Raphael Stevens

A U.S. judge on Friday temporarily blocked sports streaming service Venu from launch ahead of the NFL season.
The joint venture was created by Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and Disney’s ESPN.
It was set to cost $42.99 a month.
Internet TV bundle provider Fubo filed a lawsuit claiming the venture was anticompetitive and would upend its business.

A detail view of a broadcast camera is seen with the NFL crest and ESPN Monday Night Football logo on it during a game between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field in Chicago on Dec. 20, 2021.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

A U.S. judge temporarily blocked media companies Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox from launching their sports streaming service, Venu, according to court filings.
The temporary injunction, granted in response to a lawsuit brought by Fubo TV, comes just weeks ahead of the start of the National Football League season. The companies had planned to launch their service by that date.

Fubo, an internet TV bundle akin to the traditional pay TV package, alleged in its lawsuit that Venu was anticompetitive and would upend its business. Fubo’s stock gained 16% Friday on the news of the injunction.
“Today’s ruling is a victory not only for Fubo but also for consumers. This decision will help ensure that consumers have access to a more competitive marketplace with multiple sports streaming options,” said Fubo CEO David Gandler in a press release after the court decision.
Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and Disney’s ESPN announced the formation of the joint venture streaming service in February. Soon after, Fubo filed an antitrust lawsuit against the venture.
On Friday, Fubo said it intends to move forward with its antitrust lawsuit against the companies for their anticompetitive practices. In recent months, lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, sent a letter pushing to scrutinize Venu.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and are appealing it,” Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and Disney’s ESPN said in a joint statement on Friday.

“We believe that Fubo’s arguments are wrong on the facts and the law, and that Fubo has failed to prove it is legally entitled to a preliminary injunction. Venu Sports is a pro-competitive option that aims to enhance consumer choice by reaching a segment of viewers who currently are not served by existing subscription options.”
Earlier this month, Venu announced pricing of $42.99 per month.
The service would offer the complete suite of live sports rights owned by the parent companies, which includes the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college football and basketball, among others. Venu subscribers would also have access to 14 traditional TV sports networks of its parent companies, including ESPN, ABC, Fox, TNT and TBS, as well as the streaming service ESPN+.
The expensive price point is common when it comes to streaming live sports so it doesn’t shake up any carriage agreements with traditional pay TV distributors.
In court documents, U.S. Judge Margaret Garnett noted that the three companies control about 54% of all U.S. sports rights, and at least 60% of all nationally broadcast U.S. sports rights.
“There is significant evidence in the record that the true figures may be even larger,” Garnett said in court papers.
“This means that alone, Disney, Fox, and [Warner Bros. Discovery] are each significant players in live sports licensing, who otherwise compete against each other both to secure sports telecast rights and to attract viewers to their live sports programming. But together, they are dominant,” Garnett said in her decision.
Outside of these companies, Paramount Global’s CBS and Comcast’s NBC are the other largest holders of U.S. sports rights. Streaming services, such as Amazon’s Prime Video, have also begun offering live sports exclusively.
Traditional pay TV distributors have been losing customers at a fast clip as they opt for streaming services and out of the notoriously expensive bundle. Meanwhile, companies such as Fubo — a streaming option of the bundle — have seen their prices rise due to the high programming costs related to the networks they carry.

An advertisement for Venu Sports, the sports streaming venture by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox, hangs at the Fanatics Fest event in New York City on Aug. 16, 2024.
Jessica Golden | CNBC

The marketing around Venu so far had been that it would target sports fans outside of the traditional pay TV bundle.
But Fubo’s lawsuit alleged that the sports streaming service violates antitrust law, and is the latest example of anticompetitive behavior from the three media companies.
A multiday hearing took place in the last week, in which representatives for Fubo, as well as satellite TV bundle providers DirecTV and EchoStar’s Dish — which also offer competing internet TV bundles and supported Fubo in the suit — argued the streaming bundle would be detrimental to their businesses.
During the hearing, an attorney for Warner Bros. Discovery told the judge an injunction would “terminate” Venu, Front Office Sports reported.
“This ruling is a major victory for consumers and competition in the video marketplace,” Jeff Blum, executive vice president of external and government affairs at EchoStar, said in a statement.
“We are pleased with the court decision and believe that it appropriately recognizes the potential harms of allowing major programmers to license their content to an affiliated distributor on more favorable terms than they license their content to third parties,” DirecTV said in a statement Friday.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

