3. Streaming slam dunk?
The future of media could well depend on the NBA, CNBC’s Alex Sherman reports. The league’s rights deals with Disney (which owns ESPN and ABC) and Warner Bros. Discovery (the home of TNT) ends after the 2024-25 season, but potential media partners – including Google’s YouTube TV and, surprisingly, Netflix – are already starting to position themselves to box out rivals. The media industry’s at a crossroads right now as streaming services struggle to turn profits while expensive sports rights are the main thing keeping the cable bundle from a complete cord-cutting wipeout. The NBA can start negotiations with potential partners beyond Disney and Warners in April.
4. The SEC-Musk war continues
They’re not done yet. The Securities and Exchange Commission is miffed that Elon Musk ignored a subpoena to testify last month in the agency’s probe into potential securities fraud related to the billionaire Tesla CEO’s deal last year to buy Twitter, now known as X. So the regulator sued him to force his testimony. The SEC and Musk have a long and bitter history. He settled a fraud probe five years ago over his tweet about taking Tesla private, but has since unsuccessfully tried to scuttle the settlement. On Thursday, Musk responded to the news by calling for a “comprehensive overhaul” of the SEC and other agencies.
5. Grinding gears
General Motors shares fell Thursday as the Detroit automaker contended with a continued drag from the United Auto Workers union’s strike and a report that said 20 million of the company’s vehicles have a potentially dangerous air bag part. GM said it “believes the evidence and data presented by NHTSA at this time does not provide a basis for any recall” beyond ones it already initiated. The stock fell under $30 for the first time in more than three years before rallying somewhat. It was a rough day for a couple other auto stocks, as well. EV truck maker Rivian fell more than 20% after it unveiled plans to raise $1.5 billion, and fellow EV company Lucid declined 7% after launching a cheaper version of its luxury Air sedan.
— CNBC’s Mike Calia wrote this newsletter. Sarah Min, Jeff Cox, Alex Sherman, Jonathan Vanian, Michael Wayland and John Rosevear contributed.
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