Gamers unimpressed by Harris campaign’s Fortnite map, leading to immediate backlash



The Kamala Harris campaign announced its own map on the popular shooter game Fortnite just a week before the election as part of a bid to reach gamers. The map was met with very few initial users.

"Freedom Town, USA" sports some of the Harris campaign promises and presents itself in the exact way an out-of-touch politician would attempt to reach young audiences.

In a promo video, "Fight for freedom" appears in large text as generic rock-rap music begins to play. On the map's backdrop, fictional retail outlets like "Kamala's Kicks" fill the streets.

The imagery also showcases signs in rainbow colors that display generic messages like "Promise of America" and "Freedom."

"Kamala Harris and Tim Walz's campaign have released their very own Fortnite map in a bid to court the most oppressed demographic: 12-year-old gamers who play Fortnite," writer Ian Miles Cheong wrote on X.

"Freedom Town, USA is a custom creative map themed around some of Harris' campaign, including tax breaks for small businesses and affordable housing."

Cheong also revealed that audio cues in the new map included clips from Donald Trump. For example, when you pick up a cat, Trump says, "They're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats," plays.

"You have to wonder who they're even campaigning for," Cheong added.

The map, which was officially released on October 28, so far has not been a hit. It carried an impressively low all-time peak of 261 concurrent users and is ranked No. 435 as a map. At the time of this publication, there were 1.7 million people playing Fortnite.

Other pushes from the Harris campaign into the gaming world have included a Geeks & Nerds for Harris fundraiser.

Embarrassingly broken up into the categories "Earth heroes" and "space explorers," the organizers describe themselves as a "diverse group of fandoms and artists teaming up to support Kamala Harris."

'Those guys drew up a playbook and it's project 2025.'

Additionally, vice presidential candidate and Governor Tim Walz was joined in a video game streaming session by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The pair played the football game Madden 25 and the driving game Crazy Taxi.

During their stream, Walz attacked Trump for wanting an administration that tells citizens "what books to read" while connecting him to Project 2025.

"I think a lot of folks on here are kind of independent folks, independent thinkers about things," Walz stated. "Why would you want the government telling you what books to read, or what doctor to see, or what how big your family can be?"

"It's that kind of stuff [that] is ridiculous and so I think, you talk about football planning, it's the same way; if you're going to drop a playbook in football you're going to use it. Those guys drew up a playbook and it's project 2025."

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CBS’s New Legal Drama Isn’t Your Grandfather’s ‘Matlock’

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-02-at-3.26.25 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-02-at-3.26.25%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]The new show's use of the 'Matlock' moniker seeks to attract the senior demographic while using a faster pace and ensemble cast to intrigue younger viewers.

‘Rings of Power’ Season 2 Doesn’t Take Tolkien Or Storytelling Seriously

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-2.01.48 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-2.01.48%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]Ultimately, the show’s failure is not just in infidelity to the source material but also in storytelling for adults.

Disney streamers finally profitable; rewards fans with 25% price hike



Disney's streaming platforms have finally posted a net profit after a long-term struggle saw the company lose billions.

In a Q3 earnings call, the company announced profits from streaming a full quarter ahead of expectations. The third quarter direct-to-consumer income totaled $47 million, according to Disney, which is quite the turnaround from a $512 million loss in the previous year.

The profit appeared to come solely off the back of ESPN+ after Disney+ and Hulu were packaged with the sports network.

Disney+ and Hulu reportedly incurred a combined loss of $19 million, according to Bounding into Comics, meaning if the profit margin came from ESPN+ alone that would mean the sports network brought in $66 million. However, the breakdown of the figures is unclear at the time of this publication.

'We are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets.'

As Blaze News reported in May, Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously blamed the streaming services for a $4 billion loss:

"As we got into the streaming business in a very, very aggressive way, we tried to tell too many stories. Basically we invested too much, way ahead of possible returns. It's what led to streaming ending up as a $4 billion loss," Iger said in a webcasted conference.

The company did have the stated goal however of bundling Hulu and ESPN+ with Disney+ to increase overall engagement, and that calculated gamble appears to have worked out.

