• Viacom Inc. has increased the purview of four veteran programming executives, with two other executives —  Kent Alterman and Sarah Levy — leaving the company, ahead of its expected merger with CBS Corp. next month. Chris McCarthy will oversee four additional networks, while David Nevins, who currently manages Showtime, will add CBS Television Studios and BET to his portfolio. (Los Angeles Times) 

• CBS reported third-quarter operating income of $501 million, down $189 million year over year, with revenue up 1 percent to $3.30 billion. Content licensing and distribution revenues also increased 1 percent, while affiliate and subscription fee revenues rose 12 percent, in part due to increased fees from affiliated stations and retransmission revenues, as well as growth from streaming services. (The Hollywood Reporter) 

• Woody Allen and Amazon Studios have reached a settlement after Allen sued the company in February, accusing Amazon of breach of contract for backing out of a four-film deal with him in June 2018 when allegations of sexual assault resurfaced. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and Allen has denied the allegations, which initially emerged in the early 1990s. (The New York Times)

Can Kevin Mayer Deliver the Future of Disney?
Erich Schwartzel and Joe Flint, The Wall Street Journal

On the Walt Disney Co. campus, longtime executive Kevin Mayer has a nickname: Buzz Lightyear. Mr. Mayer, 57 years old, has the self-confidence, swagger and jawline of the “Toy Story” character—as well as the astronaut figurine’s relentlessly hard-driving style and bravado.

CBS Chief Will Get $100 Million Severance and Still Keep His Job
Anders Melin and Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg 

CBS Corp. acting Chief Executive Officer Joe Ianniello is in line for a hefty haul when Viacom Inc. completes its proposed merger with the broadcast network.

Writers Guild Reveals Studio Negotiating Committee Amid Agency Fight
Jonathan Handel, The Hollywood Reporter 

The Writers Guild of America has disclosed the negotiating committee for its upcoming spring bargaining with the major studios, even as a fight with the town’s talent agencies continues to occupy guild leadership and members.

Hollywood Talent Giant Buys Speaking Agency of Obamas, Clintons
Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg 

Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. is buying Harry Walker Agency, bringing the speaking agency of former U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton under the control of the owner of one of Hollywood’s biggest talent representatives.

‘Midway’ Is a Surprise Winner at the Box Office
Gabe Cohn, The New York Times 

The World War II action movie “Midway” was an unexpected winner at the box office this weekend, swooping into the lead as the horror movie that had seemed poised to take the top spot, “Doctor Sleep,” instead took a snooze.

Viacom/Paramount Bail From Negotiations for Miramax Film Library
Matt Donnelly and Brent Lang, Variety 

Viacom and Paramount Pictures have called off negotiations to acquire the Miramax film library, multiple insiders familiar with the talks told Variety.

Will the Box Office Rely on Disney Again This Holiday Season?
Jeremy Fuster, The Wrap 

The 2019 summer box office was a bountiful one and increased Disney’s market share domination. With “Frozen II” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” coming, will this holiday season widen the gap between the House of Mouse and other studios?

Oscars: Austrian Entry ‘Joy’ Disqualified From International Feature Competition
Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter 

Hot on the heels of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ hotly debated disqualification of Lionheart, Nigeria’s entry for best international feature Oscar consideration, because its dialogue is predominantly in English, Austria’s entry, Joy, has been disqualified for the same reason, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Indie Execs Say Content Is No Longer King — Data Is
Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter

The fast-changing world of independent film distribution can be a scary place. Business models on which the industry has relied for decades are breaking apart as studio blockbusters grab an increasingly large share of the domestic box office and streaming platforms splinter the audience for niche and indie fare. 

ABC to Stop Using Live+Same Day Ratings
Will Thorne, Variety 

ABC is set to become the second of the major networks to no longer use Live+Same Day figures to measure the performance of its shows (with the exception of live programming), according to an internal memo sent out by ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke.

Why the Supreme Court is hearing a TV mogul’s $20 billion racial bias case against Comcast
Erin Fuchs, Yahoo Finance 

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a dispute that pits Comcast (CMCSA), America’s biggest cable provider, against an African-American TV mogul accusing it of racial bias because it declined to carry any of his channels.

TV’s Evening-News Battle Spills Out of Its Time Slot
Brian Steinberg, Variety 

Norah O’Donnell, Lester Holt and David Muir often journey to global hot spots and scenes of national interest. In recent weeks they’ve been engaged in travel of a different sort – through time.

