Business

You cannot see the Hollywood sign from the picket line outside Netflix’s compound on Sunset Boulevard. It is obscured by an office tower with a busty advertisement for a “Bridgerton” spin-off splashed on the wall. Yet Hollywood, with its arcane paraphernalia, is all around you. The Writers Guild of America (WGA), which called the strike, traces its roots back to cinema’s early days. The language that the strikers use is steeped in history. They talk of “rooms” where writers gather to work on a script and of “notes”, the often brutal feedback they receive from studio executives. In Los Angeles, Hollywood still confers cachet. You can tell from the horns blasting out in support of the strikers from passing cars. It is a town, and an industry, in upheaval, though. The strike, the first in 15 years, is the latest manifestation of that. Cinemas are still struggling to lure audiences back after the pandemic. Media companies are drowning in debt. Amid a surfeit of TikTok celebrities and minor Hollywood glitterati, only a few old warhorses like Tom Cruise are guaranteed to bring out the crowds. The main cause of the turmoil is streaming. Its firehose of content keeps people at home, rather than going to the multiplex. Its shows cost the film industry a fortune to make. And they are served up with such blink-and-you-miss-them rapidity that it is harder than ever to create universal cultural icons. Yet as leisure activities go, there are few better ways to get a bang for 15 bucks or less. Streaming hasn’t just changed the way people watch TV. It has changed the business model, too. With studios and streamers under the same roof, what used to be a value business driven by hits has turned into a volume business driven by subscriptions. MoffettNathanson, a media-focused consultancy, vividly illustrates this with a quote from a talent agent: “Streaming turned an industry with a profit pool that looked like New York’s skyline into the Los Angeles skyline.” In other words, a few monumental hits, with a sprawl of minor hits and misses in between. Over this landscape, no streamer stands taller than Netflix. Not for nothing is Hollywood calling this “the Netflix strike”.Netflix may not have single-handedly changed Hollywood; HBO, a maker of edgy TV, deserves a screen credit. But its success shows there is no going back. At the end of March it had 232.5m subscribers worldwide. That gives it a huge base for absorbing the costs of shows. Unlike its rivals, its streaming service is profitable, which allows it to reinvest in better content. Its geographic reach lets it take low-budget series from local markets, as it did in 2021 with “Squid Game”, a dystopian South Korean satire on inequality, and turn them into global hits. Its new cheap ad-supported tier offers huge potential to increase revenue and subscriber growth.Given its strength, one might think it could afford to splash out on writers. Perish the thought. In a volume business, cost is key. Its ability to control production expenses helped bolster its cashflow in the first quarter. Investors loved it. Writers, once accustomed to more lavish treatment, did not. Their retort, visible on the picket lines outside Netflix offices: “Fists up. Pencils down.”Talk to the strikers and it is hard not to feel sympathetic. In the pre-streaming era, writing for a moderately successful film or TV series guaranteed a steady income. Writers’ rooms, with at least eight scribes firing off each other, were common when working in pre-production, on set and during editing. Helping write a 26-episode TV show could take up most of the year. Once a film was released, or a TV show broadcast, there was a lucrative aftermarket, including home video and syndicated sales, which brought in residual royalties. It was easy to measure success. Third-party firms reported ratings, box-office numbers and after-sales. The early days of streaming were, if anything, even better. Not only did Netflix, and deep-pocketed tech giants such as Apple and Amazon, spray cash on content to attract subscribers. They made payments up front, regardless of success (they kept most of the viewing figures to themselves). They gave writers unusual creative freedom. The streaming wars gave rise to a golden age of TV. But since investors have taken fright at the ballooning budgets, the money-spigot has been turned off. Shows are shorter than in the pre-streaming era, and work is intermittent. Writing after pre-production has virtually ground to a halt, says Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, union captain and writer for Netflix, whose comedy show, “Survival of the Thickest”, comes out this summer. She says she was shocked at how intransigent the platform was when she asked for more writers on set. “It’s led to a lot of soul-searching.” It isn’t just the WGA. Directors and actors are starting separate contract negotiations with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios, ahead of a June 30th deadline. They, too, have concerns about pay, staffing and residuals. In the background lurks artificial intelligence, and the question of whether it will change the economics of the movie industry as much as—or more than—the internet did. Sunset Boulevard, sunset industry Given such seismic changes, it would not be surprising if the guilds dig in their heels. They have loud voices on social media. The lavish salaries studio bosses pay themselves, while cutting costs elsewhere, make for easy targets. Yet the strikers’ leverage is limited. Netflix’s rivals could have offered more generous terms to win the war for talent. They didn’t, instead joining under the AMPTP umbrella. Netflix may be one of their biggest targets, but it has a large slate of releases ready to go that may insulate it better than its peers from a lack of new scripts. The global reach of the streamers could undercut American content creators; there are plenty of non-unionised foreigners keen to step into their shoes. This is a world where unscripted fare, including YouTube and TikTok, competes with traditional media for viewers’ attention. The skyline has changed. It is foolish to think Hollywood will not change with it. ■ More

