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NFL is in advanced talks on taking a stake in Disney's ESPN

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NFL is in advanced talks on taking a stake in Disney's ESPN

Talk about a wild card weekend.

In what would be a stunning move, the NFL and the Walt Disney Co. are contemplating a pair-up that would give the league a stake in the sports media company, said a source familiar with the deal who was not authorized to comment.

The New York Post first reported late Friday that discussions have gone far enough for the league to inform the Players Assn. and team owners.

A representative for ESPN declined to comment.

In return for the league’s equity stake, according to the Post, ESPN would take control of NFL Media, the entity that owns the league’s production unit, NFL Films, and the league’s cable channels — the NFL Network and RedZone, NFL.com and NFL+, the recently launched streaming service that enables subscribers to watch games and other related content on mobile devices.

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Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger previously mentioned the possibility of finding an equity partner for ESPN, which while still profitable faces a challenging future as pay TV cord-cutting threatens the subscription revenue that has made it one of the most successful media businesses in history.

ESPN has long been the most expensive part of the pay TV bundle, currently getting close to $9 per subscriber. It is now in 73 million homes, down from 98.5 million in 2013.

While the pay TV universe is shrinking, media rights fees are escalating as deep-pocketed tech companies such as Amazon and Apple are vying for properties to add to their streaming services.

One question that will need to be addressed is the reaction of the NFL’s other media partners, NBC, CBS, Amazon, YouTube and Fox, which along with Disney are committed to pay the league more than $100 billion over the next 10 years

Disney’s package includes “Monday Night Football,” which aired on both ABC and ESPN this past season, and two Super Bowls.

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ESPN, which could make itself available to noncable homes with a direct-to-consumer streaming service as soon as next year, has tried to find ways to make itself more appealing to younger consumers who are forgoing pay TV subscriptions.

The company recently took an equity stake in a gaming company, Penn National, and put its famous logo on a gambling app called ESPN Bet.

ESPN also licensed the rowdy YouTube show hosted by former NFL player Pat McAfee and airs it weekday afternoons on its cable and streaming channels.

ESPN has found there are risks in taking on outside partners that are not under the total control of the company.

McAfee put ESPN in an embarrassing position as his show gave a regular forum to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has been critical of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and insinuated without evidence that ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel might show up on the list of visitors to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s island.

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Kimmel threatened to sue Rodgers over the remark, turning the conflict into a tabloid saga for the past week.

Movie Reviews

‘Relationship Goals’ Review: Amazon’s Glamorized Book Commercial Almost Looks Like a Real Rom-Com

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‘Relationship Goals’ Review: Amazon’s Glamorized Book Commercial Almost Looks Like a Real Rom-Com

It didn’t used to be this way, but thanks to the magic of streaming you can now pause anything at any time and pick up on fun little details. I don’t recommend you watch Prime Video’s “Relationship Goals” — at all — but if you do, I recommend you pause it towards the end. There’s a scene where Kelly Rowland, playing a TV executive with a long list of demands for her romantic partners, looks at a multi-page printout of her green flags. It’s full of unreasonable requirements, like having a 401K (in this economy), but also very reasonable demands, like well-groomed nose hair. Not “no” nose hair. Apparently she likes nose hair. She just needs it well-groomed. Fair enough.

In a halfway decent universe, this could have been the only interesting thing about “Relationship Goals,” a conventional, boring, forgettable romantic comedy if ever I’ve seen one. But we don’t live in a halfway decent universe. We live in one where this conventional, boring, forgettable romantic comedy isn’t even a romantic comedy. It’s a shameless promotion for a book about relationship advice, released on a streaming service that also happens to sell the book. It even features lines like, “This story hit so hard I Amazoned a copy of ‘Relationship Goals’ right away.”

If you haven’t heard of it, “Relationship Goals” is a book by Pastor Michael Todd which, if this movie is any indication, is full of mind-blowing romantic self-help tips like, if you’re not dating people you like, try dating different people, or maybe just try being single for a while. And hey, that’s not bad advice, it’s just really obvious advice. Then again it also compares people who date a lot, without a specific relationship goal, to chicken nuggets, because nobody wants to eat chicken nuggets if everyone’s touched them first. I’d like to think the book is more thoughtful and less condescending than that, but I remind you that this is a feature-length commercial for that book, and this is how they’re selling it. So maybe not?

“Relationship Goals” stars Kelly Rowland as Leah, a TV producer on a hit morning news show. She expects a big promotion after her boss retires but, surprise-surprise, the network wants her to compete with a new hire, Jarrett (Cliff “Method Man” Smith), who just happens to be the ex-boyfriend who cheated on her years ago. They’re assigned to work on a Valentine’s Day segment together — yes, together, as if that could possibly prove one is more qualified than the other — and it’s about the book “Relationship Goals,” which Jarrett says changed his life. Unlike Jarrett, Leah doesn’t want to make a puff piece commercial, which is the funniest thing about this “comedy” because that’s obviously all this is. All of it.

