Los Angeles Times - 07.09.2019

LATIMES.COM/BUSINESS C3

The NFL and its TV part-

ners received an early indi-

cator Thursday that last

year’s ratings comeback was

real.

The kickoff to the 2019-20

season on NBC scored 22

million viewers, despite the

game being a lackluster 10-3

win for the Green Bay Pack-

ers over the Chicago Bears

at Soldier Field in Chicago.

An additional 627,000 view-

ers streamed the game. The

TV audience was up 16% over

last season’s opener.

The encouraging data

from Nielsen comes after the

league saw a 5% uptick in

ratings last season — with

regular season games aver-

aging 15.8 million viewers —

after two straight seasons of

audience erosion. The de-

cline raised questions as to

whether the country’s top

viewing attraction was get-

ting caught up in the same

downward trend affecting

traditional TV viewing and

other factors, such as the

controversy over players

participating in social jus-

tice protests during the

playing of the national

anthem.

The ratings performance

of the NFL is more vital than

ever to CBS, NBC, Fox and

Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN,

which collectively pay $5.62

billion annually for the

rights to carry the games.

The NFL is the most de-

pendable programming for

attracting mass audiences

who watch live as younger

viewers flock to streaming

platforms to watch their fa-

vorite sitcoms and dramas.

According to the media

analysis firm Moffet-

tNathanson, NFL games

and the programming sur-

rounding them account for

63% of the live viewing on

Fox during the football sea-

son. The figure is 25% for

CBS and ESPN, and 24% for

NBC.

Ad revenue for NFL tele-

casts in the 2018-19 season

came in at $3.28 billion, a

slight decline from 2017-18,

according to Standard Me-

dia Index. While ratings for

the season were up, pricing

for advance ad sales were

probably adjusted down-

ward due to declines in the

previous two years.

But advertisers’ confi-

dence in the NFL’s ability to

deliver big audiences was re-

newed after last season’s

bounce back. Ad Age re-

ported advance sales for

commercial time were up 5%

to 10%. Fox is getting more

than $800,000 for a 30-sec-

ond spot for its Nov. 24 game

between the Dallas Cowboys

and the New England Patri-

ots.

“The marketplace is very

vibrant right now,” said CBS

Sports Chairman Sean Mc-

Manus.

So how does the NFL

keep the momentum going?

Based on last season, the

best defense against declin-

ing ratings is more offense,

according to Mike Mulvihill,

executive vice president for

research and league opera-

tions at Fox Sports.

“The biggest factors in

the viewership increase is

that you had an eruption in

offensive efficiency,” said

Mulvihill, who noted that

most offensive categories

were at or near record levels

last season. “There is a more

aggressive philosophy being

taken by head coaches that

is also contributing to a

more entertaining product.

The number of two-point

conversion tries last year

was the highest in 25 years.

Fifty-six percent of fourth-

down tries resulted in a first

down. That makes for a few

more exciting moments ev-

ery game.”

Interest in the NFL is also

being lifted by a new genera-

tion of star players, such as

Cleveland Browns quarter-

back Baker Mayfield, New

York Giants running back

Saquon Barkley and Kansas

City Chiefs quarterback

Patrick Mahomes.

“A couple of years ago

when the ratings were down,

we were in a post-Peyton

Manning period when there

was a dearth of exciting

young players,” Mulvihill

said. “Now it feels like there

is a lot of young talent in the

glamour positions that we

haven’t seen in a while.”

Mulvilhill believes Fox is

positioned to have a strong-

er year thanks to a schedule

that pits the NFC East

teams — which include the

Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas

Cowboys and New York Gi-

ants — against the NFC

North with the Green Bay

Packers, Chicago Bears and

Minnesota Vikings. The

match-ups among the

league’s most iconic fran-

chises happen only every

three years.

The networks have also

gotten the NFL to allow

them to offer their own Sun-

day afternoon game at the

same time a local market

team is playing a home

game. The NFL’s blackout

rules had long prevented a

competing game from airing

against a local market home

game telecast, which left 10%

of the country without two

games to watch on Sundays.

“The number of blacked-

out windows this year will be

about half of what it was in

previous years,” Mulvihill

said. “Windows that previ-

ously did not have a game

will have a game, and it will

only help. It’s more football.”

ADRIAN AMOS of the Green Bay Packers intercepts a pass in the end zone over Allen Robinson of the Chi-

cago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday. The Packers beat the Bears 10-3 in the NFL season opener.