JetBlue is adding incremental perks for travelers who haven’t yet achieved elite frequent flyer status.
The program’s Mosaic status program will also be broken into four tiers.
It’s the latest carrier to rethink its loyalty program to reflect shifting travel habits.

JetBlue Airways plane seen at Cancun International Airport. On Wednesday, 23 March 2022, in Cancun International Airport, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images

JetBlue Airways has unveiled new perks for less-frequent flyers who are striving for elite status, the latest carrier to rethink its loyalty program to reflect shifting travel habits.
The new system establishes more incremental steps to earn perks, including the choice of early boarding (barring basic economy ticket holders), priority security screening, an alcoholic drink on board, or bonus frequent flyer points, every time a customer earns 10 so-called “tiles.”

A customer earns one of those tiles for every $100 they spend on JetBlue and its travel-booking platforms, or on flights operated by its partner in the Northeast U.S., American Airlines. Customers can also earn a tile by spending $1,000 on a JetBlue credit card.
The changes are part of JetBlue’s larger overhaul of its TrueBlue program, which the carrier announced Wednesday.
Other changes include:

JetBlue breaking up its elite Mosaic status into four levels, with benefits corresponding to each. To earn level 1 of that program travelers will need 50 tiles, and that comes with benefits like access to seats with extra legroom at check-in and same-day flight changes.
At the top level, after earning 250 tiles, travelers can upgrade, if available, to the Mint business-class cabin. They can also score four helicopter transfers on Blade between Manhattan and John F. Kennedy International Airport or Newark Liberty International Airport.
JetBlue is also offering perks when a customer moves up a level of elite status like pet-fee waivers or a $99 credit card statement credit.

The new plan comes as airlines adjust their lucrative frequent flyer programs to be tied more to customer spend, including on rewards credit cards. Many carriers have been raising the bar to reach status. They are also catering to changing travel habits, such as an increased dominance of leisure travelers since traditional corporate travel hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
American Airlines late last year, for example, raised the spending threshold required for customers to earn elite status. It also introduced interim benefits for frequent flyer program members who rack up loyalty points but not enough for elite status, with perks like earlier boarding and coupons for “preferred location seats,” which are closer to the front of the plane but don’t have extra legroom.

And Delta Air Lines said in January that it would start offering free Wi-Fi on board its planes for travelers who are enrolled in its SkyMiles frequent flyer program.
“We’re at a point where the dollar is pretty much the almighty if you want to earn status,” said Kyle Potter, executive editor of Thrifty Traveler, a travel and flight deal website. “There’s not a whole lot of incentive to stay loyal to that airline…unless you’re a classic road warrior.
“JetBlue and other airlines are smart to offer these mid-points, to put something in reach, some reason to keep flying that airline even if reaching that big step of status doesn’t seem possible,” he said.
JetBlue is in the middle of trying to acquire budget carrier Spirit Airlines, but the Justice Department sued to block the deal earlier this year. If JetBlue prevails, the carrier plans to do away with Spirit’s ultra-low-cost model and retrofit its planes in JetBlue’s style. More

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) decreased last week to 6.48% from 6.50%
Applications to refinance a home loan jumped 10% last week, compared with the previous week.
Applications for a mortgage to purchase home increased 5% for the week, but were 32% lower than the same week one year ago.

