ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish Says "COVID Has Been a Tailwind for Streaming"

Volatile Michigan men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard potentially faces a suspension or firing for punching a Wisconsin assistant coach today during the postgame handshake line.

Hundreds of homes were at risk of flooding and 'danger to life' warnings were issued for parts of south Manchester as Storm Franklin battered the region throughout Sunday.

Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui has delivered his initial verdict after Manchester United loanee Anthony Martial was forced off inside half an hour on Sunday.

Jennifer Aniston sure knows how to take good care of her loved ones.MORE: Jennifer Aniston wows in leg-lengthening gold trousers for special occasionThe star commemorated National Love Your Pet Day with an adorable video of her showering her dog, Lord Chesterfield, with lots of love and affection.The video was taken from inside Jen's stunning home, which revealed a fireplace and luscious greenery in the background.WATCH: Jen absolutely dazzles in gold tassel trousersMORE: Reese Witherspoon shares incredible throwback of Jennifer Aniston for special celebrationThe adorable video was shared on Lolavie's Instagram page, the actress' latest venture, a hair care brand.The 53-year-old looks casual yet chic wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and black pointy-toed shoes. The video catches her on her knees as she grabs Lord Chesterfield's face and snuggles him.A post shared by LolaVie (@lolavie)The actress adorably snuggles Lord ChesterfieldThe Friends star tells her beloved pet: "You're a Lolavie boy," right before sweetly kissing him on the forehead.

Jadon Sancho sent a cheeky two-word response to Bruno Fernandes as the pair celebrated Manchester United’s win over Leeds.

Jamal Edwards has died at the age of 31.The music pioneer was best known for founding youth broadcasting and film production company SB.TV. Jamal, who is the son of English singer and TV personality Brenda Edwards, has passed away unexpectedly according to reports.Tributes have since poured in for the late star on social media, with rapper Jaykae writing: "I think I can speak for us all as artists and as supporters of uk grime/rap scene when I say I owe this man so much! Helped me sometimes without even speaking of it. RIP Jamal Edwards.

The National Basketball Association’s annual all-star game today had an unexpected surprise in the pre-game – a new trailer for the upcoming The Batman release.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are trying to expand their family.Teigen took to Instagram Saturday to share that she's undergoing another round of In vitro fertilization, or IVF, in hopes of conceiving another child with Legend.«hiiii. I posted about it in my stories, but I wanted to let you guys know I’m balls deep in another IVF cycle to save as many eggos as I possibly can and hopefully make some strong, healthy embryos.

Making progress! Throughout Janelle Brown’s tenure on TLC’s Sister Wives, viewers have seen her struggle with her weight and diet goals.

Arguably the biggest addition for this year’s Oscar race is the new Fan Favourite category, which allows fans to share their own votes for their Best Picture picks.

“Uncharted” is already exceeding industry expectations.

Justin Bieber has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, forcing him to cancel his scheduled show in Las Vegas this evening (February 20).Reports in TMZ suggest Bieber tested positive for the virus on Saturday (February 19), forcing him to postpone his show this evening at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.Bieber also has shows scheduled for Glendale, Arizona on Tuesday (February 22) and Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday (February 23 and 24). It’s unclear yet as to whether these will go ahead.A statement read: “Due to positive COVID results within the Justice Tour family, we will unfortunately have to postpone Sunday’s show in Las Vegas.

The cast of And Just Like That is responding to Meghan McCain.

Scooter Braun has his eyes on his friend, H.Wood Group co-founder John Terzian, as a potential super-spreader.

GIANTS, explores Herb Deutsch, an electronic composer who co-invented the Moog modular synth system.The first video, which you can watch below, looks at the earliest days of the Moog factory and the musical legacy of the synths that Deutsch helped to invent.Moog said of the episode: “We are thrilled to release the first instalment of GIANTS, focusing on the legendary Herb Deutsch, in honour of his 90th birthday today!”It continues: “The composer, music educator, and friend and collaborator of Bob Moog journeys back in time to talk about some of music history’s most prolific moments and expand on ‘the perfect definition’ of what music is and can be: sound organised in time.”Speaking about the series as a whole, Moog added: “This new documentary series, filmed and produced by Moog employee-owners, is about honouring and preserving the legacy of these artists and sharing their untold stories with the world.” “The artists in this series have left an indelible impact on electronic music history and culture, and their contributions have pushed the artform and industry forward,” Moog continued.“They are the ‘giants’ whose shoulders we stand on—the pioneers who propelled synthesisers and analog instruments into the mainstream many years ago.”“Join trailblazers like Moog synthesiser co-inventor Herb Deutsch, early modular synthesiser adopter Bernie Krause, modular synthesis legend Suzanne Ciani, and Mute Records founder Daniel Miller as they describe their passions, inspirations, origin stories, and never-before-heard revelations.“Through spoken interviews, original music, and archival footage, these artists share their perspectives around how electronic music has evolved and provide context for their place in that story.” New

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterViacomCBS investigated an allegation that CEO Bob Bakish touched a woman inappropriately at a holiday party in 2016, Variety has confirmed.The probe, which has been concluded, was first reported by the Information. The employee is no longer with the company but raised the complaint earlier this year.“The Board takes any allegation of this type seriously,” a ViacomCBS spokesperson said in a statement.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorViacomCBS Thursday acknowledged that the company had conducted a review of a complaint by a former employee against CEO Bob Bakish but found no ground to support it.“The Board takes any allegation of this type seriously. An independent review of the alleged incident has concluded, and the investigation did not support the allegation,” ViacomCBS said in a statment.Website The Information first reported that the review centered on a complaint made this year by an employee of Viacom’s Nickelodeon cable channel.

