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Source: Mario Tama / Getty / Spectrum
Spectrum customers breathed a sigh of relief on Monday, September 11, when Spectrum’s owner, Charter and Disney struck a last-minute deal.
The new deal between Charter and Spectrum came in the nick of time, delivering millions of Spectrum subscribers to channels like ABC and ESPN so they could watch the premiere of Monday Night Football and watch Aaron Rodgers’ debut season as a New York Jet come to an abrupt end.
Engadget reports the new deal will come with streaming-related perks for Spectrum subscribers, like access to ESPN’s standalone streaming service that is currently still in the works.
Per Engadget:
Those subscribers will also have access to the ad-supported basic tier of Disney+ in the coming months, while Spectrum TV Select Plus customers will be able to check out ESPN+ as part of their plan. According to CNBC, Charter will pay higher subscriber fees to Disney.
It seems that Charter customers having access to ad-supported versions of Disney’s streaming services was a point of contention between the companies before they finally reached a deal. In the meantime, Disney started offering Hulu + Live TV at a discounted rate of $50 a month for three months (the usual rate is $70) ahead of a price increase in October.
As part of the new deal, Spectrum subscribers will gain access to 19 of the Disney-owned networks, including the Disney Channel, FX, the Nat Geo Channel, and ABC-owned networks.
More than 32 million Spectrum subscribers have been in the dark since August 31 due to the dispute. While it was going on, both companies’ stock prices took a hit, with Reuters reporting Spectrum’s shares fell 2% due to ESPN not being available to customers, while Disney’s shares fell to 2.7%.
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Photo: Mario Tama / Getty
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Rogers: The Musical will see its cast recording album hit digital retailers and streaming services on Friday, Sept. 15 from Walt Disney Records, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
The 12-track set is the companion album to the stage show of the same name, which played for two months this past summer at Disney California Adventure Park’s Hyperion Theater in Anaheim, Calif. (See below for the tracklist to the album as well as a preview of the set’s “What You Missed.”)
The mini-musical – from the creative teams at Disney and Marvel – brings to life an abridged version of the life of the first Avenger, Captain America (aka Steve Rogers), alongside singing-and-dancing Avengers (including Nick Fury!). The one-act show – which boasts a range of musical styles – premiered June 30 for a limited run at the nearly 2,000-seat theme park venue, and closed on Aug. 31. No further presentations of the stage show have been announced.
The musical grew out of a sequence in an episode of the Disney+ series Hawkeye in 2021. In the episode, the title character (an Avenger himself) attends a showing of Rogers: The Musical, and the song “Save the City” is performed by characters playing Avengers. Both the musical and “Save the City” became fan favorites, with the latter generating over 1 million on-demand official streams in the U.S., according to Luminate.
Presently, the Rogers: The Musical cast album will only be commercially available as a digital download album and via streaming services. There’s no word on if it will be released in any physical formats, such as CD, vinyl or cassette.
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Following the premiere of Rogers: The Musical at the Hyperion, the show’s composer, conductor and arranger Christopher Lennertz said, “[It] was really important to all of us … to give everyone — both musical theater fans and superhero fans — something they would love about the music. And the fact that we get to span 70 years and do everything from ‘40s-style big band jazz to a singer/songwriter style pop tune and obviously the Nick Fury patter song meets ‘Uptown Funk’ — it’s the idea of giving everyone something that they can grab onto and really feel like it’s part of their story too.”
Rogers: The Musical Tracklist:Title, Artist“U.S. Opening Night,” Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Alex Karukas, Matthew P. Selby, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“I Want You,” Josey Montana McCoy“Star-Spangled Man,” Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“Just One Dance (Preprise 1),” Luke Monday, Rachel Wirtz“Star-Spangled Man (Reprise)/Just One Dance (Preprise 2),” Luke Monday, Rachel Wirtz“What You Missed,” Jay Donnell, Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Luke Monday“Save the City,” Bella Hicks, Andrew Hubert, Luke Monday, Alex Karukas, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“Save the City (Playoff),” Luke Monday, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“End of the Line,” Luke Monday, Josey Montana McCoy“Just One Dance,” Rachel Wirtz, Luke Monday“Rogers: The Musical Finale/Save the City (Reprise),” Luke Monday, Rachel Wirtz, Josey Montana McCoy, Jay Donnell, Andrew Huber, Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Alex Karukas“Rogers: The Musical (Playoff),” Christopher Lennertz, Alex Karukas
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Source: SOPA Images / Getty / Charter Spectrum
Charter Spectrum customers, unfortunately, got caught up in Charter Communications’ dispute with Disney.
Reuters reports Disney let Charter Communications and its customers know it was not playing when it pulled several channels, including ESPN and ABC, over an unresolved distribution agreement.
