Disney Earnings Day

►Disney's streaming subscriber miss: While the fallout from the pandemic leads to a tough comparison a year ago, The Walt Disney Co. delivered mixed results in its earnings on Thursday, delivering revenue of $15.6 billion and an adjusted earnings per share of $0.79. Wall Street consensus had been for $15.93 billion in revenue, and an adjusted EPS of $0.27. Much of the the company’s growth continues to come from the streaming service Disney+, which now has 103.6 million subscribers, the company says. That is below the Wall Street consensus of 110 million subscribers.

--Still, Disney’s direct-to-consumer business delivered revenue of $4 billion, up 59 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Disney’s linear networks unit, which includes ESPN and ABC, was down 4 percent from a year ago at $6.7 billion, while its theme parks and experiences division continues to face the toughest headwinds, down 44 percent to $3.2 billion. The story.

As is often the case on earnings calls, Disney also made some news...

+On the theatrical front: With a box office recovery in sight, 20th Century’s Free Guy and Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings are among the Disney event titles that will have exclusive theatrical releases, versus getting a hybrid release on Disney+.

--CEO Bob Chapek confirmed the news during an earnings call Thursday. Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds, hits theaters Aug. 13, while the Simu Liu starrer Shang-Chi arrives Sept. 3. Both will have a 45-day exclusive run in cinemas. The story.

+Meanwhile: Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson, is opting or a dual release in theaters and on Disney+ Premier. The tentpole will be released on the big screen and on the streamer for an additional $30 on July 30. More.

+On the sports front: Disney is continuing to make deals to benefit ESPN, even as it becomes increasingly agnostic as to where consumers watch their live sports. During the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that the company was “in conversations” with the NFL about its NFL Sunday Ticket package. Sunday Ticket, which has been exclusive to satellite provider DirecTV for more than 25 years, features out-of-market NFL games.

--ESPN also announced a long-term agreement with Major League Baseball, which will keep Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN through 2028 while allowing for simulcasts on ESPN+, and a deal with LaLiga. The details.

+And, in other theatrical news: WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar says that the company has no plans to abandon theatrical exhibition, and that some “epic” films will get exclusive theatrical windows even as others debut day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max. More.

Reporters-In-Chief

►TV’s top White House correspondents (all female) on covering Trump, Biden and becoming the story. ABC's Cecilia Vega, CBS' Nancy Cordes, NBC's Kristen Welker, CNN's Kaitlan Collins and PBS' Yamiche  Alcindor open up to Chris Gardner about holding the current administration to account while lifting each other up: "We've got each other's backs."

--Vega: "I carried two cellphones and I have an Apple Watch, so whenever the president would tweet, it was like drinking from a fire hose — policy stories, immigration, firings, impeachment, and then January 6. I look back on everything we covered, and most Washington reporters don’t get to cover one of those things in a lifetime. I still don’t know how we did it. There was not a lot of sleep that was had during those four years, that’s for sure."

--Alcindor: "There was a moment where President Trump was talking about China with [CBS’] Weijia Jiang and there was an awkward exchange. President Trump then called on me to get away from her questions. I refused to let that happen and said, “Well, could you answer [her] question first?” President Trump stormed away. I thought about that for a long time, wondering if I did the right thing. I settled on the fact that I did."

--Collins: "The goal in a situation like that has to be to not get dragged into the fight. If you do give in and start sparring with the president, instead of just pushing back or repeating your question, it feeds into the narrative that he wants to perpetuate, which is that it’s him versus the media. You have to rise above and realize it’s not your job to defend the media writ large, it’s your job to defend it by your actions and keep pushing forward with your questions."

--Welker: "It’s an incredibly competitive environment. We are always pushing to break news and to push the story forward. Having said that, we’ve been in the trenches together for years. I covered the [Hillary] Clinton campaign with Nancy and Cecilia, and we sat side by side in a small plane. You do develop close bonds. We would be racing to try to get to the rope line to ask Secretary Clinton a question and to try to get there first. Now, having said that, I have to acknowledge that [NBC chief Washington correspondent and former White House correspondent] Andrea Mitchell beat us every single time. She set the bar." The story .

