General News

By Lisa Richwine

(Reuters) - Walt Disney has cut its investment in programming for traditional television networks pretty dramatically as part of its strategy to maximize audiences and profit in the streaming TV era, Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Wednesday.

Iger said he looked expansively at traditional media when he came out of retirement to return to Disney as CEO in November 2022.

He concluded that traditional channels... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) -Netflix said on Wednesday its ad-supported tier has reached 40 million global monthly active users, from 5 million a year earlier, a sign that its push to attract new users with the cheaper plan is paying off.

The jump comes at a time when streaming companies are facing stiff competition and introducing bundles with their rivals to retain subscribers.

Netflix, which launched the ad-supported plan in November 2022, said that 40% of... (continue reading...)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a broad aviation bill to boost air traffic controller staffing, increase funding to avert runway close-call incidents, and speed refunds for canceled flights.

The 387-26 vote sends the $105 billion, five-year measure to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to President Joe Biden for his signature by Friday after the... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) - Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on Wednesday reiterated his view that he is unsure how restrictive monetary policy is right now, and that borrowing costs should stay where they are as U.S. central bankers take stock of inflation.    "The biggest uncertainty in my mind is how much downward pressure is monetary policy putting on the economy? That's an unknown," Kashkari told the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck,... (continue reading...)

The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) for April indicated a modest slowdown in inflation, which was roughly in line with market forecasts.

The CPI rose 3.4% year-on-year, a slight deceleration from the 3.5% increase reported in March. On a month-to-month basis, the index saw a 0.3% rise, which is less than the 0.4% anticipated and equal to the growth in March.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) pinpointed shelter and gasoline prices as the primary contributors to the... (continue reading...)