Media companies are struggling with two Hollywood strikes, slumping ad revenue and moneylosing streaming businesses
Justaweekaheadoftheearningskickoff,members ofTheScreenActorsGuild-AmericanFederationof Television and Radio Artists joined the more than 11,000 already striking film andtelevision writers on thepicketline.
The strike – a result of the failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers – brings the industry to an immediate halt.It’sthefirstdualstrikeofthiskindsince1960.
The labor fight blew up just as the industry has moved away from streaming growth at all costs. Media companies saw a boost in subscribers – and stock prices – earlier in the Covid pandemic, investing billions in new content. But growth has since stagnated, resulting in budget cuts and layoffs.
Advertising is now considered an important mechanism in platforms’ broader efforts to reach profitability.
US new business applications hit two-year high in June
ApplicationstostartnewU.S.businessessurgedto thehighestlevelintwoyearsinJune,despitehigh interest rates and uncertain economic outlook, according to a Commerce Department report releasedonMonday.
Business applications increased 6.2% in June compared with May with a seasonally adjusted 465,906newapplications.
Filingsfromapplicantsthathaveahighlikelihood of creating a payroll and adding jobs to the economy, such as those from existing corporate entitiesorthoseindicatingtheyarealreadyhiring, rose 6.0% to 149,536 new applications. The data is collected from business applications for tax identificationnumbers.
The report's forward-looking business formation projections also improved after two months of declines.TheCensusBureauestimatedthat32,148 new business startups with payroll tax liabilities will actually form within four quarters of application, a4% increasecomparedtoestimates fromMay.
Souce:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/17/media-industry-turmoil-strikes-streaming-lossesad-slump.html
InDecember2021,whenthe30-yearfixedmortgage rate still averaged 3.1%, a borrower could get $700,000 mortgage that required monthly paymentsofprincipalandinterestofjust$2,989.
Fast-forward to Wednesday, and a $700,000 mortgage taken out at the current average mortgage rate of 6.90% would equal a $4,610 per month payment, which is $583,000 more over 30 years than that mortgage issued at a 3.1% rate. Whenaddingoninsuranceandtaxes,thatmonthly payment could easily top $6,000. Not to mention, thatcalculationdoesn'taccountforthefactthatU.S. home prices in June 2022 were 12% above December 2021 levels and 39% above June 2020 levels.
Mortgage planners like John Downs, a senior vice president atVellum Mortgage, havethehard jobof breaking this new reality to would-be homebuyers. However, unlike last year, Downs says most 2023 buyers aren't surprised. The sticker shock, the loan officersays,iswearingoff.
Souce:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/loan-officer-m-seeing-middle-000641114.html
Moving to Texas from New York can save some Americans $250,000
Financial information provider SmartAsset analyzed the amount of money people with sixfigure salaries in New York and San Francisco could save if they were to relocate to the Texas capital.
A Manhattan resident earning $650,000 would save as much as $258,212 in Austin, the findings show. Wealthy New Yorkers pay some of the steepest taxes in the nation, facing a combined 45% effective rate when accounting for federal, state and local levies. That effective rate drops to about 35% in Texas, which does not have a statewideincometax.
ThatsameNewYorkerwhomakesabout$150,000 would also see the value of their pay increase, savingabout$64,811annually.
Wealthy San Francisco residents wouldn't receive as much benefit as New Yorkers, but higher earnersmakingthemovewouldstillexperiencea significantincreaseinthevalueoftheirpay.Those earningover$650,000couldsaveroughly$212,301 by relocating to Austin – or about 32% of their salary–thestudyshowed.
Loan officer: I’m seeing middle class homebuyers take on $7,000 mortgages thinking they can ‘always refinance when rates come down in the future’Photo: Sergio Flores/Bloomberg
Thousands of authors demand payment from AI companies for use of copyrighted works
Thousands of published authors are requesting payment from tech companies for the use of their copyrightedworksintrainingartificialintelligencetools,markingthelatestintellectualpropertycritiqueto targetAIdevelopment.
The list of more than 8,000 authors includes some of the world’s most celebrated writers, including MargaretAtwood,DanBrown,MichaelChabon,JonathanFranzen,JamesPatterson,JodiPicoultandPhilip Pullman,amongothers.ThewritersaccusedAIcompaniesofunfairlyprofitingfromtheirwork.
“Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the ‘food’ for AI systems, endless meals forwhichtherehasbeennobill,”thelettersaid.“You’respendingbillionsofdollarstodevelopAItechnology. Itisonlyfairthatyoucompensateusforusingourwritings,withoutwhichAIwouldbebanalandextremely limited.”
Much of the tech industry is now working to develop AI tools that can generate compelling images and writtenworkinresponsetouserprompts.Thesetoolsarebuiltonlargelanguagemodels,whicharetrained onvasttrovesofinformationonline.Butrecently,therehasbeengrowingpressureontechcompaniesover allegedintellectualpropertyviolationswiththistrainingprocess.
Souce:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/19/tech/authors-demand-payment-ai/index.html