SOUTH KOREANS would rather forget most of the past 12 months. Thousands of doctors and teachers took to the streets to air assorted grievances. Catastrophic summer floods ravaged swathes of the country. The president launched a coup, failed, was impeached and, after some constitutional confusion, removed from office. BTS remained disbanded while its K-pop heartthrobs complete their mandatory military service. More
PBS stations across the U.S. have been adding high school sports — mainly state championships — over the years in a bid to expand local content and appeal to a wider audience.
For some states, especially those without professional sports teams, high school sports are some of the broadcasters’ most popular content.
But President Donald Trump has signed an executive order looking to cut federal funding to PBS and NPR. If this happens, high school sports programming could be impacted.
Iowa PBS covers the 2024 State Girls Softball Championships live from Fort Dodge, Iowa in July 2024.
Courtesy: Iowa PBS
High school sports games and related coverage have become some of the most popular local programs on PBS stations across the U.S., especially in states without professional sports.
PBS stations in states like South Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska have spent years bulking up on high school sports programming — mainly championship coverage — in a bid to broaden their local offerings.
The content has led to a bigger audience for public broadcasters. Live sports on every level tend to boost TV and streaming viewership, and that’s especially true when hometown athletes are being aired to local communities. In many cases, it’s even led to increased donor support, according to interviews with station executives.
But that programming is at risk if the federal government cuts its funding to PBS.
“The Friday night lights phenomenon is real in the South, and we have all these viewers that look forward to that like you would an NFL game,” said Bert Wesley Huffman, president and CEO of Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Select regular-season high school football games are aired on GPB, in addition to other sports championships. “We’ve watched a lot of our players go on to the professional leagues,” Huffman added.
PBS television stations are funded by their state governments, as well as by federal subsidies and private donors and sponsors
But President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month to cut federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the nonprofit corporation that stewards the government’s investment for NPR, PBS and other services — alleging “biased and partisan news coverage.” On Thursday, Politico reported the White House plans to soon send a “rescissions” bill to Congress, which includes cuts to NPR and PBS.
This week NPR, which was also included in the executive order, sued Trump in response, arguing the order violates First Amendment protections of speech and the press.
A spokesperson for PBS, which had earlier sued Trump over his move to fire some of its officials, said in a statement that “PBS is considering every option, including taking legal action, to allow our organization to continue to provide essential programming and services to member stations and all Americans.”
A White House spokesman said in a statement that “The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective.”
While the conversation surrounding PBS has largely focused on nationally aired shows, like children’s program “Sesame Street” or news mainstays like “Frontline” and “PBS News Hour,” locally produced content makes up the majority of the lineup for PBS stations.
“I think the challenge is so much of the debate ends up being around news [programming], which is an important part of what we do but is less than 10% of it,” said Paula Kerger, PBS CEO and president. “I think most people don’t realize all of our stations are locally owned, operated and governed. They’re run by people who love their communities and understand them really well. They decide everything that’s on their air.”
Sports spotlight
Big Red Wrap Up is an exclusive sports show on Nebraska Public Media.
Courtesy: Nebraska Public Media
In a show of how far local sports broadcasting can go, one of the first TV profiles of breakout WNBA star Caitlin Clark took place on Iowa’s local PBS station in 2020 when she was making a run at a state championship in her home state.
Now, years later, Clark has helped lead the WNBA to record ratings nationally.
Iowa began broadcasting girls’ high school sports championships, including basketball, more than 10 years ago, said Andrew Batt, the executive director and general manager of the station.
“Girls’ sports weren’t being produced or broadcast consistently,” Batt said. “We found an underserved audience there at a time prior to the explosion of interest in women’s athletics.”
While Iowa has a number of businesses that underwrite its sports coverage, a loss of any federal or state funding “would seriously undermine our ability to have the staff and the resources” to produce sports programming, Batt said.
Other state PBS executives said they and their viewers are concerned about potential cuts in funding.