“Relationship Goals” runs through all the romantic comedy rhythms without ever settling on a beat. Rowland and Smith are likable performers but their banter is strained, and the film can’t settle on a structure that forces them to interact. Early in the movie they get trapped in Oklahoma, so they have to drive six hours to another airport to get back to the studio. You’d think that would be a decent framework for a rom-com. It’s familiar, but tried-and-true. Instead, we just get one brief interaction in a car, one forced gag about diner food and then they’re back home. The film set up a bit and then abandoned anything resembling a bit. Again, this is supposed to be a romantic comedy. We’re literally here for the bits. More bits, please. Why did you abandon the bits?

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There’s a supporting cast in “Relationship Goals,” including a best friend who’s single and desperate (Annie Gonzalez) and another best friend who’s in a long-term relationship with no marriage prospects (Robin Thede). They exist to have problems that are easily solved by the book “Relationship Goals,” because the protagonists can’t get together until the end, and by itself that wouldn’t make it look like “Relationship Goals” has quick-fix solutions to all your romantic needs. And this movie really wants you to think it’s the perfect quick-fix.

But those characters also exist because “Relationship Goals” is following the template set forth by “Think Like a Man,” another rom-com based on and explicitly about a real-life romantic advice book. “Think Like a Man” was also a shameless commercial but it did, at least, try to be a very good commercial. “Think Like a Man” had a variety of romantic subplots that it sold with a great cast, solid dialogue and some cinematic oomph. “Relationship Goals” isn’t trying to convince us it’s a real film, it’s only doing the book commercial part. Which means it’s not even a good book commercial.

If you look back at Leah’s list of romantic requirements you’ll notice that one of them is “Enjoys film.” She tears these pages up, by the way, presumably because by that point Leah — and the movie itself — has long since given up on the concept of cinema. “Relationship Goals” isn’t as insulting as Prime Video’s “War of the Worlds,” in which the planet was literally saved by two Amazon purchases and the wonder of flying Amazon drones, but then very few films are, so that’s not a useful comparison. It’s enough that this film is insulting, unconvincing, unfunny, unromantic, and, worst of all, at least to the Amazon executives, it doesn’t even make you want to buy the damn book.

"The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" (Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features)

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Savannah Guthrie will no longer be part of NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage

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Savannah Guthrie will no longer be part of NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage

“Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie will not head to Milan for NBC’s 2026 Winter Olympics coverage as she deals with the ongoing police investigation into the suspected abduction of her mother.

“Savannah will not be joining us at the Olympics as she focuses on being with her family during this difficult time,” an NBC Sports representative said Tuesday in a statement. “Our hearts are with her and the entire Guthrie family as the search continues for their mother.”

Guthrie was scheduled to co-host NBC’s telecast of the Friday opening ceremonies for the Milan Cortina Games alongside Terry Gannon of NBC Sports. The network representative said alternative plans will be announced shortly.

Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, in 2023.

(Nathan Congleton / NBC / Getty Images)

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Law enforcement officials believe Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home outside of Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday night. Police were called after relatives were told she missed the Sunday church service she regularly attends and did not find her at home.

Police found Nancy Guthrie’s phone, wallet, car and medication left behind, indicating she did not leave voluntarily. She has no cognitive issues, but has limited physical mobility and could not walk far on her own, family members have told police.

On Tuesday, Lima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said at a news briefing that authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will. He also said the department is aware of “reports circulating about possible ransom note(s)” in the case. TMZ reported on the existence of an alleged ransom note Tuesday, but Nanos did not verify the account,

According to law enforcement sources not authorized to speak about the case publicly, there was blood at the scene and someone appeared to have forced their way inside.

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Guthrie, a “Today” co-host since 2012, has been off the program since Monday. She was scheduled to head to Milan early this week.

Guthrie’s mother, who lived on her own, has been an occasional on-air guest at “Today.” Her appearances made her a favorite of Guthrie’s co-workers and staff at the program.

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Movie Reviews

Still Hope

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Still Hope

When Hope gets abducted and forced into human trafficking, her life turns into a living nightmare. Still Hope details her journey through that appalling experience and her subsequent rescue, emphasizing the long and difficult recovery that follows. Based on true stories from trafficking survivors, the film covers difficult subject matter. We see violence and some drug use. And though it doesn’t shy away from the horrors of sex trafficking, the film doesn’t delve into visually explicit territory. And ultimately, it ends on a hopeful note.

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