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“Deadpool & Wolverine” has become the highest-grossing R-rated title of all time, surpassing Warner Bros.’ “Joker.”
With $516.8 million in domestic ticket sales and $568.8 million from international audiences, “Deadpool & Wolverine” has exceeded $1.085 billion globally.
The feat not only showcases the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s durability at the box office after a series of recent misfires, but it also suggests that Marvel Studios can delve into darker content in the future without alienating moviegoers.

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds star in Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

The trio of Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy has captured lightning in a bottle with “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
As of Thursday, the Disney and Marvel film is the highest-grossing R-rated title of all time, surpassing Warner Bros.’ “Joker.”

With $516.8 million in domestic ticket sales and $568.8 million from international audiences, “Deadpool & Wolverine” has exceeded $1.085 billion globally. Of note, a sequel to “Joker” arrives in theaters this October.
The feat not only showcases the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s durability at the box office after a series of recent misfires, but it also suggests that Marvel Studios can delve into darker content in the future without alienating moviegoers.
“The success of their first R-rated film opens up a lot of opportunities for Disney and Marvel,” said Shawn Robbins, founder and owner of Box Office Theory. “It’s important to remember that the rating was organic and necessary for the characters. That’s helped audiences and fans respond so favorably. They knew going in that this wouldn’t be a watered-down translation of a formula which has already proven itself.”
The previous Deadpool films were produced through 20th Century Fox and held R-ratings as well. When the Merc with a Mouth transitioned to Disney’s ownership in 2019, it was unclear if the company would embrace his fourth wall-breaking crudeness or leave him on the shelf while producing other Marvel projects.
So when Marvel head Kevin Feige revealed in 2021 that a third Deadpool feature would retain its R-rating, there was a collective sigh of relief from the MCU fan community. Additionally, Marvel gave Reynolds and Levy leeway to poke fun at company executives, the franchise as a whole and even use the iconic “Frozen” line, “Do you want to build a snowman?” to make a drug reference.

“Disney will probably be very selective in deciding what future films they’re comfortable with distributing under the more mature rating because they still have to consider their enormous family audience, as does Marvel, but this at least offers a blueprint of how and when it’s appropriate to do so,” Robbins said.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” arrived in theaters late July on the back of a string of hits and misses from one of Disney’s most bulletproof franchises. The last film released by the studio was “The Marvels,” which arrived in November and had the lowest opening and lowest overall box office haul for an MCU film ever.
Now there is renewed confidence in the MCU, especially as Marvel used San Diego Comic-Con and Disney’s biannual D23 Expo to tout its upcoming slate of features and share exclusive footage.
Going forward, the studio appears to be limiting the number of series it is producing for its streaming platform, Disney+, and keeping its focus on the big screen. Previously, Marvel had produced nearly a dozen shows for the streaming platform, flooding the market and estranging some fans.

Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe theatrical titles

“Captain America: Brave New World” (2025)
“Thunderbolts*” (2025)
“The Fantastic 4: First Steps” (2025)
“Blade” (2025)
“Avengers: Doomsday” (2026)
“Avengers: Secret Wars” (2027)

Marvel has six theatrical titles coming in the next three years and three television series set for release in 2025 — “Agatha All Along,” “Ironheart” and “Daredevil: Born Again.”
Both Comic Con and D23 audiences cheered the announcements to Marvel’s slate, a sign that interest has not waned for the superhero genre. That is good news for the MCU, which has generated more than $30 billion at the box office since “Iron Man” was released in 2008.