“It would be a disaster for us; it would be an absolute disaster,” said Courtney Pledger, the executive director and CEO of Arkansas PBS. “If we lost CPB funding, sports would probably go and we would be limited in the things that we can make and the things that we could do.”
Arkansas’ PBS receives about 40% of its funding from the state legislature, which mostly covers salaries and benefits and a small part of operations. The remainder of the operations are funded by federal subsidies or donations.
Nebraska Public Media gets about 16% of its budget from the federal government. The station offers a variety of local high school and other sports programming, and is particularly known for its volleyball coverage.
“One of the very first stations I visited was Nebraska, and for them, sports coverage is big time. One of the first big HD mobile trucks I actually saw was owned by Nebraska,” Kerger said.
Kerger also noted that some stations would be more affected than others if they were to lose federal subsidies. For those that count less than 10% of their budget from the federal government, the loss in funding would be “a hit,” but for others that could lose up to 40% of their budget, “it’s more existential.”
“I was speaking with someone today who said she has a staff of 18, and if they lose funding, they’d have to cut 10 people,” Kerger said.
Budget fights
SDPB at the Girls’ Basketball Class AA quarterfinals between Rapid City Stevens and Spearfish.
Courtesy: SDPB
While the executive order from the Trump administration has drawn concerns, budget fights are not new for most stations.
“I’ve been doing this for over 36 years,” said Julie Overgaard, executive director of South Dakota Public Broadcasting. “I’ve been through more budget funding fights than I like to admit.”
Overgaard added that “even in a very red state,” budget cuts have been unpopular, largely because of the public outcry about sports cuts.
SDPB recently faced a potential $3.6 million budget cut proposed by former Gov. Kristi Noem — who is now secretary of Homeland Security. In March, members of the legislature’s main budget committee voted against the cut. Republican South Dakota state Rep. Liz May reportedly vowed to keep SDPB funding safe “because I have got to watch basketball.”
SDPB receives $2.2 million in federal funding, and $5.6 million from the state. While the state dollars cover most of the infrastructure costs, the money that comes through the CPB is what pays for most production costs and local coverage, according to Overgaard.
The broadcaster has been airing high school sports championships for more than 20 years, and other state directors credit Overgaard as their inspiration for adding sports content.
Pledger of Arkansas said she ended up talking to Overgaard at an event years ago about high school sports.
“I thought that is something that would really work in Arkansas. It turned out to be one of those things that everybody loves, but isn’t necessarily a moneymaking venture so commercial networks aren’t going to really commit to high school sports,” Pledger said.
PBS stations often see a spike in viewership during games. The stations also air the games via streaming and on their websites outside of state lines, allowing extended family members to watch.
Overgaard said streaming hasn’t hurt the networks. In some instances, traditional TV broadcasts are the best option for viewers in rural areas that still don’t have broadband connections — and in other instances the addition of digital platforms has just meant more viewers who wouldn’t normally watch PBS, she said.
“I joke that some times of the year public broadcasting is the only thing on in every South Dakota bar,” Overgaard said. More
We are accepting applications for a Marjorie Deane intern to spend six months with us in London writing about business. The position is paid and the start date is flexible. Journalism experience is not required. Please send a CV and an original article of up to 600 words suitable for publication in the Business section to [email protected] by July 31st. More
E.l.f. Beauty is acquiring Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode for $1 billion.
The deal will build on E.l.f’s efforts to expand further into skincare and reach a higher-income consumer.
“I’ve been in the consumer space 34 years, and I’ve been blown away by seeing this brand over time. In less than three years, they’ve gone from zero to $212 million in net sales, direct-to-consumer only, with only 10 products. I didn’t think that was possible,” CEO Tarang Amin told CNBC in an interview.
Hailey Bieber attends the Rhode UK launch party with Hailey Bieber at Chiltern Firehouse on May 17, 2023 in London, England.