Terry Press Talks

►The wit, wisdom and “unvarnished truth” of Terry Press: A no-holds-barred interview. A Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes adviser, this marketing pioneer and former CBS Films chief, who has worked with nearly everyone, talks about not suffering fools, her opinion of Scott Rudin and her go-to advice: "I say, ‘What is this movie’s reason to exist?’”

--“'Someone can be a very good producer and be a terrible boss, but that is no excuse for abusing people and physical violence,' says Press [of Rudin], who says she never witnessed abusive behavior on his part. She does say that she is worried about the rise of cancel culture. 'Just to simply cancel people who are talented and complicated is not smart. It is not constructive, and it does not help with lasting change,' she says. To her, the solution is to not reward bad behavior. 'It’s like Trump. If there’s no consequences, there’s no reason to stop. Scott should have an opportunity to change. If he doesn’t, he pays the price.

'Part of me finds it a little sad to think that somebody with that much intelligence and that much taste is so rageful,' she continues. 'What is the root of this? I don’t know the answer. At some point, he must have thought that was an effective way to go. And I mean, I’ve been on the receiving end of a fair amount of that.' She recalls an email he once sent her in all caps that read in part, 'Your Eve Arden routine will not work on me. So just stop it.' Press laughs about the reference to the actress: 'He doesn’t understand that to be compared to Eve Arden was the greatest thing ever.'” The interview.

►Hollywood preps campaign to encourage return to movie theaters. Hollywood and theater owners are supporting a variety of public service messaging efforts featuring high-profile talent. The effort also includes an in-theater gathering for press on May 19 where studios heads and executives will pitch their upcoming slates and share footage. The story.

+In other film news: The game is afoot again as Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill have reunited for a sequel to Enola Holmes, the female-centric Sherlock Holmes hit from Legendary Entertainment and Netflix. The companies have brought many of the creative, including writer Jack Thorne and director Harry Bradbeer, for the sequel. More.

►Sundance plans: Following a successful 2021 Sundance Film Festival that was forced online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sundance Institute has announced a hybrid plan for its 2022 fest. Taking place from Jan 20 to 30, next year’s fest will be both in-person in Park City and online. After cutting four days off the 2021 fest due to the pandemic and limiting the number of films that screened, the fest is returning to its full 11-day run. The story.

►Oscars: Planning for 2022 ceremony gets underway as candidates are sought for board elections. In the wake of a season with an eligibility window that, as usual, began on Jan. 1, but was extended from the usual Dec. 31 cutoff to one on Feb. 28 due the pandemic, the likeliest scenario for this season seems to be a return to a Dec. 31 cutoff, meaning a shorter-than-usual eligibility window, Scott Feinberg writes. The story.

►American Idol will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2022 — and also air its 20th season then. ABC has renewed Idol for the 2021-22 season, along with long-running unscripted series America’s Funniest Home Videos (season 32) and Shark Tank (season 13) 2020-21 newcomers Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and Supermarket Sweep, both of which are getting second seasons. American Idol will air its fifth season on ABC and 20th overall (the first 15 ran on Fox). The story.

+The CW has Saturday night fever. The broadcaster will expand its primetime footprint to Saturdays, beginning with the 2021-22 season. The move marks the first time in The CW’s 15-year history — as well as those of its predecessors, UPN and The WB — that it will program all seven nights of the week. The story.

+It’s game on at Paramount+. The ViacomCBS-backed streamer has handed out a 10-episode series order for a revival of the former BET and CW series The Game. Original stars Wendy Raquel Robinson (LaTasha) and Horsea Chanchez (Malik) will reprise their roles, with other legacy cast members also expected to return. (Chanchez and Robinson were the only original series regular cast members to be with the show for its nine-season run.) The story.

+Jimmy Fallon is expanding his reach at NBCUniversal. The Tonight Show host is developing several projects — including a kids’ version of his late-night talker — at NBCU properties via an overall deal with his Electric Hot Dog Banner, which he heads with and Jim Juvonen. They include competition shows, a holiday special and, outside the NBCU family, an animated series from DreamWorks Animation. The special, 5 More Sleeps ’til Christmas, and animated show are based on children’s books Fallon penned. The story.