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Broadcast stations owned by Byron Allen have been consistently late in making payments to network owners, angering media allies and creating distance between Allen and his would-be deal partners, CNBC has learned.
The payments to ABC, CBS and NBC total tens of millions of dollars throughout the year, and the extent of the lateness has grown worse over time, according to people familiar with the matter.
Allen’s late payments of tens of millions of dollars stand in stark contrast to his proposed multibillion-dollar bids for media assets.

Byron Allen, founder, chairman, and CEO of Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 2, 2022. 
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images

Broadcast stations owned by Byron Allen — the media mogul who has expressed public interest in buying various media assets for billions of dollars — have been consistently late in making payments to network owners, angering media allies and creating distance between Allen and his would-be deal partners, CNBC has learned.
The stations owned by Allen Media Group have been as much as 90 days past due on the payments to networks including ABC, CBS and NBC, according to people familiar with the matter. The payments total tens of millions of dollars throughout the year, and the extent of the lateness has grown worse over time, said the people, who asked not to be named because the financial transactions are private.

Allen Media Group owns broadcast stations in more than 20 markets between ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates, according to the group’s website.
ABC, CBS and NBC have all grown increasingly frustrated after what feels like a perpetual chase for the fees — even after agreeing to payment plans at Allen’s request, the people familiar said. Paying consistently late is uncommon among local broadcasters, which pay hefty sums to the larger network owners to carry the brand and some content, particularly live sports like the NFL and many postseason games across leagues, the people said.
It’s unclear why Allen Media Group has been repeatedly late with payments.
After CNBC reached Allen Media for comment this week, the group made a payment on the outstanding fees, according to people familiar with the matter. The amount of the payment couldn’t immediately be determined.
Networks often collect fees from local affiliates every one to three months, depending on the contract. The funds to pay come in large part from so-called retransmission fees that cable TV operators pay to the stations, which can create a situation where money may need to go out before it comes in. Recently, broadcast station group executives have argued this structure should change as cord cutting accelerates and networks move more of their content over to streaming platforms.

Various divisions of Allen’s company, including stations located across markets in the Midwest, Southeast, West Coast and Hawaii, have also reportedly undergone layoffs in recent months. Another round of job cuts is expected at the end of August, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Representatives for Allen Media Group declined to address the details of this story but said in a statement: “Mr. Allen started Allen Media Group 31 years ago from his dining room table. Allen Media Group is now one of the largest and fastest growing privately-held media companies in the world and is 100 percent Black-owned.
“Like most media companies and private equity firms, we evaluate many acquisition opportunities. In the last few years, the company has successfully completed well over $1 billion in acquisitions with the continued support of the capital markets. Allen Media Group remains strong, and we continue to prudently manage our partner relationships as we have always done over our 31-year history,” the statement says.
Representatives for ABC, CBS and NBC declined to comment on the matter.

Allen’s business

Allen’s late payments of tens of millions of dollars stand in stark contrast to his frequent multibillion-dollar bids for media assets. In recent years, his pursuit of deals that haven’t panned out has led investment bankers and financial institutions to lose faith in Allen as a serious buyer for large assets, according to three investment bankers and a person close to the matter.
Allen’s recent M&A interest includes a $30 billion bid for Paramount Global earlier this year, a $10 billion offer for ABC and other Disney networks last year, and a reported $3.5 billion offer for Paramount’s BET Media Group, which he resubmitted in December after the process was ended.
There has also been a recent report that Allen is weighing another bid for Paramount before its “go-shop” period with buyer Skydance expires later this month.
Allen has been vocal about his ambitions to grow his media holdings, defending his track record of failed bids and telling CNBC in January that recent acquisition attempts had fallen through because some owners ultimately decided not to sell.
“We have quite a few banks that support us and stand with us and even private equity firms,” Allen told CNBC in September about the potential deal for ABC and other Disney assets. “I think other assets will start to become available, and I think we will eventually get them.”