Dave Benett | Dave Benett Collection | Getty Images
E.l.f. Beauty announced on Wednesday plans to acquire Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode in a deal worth up to $1 billion as the cosmetics company looks to expand further into skincare.
The acquisition – E.l.f.’s biggest ever, according to FactSet – is comprised of $800 million in cash and stock, plus an additional potential $200 million payout based on Rhode’s performance over the next three years. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of the company’s fiscal 2026 — or later this year.
“I’ve been in the consumer space 34 years, and I’ve been blown away by seeing this brand over time. In less than three years, they’ve gone from zero to $212 million in net sales, direct-to-consumer only, with only 10 products. I didn’t think that was possible,” CEO Tarang Amin told CNBC in an interview. “So that level of disruption definitely caught our attention.”
In a news release, Bieber said she’s excited to partner with E.l.f. to bring her brand to “more faces, places, and spaces.”
“From day one, my vision for rhode has been to make essential skin care and hybrid makeup you can use every day,” said Bieber. “Just three years into this journey, our partnership with e.l.f. Beauty marks an incredible opportunity to elevate and accelerate our ability to reach more of our community with even more innovative products and widen our distribution globally.”
E.l.f. shares dropped about 4% in extended trading after the company announced the acquisition and released results for its fiscal fourth quarter. The company topped Wall Street’s quarterly estimates, but did not offer guidance due to the Trump administration’s changing tariff policy. E.l.f. gets a disproportionate amount of its products from China.
Why E.l.f. is betting on Rhode
Launched in 2022, Rhode has more than doubled its customer base over the past year and generated $212 million in revenue in the 12 months ended March 31. The company’s growth has primarily come through its website, but it plans to launch in Sephora stores throughout North America and the U.K. before the end of the year.
As part of the acquisition, Bieber will serve as Rhode’s chief creative officer and head of innovation, overseeing creative, product innovation and marketing. The brand was launched alongside two co-founders, Michael and Lauren Ratner, but it was Bieber’s influence and name that turned it into a billion-dollar brand.
Under her direction, Rhode last year became the No. 1 skincare brand in earned media value — or exposure through methods other than paid advertising — with 367% year-over-year growth.
Rhode is a solid match for E.l.f., which has seen growth skyrocket in recent years in large part to its digital prowess. The company has legions of online fans and is known for TikTok marketing that feels more natural to consumers.
The company is also looking to dig deeper into skincare, which has become more popular with all age groups, particularly E.l.f’s younger, core consumer. In 2023, it acquired skincare brand Naturium for $355 million. Its acquisition of Rhode will allow it to build on its skincare growth and reach a higher income consumer.
“E.l.f. cosmetics is about $6.50 in its core entry price point, Rhode, on average, is in the high 20s, so I’d say it does bring us a different consumer set to the company overall, but the same approach in terms of how we engage and entertain them,” said Amin.
The deal makes sense for E.l.f., and it was a competitive move to snag the brand before rivals did, but it comes at an uncertain and difficult time for the company. Even with expected price increases, China tariffs will likely reduce E.l.f.’s profits over time, and it’s funding $600 million of the deal with debt at a time of high interest rates.
The acquisition is a bet that consumers will keep spending on high-end skincare, even during a potential economic slowdown or recession.
E.l.f. beats earnings estimates
E.l.f. made the announcement as it posted fiscal fourth quarter results, which beat Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines.
Here’s how the beauty retailer performed compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: 78 cents adjusted vs. 72 cents expected
Revenue: $333 million vs. $328 million expected
The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended March 31 was $28.3 million, or 49 cents per share, compared with $14.5 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $332.7 million, up about 4% from $321.1 million.
E.l.f.’s sales have increased rapidly in recent years, but investors have grown concerned as that growth started to slow and the threat of tariffs began weighing on its business. The company sources about 75% of its products from China, which currently faces a 30% duty on exports to the U.S. Last week, it announced plans to raise prices by $1 to offset higher costs from tariffs beginning on Aug. 1.
