What's news: WarnerMedia execs say the company is still committed to theatrical, movie theater owners say full reopening is a ways away, Fox Corp. execs take pay cuts, Endeavor cutting costs, Westworld renewed, another Disney downgrade, Snap Inc. raising $750 million. Plus: NFL Draft day in America (and in Roger Goodell's basement), and Quibi's marketing chief exits. --Alex Weprin

 WarnerMedia Says It Will Still 'Champion' Theatrical

►Warner Bros. brass reaffirm commitment to theatrical movies. Studio chief Ann Sarnoff and her boss, WarnerMedia chief John Stankey, issued statements late Wednesday clarifying comments made to investors.

--"We are committed to — and are excited about — releasing Tenet in theaters this summer or whenever theaters reopen. We remain supportive of the theatrical experience and our exhibition partners, and are confident that our tentpole titles, including Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984, are exactly the type of films that will have people eager to return to theaters," Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff said in a statement to THR.

--"Theatrical films have always been a major part of the our ecosystem. I fully expect that as we evaluate our business going forward, we will continue to champion creative work that is worthy of the theatrical experience,” Stankey added.

--Stankey had said on AT&T's quarterly earnings call earlier Wednesday that the company was "rethinking our theatrical model and looking for ways to accelerate efforts that are consistent with the rapid changes in consumer behavior from the pandemic." The story.

+Movie theater owners warn against reopening too early. The National Association of Theatre Owners on Wednesday cautioned that most shuttered cinemas won't reopen right away, even if they are permitted to by various authorities. The statement came in response to reports that a handful of Southern U.S. states are attempting to end shelter-in-place orders instituted because of the coronavirus pandemic. The story.

 Fox Corp. Pay Cuts

►Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch to forgo salary, execs to take pay cuts. Fox's executive officers, which include mogul Rupert Murdoch as well as chief operating officer John Nallen, chief legal officer Viet Dinh and chief financial officer Steve Tomsic will go without pay until Sept. 30 of this year, the memo said. Lachlan Murduch wrote that the moves were needed so that "to the greatest extent possible, we are able to protect our full-time colleagues with salary and benefit continuation during the period we are most affected by the crisis." The story.

+Endeavor plans layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts for one-third of employees. The cuts, which have already begun in some businesses, will affect up to one-third of the company, which staffs 7,500 people worldwide, and will take place through May. They will affect every division of Endeavor and its holdings, including talent agency WME, UFC, Professional Bull Riders and modeling agency IMG. The story.

►How Netflix reached positive quarterly free cash flow for the first time in years. The streaming giant now expects a free cash flow deficit of only $1 billion or less for the year amid production shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, compared with $2.5 billion previously. "[A] spike in memberships and the inability to spend on content explain why it turned this quarter," says Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. The story.

+Snap Inc. raising $750 million in new debt offering. Snap says it will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, to fund potential acquisitions or share repurchases and to pay the cost of capped call transactions meant to reduce share dilution of the company’s stock. More.

►How IATSE will push Congress to help out of work Hollywood freelancers. The union's political and legislative director speaks to Katie Kilkenny about why OSHA mandates, pension relief and more Payment Protection Program loans are needed to protect entertainment workers. The interview.

+U.K.'s COVID-19 film, TV relief fund closes after applications top $6 million. With applications exceeding the fund's coffers, The Film and TV Charity has made an urgent appeal for more financial support, saying it can only "prioritize those most in need" at present. More.

►Another Disney downgrade: S&P Global Ratings on Thursday downgraded Walt Disney Co.'s credit rating over concerns the coronavirus crisis will slow any reopening of the studio's shuttered theme parks and studio production. "Continued government-imposed social distancing and, longer term, consumer concerns about attending public events will likely retard theme park attendance," the credit agency wrote in an April 23 note as it trimmed Disney's rating to A-minus from A. The story.

►Network newscasts keep up ratings momentum during pandemic. The nightly broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC are drawing their biggest audiences in years, eclipsing their cable competition by wide margins, Rick Porter reports. Since March 16, ABC's World News Tonight With David Muir, the NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt and the CBS Evening News With Norah O'Donnell have averaged a combined 30.27 million daily viewers. That's a 39 percent jump over the same five-week period in 2019, translating to 8.5 million more viewers spread across the three networks. More.

