Business
Video: Google C.E.O. Comments On Landmark Monopoly Ruling
“Sundar Pichai is here, everybody, the C.E.O., of course, of Alphabet and Google. How much of your time, and I promise we’d get to it, is spent these days on thinking about this legal case that you are the center of with the U.S. government saying you’re a monopoly and we are going to break you up? They have talked about effectively trying to do a whole bunch of things, spinning off Chrome, figuring out how to deal with Android, preventing you from paying folks like Apple to make Google the default search engine on the phone.” “Look, I spend the vast majority of my time on innovation and product innovation we need to do as a company. But at our scale as a company, it’s a big part of my job to engage with regulators and viewed it as an important part of my role to do that. From a legal standpoint, look, these are complex cases. They are in the thick of it. We have very, very capable teams which work through it. I have, I spend time, but it’s not an extraordinary amount of time or something like that, yeah.” “But what do you think your chances are, if you will? I mean, do you say to you, I don’t know how much you want to speculate, but there’s a big question mark about if any of these things were to come to pass, what it would do to the business?” “Look, I mean, I would say this even through the ruling, the judge commented on that we are clearly the highest quality search engine product out there. And we have gotten to that position by innovating ahead of everyone else.”
Business
ESPN on Disney+ launches Wednesday, as Disney looks to increase streaming subscribers
Disney+ subscribers will now see an ESPN tile on the streaming service’s homepage, part of Walt Disney Co.’s continued efforts to increase subscribers and reduce churn.
Starting Wednesday, bundle subscribers to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ will be able to access ESPN content from the Disney+ app.
Those who subscribe only to Disney+ will also be able to watch some Hulu and ESPN+ content through the app, including certain live NBA games, the first day of the Australian Open and some “30 for 30” sports documentaries, as well as series and movies such as FX’s Emmy-winning “Shogun,” crime procedural “Will Trent” and the film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”
The idea, Disney officials said, is to whet people’s appetites and encourage upgrades to the full bundle.
“There are opportunities to use the sampling experiences [as] lead-in to a more fulsome experience,” said Alisa Bowen, president of Disney+.
The addition of ESPN content to Disney+ is similar to the roll-out of the Hulu tile earlier this year. By integrating all three of its streaming services into one platform, Disney is betting that a more seamless experience will keep subscribers engaged and increase retention, Bowen said.
“This strategy is really about making it easier for them to consume everything that they’re paying for, giving them less friction in terms of navigating between the different apps and better ability for us to personalize the content from all those different services,” she said.
Disney’s streaming business is key for its growth plans. The company has projected that its entertainment streaming business, which includes just Disney+ and Hulu, will have a 10% operating margin by 2025.
On the sports front, the company is planning to launch its ESPN flagship product in August.
Business
Mattel sued by mom over 'Wicked' merchandise with link to porn site
A South Carolina mom is suing Mattel after links to an adult website appeared on the packaging of its line of “Wicked” dolls.
Holly Ricketson, the plaintiff, filed a class action suit, claiming that her daughter, a minor, used her iPhone to visit a porn site found listed on the box of the “Wicked” doll she bought for her last month. The suit was filed Tuesday in federal court in the Central District of California.
The site “had nothing to do with the Wicked Doll. Rather, Wicked.com pasted scenes of pornographic advertisements across her phone screen,” states the complaint.
“These scenes were hardcore, full on nude pornographic images depicting actual intercourse. Plaintiff’s minor daughter immediately showed her mother the photographs and both were horrified by what they saw. If plaintiff had been aware of such an inappropriate defect in the product, she would not have purchased it.”
The toy manufacturer apologized for the misprint after the error came to light when social media users discovered that the link to the film — which should have been wickedmovie.com — was mislabeled, sending consumers to Wicked Pictures, an independent adult film company.
The merchandise was launched to coincide with Universal’s box office hit. The packaging included those holding Elphaba and Glinda dolls. In the film, Elphaba is played by Cynthia Erivo and Glinda is played by Ariana Grande.
The well-reviewed film, which is rated PG, has grossed more than $275 million in the U.S. and Canada so far.
“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the U.S., which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page,” the toy company said in a statement. “We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this.”
The toy maker advised parents that the label was incorrect and directed consumers who had already purchased the product to discard its packaging and contact Mattel Customer Service.
Mattel moved to pull the dolls from online retailers and stores including Target, one of Universal’s retail partners on the movie.
However, Ricketson claims that the company did not “offer a refund for consumers who had already purchased the dolls.” Further, she claims her daughter “experienced emotional distress” as a result of the mislabeled packaging.
