Nov 22, 2018 - Economy & Business

ESPN loses 2 million subscribers in 12 months

Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images.

Disney revealed in its annual report released Thanksgiving eve that ESPN continues to lose its subscriber base, as 2 million subscribers have left over the past 12 months.

Why it matters: ESPN will need to regain those subscriptions through its digital platform, ESPN+. But the margins are unlikely to add up for them, for those add-on subscriptions are $4.99 a month, roughly half of what the average pay-TV consumer pays for the channel. Subscriptions are now at 86 million compared to 88 million as reported in Disney’s fiscal 2017 report.

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Fadel Allassan
1 hour ago - Health

U.S., Canada and U.K. accuse Russia of trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Alexei Druzhinin\TASS via Getty Images

Hackers associated with Russian intelligence services are trying to steal information from researchers involved in coronavirus vaccine development, according to a joint advisory by U.K., U.S. and Canadian authorities published Thursday.

The big picture: This isn't the first time a foreign adversary has been accused of attempting to steal COVID-19-related research. U.S. officials in May announced an uptick in Chinese-government affiliated hackers targeting medical research and other facilities in the U.S. for data on a potential cure or effective treatments to combat the virus.

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Dan Primack
2 hours ago - Economy & Business

M&A activity falls despite early coronavirus fears

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

In April, several prominent Democrats proposed a moratorium on large mergers and acquisitions. Their argument was that the pandemic would embolden the strong to pounce on the weak, thus reducing competition.

Fast forward: The moratorium never materialized. Nor did the M&A feeding frenzy.

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Courtenay Brown
3 hours ago - Economy & Business

More than 32 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits

Photo: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

More than 32 million Americans are receiving some form of unemployment benefits, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

Why it matters: Tens of millions of jobless Americans will soon have a smaller cash cushion — as coronavirus cases surge and certain parts of the country re-enter pandemic lockdowns — barring an extension of the more generous unemployment benefits that are set to expire at the end of the month.

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