While U.S. duties on Chinese imports are 30% now, that could change as President Donald Trump negotiates with Beijing. As a result, E.l.f. said it isn’t providing a fiscal 2026 outlook “due to the wide range of potential outcomes related to tariffs.”
Amin said E.l.f. paid more than 145% in duties before Trump agreed to slash the levies on Chinese goods, but those costs didn’t come through during the quarter and will show up when the company reports its fiscal 2026 first-quarter earnings.
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Boeing’s reputation for reliability in recent years has been earned not by the performance of its products, but by its ability to generate unwelcome news. So the first few months of 2025 have come as something of a relief. The American aerospace giant has mostly been the bearer of good tidings in the shape of growing orders for planes, legal woes set aside and military contracts won. After a long period of largely self-inflicted trouble, there are signs the clouds may be parting. More
Stellantis on Wednesday appointed North American Chief Operating Officer Antonio Filosa as its new chief executive.
The appointment means Filosa will succeed Carlos Tavares, who unexpectedly resigned in December after a sharp drop in profit, falling sales and problems in the U.S.
Stellantis said John Elkann, who had led an interim executive committee since Tavares’ resignation, will continue in his role as executive chairman.
Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer and former Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa speaks during the Stellantis press conference at the Automobility LA 2024 car show at Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 21, 2024.
Etienne Laurent | Afp | Getty Images
Auto giant Stellantis on Wednesday appointed North American Chief Operating Officer Antonio Filosa as its new chief executive, ending a monthslong campaign to fill the firm’s leadership void.
The multinational conglomerate, which owns household names including Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, said it would hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting in the coming days for Filosa to be elected to the board to serve as an executive director.
Stellantis said Filosa would assume CEO powers effective June 23. He will succeed Carlos Tavares, who unexpectedly resigned in December after a sharp drop in profit, falling sales and problems in the U.S.
“It is my great honor to be named the CEO of this fantastic Company,” Filosa said in a statement, noting he takes over at a “pivotal time for our industry.”
Filosa, in an internal memo to employees Wednesday, said his “essential” focus as CEO will be “strengthening the bonds and trust we have with our partners — our dealers, suppliers, unions and communities.”
Mending relationships has been a priority for Filosa for much of the past year following a divide between many of Stellantis’ partners under Tavares, especially in the U.S.
A 25-year veteran of the company, Filosa previously served as Jeep brand CEO before being named North America COO in October 2024 and chief quality officer in January this year.
In addition to mending bonds, Filosa will need to balance the company’s investments in internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, while attempting to get the company’s finances back on track.
Stellantis recently reported a 14% year-on-year downturn in first-quarter net revenues and withdrew its full-year financial guidance due to uncertainties regarding the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s back-and-forth trade policy.
Uncertainty over trade tariffs is expected to profoundly affect the car industry, particularly given the high globalization of supply chains and the heavy reliance on manufacturing operations across North America.
Stellantis said John Elkann, who had led an interim executive committee since Tavares’ resignation, will continue in his role as executive chairman. Elkann is scion of Europe’s prominent Agnelli family that founded Italian carmaker Fiat more than a century ago.
“Antonio’s deep understanding of our Company, including its people who he views as our core strength, and of our industry equip him perfectly for the role of Chief Executive Officer in this next and crucial phase of Stellantis’ development,” Elkann said.
Shares of Milan-listed Stellantis are down nearly 27% year to date.
Filosa was among a short list of potential CEO candidates that also included three external candidates and Stellantis head of procurement Maxime Picat, Reuters reported last month.
Filosa plans to travel to Stellantis’ plants and offices across the world in the days and weeks ahead, according to the internal memo.
“I have always found strength in connecting and working closely with colleagues. That will be more important than ever. I look forward to our work together and the successes this will bring going forward,” he said in the memo.