The move left Spectrum customers in massive markets like New York and Los Angeles in the dark and during significant sporting events like the return of College Football and the U.S. Open.
Charter Spectrum serves more than 32 million customers in 41 states and was paying Disney roughly $2.2 billion in annual programming costs.
Per Reuters:
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Charter flashed a message on screen that urged viewers to contact Disney. “We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase,” it read.
“The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney.”
The dispute is mainly over sports network ESPN, which does not have a streaming service and is a big cable attraction despite losing subscribers each year to cord-cutting.
This Dispute Could Push Disney Into A Direct-to-Consumer Model
As expected, the “unresolved distribution” between the two companies is hurting both company’s stock prices. Reuters reports Spectrum’s shares fell 2% after losing what it describes as the “lynchpin” of its video service in ESPN.
Disney’s shares fell to 2.7%, joining other media companies, Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Global, which lost between 4% and 6% thanks to down numbers on their streaming platforms.
The website further reports if this dispute continues, it could speed up the House of The Mouse’s direct-to-consumer ambitions. Returning CEO Bob Iger said the company is actively searching for a “strategic partner” to start a joint venture or purchase a stake in the sports network to bring it directly to customers.
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Photo: SOPA Images / Getty
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There’s busy, and then there’s Miley Cyrus circa 2005 busy. As part of her new confessional “Used to Be Young” series on TikTok, the now 30-year-old singer gave fans a glimpse at the insane hours she used to work when she was just a pre-teen, back when she was on the fast track to stardom via Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana.
Looking at an old schedule from one of the many on-duty Fridays she underwent as a kid, even Cyrus was shocked to see her call time for the day: “5:30 a.m.?!” she yelled, stunned.
The musician went on to list out every single thing she did on that particular Friday, starting with hair and makeup early in the morning. “7:15 I’m on the news, 7:45 I have another live interview, 8:15 another interview, 8:45 another interview,” she continued. “9:30 to 11 a.m. meeting with editors. Back to the hotel, okay, I have to do an interview but the reporters are all fifth-grade students.”
Cyrus went on to share that the rest of her day was filled with more interviews, the last of which began at 6:15 p.m. “Then the next day starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m., when I fly home to probably go to Hannah,” she concluded. “That’s on a Saturday, and then Monday be back at work in the morning.”
Need a break just from reading all of that? So did Cyrus. “I’m a lot of things, but lazy ain’t one of them,” the singer quipped. “So, I do think this girl deserves a little endless summer vacation.”
Cyrus has been going through artifacts from all 30 years of her life, with a big focus on her Disney Channel days, to celebrate the arrival of her latest single, “Used to Be Young.” The track, released last week, is something of an unofficial epilogue closing out her Endless Summer Vacation era.
In another installment of her TikTok series, the “Flowers” reflected on one of the biggest coincidences she’s ever experienced: The Malibu house in which she recorded her 2007 non-Hannah debut album Meet Miley Cyrus would 15 years later become the home she shared with Liam Hemsworth, now her ex-husband. The former couple lived there together after Hemsworth purchased the property, previously owned by Cyrus’ producer Matthew Wilder.
The house no longer exists, though, as it notably burned down in the devastating California wildfires in November 2018. “That house had so much magic to it,” Cyrus said in her TikTok video, looking a little emotional. “It ended up really changing my life.”
See clips of Miley Cyrus’ “Used to Be Young” series below:
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Samsung and Disney have teamed up for a collaboration to celebrate the media and entertainment conglomerate’s 100th anniversary — and it’s […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
The force has definitely been strong this summer for Star Wars fans as the highly-anticipated live-action series Star Wars: Ahsoka finally arrived on Tuesday (Aug. 22). We weren’t just treated with one episode either as Disney+ treated fans with a two-episode premiere.
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Anakin Skywalker before he became the Sith lord Darth Vader trained a Padawan of his own: Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson). Her history has remained a mystery for those who don’t know the deep lore of Star Wars, but now fans new and old can watch it unfold on the screen. The series follows the former Jedi after the fall of the who begins to investigate a new force threatening to takeover an already fragile galaxy. Super fans can also expect a visit from Hayden Christensen who will reprise his role as Skywalker — though you’ll have to tune in to see if it’s as Darth Vader or not.
The show is executive produced by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau who have worked on previous Star Wars series including The Mandalorian. Other cast members include Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Diana Lee Inosanto, Ivanna Sakhno, Ray Stevenson, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen and Eman Esfandi.
Keep reading to learn the streaming options to watch Star Wars: Ahsoka online for free.
When & How to Watch Star Wars: Ahsoka
Star Wars: Ahsoka premieres on Tuesday (Aug. 22) and will have a total of eight episodes that will air every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. The series is a Disney+ Original, which means that it’s exclusive to the streaming platform. If you’re already subscribed, then you can watch the series for free for no additional cost — just sign into your Disney+ account and find it under the Star Wars collection or “recently added” sections.
