is his handwritten “Beverly Hills Hotel” on the iconic sign.) Jimmy Fallon and Russell Crowe are among others who still love particular Williams-designed public rooms there. Danny Thomas became a close friend of Williams’ and, as his daughter Marlo says in the doc, hired him to do the St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis. Williams did not ask for — or accept — money for the work.
His life story (1894-1980) is the stuff of which movies are made. He was orphaned at the age of four, raised in a foster family, and eventually got himself into the USC engineering department. Even after finding success, he could not always get into the very places he helped design because of his skin color. When he expressed interest in the field, he was told by more than one professional, “there is no such thing as a Negro architect.” He even learned to draw upside down in order to sketch for clients while sitting across the table from them — for the benefit of those who might have been uneasy alongside a man of color. “He was trailblazing and game-changing,” says Quincy Jones, who is interviewed in the doc and attended a standing room only viewing at the Raleigh Studios this week.
Helene Pollock, now 101 and living in Montecito, has lived in three Williams-designed houses: the first in Beverly Hills, in the 1930s, when her parents hired the then-unknown architect to build. “I’m so proud of them when I think about that now,” says Pollock, “especially because my dad was a Republican and all that meant.” When she had three kids of her own, (Including future and former Universal chairman Tom Pollock) she bought a Williams house on Mapleton Drive in Beverly Hills from Joseph Mankiewicz. “By that time, I was aware of who Paul Williams was,” she says. “And yes, it meant something.” Mankiewicz’s grand-nephew, NBC reporter Josh, says “Joe was a big liberal, pro-integration, so it makes sense he would have befriended Williams.”
Royal Kennedy Rodgers, a former ABC News reporter, has been tenaciously working on this project for more than a decade. There was money to raise, Williams fans and supporters to interview, as well as current and former homeowners such as producer Steve Tisch, Denzel Washington’s wife, Pauletta, (Washington had years before played basketball at the Williams-designed YMCA) Willow Bay and her husband Disney chief, Bob Iger. And there was a host to find. (Courtney B. Vance does the honors) “I became convinced that this story could only have happened in the early days of Hollywood,” says Kennedy, “because it was a no-rules anything goes, constantly reinventing type of place. As Williams’ granddaughter, Karen Hudson, said to me, ‘Paul Williams and L.A. grew up together.'”
Even many in the field admit they were late to understanding the heft, quantity, and beauty of Williams’ work. The current Dean of USC’s School of Architecture says, “I was not that familiar with him before coming to USC, admits Milton S.F. Curry. “But I have since learned of his incredible legacy. He was so eclectic, doing everything from homes of all models, to churches, civic buildings, and public housing. He cared about community, culture and craft.” So far, the campus has no wings, rooms, or plaques carrying Williams’ name.
Nationally, Williams was the posthumous recipient of the 2017 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. William Bates, the former president of that organization, is incredibly grateful for the belated acknowledgment of Williams, and believes the documentary will continue the momentum. “My hope is that it provides inspiration to a new and more diverse generation of future architects,” says Bates. “Our representation within the profession is less than 2%. Obviously, it must represent the society that it serves if it is to be relevant. Williams’ story is one of creative persistence, professional talent and personal determination.”
Better late than never.
“Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story” airs on PBS Thursday night at 8 p.m.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Michael Douglas Pays Tribute to Legendary Dad Kirk Douglas: 'I Am So Proud to Be Your Son'
Kirk Douglas Remembered as 'Pillar of Hollywood' and 'Inspirational Scalawag'
‘Masked Singer': Llama Can’t Believe He Beat Lil Wayne – and He Feels ‘Horrible’ About It
(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday’s episode of “The Masked Singer”)
When Drew Carey signed on to compete as The Llama on Season 3 of Fox’s “The Masked Singer,” he was sure he wouldn’t win the smash-hit singing competition — he just hoped he wouldn’t be the very first one eliminated.
“I didn’t expect to win. I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I could win this thing.’ But I can sing OK. I’m not a professional singer, but I can do something and I don’t think I’m gonna get voted off first,” Carey told TheWrap Wednesday. “All I wanted to do is get through the first round and not get voted off and everything after that was like, ‘OK, I’m all set.'”
Welp, he got his wish, being knocked out on Wednesday’s episode — the second installment of the third season — rather than Sunday’s big post-Super Bowl LIV premiere.
Also Read: 'The Masked Singer' Season 3 Premiere Lands 23.7 Million Viewers After Super Bowl LIV
But now that “The Price Is Right” host knows that him being saved meant Grammy-winning rapper Lil Wayne was eliminated and unmasked as The Robot, he feels just terrible.
“Was he The Robot? Oh my God! I had no idea,” Carey told TheWrap Wednesday. “Oh, I feel horrible. Poor guy.”