Michael Bettenhausen, a dealer in Illinois and chair of the Stellantis U.S. dealer council, said there is still a lot of work to get done regarding new products and sales.
“Today it’s about recognizing Antonio but tomorrow we’ve got a lot of heavy lifting to do,” he said Wednesday. “We need to mutually work together and dive into all the issues here in the North American operations, and we look forward to Antonio still being a part of those discussions.”
Bettenhausen described Filosa as a “very smart, retail centric operator” who understands the business, including the need for new products to improve the company’s embattled U.S. sales. More
Dick’s Sporting Goods was able to stand by its full-year guidance, even while taking tariffs into effect.
The retailer said it’s still expecting fiscal 2025 profit to be between $13.80 and $14.40 per share, in line with what analysts expected, according to LSEG.
Dick’s recently announced plans to acquire its longtime rival Foot Locker.
A sign is posted in front of a Dick’s Sporting Goods store on September 04, 2024 in Daly City, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Dick’s Sporting Goods said Wednesday it’s standing by its full-year guidance, which includes the expected impact from all tariffs currently in effect.
The sporting goods giant said it’s expecting earnings per share to be between $13.80 and $14.40 in fiscal 2025 — in line with the $14.29 that analysts had expected, according to LSEG.
It’s projecting revenue to be between $13.6 billion and $13.9 billion, which is also in line with expectations of $13.9 billion, according to LSEG.
“We are reaffirming our 2025 outlook, which reflects our strong start to the year and confidence in our strategies and operational strength while still acknowledging the dynamic macroeconomic environment,” CEO Lauren Hobart said in a news release. “Our performance demonstrates the momentum and strength of our long-term strategies and the consistency of our execution.”
Here’s how the company performed in its first fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $3.37 adjusted. It wasn’t immediately clear if the results were comparable to estimates.
Revenue: $3.17 billion vs. $3.13 billion
The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended May 3 was $264 million, or $3.24 per share, compared with $275 million, or $3.30 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items related to its acquisition of Foot Locker, Dick’s posted earnings per share of $3.37.
Sales rose to $3.17 billion, up about 5% from $3.02 billion a year earlier.
For most investors, Dick’s results won’t come as a surprise because it preannounced some of its numbers about two weeks ago when it unveiled plans to acquire its longtime rival Foot Locker for $2.4 billion. So far, Dick’s has seen a mix of reactions to the proposed acquisition.
On one hand, Dick’s deal for Foot Locker will allow it to enter international markets for the first time and reach a customer that’s crucial to the sneaker market and doesn’t typically shop in the retailer’s stores. On the other hand, Dick’s is acquiring a business that’s been struggling for years and some aren’t sure needs to exist due to its overlap with other wholesalers and the rise of brands selling directly to consumers.
While shares of Foot Locker initially soared more than 80% after the deal was announced, shares of Dick’s fell about 15%.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of fiscal 2025 and, for now, Dick’s outlook doesn’t include acquisition-related costs or results from the acquisition.
In the first full fiscal year post-close, Dick’s expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings and deliver between $100 million and $125 million in cost synergies.
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Macy’s cut its profit outlook for 2025, as President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes and higher promotions hit its bottom line.
The department store operator beat Wall Street’s earnings and sales estimates for the first quarter.
Macy’s in in the middle of a turnaround effort, as it moves to close roughly 150 of its namesake stores and lean into its stronger businesses, Bloomingdale’s and beauty chain Bluemercury.
Macy’s logo is seen on a store in Manhattan, New York, United States of America, on July 5th, 2024.
Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Macy’s cut its full-year profit guidance on Wednesday even as it beat Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations, as the retailer’s CEO said it will hike prices of certain items to offset tariffs.
In a news release, the department store operator said it reduced its earnings outlook because of higher tariffs, more promotions and “some moderation” in discretionary spending. Macy’s stuck by its full-year sales forecast, however.