A display for a realtor with Coldwell Banker Dynasty TC, left, is displayed as she speaks with a potential homebuyer during an open house in Arcadia, California.
Jonathan Alcorn | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Mortgage rates fell slightly last week after the chairman of the Federal Reserve suggested a potential end to a historic string of interest rate hikes. The drop wasn’t substantial, but it was enough to boost demand from current homeowners hoping to refinance their mortgages to lower rates.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) decreased last week to 6.48% from 6.50% in the previous week, with points declining to 0.61 from 0.63 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey. The rate was 5.53% for the same week one year ago. Mortgage rates for all surveyed loan types decreased over the week.

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As a result, applications to refinance a home loan jumped 10% last week, compared with the previous week, seasonally adjusted. Refinance demand, however, was still 44% lower year over year.
“Mortgage applications responded positively to a drop in rates last week, as the Fed signaled a potential pause at the current level for the federal funds rate in anticipation of inflation slowing and tightening financial conditions that will slow economic and job growth,” wrote Joel Kan, MBA’s deputy chief economist, in a release.
Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home increased 5% for the week, but were 32% lower than the same week a year ago. Rates haven’t really dropped enough to offset high home prices. Prices have been cooling since last summer, but are already reheating this spring due to strong demand and very low supply.
Mortgage rates rose sharply to start this week, according to a separate survey from Mortgage News Daily. The increase was due to investor sentiment that the regional banking crisis may be easing. All bets are off Wednesday, however, when the government releases the consumer price index, a monthly report on inflation. Any large divergence from expectations, in either direction, could move bond yields, and consequently mortgage rates, decisively. More

Ford Motor on Wednesday revealed its redesigned Ranger midsize pickup truck for the U.S., including a new Raptor performance model.
The addition of the Raptor — starting at $56,960 — is part of Ford’s plan to increase high-profit variants to boost its bottom line, as the company pours billions into electric vehicles.
Ford expects the Raptor to represent around 10% of Ranger’s sales in the U.S.

2024 Ford Ranger Raptor

DETROIT — Ford Motor on Wednesday revealed its redesigned Ranger midsize pickup truck for the U.S., including a new Raptor performance model.
The addition of the Raptor — starting at $56,960 — is part of Ford’s plan to increase high-profit variants to boost its bottom line, as the company pours billions into electric vehicles.

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Ford CEO Jim Farley last month told investors that special variants such as the Raptor share roughly 80% of their parts with regular models but have 30% higher contribution margins, with a “twofold increase in capital efficiency.”
Ford expects the Raptor to represent around 10% of Ranger’s sales in the U.S., according to Gretchen Sauer, Ford’s marketing manager of the pickup.
“The Raptor’s going to be at the top end of our Ranger offering,” Sauer said. “It’s going to extend up our overall transaction price for Ranger.”

2024 Ford Ranger Raptor

Ford declined to release the current average transaction price of the Ranger. Auto research firm Edmunds reports it was roughly $41,300 as of last month.
The Ranger Raptor, which is powered by a 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 engine, adds to Ford’s Raptor lineup that currently includes the F-150 full-size pickup and Bronco SUV. 

Ford also is raising the starting prices of its standard Ranger models, which include additional tech and safety features. The price of the entry-level XL model will start at $34,160, up roughly 18% from $27,400 for the current model. The Ranger Raptor raises the top-end starting price for the vehicle by 34%. Pricing includes mandatory destination fees.
Ordering for the 2024 Ranger opens this month, with vehicles scheduled to arrive at dealerships beginning in late summer.

Global pickup

While the Ranger’s U.S. sales pale in comparison to Ford’s larger F-Series trucks, the smaller pickup is critical to the Detroit automaker’s global sales. Ford produces the vehicle in five different plants globally to be sold in more than 180 markets.
The Ford brand sold more than 1 million pickups globally in 2022, and the automaker said Ranger sales more than doubled from a decade ago to more than 300,000 units last year. The Ranger is second in global sales to the Toyota Hilux, according to industry data.

2024 Ford Ranger Raptor

“The mission has always been to climb the mountain to No. 1,” Jim Baumbick, vice president of Ford product development and quality, told CNBC. “We’re a clear global No. 2 and we have our sights fully set for the top of the podium.”
Ranger’s U.S. sales were down about 40% last year, as the automaker battled supply chain problems and prioritized production of the Ford Bronco SUV, which saw sales more than triple in 2022 to top 117,000 units.