Mattel declined to comment on the lawsuit. However, the firm earlier this week issued a statement to Deadline and other outlets:
“The Wicked Dolls have returned for sale with correct packaging at retailers online and in stores to meet the strong consumer demand for the products,” Mattel said. “The previous misprint on the packaging in no way impacts the value or play experience provided by the product itself in the limited number of units sold before the correction.”
Business
New tactic to close Aliso Canyon gas storage facility: Switch more neighbors to electric appliances
Ever since a historic, methane-spewing blowout in October 2015, local lawmakers, residents and activists have been pressuring state regulators and officials, including the governor, to close the Aliso Canyon gas storage field.
The leak at the Porter Ranch facility lasted for 121 days and pumped more than 100,000 tons of methane and other chemicals into the sky. It was the largest gas leak in U.S. history, and neighbors complained of headaches, nausea and other symptoms. Meanwhile, the facility, owned by Southern California Gas Co., remains open.
Now, activists and supporters are changing tactics. Instead of focusing primarily on the facility’s closure, they also want residents to adopt green technologies, and they’re using a hefty SoCalGas settlement to help make it happen.
At a news conference Wednesday in front of the gas company’s regional headquarters in Chatsworth, state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas) and state Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth) implored community members to hasten Aliso Canyon’s closure by consuming less gas and turning to electric appliances.
The duo, along with community activists, announced that funds from the $71-million settlement between SoCalGas and its regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, would be used to further those efforts as the commission deliberates on a plan to potentially close Aliso Canyon in the distant future.
“We still believe the facility can be closed,” Stern said, “but this funding is really designed to help average homeowners, people who send their kids to school in the Valley, take the closure of Aliso Canyon into their own hands.”
The funding is expected to be broken up into four chunks: $40 million to push for replacement of home and water heaters now powered by natural gas, $15 million to make schoolyards greener; $14 million to combat extreme heat and aid community resilience programs, and $2 million for community outreach and decarbonization education.
“This is a significant step forward on delivering some level of justice and creating healthier and more sustainable communities and futures for the communities that were impacted by the Aliso Canyon disaster,” Schiavo said.
The $40 million will go toward a statewide program that promotes the use of electric residential heat pumps for space and water heating. Although every homeowner within SoCalGas is eligible for a $1,000 rebate, the program will give special priority to those in the Aliso Canyon-impacted communities of Porter Ranch, Granada Hills, Northridge, Chatsworth, North Hills, Canoga Park, Reseda, Winnetka, Lake Balboa, Van Nuys and West Hills.
“Heat pumps can create safer and healthier homes and communities and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and the market is increasingly ready to meet the rise in demand,” Robin Tung, associate director of communications for the Building Decarbonization Coalition, said at the news conference. The group is one of several working with the affected Aliso Canyon community pushing for electric over gas options and appliances.
All other monies will only be available specifically to Aliso Canyon-impacted communities.
As for green schoolyards, the $15 million will be aimed at increasing green space, reducing asphalt and blacktops for affected cities, counties, school districts, special districts and nonprofits. The $14 million in extreme heat aid will support senior community centers with adequate and efficient air conditioning.
The settlement funding these endeavors is separate from a $1.8-billion agreement settlement between Aliso Canyon neighbors and SoCalGas in 2021, or other payments and fines paid by SoCalGas and its parent, Sempra Energy.
SoCalGas spokesperson Chris Gilbride, who was at the news conference, did not offer a direct comment on the settlement.
He did note that SoCalGas “share[s] the commission’s view that Aliso Canyon is a necessary part of California’s energy infrastructure today.”
The news conference comes after the CPUC released a proposal Nov. 13 that could lead to closing Aliso Canyon years from now. Local activists and politicians criticized the plan, saying it didn’t provide a fast enough or clear enough timeline to shut down the site.
The proposal calls for moving ahead with closing the site once Southern California’s demand for natural gas declines to a level at which peak demand can be served without Aliso Canyon.
According to the plan, the CPUC would initiate proceedings to review and potentially close the facility only when the peak demand forecast for a date two years in the future is below 4,121 million metric cubic feet per day.
Peak demand, currently forecast at 4,618 million metric cubic feet per day, is expected to drop to 4,197 million in 2030, according to the CPUC.
Stern estimated the earliest the facility could be closed under the proposal would be 2039.
Activists such as Matt Pakucko, president of the advocacy group Save Porter Ranch, which has fought to close the storage facility since shortly after the leak, said SoCalGas and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s framing on the issue has always been wrong.
“This isn’t an energy issue, it’s a health issue,” Pakucko said.
The closure plan will be discussed at the commission’s Dec. 19 meeting in San Francisco. The public can attend in person or virtually.
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