At the same time, the Walt Disney company announced in a press release that prices for its streaming packages, both ad-free and ad-supported, will increase by $1 to $2 per month.

Disney+ basic and premium plans will go from $7.99 and $13.99 per month, respectively, to $9.99 and $15.99

The ad-free and ad-included Hulu plans will go up to $18.99 and $9.99 per month, while ESPN+ goes up to $11.99 per month with ads.

Some bundle plans, such as the Duo Basic plan, are also set to increase prices.

Subscribers who pay more are set to receive "ABC News Live" and a "preschool content" playlist, with the promise of four additional curated playlists in fall 2024, according to the Dallas Express.

Iger has promised viewers that the Disney creative departments were going to "reconnect" to the monetization side of the company to ensure "quality is not lost," but price increases likely aren't what fans were hoping for out of that promise.

"This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our entertainment segment, both at the box office and [direct-to-consumer], as we achieved profitability across our combined streaming for the first time, and ahead of our previous guidance," Iger said. "We are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets."

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Apple TV-Plus’ Benjamin Franklin Drama Equally Intrigues And Bores

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-30-at-1.56.01 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-30-at-1.56.01%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]'Franklin' is quiet and flawed, but it's easy to forgive something rare.

Sports Leagues Squeeze Fans Dry Trying To Make A Buck Across Streaming Services

Sports leagues like the NFL and NASCAR are exhausting fans and draining their wallets as they spread out across streaming platforms.

4 Things I Learned From Bill Whittle’s History Of Soviet Russia

Bill Whittle's newest season of 'What We Saw' on Daily Wire Plus dips its toe in the oceans of blood Russia's Communist revolution released.

Disney Plus sheds 1.3 million subscribers after price hike — but expects more than 7 million Americans to sign up soon



Disney's streaming service dropped over a million subscribers in the first quarter of 2024, but executives were able to provide investors with enough good news that shares in the company jumped by around 10%.

During an earnings call for the first quarter of the fiscal year, chief financial officer Hugh Johnston dropped the bomb on investors that 1.3 million Disney+ core subscribers had left the platform since Q4 2023. However, the CFO said that it was an "expected temporary uptick in churn, given the recent domestic price increases, as well as the end of the global summer promotion."

Disney reportedly offered new and returning users a three-month subscription for just $1.99 in 2023, Bounding into Comics reported.

Disney brass stated not only that ad revenue cut into those losses but also that the newly acquired platform Hulu gained 1.2 million subscribers in the same time frame. The mouse brand picked up the remaining 33% of shares in Hulu owned by Comcast in November 2023 for around $8.6 billion.

The price increases weren't all bad for Disney+ either. The 27% hike garnered an average revenue per user increase of $0.14 since the last quarter and $1.07 compared to the prior year.

The company also expects a strong bounce back in the second quarter of 2024, netting between 5.5 and 6 million subscribers. While expecting to add 7.5 million domestic users, Disney thinks it will lose international subscribers based on "certain wholesale deals and slightly elevated churn impacts from price increases."

All this news translated to a big jump in the Walt Disney Company stock price.

After closing out February 7, 2024 (the day of the call), at around $99.28 per share, investors woke up to a price of about $107.10 per share. This marked one of the biggest stock price jumps in the last year for the company.

Of course, the $108 stock price (as of this writing) is nowhere near the $189 five-year peak the company saw in February 2021, presumably when citizens were still being forced by their governments to sit at home.

A pending lawsuit by former Disney+ star Gina Carano hasn't seemed to affect the brand at all, either. Carano spent two seasons on the Disney+ hit "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian." Despite the success of the show and Carano's obvious popularity with fans, Disney executives fired her, claiming that some of her social media posts were not in keeping with the company's "values."

She has alleged wrongful termination and discrimination. Interestingly enough, her firing also occurred in February 2021.

According to a recent study Democrats use Disney+ at a higher rate than Republicans; 39% of Democrats subscribe to the platform versus 31% of Republicans.