Ranger vs. Bronco

The Ranger and the Bronco are both produced at a Michigan plant, which creates a sort of push-pull in their respective production.
“Ford is going to be trying to decide at any given moment which is the vehicle to produce, but they can flex back and forth,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility.
Baumbick says balancing production of the Ranger and Bronco at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant is something he’s spending a tremendous amount of time working on.
“It’s a challenge. It’s a good problem to have. We have incredible demand on both the Bronco and the Ranger side,” he said. “As we launch the new Ranger, we’re going to be constantly balancing between the two.”

2024 Ford Ranger XLT Sport

The Ranger fits in between Ford’s compact Maverick pickup and the automaker’s full-size F-150 and larger F-Series trucks. This is the first time the Ranger has been redesigned since Ford released the well-received Maverick pickup in 2021.
To assist in differentiating the pickups, Ford added more capability and power to the Ranger. It’s also 2 inches wider and longer than the current generation truck.
The 2024 Ranger will come standard with 2.3-liter turbocharged engine with 270 horsepower and 310 foot-pounds of torque. A 2.7-liter V6 twin-turbo engine that’s currently offered in the F-150 and Bronco SUV also will be available. That engine produces 315 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque.
The Ranger Raptor will come standard with a 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 engine that’s expected to produce best-in-class 405 horsepower and 430 foot-pounds of torque.

Bronco SUVs in production at Ford’s Michigan Assembly plant, June 14, 2021.
Michael Wayland | CNBC More

Tucker Carlson, weeks after being fired from his prime time spot on Fox News, said he is relaunching his show on Twitter.
Carlson said in a video he tweeted that Twitter “is not a partisan site.”

Tucker Carlson speaks during the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Feszt on August 7, 2021 in Esztergom, Hungary.
Janos Kummer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Tucker Carlson is back – on Twitter.
The right wing TV personality said in a video on his Twitter feed Tuesday that he is relaunching his show on the social media platform, which is owned by Elon Musk. Carlson was abruptly fired from his prime time post at Fox News weeks ago, shortly after the network paid a settlement to Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation lawsuit.

In a three minute video, Carlson – who has worked for CNN, MSNBC and Fox News – berated the mainstream media for allegedly lying to the public. He told viewers: “You are being manipulated.” Carlson also said Twitter isn’t partisan.
“Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world, the only one, is Twitter, where we are now,” Carlson said in Tuesday’s video. “Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops. Twitter is not a partisan site, everybody’s allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing.”
A Fox representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A Twitter spokesperson responded with a poop emoji when asked for comment on Tuesday.
“On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever he or anyone may say,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday. He added “we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators.”
“I hope that many others, particularly from the left, also choose to be content creators on this platform,” Musk said in the tweet.

Carlson’s shift to Twitter comes as former President Donald Trump is running for election again in 2024. In the wake of President Joe Biden’s triumph over Trump in 2020, both media outlets and social media platforms are contending with the spread of false claims about the most recent election.
Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle Dominion’s defamation lawsuit that the network and its hosts spread false claims about the election. Fox faces a similar lawsuit with voting machine tech company Smartmatic USA.
Carlson has not publicly addressed his firing from Fox News, although he broke his silence days after he was booted from the network, also in a video posted on his Twitter feed. “When you take a little time off, you realize how unbelievably stupid the debates you see on television are, they’re completely irrelevant,” he said during his April 26 video.
Since then, various media reports have emerged saying that text messages from Carlson, including a racist remark about how “white men” fight, sealed his fate at Fox. The texts were unearthed during the discovery process in the Dominion defamation case.
In recent days, unredacted portions of evidence from the Dominion lawsuit have come out in media reports, which have also said Carlson was pushing the network to let him find his own platform. Carlson was reportedly in a contract dispute with Fox, which is said to last through 2025, and was said to have had discussions with Musk.
Carlson’s last show on Fox aired on Friday, April 21. The following Monday, Fox said in a statement: “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
Fox has seen its prime-time ratings dip since Carlson’s exit, although top advertisers have returned to the timeslot for the network. Carlson’s program was among one of the highest rated cable TV segments. Fox still touts being the top-rated cable news network, which CEO Lachlan Murdoch noted on Tuesday’s earnings call with investors.
Meanwhile, much smaller networks like Newsmax have seen a stark increase in viewership since Carlson has gone off Fox’s air, according to Nielsen ratings data.
In his last week on Fox News, Carlson hosted Musk on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
During the interview, which aired over two nights, Carlson asked Musk whether he thought Twitter would weigh heavily in future elections as it had for Trump. “I think it will play a significant role in elections, not just domestically but internationally,” Musk told Carlson.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CNN will hold a live town hall with Trump. The network has vowed to hold Trump accountable, with CEO David Zaslav saying as the Republican frontrunner, Trump has to be on air.
–CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this article. More

Private jet company Wheels Up announced Tuesday its founder and CEO, Kenny Dichter, is stepping down from his post immediately.
The company is facing mounting losses and the potential for bankruptcy.
Similar to many private jet startups, Wheels Up was dogged by high costs and operating issues.