Jonathan DanielGetty Images

NFL opens with a big hit

Thursday’s season

kickoff on NBC

scored 22 million

viewers, a 16% jump

over last year.

By Stephen Battaglio

Participant Media, the
company behind “Green
Book” and “Roma,” is get-
ting a makeover as it looks to
become a better-known
brand in the entertainment
industry and among socially
conscious audiences.
The Beverly Hills firm,
founded in 2004 by former
EBay President Jeff Skoll,
has made a name for itself in
Hollywood by financing and
producing films and TV
shows and waging cam-
paigns for what it views as
the public good. However,
for the general public, the
company has mostly re-
mained under the radar.
Executives are hoping to
change that, starting with a
new logo that debuted at the
Toronto International Film
Festival on Friday, ahead of
the screening of the Michael
B. Jordan civil rights drama
“Just Mercy,” the Warner
Bros. release that the com-
pany co-financed.
Participant’s previous
logo was essentially just its
name in a simple lower-case
font. The new image features
the word “Participant” in all
caps, surrounded by shapes
meant to evoke the planting
of a flag and cut-up pieces of
film.
The company is also
dropping “Media” from its
name to emphasize that its
goal is not solely to produce
compelling content but also
to spur audiences to act, exe-
cutives said. “We believe that
our efforts, including our
logo and visual identity, now
better convey what we do
and the values behind it,”
Skoll said in a statement.
The idea is to make the
brand feel more accessible
and approachable for the
public, said Participant’s
president of worldwide mar-
keting, Christina Kounelias.
The rebranding also

comes at a potentially op-

portune time for Participant

amid a rise in “conscious

consumerism,” in which

people make decisions

about what they buy and

watch based on their per-

ceived social, political or en-

vironmental effect.

“It allows us to tap into

some global trends and cul-

tural shifts that are happen-

ing right now,” Kounelias

said via phone. “It’s this era

of individual empowerment.

You can become a participa-

nt, which is the brand’s

premise and promise.”

Participant is led by

David Linde, who took the

reins in 2015 after a period of

struggles that led to a strate-

gic review of the business.

Recently, the firm has

found success backing this

year’s popular, albeit contro-

versial, best picture Oscar

winner “Green Book,” re-

leased by Universal Pic-

tures. Participant also made

Netflix’s Alfonso Cuaron

drama “Roma,” which com-

peted head to head with

“Green Book” in the Oscar

race. Its documentary

“American Factory,” re-

leased by Netflix in August,

earned the distinction of be-

coming the first title from

Barack and Michelle Oba-

ma’s production entity

Higher Ground. The com-

pany also owns SoulPan-

cake, the digital video pro-

vider co-founded by “The

Office” actor Rainn Wilson.

Participant executives

said they’re looking to in-

crease their efforts to use

their content to promote so-

cial good. Alongside the re-

lease of “Roma,” for exam-

ple, Participant launched a

campaign pushing legisla-

tion in Mexico to give labor

protections to domestic

workers. The rebranding re-

flects that effort, the com-

pany said.

“We embarked on a

thoughtful process of build-

ing a refreshed identity,

which will resonate with that

rapidly growing demo-

graphic who embrace inspi-

ration and seek to change

the world,” Linde said.

‘Roma’ producer

seeks to rebrand

“ROMA,” from Participant Media, was among this
year’s best picture Academy Award nominees.

Carlos SomonteNetflix

Participant puts

greater emphasis on

social consciousness.

By Ryan Faughnder

A bill to let a troubled Cal-

ifornia utility borrow money

tax-free so it can pay victims

of wildfires started by its

equipment will not pass this

year.

PG&E is facing poten-

tially $30 billion worth of

damages from a series of

devastating wildfires in re-

cent years, including one

that killed 86 people and

mostly destroyed the town

of Paradise last year.

The fires were found to be

started by PG&E’s equip-

ment, including power lines

that toppled from strong

winds. Under California law,

that makes PG&E liable for

damages.

The company filed for

bankruptcy this year, which

has pitted shareholders

against bondholders for

control of the company.

Shareholders control it now.

Bondholders hold most of

the company’s debt.

A group of the company’s

largest shareholders have

pushed for legislation that

would let the California In-

frastructure and Economic

Development Bank issue

tax exempt bonds on behalf

of the company, borrowing

against PG&E’s future prof-

its.