+Peacock is continuing to bulk up its unscripted catalog, giving series orders to four spinoffs of shows from other NBCUniversal properties. The streamer has picked up the kids version of American Ninja Warrior, an Australia-set version of Below Deck, a baking-themed take on DIY competition Making It and a family edition of Top Chef. The raft of spinoffs takes a page from the playbook of Discovery+, which has launched dozens of shows based on existing IP from its linear networks. More.

+Discovery is returning to the Serengeti. A second season of the Emmy-nominated series, Serengeti II, is set to air across Discovery platforms this summer, with Lupita Nyong’o returning as narrator and the original creative team of creator-producer Simon Fuller and director-producer John Downer on board. More.

►Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflects on the legacy of the athlete-activist (and his own). The NBA Hall of Famer and THR columnist looks back at his career on the heels of the NBA's creation of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award, which will honor one player annually.

--"Athletes are entertainers. Like writers, actors, dancers, and musicians we get paid to thrill the audience. But there is a shimmering threshold that some cross over that transforms them from entertainers to artists: when they are able to not merely delight the audience, but also stir something dormant deep within them." The column.

►Two significant revolving door moves: Jeff Blackburn is returning to Amazon in a new role. The two-decade Amazon veteran will now lead a new global entertainment group that will combine oversight of music, audio entertainment, games and video for the company... The Recording Academy on Friday named Harvey Mason jr. as President and CEO of the organization...

Casting roundup: Kathryn Hahn has been enlisted for the Knives Out sequel ensemble that is quickly taking shape... Betty Gilpin will star alongside Julia Roberts and Sean Penn in Starz’s Watergate drama Gaslit... Epix  has tapped newcomer Tom Blyth to topline its forthcoming scripted drama exploring the origins of the American outlaw Billy The Kid...

►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews Netflix's Halston, writing: "Like a public speaker who slips down the steps while carrying his next lecture on notecards, leaving some cards out of order and others lost in the stairwell, Halston  picks and chooses key moments in Roy Halston Frowick’s (Ewan McGregor) journey from chapeau-loving Indiana child to the creator of such innovations as Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hat; ultrasuede; every outfit Liza Minnelli (Krysta Rodriguez) ever wore; and, of course, Halston-branded carpeting. From there, it’s a predictable descent into corporate betrayals, personal betrayals and all imaginable forms of ’80s excess including cocaine, promiscuous sex, cocaine, carousing at Studio 54, cocaine, egomaniacal temper tantrums and cocaine." The review.

►TV's Top 5 podcast: During this week's podcast, hosts Daniel Fienberg and Lesley Goldberg are joined by Hacks showrunners Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky to discuss their HBO Max comedy; plus upfronts, Ellen's farewell and more fallout for the Globes. Listen.

In other news...

--The first trailer for the Friends reunion special is here, along with a premiere date and a rather impressive list of guest stars.

--HBO has canceled the taping of Friday’s Real Time With Bill Maher after the host tested positive for COVID-19. Maher tested positive during weekly checks of the show’s staff. Per HBO, the host is fully vaccinated, is not showing any symptoms and “feels fine.”

--James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan have shot a secret COVID-19 love story. Together, from writer Dennis Kelly and directed by Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy-winning filmmaker Stephen Daldry, is set in the U.K. from the first days of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 until present day.

--Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications reported higher first-quarter core advertising sales and earnings on Friday.

--The Handmaid’s Tale star and boss on the impact of that mid-season cliffhanger.

--AMC Networks, the cable networks company that operates AMC, IFC, WE tv, BBC America and SundanceTV, is not focusing on any major deals to boost its scale to compete with streaming video giants, president and CEO Josh Sapan said on Thursday.

--The 2021 Tribeca Festival has revealed more information about its Juneteenth programming lineup, celebrating Black stories and storytellers throughout the New York event running from June 9-20.

What else we're reading...

--"NBC’s khaki-wearing data king Steve Kornacki will spread his wings in a new deal" [L.A. Times]

--"Psaki successors begin jockeying for podium" [Politico]

--"Tech companies don't need to be creepy to make money" [Wired]

--"NCAA corporate sponsorships are for 90 championships. They revolve around one" [WSJ]

Today's birthdays: George Lucas, 77, Mark Zuckerberg, 37, Cate Blanchett, 52, Tim Roth, 60, Rob Gronkowski, 32.