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Joe Otterson TV Reporter All Elite Wrestling’s (AEW) Tony Khan believes “there could be great opportunities” in a free ad-supported streaming TV channel dedicated to the pro wrestling promotion that he founded. In an interview with Variety Intelligence Platform’s senior media analyst Gavin Bridge as part of the Monaco Streaming Film Festival, Khan discussed the current state of AEW’s streaming offerings. While the company currently has the subscription service AEW+ available via Fite TV outside of the United States and streams its pay-per-views via Bleacher Report in the U.S., AEW currently does not have a domestic streaming platform for their weekly shows and library content.

MORE: Why Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were banned, then re-invited to Dodgers' Pride NightPer ESPN, Bass apologized to Blue Jays manager John Schneider and general manager Ross Atkins before speaking to the team and, later, making a statement to reporters on hand for the Blue Jays vs. Brewers game. "I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine.

McBee split his head open and sustained a vicious concussion from the impact that required surgery to realign his forehead.But, no one working on the show — one where amateur competitors from across the nation took on titans with fun nicknames — seemed that concerned, according to McGee.“None of the producers or directors came up and talked to me about it. Nobody wanted to say what happened and it was like they wanted to sweep it under the rug.”His physician, however, was alarmed.“My doctor said, ‘Listen, you sustain one more hit like you got, you’re going to be in a wheelchair paralyzed because your brain is slowing,'” McBee, now 62, told The Post.

Tatiana Siegel In September 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, ESPN anchor Sage Steele appeared on the podcast “Uncut with Jay Cutler” on her day off. During the interview, Cutler asked Steele why she had a bandage on her arm, and she explained that she had just received the jab in compliance with Disney policy, which required salaried and non-union workers to be fully vaccinated. The 16-year veteran of ESPN went on to slam the corporate mandate as “sick” and “scary” and noted that she “didn’t want to” get the vaccine but still complied in order to keep her job and support her family. During the 71-minute podcast, Steele also expressed other views that deviated from prevailing discourse in most of the mainstream media, namely that as a self-identified biracial woman, she didn’t understand why Barack Obama only identified as Black. “You do you. I’m gonna do me,” she said.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large These are indeed the waning days of the scripted basic cable juggernaut. That may be a strange thing to point out when once again, the most-watched entertainment show of the just-completed 2022-2023 TV season was “Yellowstone,” the modern western that airs on Paramount Network. But “Yellowstone” is wrapping up sometime in the next year, and the only other scripted series from a basic cabler to consistently be ranked among TV’s top shows, AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” has already ended its run. “The Walking Dead,” of course, dominated the season-ender charts for years — even beating football in the 2014-2015 TV season with a whopping 13.2 rating among adults 18-49. But as basic cable is almost completely out of the original scripted series business now (unscripted hits like “Vanderpump Rules” still abound, of course), those brief halcyon days are coming to an end.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Aside from screening movies, film executives attending Tribeca will be playing ball on June 10 as part of of the 12th edition of the NYFEST, the New York-set fundraising soccer tournament. Co-founded by Dylan Leiner, Sony Pictures Classics’ senior executive VP of acquisitions and production, NYFEST brings together people from the entertainment world on the playing field to raise money for organizations helping underserved youth in New York. The annual event will take place at Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park and will coincide with the first Saturday of Tribeca festival. In addition to the adult tournament, NYFEST will also host a Youth Soccer Challenge which will welcome young talents. Prizes will be awarded to the winning teams.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The Kardashians returns today for a third season of their revamped reality series “The Kardashians.” When the new iteration of the reality show debuted on Hulu in April of 2021, it was the first time their lives were documented on screen since they wrapped up their 20-season long run of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” on E!.Donning a simpler title, “The Kardashians” is a more premium version of the original show that first aired in 2007. This time around, each episode is shot documentary-style, featuring scene openers shot by drones and higher quality editing.

After waving their sports flags proudly last week at their upfronts pitches to ad buyers, Disney and Warner Bros Discovery are confronting a head-scratching situation with the NBA and NHL playoffs.