Yeah, unfortunately, we were the ones who broke the news to the comedian, who spoke with us ahead of tonight’s episode, in which he performs Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” as part of the five remaining contestants in Season 3’s Group A, before being booted from the competition.
Also Read: 'The Masked Singer' Season 3: Here Are Fans' Best Guesses for Costumed Celebrities
And the reason Carey didn’t know the identity of The Robot until we told him this morning was because a) “The Masked Singer” contestants are not allowed to interact on set and never know who else is competing on the show until each one is unmasked as the episodes air and b) watching Sunday’s premiere was an awkward experience for him that ended before the hour’s big Weezy reveal.
“When the show came on after the Super Bowl, I had a bunch of people over,” Carey told us. “Like, I definitely don’t know who anybody else on the show is, they keep that secret from you, you’re not allowed to interact. So I knew it was The Robot [who got eliminated], but I never knew who The Robot was. And then my friends wanted to watch it and we watched a little bit of it and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t watch this show with my friends over.'”
“So we watched the first performance The White Tiger, and then I had to pretend, I was like, ‘Can we watch something else? I get it. The show’s not that great.’ (laughs),” he continued. “I had to go through all that just to get them to change the channel to watch a movie. So I never did get to see it!”
Also Read: 'The Masked Singer' Season 3 Unmasks Its First Celebrity Masked Singer: And the Robot Is... (Video)
Carey said he was then a little too busy with his day job, hosting CBS’ “The Price Is Right,” to watch the rest of the premiere over the last couple days. He also said his day job is actually one of the reasons he decided to do “The Masked Singer.”
“You know, I have this crazy career going on and I’m at this point where I love doing ‘The Price Is Right,’ but anything to get outside and do something extra as a goof is fun to me,” he said. “I get to do something different and I thought, ‘Oh, this would be good advertising for ‘The Price Is Right,’ ’cause they have kinda the same demographics. So I thought that would be good for the show, it would be a fun goof for me to do, and, honestly, I just did it for the laughs.”
“The Masked Singer” airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Fox.
Related stories from TheWrap:
The Most and Least Watched Post-Super Bowl TV Shows: 'World's Best,' 'Friends,' 'Glee,' 'This Is Us'
'The Masked Singer' Season 3 Premiere Lands 23.7 Million Viewers After Super Bowl LIV
'The Masked Singer' Season 3: Here Are Fans' Best Guesses for Costumed Celebrities
‘The Masked Singer’ Reveals Another Celebrity Contestant: And the Llama Is… (Video)
(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday’s episode of “The Masked Singer.”)
“The Masked Singer” Season 3 made its time-period debut Wednesday night following its big premiere, which aired in the coveted post-Super Bowl slot on Sunday. And at the end of tonight’s episode of the smash-hit celebrity singing competition came the second elimination and subsequent unmasking of a third season contestant: The Llama.
Following the booting of Robot, who turned out to be Lil Wayne, on the first episode of Season 3, tonight’s hour saw the remaining members of Group A — Miss Monster, Llama, Kangaroo, Turtle and White Tiger — compete in their “playoff” round.
Also Read: 'Masked Singer': Llama Can't Believe He Beat Lil Wayne - and He Feels 'Horrible' About It
After those five Season 3 contestants performed, it was time for panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke, along with guest judge Jason Biggs and the studio audience, to choose the “weakest” performer for elimination.
They picked Llama, who had performed Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” and unmasked him to reveal comedian and “The Price Is Right” host Drew Carey. Before Carey was revealed, the judges threw out these incorrect guesses for his identity: Johnny Knoxville, Joel McHale, Zach Galifianakis, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammer and Adam Carolla.
Along with the now-eliminated Llama and Robot, the full Season 3 lineup of masked contestants includes Banana, Miss Monster, Frog, Mouse, Kangaroo, White Tiger, Turtle, Astronaut, Swan, Kitty, Bear, Elephant, Rhino, T-Rex, Night Angel and Taco. Between those 18 contestants they’ve “amassed a combined 69 Grammy Award nominations, 88 Gold records, 11 Super Bowl appearances, three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, more than 160 tattoos and one title in the Guinness Book of World Records,” according to Fox.
Also Read: 'The Masked Singer' Season 3 Unmasks Its First Celebrity Masked Singer: And the Robot Is... (Video)
Per Fox, “The format will be changing slightly in season three. The contestants will be split into three groups of six – Group A, B, and C. Group A will kick off the first three episodes as they whittle down from 6 to 3 singers. Then we will meet Group B as they go from 6 to 3, then Group C. The final 9 contestants from these three groups will then come together and battle it out the rest of the season for the golden mask trophy. As always, one celebrity will still be unmasked in every episode, including the premiere.”
Watch Llama’s performance in the video above and his unmasking via the clip below.
“The Masked Singer” airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.