Allen Media Group has taken to reposting public media reports on its own website of its interest in bidding on media properties — even for unconfirmed reports of interest, such as a reported $8.5 billion offer for Tegna.
Previously a comedian, Allen founded Entertainment Studios, now known as Allen Media Group, in 1993. In 2019 Allen Media Group Broadcasting was formed, and Allen has been building up his broadcast media empire since with a string of smaller deals.
In addition to The Weather Channel and broadcast TV stations, Allen Media also owns a group of small TV networks like Pets.tv and Comedy.tv, as well as Black news and entertainment network TheGrio.
Most recently, in April, Allen Media paid $380 million to Gray Television for seven stations as part of Gray’s required divestitures for its acquisition of Quincy Media.
Allen’s broadcast stations generate revenue, as most other stations do, through advertising revenue and so-called retransmission fees — payment that stations receive from pay TV operators for the right to carry their feed. Broadcast station groups, however, have also suffered as millions of people have switched from traditional TV to streaming.
A record uptick in political advertising is expected ahead of the presidential election, as some of the largest broadcast station owners like Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair have documented in recent earnings releases.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and broadcast network NBC. More

GM’s new all-electric Cadillac concept car is designed to preview how the automaker plans to keep its high-performance V-Series vehicles relevant for EVs.
The vehicle is called “Opulent Velocity,” and Cadillac says it’s a balance of ultra-luxury and performance for the V-Series, which is best known for cars with high-performance engines.
Electric vehicles can offer a solid performance, but automakers still face challenges on how to differentiate the vehicles and create the same excitement that the sound, or “roar,” of a traditional performance vehicle gives.

Cadillac Opulent Velocity concept EV

DETROIT — General Motors on Friday revealed a new all-electric Cadillac concept car designed to preview how the automaker plans to keep its high-performance V-Series vehicles relevant for EVs.
The vehicle is called “Opulent Velocity.” True to the name, Cadillac says it’s a balance of ultra-luxury and performance for the V-Series, which is best known for cars with high-performance engines such as the 6.2-liter V8 Blackwing, rated at more than 600 horsepower and pound feet of torque.

“What we’re really looking to do is achieve kind of the best of both worlds. What is kind of the ultimate hyper-performance machine in the future, coupled with ultimate luxury,” Bryan Nesbitt, Cadillac executive global design director, said during a media briefing.

Cadillac Opulent Velocity concept EV

Electric vehicles can offer a solid performance when it comes to acceleration, such as 0-60 mph times of three seconds or less, but automakers still face challenges on how to differentiate the vehicles and create the same excitement that the sound, or “roar,” of a traditional performance vehicle gives.
Nesbitt and other Cadillac officials stressed that performance for EVs isn’t just about 0-60 mph times. They said it’s about handling, as well as technologies on the vehicle, including interior features such as biometrics and driver-assistance technologies such as GM’s Super Cruise.
“The intent in all of this is to continue to elevate the brand,” Nesbitt said.
Cadillac released few details about the concept vehicle, which automakers routinely use to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand. The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.

Cadillac Opulent Velocity concept EV

The concept car is a sleek, future-looking sports car. It features “scissor” doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge at the front of the door. It was revealed in connection to Monterey Car Week and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance car show in California.
Much like the bespoke, $300,000 Celestiq car from Cadillac, the concept is meant to move Cadillac more upmarket to compete against the likes of Lamborghini and EV startup Rimac as opposed to traditional competitors such as Ford’s Lincoln brand.
Cadillac’s sales were down 1.7% through the first half of the year compared with the first six months of 2023. All of its vehicles experienced sales declines aside from its all-electric Cadillac Lyriq crossover.

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Private jet flights fell 15% in the first half of the year compared with their peak in 2022.
The industry is grappling with waning demand and a new competitive landscape for high-end travel.
Industry experts say some of the smaller charter operators may soon face tough decisions, as fleets sit idle and demand falls.

A Gulfstream G-IV private jet flies past clouds at sunset on approach to Washington’s Reagan National Airport on June 12, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia.
J. David Ake | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Private jet flights fell 15% in the first half of the year compared with their peak in 2022, as the industry grapples with waning demand and a new competitive landscape for high-end travel.