Endeavor President and COO Mark Shapiro said the ultimate resolution of the WGA strike will improve the fortunes of the company’s representation business.

Taking a beat. LeBron James is unsure of his future in the NBA after the Los Angeles Lakers were swept by the Denver Nuggets during the 2023 playoffs.

LeBron James may be mulling an exit.

Tom Brady has retired from playing in the NFL but he isn’t done with the game entirely.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large NBC’s coverage of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games and Fox’s FIFA World Cup telecasts were the big winners Monday night at this year’s 44th annual Sports Emmy Awards, winning three Emmys each. ESPN, meanwhile, was the night’s biggest winner among outlets, pulling 13 Emmys. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded this year’s Sports Emmys at a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. Bryant Gumbel will receive the lifetime achievement award for his role in sports journalism. The Sports Emmys took place even as the writers strike has led to the postponement of NATAS’ premiere Daytime Emmys telecast next month. “While we gather together, other parts of our television community stand divided tonight,” Adam Sharp, president & CEO of NATAS said during the ceremony. “You’ll note most of the typically scripted elements of our ceremony have been pared back in acknowledgment of, and respect for, the WGA-represented writers out on strike.”

ESPN, Fox and a pair of quadrennial global athletic events were among the big winners as the 44th annual Sports Emmy Awards were handed out tonight during a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall in Manhattan. 

BreAnna Bell Authentic Brands Group has launched Authentic Studios, which aims to develop and produce a wide range of film/TV and commercial content from the company’s portfolio. Based in Beverly Hills, Authentic Studios will kick off as the home to Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Legends, David Beckham’s Studio 99, Sports Illustrated Studios and Authentic Productions. Authentic Studios plans to mine those companies to develop programming for television, film and streaming platforms; it also will also hit the marketplace to search for additional material to develop and produce, and aims to involved in co-production and financing of third-party original content.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The biggest players in the golf world will come together at New Jersey’s Oak Hill Country Club on Thursday to compete in the highly anticipated first round of the PGA Championship. What takes place on the elite green course will set the stage for the rest of the year’s first major.

The upcoming F1 race weekend in Italy has been postponed.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Peter Chernin’s North Road Co. has taken a minority stake in Omaha Prods., the busy production banner headed by NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. The deal brings an influx of capital to Omaha and it allows the company to tap into the production and distribution infrastructure that Chernin is building through North Road, which launched last year with backing from private equity giants Providence Equity and Apollo Global Management. North Road is in assembling a roster of content banners with the goal of creating a strong independent source of TV and film titles for buyers, particularly those outside the U.S. Omaha is already co-producing projects with North Road-affiliated Words + Pictures, which is headed by former ESPN programming executive Connor Schell. Omaha made a splash starting with the 2021 football season with the launch of its “ManningCast” alternative telecast of “Monday Night Football” featuring Manning and his brother Eli Manning, a fellow retired NFL quarterback, commenting on the game in real time with guests for ESPN 2.

Victor Wembanyama, the best NBA prospect since at least LeBron James, will likely play for the San Antonio Spurs. The team won the NBA’s closely-watched draft lottery tonight and will, unless something bizarre happens, draft the 7’3″ Frenchman next month.

Disney kicked off its upfront presentation on Tuesday in typical fashion, with a flashy highlight reel that drove home the “magic” of the Mouse House.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Disney’s annual upfront presentation leaned heavily on the company’s non-scripted programming, opening with nearly an hour of focus on ESPN and its sports offerings. The emphasis on live events, of course, comes as the writers strike continues and is expected to impact the fall TV season. In fact, around 100 Writers Guild members and other union supporters marched outside the Javits Center on Tuesday to remind Disney they are still looking for a deal with the company and the other studios. Among those seen on the picket line: Zach Cherry and Michael Emerson. Inside the Javits, sports and news stars from within Disney were out in force, while reality personalities like Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Jesse Palmer and Ryan Seacrest made appearances as well. Even WABC-TV New York anchors Sade Baderinwa and Bill Ritter got some time onstage.