Related stories from TheWrap:
'The Masked Singer' Season 3 Premiere Lands 23.7 Million Viewers After Super Bowl LIV
'The Masked Singer' Season 3: Here Are Fans' Best Guesses for Costumed Celebrities
'The Masked Singer' Season 3 Unmasks Its First Celebrity Masked Singer: And the Robot Is… (Video)
Spotify Acquires Bill Simmons’ The Ringer
Spotify announced Wednesday that it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Bill Simmons’ three-year-old sports and pop culture site, The Ringer.
Terms of the deal, which is expected to close this quarter, were not disclosed.
Spotify, the leading audio streaming subscription service, hopes to build on its content offerings with The Ringer’s array of 30 podcasts in the sports and pop culture space, including “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” “The Rewatchables” and “The Ryen Russillo Podcast.”
Also Read: Spotify Wants Your Dog (and Iguana) to Have a Playlist of Its Own
“We look forward to putting the full power of Spotify behind The Ringer as they drive our global sports strategy,” Spotify Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff said in a statement. “As we set out to expand our sports and entertainment offerings, we wanted a best-in-class editorial team. Bill Simmons is one of the brightest minds in the game and he has successfully innovated as a writer and content creator across mediums and platforms. The Ringer’s proven track record of creating distinctive cultural content as well as discovering and developing top tier talent will make them a formidable asset for Spotify.”
Simmons, a former ESPN star who launched the Grantland website before setting on his own with The Ringer in 2016, said, “Spotify has the unique ability to truly supercharge both content and creator talent across genres. We spent the last few years building a world-class sports and pop culture multimedia digital company and believe Spotify can take us to another level. We couldn’t be more excited to unlock Spotify’s power of scale and discovery, introduce The Ringer to a new global audience and build the world’s flagship sports audio network.”
Also on Wednesday, Spotify reported its Q4 revenue had grown 24%, to $2.04 billion (€1.855 billion). The streamer reported that it had 271 million monthly active users worldwide by the end of 2019, up 31%, and 124 million premium monthly subscribers.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Spotify Wants Your Dog (and Iguana) to Have a Playlist of Its Own
February 4, 2020
Democratic Candidates Fact-Check Trump’s State of the Union Address: ‘Really?’
The Democratic candidates for president came out swinging on Twitter and television during and after Republican President Donald Trump gave his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Joining NBC News after the address, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg called Trump’s address a “highly partisan speech for a polarized Washington” and “a laundry list of special interest group expectations for his own base.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont recapped what he felt were hypocritical statements and outright lies, tweeting, “Trump said, ‘We will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions.’ Really? This is the same president who came one vote away from throwing 32 million Americans off the health care they have and ending the Affordable Care Act’s protection for pre-existing conditions.”
Also Read: Nancy Pelosi Tears Up Trump's Speech at the End of the State of the Union Address
Throughout the televised speech, Tom Steyer used Twitter to create a thread called #RealSOTU, in which he shared statistics that conflicted with the ones Trump chose to highlight. “In Trump’s failed economy, midwest manufacturing activity has hit a 4-year low,” tweeted Steyer.
When Trump attacked the administration of former president Barack Obama, former vice president Joe Biden jumped in: “Our administration brought the economy back from the brink of depression, saved the auto industry, and made health care available to millions of families. Donald Trump gave billionaires a tax break,” he wrote.
Another former elected official, Mike Bloomberg, who was once the mayor of New York City, warned, “Speaking of judges…We are one Supreme Court Justice away from women losing their right to choose. That’s hardly something to celebrate.”
Also Read: Here's What Democratic Legislators Chanted During the State of the Union Address
Others, like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, chose not to focus on Trump’s speech so much as praise those who gave Democratic responses to it.
“Thank you @vgescobar for delivering a powerful #SOTU response in Spanish–and for continuing to be a leader in the fight against Donald Trump’s xenophobia, bigotry, and hate. Tonight you showed the country how defeating Trump will take a diverse and fearless coalition,” wrote Warren of Rep. Veronica Escobar.
Klobuchar tweeted, “As Michigan Governor @GretchenWhitmer said, ‘You can listen to what someone says, but to know the truth, watch what they do.’ Donald Trump has broken his promises to the working people of this country. It’s time for a President who will have their backs and get things done.”
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang wasn’t as into the responses, though. He wrote on Twitter, “It would be great if a State of the Union speech made you feel better about the state of the country and the direction we are headed. I think the tradition of a ‘response’ should be examined.”
It wasn’t just Democratic presidential candidates who reacted harshly to Trump’s speech, either. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up her copy of the president’s prepared remarks when he concluded the annual address.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Nancy Pelosi Tears Up Trump's Speech at the End of the State of the Union Address
Here's What Democratic Legislators Chanted During the State of the Union Address
Rush Limbaugh Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom During State of the Union Address
Steve Pond's Blog