Despite a short boost from the Summer Olympics, with a record 713 private jet flights to Paris the last week of July, the private jet industry continues to lose altitude this travel season. Private jet charter flights dropped to 610,000 in the first half of the year, down from 645,000 last year and 716,000 in 2022, according to data from Argus International.
The two-year decline highlights the ongoing correction in the world of private aviation, as the surge of new jet card members and charter fliers who started traveling private for the first time during Covid pulls back. Even ultra-wealthy travelers are showing signs of spending fatigue.
“During the peak, everyone was saying, ‘People who fly private for the first time will never go back to commercial,'” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade Air Mobility, the air charter and helicopter company. “Well guess what? Many went back. And they’re still going back.”
The industry is still ahead of 2019 levels, and experts say if you take out the aberrational spike in 2021 and 2022, business has been rising along its usual growth path. Yet the boom times of the post-Covid era created a wave of euphoria in the industry, ushering in a burst of IPOs and startups, and a mad scramble for jets and pilots. Now, many say, all that expansion is setting the stage for a shakeout.   

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Wheels Up, which went public in 2021 through a SPAC, saw its stock plummet more than 90% before Delta Air Lines stepped in to help rescue the company with an investment and partnership. Wheels Up has never made a quarterly profit and last week reported a second-quarter net loss of $97 million and a 29% year-over-year decline in members.

The company’s CEO, George Mattson, said Wheels Up is making solid progress and that, “Our work this quarter further solidified our position at the forefront of delivering integrated global aviation solutions that seamlessly combine the previously separate ecosystems of private and commercial travel.”
Jet It, a large U.S. private jet operator, shut down last year after grounding its fleet of Phenom 300s, Gulfstream G150s and HondaJets. VistaJet has faced repeated concerns and media reports about its debt load, though founder and Chairman Thomas Flohr told CNBC in May that “all documents and data was always available to our equity and debt-holders.”
Industry experts say some of the smaller charter operators may soon face tough decisions, as fleets sit idle and demand falls.
“The smaller operators with three, four or five jets, they’re the ones hurting,” said Doug Gollan, founder and editor of Private Jet Card Comparisons.

The recent challenges and fleeting success in private aviation trace back to Covid. In 2020, as airports and airlines shut down, private jets offered an escape and safer way to fly. Wealthy travelers who had rarely, if ever, flown private due to the cost and energy consumption, could now justify isolating at 40,000 feet.
“There was this whole section of the population that could afford to fly private, but they were always reluctant because they didn’t like the optics,” said Jay Duckson, founder and president of consulting firm Central Business Jets. “With Covid, they had a reason to fly private. You had a massive uptick in demand.”
The flood of liquidity from government spending, stimulus, low interest rates and a booming stock market also created record amounts of wealth to pay the soaring costs of flying private. Companies rushed to buy planes, hire pilots and sign up new members. Before 2019, there were only a few months where private jet charters topped 100,000. In 2021, almost every month exceeded 100,000, with July 2021 topping 300,000 flights.
The demand overwhelmed the industry. Private jet passengers who paid six figures for flights started facing delays and cancellations as operators couldn’t buy or lease planes fast enough. Shortages of pilots and parts also grounded fleets.
In 2023, demand started to slide even as more planes and pilots started to come online. Some wealthy fliers felt they could no longer use Covid as an excuse — to themselves or to others — to fly private. For others, the soaring prices of flying private simply got out of hand.
“Prices are about 20% higher than they were in 2019,” Private Jet Card Comparisons’ Gollan said. “A lot of people are saying, ‘I spent $300,000 or $350,000 on flights last year, I’m not going to spend $400,000 or $450,000 this year.’ Even if they have the money, they have a dollar figure in their head they don’t want to go over.”
Along with reducing flights, some fliers simply started flying commercial for easy city-to-city trips, mixing both commercial and private throughout the year. In his latest survey of private jet fliers, Gollan found 87% “switch between airlines and private, depending on where they’re flying.” 
With demand lower, unsold planes are piling up again and prices are softening. The number of used business jets for sale jumped 17% in July compared with a year ago, according to a report from Jefferies. Prices fell 7%, according to the report. While orders for new jets remain strong, the wait times have fallen from as much as three or four years to about two years for many models, according to jet brokers.
Many industry executives welcome the drop in demand, saying the industry is returning to a more balanced equilibrium, with profitable routes, available planes and happier customers.
“The industry is on a more sustainable long-term path,” said Travis Kuhn, senior vice president of software at Argus. “It’s not a bad thing that it’s cooled down a bit.”
Gollan said that while some of occasional fliers may have drifted out of private aviation, the “heavy users” are still flying. His survey showed that 95% of those surveyed who started flying private during Covid are still flying privately, with 77% in a membership, jet card or fractional program.
Industry giant NetJets, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, has also benefited, as more people switched from charter to fractional ownership due to better reliability and quality. The number of fractional flights actually increased 12% in the first half of 2024, to 308,000, according to Argus.
“Some of these new fliers looked around and assessed the market, and they like the fractional model,” Kuhn said. “It’s a set number of hours and a bigger fleet.”