For fiscal 2025, Macy’s now expects adjusted earnings per share of $1.60 to $2, down from its previous forecast of $2.05 to $2.25. It reaffirmed its full-year sales guidance of between $21 billion and $21.4 billion, which would be a decline from $22.29 billion in the most recent full year.
About 15 cents to 40 cents per share of the guidance cut is due to tariffs, CEO Tony Spring told CNBC. He said about 20% of the company’s merchandise comes from China.
Macy’s will raise some prices and stop carrying certain items to mitigate the hit from tariffs, he added.
“You’re dealing with it on both the demand side as well as the increased cost side. And so navigating that, we have a series of different scenarios to try to figure out kind of what will be the reality, and we want our guidance to reflect the flexibility of that uncertainty, so that we can react in real time to how we serve or better serve the consumer,” Spring said.
Spring said the company will be “surgical” about its pricing approach.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of approach,” he said. “There are going to be items that are the same price as they were a year ago. There is going to be, selectively, items that may be more expensive, and there are items that we might not carry because the pricing doesn’t merit the quality or the perceived value by the consumer.”
Here’s how Macy’s did during its fiscal first quarter, compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: 16 cents adjusted vs. 14 cents expected
Revenue: $4.60 billion vs. $4.50 billion expected
In the three-month period that ended May 3, the company’s net income was $38 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with $62 million, or 22 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales dropped from $4.85 billion in the year-ago quarter. Excluding some one-time charges including restructuring charges, adjusted earnings per share were 16 cents.
Though the company cut its profit outlook, its shares climbed more than 3% in premarket trading.
Economic uncertainty – including President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff announcements – has complicated Macy’s turnaround plans. The New York City-based legacy retailer is more than a year into a three-year effort to become a smaller, but healthier business. It’s shuttering weaker stores and investing in stronger parts of the company, including luxury department store Bloomingdale’s and beauty chain Bluemercury. It has also tried to improve the customer experience, including by speeding up online deliveries and adding staff to stores.
Macy’s plans to close about 150 underperforming namesake stores across the country by early 2027.
In the fiscal first quarter, Macy’s namesake brand remained its weakest. Comparable sales across Macy’s owned and licensed business, plus its online marketplace, declined 2.1% year over year.
When Macy’s took out the stores that it plans to shutter, however, trends looked slightly better. Comparable sales of its go-forward business, including its owned and licensed business and online marketplace, declined 1.9%
On the other hand, comparable sales at Bloomingdale’s rose 3.8% year over year, including its owned, licensed and marketplace businesses. Comparable sales at Bluemercury climbed 1.5% year over year.
To try to turn its namesake stores around, Macy’s has invested in 50 locations – dubbed the “First 50” – with more staffing, sharper displays and changes to its mix of merchandise. It has expanded that initiative to 75 additional stores, bringing the total to 125 locations that have gotten increased attention. That’s a little over a third of the 350 namesake locations that Macy’s plans to keep open.
Those 125 locations performed better than the overall Macy’s brand. Comparable sales among those revamped stores owned and licensed by Macy’s were down 0.8% compared with the year-ago period.
On Macy’s earnings call in March – before Trump made several sudden tariff moves that baffled companies and investors – Spring said the company’s guidance “assumes a certain level of uncertainty” about the economic outlook. He said even Macy’s affluent customer “is just as uncertain and as confused and concerned by what’s transpiring.”
Earlier this spring, Macy’s announced a few key leadership changes – including a new chief financial officer. Macy’s new CFO, Thomas Edwards, will begin on June 22. He previously served as the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Capri Holdings, the parent company of Michael Kors. He will succeed Adrian Mitchell, who is leaving Macy’s.
As of Tuesday’s close, Macy’s shares are down about 29% so far this year. That trails the S&P 500’s nearly 1% gains during the same period. Macy’s stock closed on Tuesday at $12.04 per share, bringing the retailer’s market value to $3.35 billion.
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