►TV news tackles coronavirus questions for kids: CNN will air a town hall with the cast of Sesame Street on Saturday morning, called The ABC's of COVID-19. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Erica Hill, and Big Bird will host, joined by Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Grover, and others. The 90 minute special will also stream for free.

+Meanwhile: NBC Nightly News has made its "Kids Edition" twice weekly, with new episodes posting online on Tuesdays and Thursdays. “I think it’s hugely important because it’s not a story these kids can avoid,” former Nick News host Linda Ellerbee told the AP.

►How I'm Living Now: Rachel Nichols, ESPN host. The Jump host, who is now running her show's production from her Pacific Palisades home, opens up about the challenges of being her own camerawoman, predictions for sports' return and the saving grace of The Last Dance docuseries. The interview.

In other coronavirus-related news...

--Digital video game spending hit a record high in March as consumers around the globe turned to gaming amid lockdowns to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue topped $10 billion last month, the highest-ever total for a single month an 11 percent increase year-over-year, Nielsen's SuperData reports.

--Discovery CEO David Zaslav is gathering some friends and celebrities this weekend to raise more than $1 million in a virtual charity poker tournament for the Mount Sinai COVID-19 Response Fund.

--A jewel-encrusted Furby pendant from Uncut Gems and the May Queen gown from Midsommar will soon be helping in the fight against COVID-19. Indie studio A24 has set up an A24 Auctions website, where it will be auctioning off original props, set pieces and costumes from some of its recent projects to benefit charities in New York City.

--Armando Iannucci criticizes IFC Films for bringing Death of Stalin to U.S. cinemas amid the pandemic.

--Richard Weitz's pandemic parties surpass $600K for charity as the efforts are expanded to New York.

--The dates for the 2020 Cine Gear Expo have been moved from June 4-7 to Oct. 1-4 amid the coronavirus crisis.

Obituaries: Shirley Knight, the daring actress and darling of Tennessee Williams who received Oscar nominations for her work in her third and fourth films, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth, has died. She was 83... Joel Rogosin, an Emmy-nominated writer and producer on such shows as The Virginian, Ironside, Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider, has died. He was 87...

 'Westworld' Renewed

►Westworld renewed for season 4 at HBO. A return date for the series has not been determined after the VFX-heavy series starring Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright was off the air for nearly two years between seasons two and three. An episode count has also not yet been determined. (Seasons one and two ran 10 episodes each, while three consists of eight.) The story.

More new shows...

+Connie Britton has landed a project at HBO Max. The Friday Night Lights star is developing a docuseries project based on Rebecca Traister's best-selling book All the Single Ladies, which examines how unmarried women have been a societal force over the history of the United States.

+Disney+ is continuing to expand the Star Wars galaxy. Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland is developing a new live-action Star Wars series for the streaming service.

+Google-owned streaming video giant YouTube's YouTube Originals on Wednesday unveiled a new slate of projects "to support, entertain and educate viewers around the world," including some with a coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home theme...

►Succession stars score major pay raises ahead of third season. Sources tell Bryn Eliss Sandberg that members of the Roy family and its hangers-on — Jeremy Strong (Kendall Roy), Sarah Snook (Siobhan Roy), Kieran Culkin (Roman Roy), Alan Ruck (Connor Roy), Matthew Macfadyen (Tom Wambsgans) and Nicholas Braun (Cousin Greg) — ended up at the same number, roughly $300,000 to $350,000 per episode. And in a move that would make Logan Roy proud, Brian Cox is said to have landed at a bigger figure than the rest. The story.

►Amy Poehler, UCB co-founders address NYC facility closures: "We’re really trying to keep it alive." "What's so strange about this time is that we normally use the theaters to congregate when it gets tough. Whether you're in improv, on Broadway or at a comedy club, to not be able to provide people a place to get together is so strange," Poehler told THR's Michael O'Connell. "We've been in New York for so many years. We are going to keep performing here and teaching classes here in the hopes that we can come out on the other side of this." The interview.