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Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

Gilead Sciences says counterfeit versions of its HIV medications were being sold out of two New York pharmacies.
Court documents alleged a twice-convicted medical fraudster wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor was behind the scheme.
For years, Gilead has launched anti-counterfeiting efforts against fraudsters who tamper with the company’s packaging and medications to treat HIV.

Gilead HIV prescription bottles seized at Best Scripts pharmacy.
Courtesy: Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences says it uncovered a dangerous drug-counterfeiting operation in which its HIV medications were tampered with and improperly resold before reaching patients.
The scheme, allegedly run out of two New York City pharmacies, identified Peter Khaim, a twice-convicted medical fraudster, as the mastermind, according to court documents unsealed this month. The company described Khaim as one of the most brazen and largest manufacturers and sellers of counterfeit Gilead medications in the country.

Gilead sued Khaim along with the pharmacies, 71st RX and Best Scripts, both located in Queens, and others it claims were connected to the counterfeiting scheme. Gilead’s complaint said Khaim controlled the two pharmacies.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators manufactured and trafficked these counterfeit Gilead-branded HIV medications to pharmacies and patients in at least New York and New Jersey, putting untold numbers of patients’ health and safety at risk,” the lawsuit, filed by attorney Geoffrey Potter of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, said.
Gilead says in its complaint that counterfeiters used its authentic prescription bottles, but tampered with the actual medication or associated documentation.
“In some cases, the bottles had their contents emptied, were refilled with the wrong medication, and then were re-resealed using a different material than Gilead’s authentic tamper-evident seals,” the complaint said. “The co-conspirators then sold the counterfeit bottles with counterfeit patient information documents, counterfeit caps, and/or counterfeit pedigrees or invoices.”
The majority of the Gilead HIV medications seized in the case were Biktarvy and Descovy.

Victims include both “patients living with HIV who are preyed upon by Defendants and convinced to give up taking their prescribed medication,” and “patients who go to their neighborhood pharmacy and, unbeknownst to them, are dispensed a sealed, authentic-looking bottle,” but instead receive a counterfeit, Gilead said in the complaint.
Gilead attorneys and private investigators, accompanied by deputies from the New York City Sheriff’s Office, conducted seizures at the two pharmacies and Khaim’s home in July, taking more than $750,000 of suspected counterfeit medication, the court filing said.
An attorney for Khaim declined to comment.

Lighter fluid found with Gilead medications during the seizure at Best Scripts pharmacy.
Source: Gilead lawsuit exhibit