Not subscribed? Disney+ doesn’t typically offer free trials but there are a few budget-friendly ways to save and at least one promo that will get you a free subscription for up to six months. Disney+ provides various plan options depending on your budget and needs with the basic plan being $7.99/month (or $79.99/year) with ads.
Disney+ $Starting at $7.99/month
Love a good bundle? You can combine Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+, which will expand your library of offerings and is only $12.99/month with ads and $19.99/month with no ads.
Along with Star Wars: Ahsoka, you’ll find thousands of hours worth of movies and TV series including Peter Pan & Wendy, Muppets Mayhem, Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, J-Hope in the Box, SUGA Road to D-Day, The Prouder Family: Louder & Prouder, WandaVision, Andor, Loki, The Book of Boba Fett, The Beatles Get Back, The Simpsons, Welcome to Earth and Called to the Wild are included in the massive Disney+ streaming library.
Looking for more money saving options? Right now, Verizon customers can get the Disney+ Bundle for $10/month with Verizon’s MyPlan, which can help save up to $4.99/month. The best part? You can toggle off perks each month and only pay for what you use.
Disney+ is considered the dedicated streaming destination for must-watch, commercial free content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. You can also enjoy the ever-expanding streaming library in stunning 4K and download titles to watch on the go. Stream on up to four different devices simultaneously on your TV, laptop, smartphone, notebook or tablet device — or host a virtual movie night with up to six friends via GroupWatch.
Check below to watch the trailer for Star Wars: Ahsoka.
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Controversial sportscaster, Sage Steele, is officially a free agent after settling her lawsuit with ESPN after being suspended by the network for her public comments previously made on an outside podcast about getting vaccinated, how women dress, and former President Barack Obama’s lineage.
Taking to social media, Steele, who joined ESPN in 2007, announced that she recently settled a lawsuit with her employer after she was suspended in 2021 for the problematic comments.
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“Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely,” Steele said. “I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!”
As noted previously reported, in a 2022 lawsuit, Steele charged the companies had breached her contract and violated her free-speech rights; alleging that Disney and ESPN retaliated against her for the comments she made during the podcast, hosted by Jay Cutler, taking away high-profile assignments.
An ESPN spokesperson confirmed her departure in a statement to CNN, noting that the decision to depart was mutual.
“ESPN and Sage Steele have mutually agreed to part ways. We thank her for her many contributions over the years,” the network said.
As previously reported, in 2021, Steele made a number of controversial comments on a podcast. While talking about ESPN’s company vaccine mandate, Steele said she respects an individual’s decision to get the Covid-19 vaccine “but to mandate it is sick, and it’s scary to me.”
In addition to questioning mandates, she also questioned former President, Barack Obama’s, decision to identify as Black on the national census, saying:
“I’m like, ‘Well, congratulations to the president.’ That’s his thing. I think that’s fascinating considering his Black dad was nowhere to be found, but his White mom and grandma raised him, but hey, you do you. I’m going to do me.”
Steele also trended heavily that year, for the comments she made regarding female sports reporters and sexual harassment, saying that women need to “be responsible” and it “isn’t just on players and athletes and coaches to act a certain way, saying:
“I’ve had talks with young women … they’re like, ‘Oh, would you look at my tape?’ and I’ve said listen, I would love to. But the way you present yourself is not something I want to be associated with. So when you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you’re putting that outfit on, too.”
As noted by CNN, in response, Steele apologized saying her comments “created controversy” and that “we are in the midst of an extremely challenging time that impacts all of us, and it’s more critical than ever that we communicate constructively and thoughtfully.”
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Three months after the release of the live-action Little Mermaid movie starring Halle Bailey, we now know who will bring the famous mermaid and her underwater pals to life once more in the upcoming animated series based on the film, Disney Junior’s Ariel. Disney Junior announced Friday (Aug. 18) that 11-year-old actress Mykal-Michelle Harris (Raven’s […]
On the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Aug. 5), Ryan Gosling scored his first appearance, as “I’m Just Ken,” from the new Barbie movie, in which he stars with Margot Robbie, debuted at No. 87.
Notably, the song isn’t Gosling’s first foray into music. He charted once before, with “City of Stars,” from his 2016 film La La Land. His solo version spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Jazz Digital Song Sales chart, while a mix with co-star Emma Stone reached No. 8 on the Hot 100’s Bubbling Under ranking.
But before that, Gosling broke through at age 13 as a member of The Disney Channel’s The All-New Mickey Mouse Club revival, which ran for seven seasons (1989-94). He starred in the show’s final two seasons, performing song and dance numbers alongside several future Billboard hitmakers.