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Democrats use streaming services more than Republicans, with only one platform used more by GOP

Democrats use streaming services more than Republicans, with only one platform used more by GOP



Democrats use streaming services more than Republicans do, with the liberal party members out-watching their conservative counterparts on almost every major streaming platform.

Of the top eight streaming platforms in the United States, more Democrats had subscriptions on seven of them in 2023. The difference in viewership is not staggering, but on each of those seven platforms at least 5% more Democrats are members than Republicans are.

The largest gaps are on Netflix, where 68% of Democrats watch as opposed to 58% of Republicans, as well as Hulu, which has a 44% DNC watch rate compared to 33% GOP. The biggest difference came on HBO's MAX service, which saw 33% Democrat usage and 20% Republican usage.

The national consumer study by MRI-Simmons, analyzed by Variety, did show that one streaming platform is more preferred by conservatives. Paramount Plus saw 24% usage by Republicans in 2023, while 22% of Democrats subscribed.

While the survey did not attribute reasons for why a given streaming service was preferable, Paramount's streaming service holds the rights to beloved show "Yellowstone."

The drama series reportedly has high viewership in cities such as Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Fort Myers, Florida, according to Time, which also noted the show's significant crossover with the outlet Country Living.

The show's co-creator, Taylor Sheridan, recently appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" and explained his view on political division in the country.

"It's fascinating the language is being reinvented before our eyes there's all these new words that are just meant to keep one person from disagreeing with another person's position," Sheridan explained. The filmmaker then cited a passage he had read about why liberals and conservative opinions have drifted further apart as opposed to aligning on issues.

"The liberal point of view was that crime and all these social ills ... it was a, so it's a social construct, and that if you could find a way to level the playing field for everybody that crime would be eliminated all these issues would go away," Sheridan began. "The flip side of that is the conservative view, which is there's evil in the world [and] there's good in the world. We're going to try and manage the evil as best we can and create an opportunity for people to succeed or they can f**k up and best of luck," he continued.

"One side seems naive, one side seems extremely harsh, but those are the beliefs and that side can never compromise with this side and vice versa because you're abandoning your own ideology."

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Americans are canceling streaming services more and more as they push toward higher prices, more ads



Customers unsubscribing from major streaming services increased in 2023 with about 25% of customers canceling subscriptions to at least three services in the past two years.

Customers overall were leaving premium streaming services at a rate of 6.3% as of November 2023, up from 5.1% in the year prior, Forbes reported.

The numbers come from Antenna, a market data platform that collects third-party information from consumers (with their consent), in regard to online purchases, bills, and banking.

Furthermore, of the major streaming services (Apple TV+, Discovery+, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, and Starz), about 25% of American subscribers canceled at least three of those subscriptions in the last two years. That represented an ~10 point increase from 15% two years before.

While more users are opting to sign off completely, streaming services have attempted to entice new users with bundles and ad-included packages; a strategy that proved to be effective in 2023.

Nearly 60% of Disney+ subscribers who were new to the platform or who had just completed a trial period chose to subscribe via the package that included ads.

More than 33% of new Netflix users in the United States in November 2023 chose a subscription with ads. The year before, that was just 11% when the tier with ads was introduced, the report stated.

Streaming services particularly love the offer because not only have they lured customers with the promise of lower fees, they also generate ad revenue from the commercials.

Whether it can be considered addiction, boredom, or a case of necessity to access a favorite show, not as many people stay disconnected from the major apps as they may claim.

One out of every four subscribers who cancel their premium streaming service resubscribe to the same platform within four months, Forbes noted. 33% of those who cancel return within seven months. If they don't get you in seven months, there's a 50/50 chance the user returns within two years.

"Retention doesn’t just mean holding on to a new subscriber the first time they get them. It’s about managing a relationship over a true customer lifetime," said Jonathan Carson, co-founder and chief executive of Antenna.

Companies seem to have a handle on their users' habits, with the report adding that Warner Bros. and Disney executives know that bundling packages and services is a way to keep users aboard. Disney reportedly stated that customers are less likely to cancel a subscription when they pay for Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu together.

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