Kenny Dichter, founder and former CEO of Wheels Up.
Chris Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Private jet company Wheels Up announced Tuesday its founder and CEO, Kenny Dichter, is stepping down from his post immediately as the company faces mounting losses and the potential for bankruptcy.
Board member Ravi Thakran will become executive chairman, while Chief Financial Officer Todd Smith will serve as interim CEO, the company said in a statement. Wheels Up didn’t give a reason for the executive changes, but thanked Dichter for his “vision and work” in growing revenue to over $1.5 billion a year and membership to over 12,000 customers.

Dichter’s departure caps a dramatic fall for one of the private jet industry’s most high-profile startups. Wheels Up once promised to become the Uber or Airbnb of private jets. Dichter, who founded Marquis Jets in 2001 and later sold it to NetJets, launched Wheels Up in 2013 aiming to “democratize” private jets and make them more affordable and easier to book.
The company’s flashy marketing campaigns, featuring sports celebrities such as Tom Brady and Serena Williams as brand ambassadors and investors, as well as lavish events, helped the company grow membership quickly.
But its stock price, which traded over $10 a share after it went public via SPAC in 2021, is now trading at about 40 cents after a 20% decline Tuesday. Its valuation, once over $2 billion, has dwindled to about $100 million.

Potential for bankruptcy

Like many private jet startups, Wheels Up was dogged by high costs and operating issues.
The company reported losses of $555 million last year, even as revenue and memberships increased. The company said it hoped to be profitable in 2024, but in its first-quarter earnings report released Tuesday, Wheels Up reported a loss of $101 million, about $12 million wider than its reported loss a year ago. 

Wheels Up has been consulting with bankruptcy advisors and attorneys about possible capital raises or a restructuring, people familiar with the company’s dealings told CNBC.
Wheels Up said in its earnings release Tuesday it is changing its pricing plan and product offering to better serve customers and become more efficient. For instance, it’s moving away from less profitable markets in the West to focus more on the Northeast and other more active routes.
A traditional individual Wheels Up membership has an initiation fee of $17,500 and annual dues of $8,500, with passengers paying additional hourly costs depending on the type of aircraft.

Tom Brady uses Wheels Up.
Source: Wheel’s Up

Industry experts say turning around Wheels Up will be difficult.
“It’s the right move, they had to get out of unprofitable flights” said the Doug Gollan, founder and editor of Private Jet Card Comparisons. “But it’s going to be a big challenge.”
There may also be questions about Dichter’s generous pay package. According to an SEC filing, Dichter will receive his base salary of $79,167 a month, or $950,000 a year, for two years. He will also receive $3 million as a lump sum “in lieu of a bonus” in addition to flight hours on Wheels Up planes.
In the event of a bankruptcy, Wheels Up’s members may wonder what happens to their jet cards. Members and customers have purchased about $1 billion in flight hours on cards, some of which have not been used. Industry experts say it’s unclear how or whether those members would be paid back in any bankruptcy, but they would likely become junior creditors.
Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owns competitor NetJets, said this weekend Wheels Up “has 12,600 people who have given them over a billion dollars on prepaid cards … and I think there’s a good chance some people are going to be disappointed later on.” More

Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive on Tuesday reported a first-quarter loss that was narrower than expected.
It said it’s still on track to meet a 50,000-vehicle production target for 2023.
Rivian has been working to reduce its spending over the last several months in a bid to conserve cash.

Courtesy: Rivian

Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive on Tuesday reported a first-quarter loss that was narrower than expected and said it’s still on track to meet a 50,000-vehicle production target for 2023.
Shares were up about 4% in after-hours trading following the news.