The case is the second major civil complaint by Gilead against Khaim in connection with counterfeit HIV medications in the legal supply chain. Gilead sued Khaim and others in 2021 and obtained an injunction prohibiting him from selling Gilead-branded products. In that case, according to Gilead, Khaim made more than $38 million selling counterfeit Gilead medications to distributors and directly to pharmacies.
Despite the injunction, Khaim continued to oversee a counterfeiting operation from the two Queens pharmacies, the latest complaint says.
In unrelated criminal schemes, Khaim received 96 months in prison on a medical fraud case and 15 years on a separate insurance fraud scheme. He was wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor while awaiting sentencing in the medical fraud case and also while he was operating the pharmacies and selling the counterfeit medication, according to documents in the case file.
“This lawsuit is another clear demonstration of our ongoing commitment to put patient safety first and protect individuals from criminals who are trying to sell counterfeit and illicit versions of Gilead’s medicines,” Gilead said in a statement to CNBC. “In addition to this lawsuit, we continue to work closely with the FDA, OIG, FBI and prosecutors to dismantle counterfeiting networks, deter fraudsters, and thwart illegal pharmaceutical distribution.”
Last year, a CNBC investigation revealed the shadowy world of counterfeit drugs and how Gilead was fighting to stop criminals from altering its packaging and medications.
In many cases, according to Gilead and law enforcement officials, counterfeiters obtain medications from patients who sell them for cash. The labels are typically removed with lighter fluid and the bottles resealed and dispensed to other patients. In this most recent case against Khaim, lighter fluid was found at the pharmacies during the seizures, court documents said.

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Legacy media companies including Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global and Comcast entered the streaming market with a focus on gaining subscribers but are now looking for a return on their investments.
Their strategies include cheaper, ad-supported models, platform bundles and a crackdown on password sharing, though price hikes have shown more immediate results toward profitability.
That means consumers are facing higher subscription costs with increasingly frequent price hikes.

Jaque Silva | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Streaming is finally starting to pay off for media companies, but there’s a catch — to get there, consumers are facing higher subscription costs and increasingly frequent price hikes.
Legacy media companies entered the streaming market with a focus on gaining subscribers and competing with category leader Netflix as traditional cable TV bundles lose customers. Now, looking for a return on their content investments, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and others are aiming for streaming profits.

Their strategies include rolling out cheaper, ad-supported models; launching platform bundles; and cracking down on password sharing, but price hikes have shown more immediate results toward profitability.
“The years of prioritizing user growth with low prices are over,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester.
Disney said last week that its combined streaming services — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — were profitable for the first time during its fiscal third quarter. Although the company added new subscribers, that milestone was largely due to price increases.
CEO Bob Iger said during an earnings call that Disney has “earned” its pricing in the marketplace due to the company’s creative contributions and product improvements. He noted that with past price increases, the company hasn’t seen a “significant” number of customer departures.
“When we look across our portfolio … we’re seeing growth in consumption and the popularity of our offerings, which gives us the pricing leverage that we believe we have,” Iger said.

Climbing prices

The major streaming services have gone through a number of price hikes and changes throughout the past few years.
In just the past five months, four streamers have announced price increases: Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, Comcast’s Peacock, Disney and Paramount.

Ahead of earnings, Disney announced it’s raising streaming prices by $1 to $2 a month for Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+.
Similar to Disney, Paramount Global said last week in its quarterly earnings conference call that its streaming business, centered on flagship service Paramount+, reached profitability.
Paramount noted on the call that global average revenue per user grew 26% for Paramount+, which reflected a price increase during the third quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, additional price increases for Paramount+ go into effect this month, and the company expects to see a financial impact for that during the fourth quarter.
Though Comcast’s Peacock offered a limited-time annual subscription for $19.99 ahead of the Olympics, the company raised the monthly cost of the service’s ad-supported tier by $2 this summer, marking its second price hike of the year. Warner Bros. Discovery also increased the cost of Max without ads by $1 per month in June.
“For a decade in streaming, an enormously valuable amount of quality content has been given away well below fair market value. And I think that’s in the process of being corrected,” Warner Bros. Discovery finance chief Gunnar Wiedenfels said during an industry conference last year. “We’ve seen price increases across essentially the entire competitive set.”
When Disney reported a revenue increase in its most recent quarter, it was primarily driven by higher subscription prices, said Forrester’s Proulx, since user growth and ad revenue alone won’t sustain profitability.
That puts the burden of revenue growth somewhat on consumers’ shoulders, he said. And users are feeling the strain.
In a survey of 3,000 consumers, 90% agreed that streaming video subscriptions are raising their prices more often than they were in the past, according to Hub Entertainment Research.