►Draft day in America: Finally, America has some non-wrestling live sports content to watch. Tonight and for the next three days, the NFL Draft will air on ESPN, NFL Network and ABC. The original plan was to set up a platform on the lake outside the Bellagio in Las Vegas, with draftees to be taken by boat to the stage as the Bellagio fountains spouted behind them. That... isn't happening now. Instead, the show will originate from ESPN's studios in Bristol, Connecticut, with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announcing the draftees from his basement in Bronxville, New York.

--How much demand is there? Disney has nearly sold out all of its ad inventory, and the few spots left are going for north of $250,000, per Front Office Sports. All told, more than 100 advertisers have signed on to advertise during the draft, and 60 of them are new to the draft.

►Another Quibi exit: Megan Imbres, Quibi's head of brand and content marketing, is leaving the company a few weeks after the short-form video streaming service launched. In an email to staff, Imbres said now that Quibi had launched she felt like it was "an opportune time of transition where I can take some time to identify my next challenge." More.

►TV ratings: The series finale of Empire posted some of its best ratings of the season Tuesday night, and a Prince tribute concert on CBS also scored solid numbers. The numbers.

+The third season of Ozark enjoyed a significant jump in viewership on Netflix, per Nielsen. The drama series averaged 8.7 million viewers over the 10 days after its March 27 premiere on the streamer. That's a 74 percent increase over the average audience for the show's second season, which was 5 million over its first 10 days in August 2018. More.

Dealmaking continues: Sky Studios, the production arm of Comcast-owned European pay-TV giant Sky, has taken a minority stake in new U.K. scripted indie banner The Lighthouse... John Malone's Liberty Media said Thursday it was re-attributing its 33 percent stake in Live Nation Entertainment, along with other assets, from its Formula One Group to its SiriusXM tracking stock...

Agency signings: UTA has signed Peter Hamby, the journalist and host of the Snapchat news program Good Luck America, in all areas... UTA also has signed actress Chrishell Stause, who features in the Netflix docu-soap Selling Sunset after getting her real estate license...  And: A month after his first film hit theaters, helmer David S.F. Wilson has found new representation. The director of Sony Pictures' Bloodshot has signed with CAA...

In other news...

--Music producer Clive Davis is working with the estate of late singer Whitney Houston for a biopic, titled I Want to Dance with Somebody.

--Paramount announced Wednesday that it is pushing back the release of the spy thriller Without Remorse by two weeks to Oct. 2, 2020, the date previously occupied by Sony's Venom sequel.

--Gangs of London: On the set of Gareth Evans' "Shakespearean," "operatic" and "very, very violent" TV debut.

--Little Fires Everywhere boss on the finale and the Dawson's Creek reunion that wasn't.

--The American Film Institute has received a $3 million gift from AFI trustee emeritus Lawrence Herbert.

--Management-production company the Gotham Group has launched a YouTube reading room called Gotham Reads.

--Ashford International Film Studios, a proposed £250 million ($305 million) new production facility outside of London, has received planning permission from its local authority.

--Magic Leap — the augmented reality developer that generated overwhelming hype when it entered the startup scene in 2014, raising $2.6 billion from investors including Warner Bros. and Legendary — on Wednesday announced layoffs and a strategy to focus on enterprise clients, rather than consumers.

What else we're reading...

--"Bezos takes back the wheel at Amazon" [NY Times]

--"Joe Russo dishes on Tom Brady’s IMAX movie including Tampa Bay shoot" [Collider]

--""An ESPN commercial hints at advertising’s deepfake future" [NY Times]

--"Reading Woody Allen’s memoir, there are passages that will forever change the way I think about him. I cannot unread, unhear, unknow them" [Vulture]

--"Look what happened to TV advertising in the past month; one word: S-C-A-R-Y" [Lightshed TMT]

Today's birthdays: Prince Louis of Cambridge, 2, Jaime King, 41, George Lopez, 59, Dev Patel, 30, Gigi Hadid, 25.