J.P. Morgan analyst Alexia Quadrani on Wednesday raised her price target on the stock of ViacomCBS, led by CEO Bob Bakish, by $5 to $35, highlighting potential streaming upside.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorWith moviegoing in limbo in key markets like New York and LA, a trio of movie theater boosters see the COVID-19 operating environment staying murky for at least a few more weeks.

Discovery is bullish on advertising after the market bottomed during the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, withthird-quarter U.S. ad revenue looking to be down 10 percent "or possibly less" after a 14 percent drop in the second quarter, president and CEO David Zaslav said on Thursday.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorImax CEO Rich Gelfond rejects the popular notion that premium video on demand is the future for blockbuster movie releases.“PVOD is a failed experiment,” Gelfond said during an online appearance Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference. “The numbers haven’t worked in a pandemic, so how would they work in a non-pandemic?”Results from PVOD releases — viewership, revenue, etc.

Cable operator Charter Communications, in which John Malone's Liberty Broadband owns a big stake, sees its pay TV future in the role of a "video store," chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said during a virtual investor conference Wednesday. Speaking during a session at theGoldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, which was webcast, he noted that Charter posted a video subscriber gain in the second quarter, a rarity for the sector.

Music streaming giant Spotifyfeels "really good" about how the business has performed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with consumption now above pre-pandemic levels, CFO Paul Vogel said during a virtual investor conference session on Wednesday. Vogel highlighted "better than expected" user and subscriber growth in the first half.

Cable giant Altice USA remains "committed" to the pursuit of Cogeco's Atlantic Broadband, CEO Dexter Goei told the virtual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference on Tuesday. "We remain committed to the process," and look forward to hearing back from the board, he said during a session at the investor conference, adding that Altice USA had received "supportive" feedback from shareholders of the takeover target.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish Tuesday called Paramount, “one of the most storied brands in Hollywood” and a “natural choice” of name and content machine for its fast-growing OTT service in a rebrand announced this morning.Previous Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman wanted to unload the studio, or a big chunk of it. But Bakish is making it the beating heat of the company.

AT&T CEO John Stankey says the telecom and media conglomerate is using HBO Max and its fast-growing streaming strategy to weather the novel coronavirus pandemic. "Had we not done that and been in this situation, I feel we'd be real flat-footed," Stankey told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference during a virtual appearance on Tuesday as he discussed the recent HBO Max launch.

Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM is disciplined in its content spending, but willing to pay for attractive programming, CEO Jim Meyer said during a virtual investor conference on Tuesday. Appearing at the virtual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, he was asked about the firm's roughly $460 million content spend in 2019, or 6 percent of revenue, in addition to $1.7 billion in music royalties.

NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock has reached more than 15 million sign-ups, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts told a virtual conference on Tuesday. And Comcast Cable is trending to add more than 500,000 broadband subscribers in the current third quarter, which would be a new record, he also said during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference.

Verizon's decision to expand its deal to offer the Disney+ streaming service free to certain subscribers by offering Disney's bundle of streaming services came due to the strong Disney brand, CEO Hans Vestberg signaled on Tuesday. "Our strategy in this area" of teaming with content brands has worked well in the case of Apple Music and Disney+, which had a "great start" when it launched late last year, he saidduring an appearance at the virtual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference.

Satellite radio giant SiriusXM said Tuesday that CEO James Meyer will step down as CEO on Dec. 31 and become vice chairman.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorAT&T CEO John Stankey says he “couldn’t be more pleased” with the progress of HBO Max since it launched in May.Appearing online Tuesday at the annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, Stankey acknowledged the initial numbers are not sky-high. Earlier this summer, the company reported getting 4.1 million sign-ups in the first month, about one million of which were direct additions as opposed to existing HBO customers activating their HBO Max subscription at no charge.“I know it sometimes gets lost within the context of, there’s a company called Netflix that’s done a remarkable job of building a franchise over many years,” he said.

CBS All Access is being rebranded and bringing out the big guns.

ViacomCBS has struck a deal to sell its CNET unit to Red Ventures for $500 million. The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020, is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish on Wednesday said his Hollywood studio was faring well as it navigated the Coronavirus pandemic. "We're successfully managing through, executing our strategy, rapidly integrating the company and harvesting synergies, producing operating momentum on multiple levels and delivering solid financial performance," Bakish said while speaking at the Bank of America Securities 2020 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference during a session that was webcast.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said Wednesday of the upfront that “things are very, very far along” in the tortured process long overdue and distorted by the coronavirus.“We are feeling good about how it is shaping up,” he told a BofA virtual media conference Wednesday.If all goes well, he expects a full slate of primetime network shows by November, he said — noting that eleven are cleared to start production, with most resuming at the end of the month.