Ad support

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Meanwhile, companies are pushing consumers toward ad-supported tiers — which are often cheaper than commercial-free streaming — in a bid to attract more advertisers, Proulx said.
And many of those consumers are taking the option.
“We expect meaningful growth ahead as more subscribers opt for the ad-lite tier, which represented over 40% of global gross adds last quarter,” Warner Bros. Discovery’s Wiedenfels said during last week’s earnings call. Ad lite references Max’s cheapest subscription tier
Media companies have noted that advertising has grown for streaming. Warner Bros. Discovery said during its second-quarter earnings conference call that streaming ad revenue doubled year over year.
Similarly, revenue from advertising grew 16% in Paramount’s second quarter, driven by Paramount+ and Pluto TV, according to the company.
At Peacock, 75% of subscribers were on the ad-supported tier as of February of last year, according to research from Antenna. At the time it was the largest share of any of the major streamers, followed by Hulu at 57% and Paramount+ at 43%. The streaming companies don’t typically disclose the breakdown of subscriptions by tier.
“The advertising tier for all these companies is appealing because they can make as much off of ad revenues as they make off of the subscription fee on the ad tier,” said Tim Nollen, senior media tech analyst at Macquarie.
Netflix executives chafed against advertising for some time but pivoted in 2022 following a slowdown in subscriber growth. The company also recently nixed its cheapest, ad-free basic plan — leaving consumers with the choice of a $6.99 ad-supported option, or two ad-free plans that cost $15.49 or $22.99.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in the company’s second-quarter earnings call that the ad tier makes Netflix more accessible to users due to the low entry price. For both tiers, when it comes to raising prices, Sarandos said Netflix aims to increase value and engagement before having subscribers pay more.
Generally, price-pinched streaming consumers are willing to tolerate ads in order to pay lower subscription fees, according to Forrester’s research. Still, ad tiers aren’t immune to price increases. Disney+ is now raising prices of its ad-supported plan, for example.
Disney took a unique approach to launching its ad tier in December 2022, giving existing subscribers the option to either pay an additional $3 per month or accept ads. Nearly 95% of Disney+ premium plan subscribers paid to maintain ad-free streaming, according to Antenna.
Warner Bros. Discovery said in an earnings conference call that it suffered fewer customer losses than expected in July, following its $1 price increase on ad-free streaming.
“Until there’s a mass exodus of users, Disney (and others) will continue to increase prices,” Proulx said.

Keeping subscribers

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There’s one key thing that’s working to streamers’ advantage: Across platforms, users aren’t often willing to sacrifice their desired content even when costs go up, said Hub Entertainment Research founder Jon Giegengack.
However, the total cost of streaming can sometimes exceed that of cable for certain consumers because the content they’re consuming is broken up across the different platforms, according to Proulx.
In response, companies including Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have turned to bundling their services into a single, discounted offering. In cases where streaming is no longer cheaper than traditional television, bundles allow consumers to save money while accessing TV content across different services, according to Proulx.
For providers, bundles are an opportunity to increase revenue because they expect fewer people to cancel their bundled subscriptions than stand-alone ones, according to Nollen.
“The new world of streaming is not as lucrative as the old world of pay TV was,” Nollen said. “Everybody has woken up to that, and they are coming up with ways to try to at least improve its fortunes, and bundling is one.” 
Streamers are also growing their total users by cracking down on password sharing. Last year, Netflix alerted members that accounts can only be shared within a single household, and Disney made a similar announcement earlier this year. Warner Bros. Discovery will soon follow suit.
Nonetheless, as consumers continue to face rising subscription costs, Giegengack points to a broader streaming competition. While low subscription prices initially helped other streamers grow subscribers, he said they can’t afford to keep doing that.
“The amount that people have been able to pay for, the volume of content they get up until now, is just an absurdly good deal, and I don’t think it’s sustainable,” Giegengack said.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, and is a co-owner of Hulu. NBCUniversal also owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics, which is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

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