2022 was an annus horribilis for Hollywood. Major streaming firms, studios, cable companies, and other media giants lost market value to the tune of $542 billion in 2022, with left-wing studios such as the Walt Disney Co., Netflix, and Comcast being the main victims in the bloodshed.
The Dow Jones Media Titans index, which tracks the performance of 30 of the world's most powerful media firms, fell by 40 percent during the year, with its market value dropping from $1.35 trillion to $808 billion, according to a Financial Times report.
The loss was greater than the indices of other industries, such as banking, which suffered a 14.5- percent decline in the past year, and telecommunications, which dropped 11.2 percent.
The sour year for Hollywood was due to a double attack of a slump in the market for streaming along with consumers continuing to cut the cord by the millions. Furthermore, the advertising market has plummeted as families have cut back on spending on nonessentials as the costs of necessities such as energy and food continue to rise because of President Joe Biden's (D) terrible economic policies.
Woke companies paid the top price in 2022.
Disney, once a legendary brand and a renowned American company, has seen its stock fall by more than 40 percent in the last year as the company struggles with declining profitability for the foreseeable future. The company’s woes prompted it to sack CEO Bob Chapek and welcome the return of its former chief executive, Bob Iger.
Disney’s stock is on track for its poorest annual performance since 1974. Meanwhile, the once celebrated company has spent 2022 in the embrace of radical LGBTQ activists and engaged in a disastrous political battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) over the state's “anti-grooming” Parental Rights in Education Law.
Netflix had an unheard-of two-quarters-in-a-row loss of subscribers this year, resulting in the termination of employees and cost cutting at all levels. In the last year, the company's stock has dropped by more than 50 percent.
Other major losers are Paramount Global, the stock of which has fallen more than 40 percent, along with Warner Bros. Discovery (the company that owns CNN), which has seen its stock plummet more than 60 percent. Comcast, the parent company of NBC/MSNBC and Universal, has dropped more than 30 percent over the year.
“It's been a perfect storm of bad news,” Michael Nathanson, media analyst at SVB MoffettNathanson, told the FT. “I've been covering this sector a long time, and I've never seen such a bad collection of data points before.”