In total, four separate iterations of the Mickey Mouse show franchise have aired. The original series, The Mickey Mouse Club, aired on ABC in 1955-59, followed by The New Mickey Mouse Club (syndicated; 1977-79), The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (The Disney Channel; 1989-94) and Club Mickey Mouse (Facebook, Instagram; 2017-18).
Of every Mouseketeer over the show’s four iterations, spanning over 60 years, 15 of have charted songs on the Hot 100. Gosling now becomes the 15th.
Here’s a look at every cast member from every edition of the series to chart a song on the Hot 100, listed chronologically from when they first reached the ranking.
(Honorable mention to Rhona Bennett, who appeared on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1991-94 and is currently a member of En Vogue. She joined the R&B group in 2003, after it charted all 14 songs of its Hot 100 hits.)
Annette Funicello
If you ever wanted to see the Avengers’ Captain America and Nick Fury sing and dance their way through a mini-musical about Cap’s life, well, it’s time to head to Disneyland.
Disney and Marvel have teamed up for Rogers: The Musical, a half-hour stage show at Disney California Adventure’s Hyperion Theater in Anaheim, Calif., that premiered on Friday (June 30).
The new one-act show – which is full of goofy humor and a range of musical styles – grew out of a brief sequence in an episode of the Disney+ series Hawkeye in 2021. In the show, the title character (an Avenger himself, played by Jeremy Renner) attends a showing of Rogers: The Musical, and the song “Save the City” is performed by characters playing Avengers. Both the musical and “Save the City” became fan favorites, with the latter generating just over 1 million on-demand official streams in the U.S., according to Luminate.
Billboard got a sneak peek at the new production the day before its premiere, which was followed by a panel discussion with the show’s creative team.
“We were like every fan,” said Dan Fields, executive creative director, Disney Live Entertainment during the panel. “We saw [‘Save the City’] and said, ‘I want to see the rest of it! I want to see all of Rogers: The Musical!’ But then we realized, ‘Hey, we’re Disney Live Entertainment, we can do that!’ So that’s what we set out to do.”
Fans will be happy to know: “Save the City” appears in full in the real-world Rogers: The Musical production, along with seven other musical numbers.
Rogers: The Musical is scheduled to run through Aug. 31 at Disney California Adventure. It’s the first show at the nearly 2,000-seat Hyperion in more than three years, since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down its previous production, Frozen – Live at the Hyperion, on March 14, 2020. Nothing has been announced by Disney if Rogers: The Musical will be staged in other Disney Parks or properties (such as Disney Cruise Line).
In Rogers: The Musical, we follow Steve “Captain America” Rogers over 70-plus years – from his origin as a scrawny soldier-turned-beefy superhero in the 1940s through his teaming with the rest of the Avengers and his long-simmering love story with Peggy Carter. The show’s book was written by Hunter Bell, while Christopher Lennertz is the musical’s composer, conductor and arranger.
“[It] was really important to all of us, [show creator and director] Jordan [Peterson] and Hunter and I … to give everyone — both musical theater fans and superhero fans — something they would love about the music,” Lennertz said. “And the fact that we get to span 70 years and do everything from ‘40s-style big band jazz to a singer/songwriter style pop tune and obviously the Nick Fury patter song meets ‘Uptown Funk’ — it’s the idea of giving everyone something that they can grab onto and really feel like it’s part of their story too.”
The Nick Fury patter song Lennertz calls out is the tune “What You Missed,” in which Fury explains – through song and dance – to a just-awakened Rogers (who has been asleep for 70 years but hasn’t aged) what’s happened over the last seven decades.
Dave Bushore, vice president of franchise creative and marketing, Marvel Studios, recalled during the panel a memorable moment when he and Fields presented a preliminary version of Rogers: The Musical to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios.
Bushore said, “We’re sitting in Kevin’s office, me and Dan…” Fields: “And Kevin says, ‘Nick Fury sings? That should be on the billboard!’ He said, ‘Embrace that, lean into that!’”
Rogers: The Musical
Sean Teegarden/Disneyland Resort
In addition to the show’s songs, theatergoers will be treated to pre-show music piped in from an onstage radio. It plays period-appropriate jazzy tunes, including a song that references “Elias & Co.,” a store inside Disney California Adventure, named after Walt Disney’s middle name, Elias. There’s no word on if any of the music from the show (including the pre-show selections) will be released commercially or through streaming services.
With Rogers: The Musical bringing a stage show back to the Hyperion after more than three years, it’s another way visitors to the park – often young fans – will get to experience live musical theater, perhaps for the first time.
“For a lot of people who come to our parks, they may not have had a lot of experience coming to theater — to traditional theater,” said Fields. “But here’s an opportunity to combine a love of theater with a love of superheroes right here in a theme park. This is a real show for families, whether you already knew the story of Steve Rogers or not. So hopefully everyone’s found something to enjoy in the show.”