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Here’s how the company did as per consensus analyst estimates by Refinitiv:

Loss per share: $1.25 adjusted vs. $1.59 expected.
Revenue: $661 million vs. $652.1 million expected.

Rivian’s net loss narrowed to $1.35 billion, or $1.45 per share, from $1.59 billion, or $1.77 per share, during the year-earlier period.
Total revenue soared year over year from $95 million, according to the company.
The EV maker had $11.8 billion in cash remaining as of March 31, down from $12.1 billion at the end of 2022. Capital expenditures for the first quarter were $283 million, versus $418 million in the year-ago period.
Rivian has been working to reduce its spending over the last several months in a bid to conserve cash. The company said on Feb. 1 that it would cut 6% of its workforce, or about 900 employees.

“Our core priorities for 2023 are unchanged,” CEO RJ Scaringe said in an earnings release Tuesday. “The team remains focused on ramping production, driving cost reductions, developing the [upcoming smaller] R2 platform and future technologies and delivering an outstanding end-to-end customer experience.”
Rivian said on April 3 that it built 9,395 EVs in the first quarter and delivered 7,946 vehicles to customers. Both numbers were down from the fourth quarter, a result of planned factory downtime as the company upgraded assembly lines to incorporate its new made-in-house “Enduro” electric motors and lower-cost lithium iron phosphate battery packs.
Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough stressed that the new motors and batteries are “critical to achieve our long-term target cost structure across current vehicle platforms, as well as R2.”
Rivian’s R2 platform, now in development, will underpin a series of smaller vehicles priced below the R1T pickup’s current $73,000 starting price. It’s currently expected to launch in 2026.
The automaker confirmed that it remains on track to hit its full-year production guidance of 50,000 vehicles, roughly twice the number it made in 2022, with total capital expenditures of about $2 billion for the year.
The company is currently building the R1T pickup, the R1S SUV and a series of electric delivery vans for Amazon at its factory in Normal, Illinois. More

Most women should get screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40, a decade earlier than previously recommended, according to draft guidelines issued by a government-backed panel of experts. 
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said its new guidance could save 19% more lives.
The panel said the revised guidance also aims to reduce the disparities in breast cancer death rates among Black women. 
Breast cancer screenings typically involve a mammogram, which is an X-ray of the breast. 

Medical personnel use a mammogram to examine a woman’s breast for breast cancer.
Hannibal Hanschke | dpa | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Most women should get screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40, a decade earlier than previously recommended, according to draft guidelines issued Tuesday by a government-backed panel of experts. 
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said its new guidance could save 19% more lives.

Each year in the U.S., about 264,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women and roughly 2,400 in men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 42,000 women and 500 men in the U.S. die each year from the disease.
Breast cancer screenings typically involve a mammogram, which is an X-ray of the breast. 
The panel’s guidance applies to cisgender women and all other people assigned female at birth who are at average risk of breast cancer. It does not apply to people at high risk of breast cancer, including those who have a family history of the disease. 
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendations are usually widely adopted in the U.S. The panel’s previous guidance, which was last updated in 2016, suggested women should start screening every other year at age 50.
That guidance also said women in their 40s could talk to their doctors about getting screened, particularly if they have a family history of breast cancer. 

At the time, the panel was concerned earlier screenings could lead to unnecessary treatment for younger women, including biopsies that turn out to be negative. A biopsy is a sample of tissue taken from the body, which gets tested for a disease like cancer.
But the panel said it changed that guidance due to “new and more inclusive science” about breast cancer in people younger than 50, according to Dr. Carol Mangione, immediate past chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
The rate of breast cancer among women ages 40 to 49 increased 2% each year on average from 2015 to 2019, according to the National Cancer Institute. 
The panel said the new guidance also aims to ease the disparities in breast cancer death rates between Black women and white women.
Black women are 40% more likely to die of the disease than their white counterparts and “too often get deadly cancers at younger ages,” the panel said in the guidelines. 
The panel urgently called for more research on how to eliminate the disparity.
“Ensuring Black women start screening at age 40 is an important first step, yet it is not enough to improve the health inequities we face related to breast cancer,” Dr. Wanda Nicholson, the panel’s vice chair, said in the guidelines.
Other medical groups, including the American College of Radiology and the American Cancer Society, already recommend annual breast cancer screenings before age 50.
About 60% of women ages 40 to 49 reported having a mammogram within the past two years in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More