Disney+ Hit by Technical Issues on Launch Day
Georg Szalai and Ryan Parker, The Hollywood Reporter 

The Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ streaming service appeared to be hit by technical difficulties on its launch day Tuesday. Twitter users mentioned problems accessing the service or some of its features around 7 a.m. New York time, and Downdetector.com showed 6,900 reports of problems with the service around 7:30 a.m. ET.

10 lessons for Disney, Apple, and all the new streaming companies trying to take down Netflix
Matthew Ball and Alex Kruglov, Recode

The streaming wars — the battle among giant companies that want your eyeballs and credit cards for their subscription services — are officially underway.

Netflix Was Only the Start: Disney Streaming Service Shakes an Industry
Brooks Barnes, The New York Times 

He had a toe in the water. In 2015, with Netflix growing at a scorching rate, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, quietly tested a streaming app in Britain called DisneyLife.

The Great Streaming Battle Is Here. No One Is Safe.
Amol Sharma and Joe Flint, The Wall Street Journal 

A new era is dawning in the entertainment world and you’re about to get a whole lot more choices—for better or worse. The streaming wars are here.

Netflix Keeps an Eye on the Mouse
Edmund Lee, The New York Times 

Let’s get this out of the way. Netflix will not do any of the following anytime soon.

Disney’s massive streaming gamble has arrived. It may change the TV industry forever
Ryan Faughnder and Meg James, Los Angeles Times 

Television may never be the same. After two years of planning, the Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday finally launches Disney+, the much anticipated streaming service that marks one of the Burbank company’s biggest gambles to date.

Netflix’s Scott Stuber: Film Biz Needs to ‘Be Calm and Talk Through’ Exhibition Disputes
Cynthia Littleton, Variety 

Netflix film chief Scott Stuber urged film producers and exhibitors to come together to reach a consensus on exhibition window disputes as Netflix and other streaming giants move forcefully into feature production.

Megyn Kelly turns to Instagram to launch her next chapter after blackface comment fallout
Lauren Feiner, CNBC 

Megyn Kelly is launching her next chapter on Facebook-owned Instagram after being shunned by the cable and broadcast networks where she cut her teeth. NBC News announced last October it was ending Kelly’s morning show, “Megyn Kelly Today,” after the former Fox News host questioned if blackface was truly racist during an segment on Halloween costumes.

Disney+ to Reach 101M Subscribers by 2025, Study Forecasts
Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter 

Five global subscription VOD platforms will have 529 million subscribers by 2025, led by Netflix, Amazon and Disney+, which launches Tuesday, according to new projections from Digital TV Research.

Disney+ Won Over Investors. Now It Needs to Conquer Consumers
Christopher Palmeri and Nick Turner, Bloomberg 

When Walt Disney Co. gave a peek at its streaming platform in April, the company warned investors that earnings would suffer. The $6.99-a-month service, Disney+, won’t be profitable until 2024 and original shows alone will add $1 billion to production costs next year, executives said.

Disney won’t share ratings for original Disney+ titles despite industry push to do so
Julia Alexander, The Verge 

Disney won’t publicly share viewership numbers for its original series and movies, despite fellow streaming giants like Netflix being more transparent in the wake of industry-wide criticism.

Missing a big audience, Walmart’s streaming video play, Vudu, has struggled to win over advertisers
Tim Peterson, Digiday 

On paper, Walmart’s streaming video service Vudu has a compelling pitch to advertisers. The streamer plugs into the retailer to create a closed-loop system, similar to Amazon’s ad platform, where companies can aim ads at people based on their shopping histories and then see if the ads hit the mark by tying them to sales. In practice, while it has piqued advertisers’ interest, Vudu has had a hard time translating that into spending, which may explain why the retailer is reportedly considering offloading the streaming service.

Is AT&T’s Hollywood Plot Too Far-Fetched?
Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg 

Ask Randall Stephenson about his career and he’ll remind you that he’s seen it all. The Oklahoma native studied animal husbandry in college before an artificial insemination class, held on a blisteringly hot afternoon, convinced him to become an accounting major.

Why the streaming wars are a myth
Amanda Lotz and Ramon Lobato, Fast Company 

With the recent launch of Apple TV+ and the imminent arrival of Disney+, the video landscape has never looked so competitive. These services join a crowded marketplace of subscription streaming services that includes Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video—with more to come next year.

Unraveling the Oscars’ Foreign-Language-Film Debate
Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic 

Last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences welcomed into its ranks a record 928 new voters, many of whom were women, people of color, and members younger than the institution’s average. The move was part of a larger response to the #OscarsSoWhite campaign from a couple of years prior that called attention to the glaring lack of racial diversity among the awards’ nominees.