This combination photo shows Cynthia Erivo performing at the 73rd annual Tony Awards in New York on June 9, 2019, left, and Aretha Franklin performing at the world premiere of "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives" at Radio City Music Hall in New York on April 19, 2017. Erivo will play Franklin in a third installment of the National Geographic anthology series "Genius." Production on “Genius: Aretha” will begin next month and the series is expected to debut next spring. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK (AP) --
National Geographic has found its next “Genius.”
The network has tapped Cynthia Erivo to play Aretha Franklin in a third installment of the anthology series.
The authorized project will feature Franklin’s music. Erivo will perform songs from the singer’s catalog. Franklin died in 2018 of pancreatic cancer at age 76.
Erivo won a Tony Award, a Grammy and a Daytime Emmy for her work in “The Color Purple.”
“Genius” dramatizes the story of some of the world’s most legendary innovators. Previous seasons focused on Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso, starring Geoffrey Rush and Antonio Banderas.
Production on “Genius: Aretha” will begin next month. The series is expected to debut next spring.
Dish Network satellite dishes are shown at an apartment complex in Palo Alto, Calif., Feb. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
DirecTV is calling off its planned acquisition of rival Dish after the offer was rejected by bond holders at that company.
The deal was reliant on Dish bond holders agreeing to trade in the debt they held for debt in the new company, a swap that would have cost them about $1.6 billion, collectively.
The retreat by DirecTV this week may end a years-long effort by the company to acquire both Dish and Sling after it announced the bid in September.
DirecTV was looking to acquire Dish TV and Sling TV from its owner EchoStar in a debt exchange transaction that included a payment of $1, plus the assumption of approximately $9.8 billion in debt. The deal was contingent on several factors, including regulatory approvals and bondholders writing off debt related to Dish.
"While we believed a combination of DirecTV and Dish would have benefited all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed exchange terms were necessary to protect DirecTV's balance sheet and our operational flexibility," DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement.
The prospect of a DirecTV-Dish combo has long been rumored, and reported talks resurfaced over the years. And the two almost merged more than two decades ago — but the Federal Communications Commission blocked the deal valued at the time at $18.5 billion deal, citing antitrust concerns.
The pay-for-TV market has shifted significantly since. As more and more consumers tune into online streaming platforms, demand for more traditional satellite entertainment continues to shrink.
DirecTV says that it will continue to invest in next-generation streaming platforms and offer new packaging options while integrating content from live TV alongside direct-to-consumer... Read More