Supporters of the plan

say shareholders — not the

utility company’s customers

— would be responsible for

paying off the loan. Taxpay-

ers would not have to pay off

the loan if the shareholders

default.

Shareholders hope the

proposal would strengthen

their efforts to resist a

proposal by the bondhold-

ers to buy the company.

Their lobbying efforts have

focused on the bonds being a

quick way to pay victims

while also protecting the

stakes of current investors.

Bondholders oppose the

plan because it would saddle

the company with more

debt. They also argue that

the state government would

lose billions of dollars in rev-

enue because the bonds are

tax-exempt.

Assemblyman Chad

Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) on

Friday announced that the

bill would not get a vote this

year because “there is not

sufficient time left for proper

debate.”

Wildfire-claims bill stalls

Measure would allow

PG&E to borrow tax-

free to pay victims.

associated press

NEW YORK — Facebook
Inc. is joining Google in the
crosshairs of state attorneys
general investigating pos-
sible antitrust violations,
adding to the scrutiny of Sili-
con Valley giants that have
been widely criticized by
politicians from both parties
over their market domi-
nance.
New York Atty. Gen. Leti-
tia James is leading a bipar-
tisan coalition of states look-
ing into whether Facebook
“stifled competition and put
users at risk” by increasing
the price of advertising, re-
ducing consumer-choice
quality and mishandling
personal information, ac-
cording to a statement Fri-
day.
“We will use every inves-
tigative tool at our disposal,”
James said. “Even the larg-
est social media platform in
the world must follow the
law and respect consumers.”
Scrutiny of so-called Big
Tech will surge next week: In
addition to an announce-
ment of a separate multi-
state investigation into Al-
phabet Inc.’s Google, which
Bloomberg reported Tues-
day, the House subcommit-
tee focused on antitrust law
will hold a hearing Thursday
on the effect of data and pri-
vacy on competition.
Federal antitrust enforc-

ers have also opened investi-

gations. The Justice Depart-

ment is looking at Google’s

role in the online advertising

market and its search opera-

tions, and the U.S. Federal

Trade Commission is scruti-

nizing acquisitions by Face-

book as part of an early stage

antitrust investigation of

the social media platform.

“If we stop innovating,

people can easily leave our

platform. This underscores

the competition we face,”

Will Castleberry, Facebook’s

vice president for state and

local policy, said in a state-

ment. “We will work con-

structively with state attor-

neys general and we wel-

come a conversation with

policymakers about the

competitive environment in

which we operate.”

The other states investi-

gating Facebook are Col-

orado, Florida, Iowa, Ne-

braska, North Carolina,

Ohio and Tennessee, plus

the District of Columbia, ac-

cording to the statement.

The Wall Street Journal re-

ported earlier that several

states plan to announce in-

vestigations into Facebook

next week.

States have the power to

issue fines as well as order

changes to corporate policy

and even a corporate break-

up if serious violations are

uncovered. Such remedies

aren’t being considered for

Facebook at this point but

are on the table in any such

investigation, according to a

person familiar with the in-

vestigation. Other states

have expressed an interest

in joining the inquiry and the

coalition could expand, the

person said.

Facebook is already

under investigation by New

York over its unauthorized

collection of 1.5 million users’

email contacts without their

permission during an email-

password verification proc-

ess for new users. When an-

nouncing that inquiry in

April, James said the har-

vest may have exposed hun-

dreds of millions of people to

targeted advertising by the

social media giant.

The FTC’s Facebook in-

vestigation covers concerns

across a wide swath of its

business — including social

media, digital advertising

and mobile applications. In

July, the company was fined

a record $5 billion for violat-

ing an order to protect users’

data privacy.

Some people have called

for antitrust enforcers to

break up Facebook. The

FTC chairman has said that

if necessary, he is prepared

to break up the company —

or other major technology

platforms — by undoing

past mergers if they violated

antitrust law by harming

competition.

Specifically, people want-

ing a breakup have called for

the unwinding of Facebook’s

acquisitions of apps, par-

ticularly the Instagram

photo-sharing service and

the WhatsApp chat plat-

form. It probably would

prove difficult to persuade a

court to approve such a

breakup.

Larson writes for

Bloomberg.

NEW YORK Atty. Gen. Letitia James is leading a bipartisan coalition of states

looking into whether Facebook stifled competition and put consumers at risk.

Drew AngererGetty Images

Facebook targeted in

states’ antitrust probe

Inquiry is reviewing

tech giant’s business

and user data tactics.

By Erik Larson