By Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the parent of DVD rental operator Redbox, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The bankruptcy filing comes after months of a series of financial struggles for the company and piling unpaid bills. Chicken Soup for the Soul has accumulated nearly $1 billion in debt, the Chapter 11 filing submitted Friday in Delaware bankruptcy court shows, after reporting loss after loss over recent quarters.
The filing also discloses that Chicken Soup for the Soul owes millions to over 500 creditors — which range from big names in the entertainment world like Sony Pictures and Warner Bros, to major retailers like Walgreens and Walmart.
As of March of this year, Friday's filing shows, Chicken Soup for the Soul had about $414 million in assets and $970 million in debts. Shares for the public company have fallen more than 90% over the last year.
Connecticut-based Chicken Soup for the Soul declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press Monday. In court documents, the company said that its lenders were unwilling to cooperate with refinancing.
Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired Redbox in 2022. At the time, the company billed the merger as the start of an entertainment conglomerate set to reach consumers across mediums and boost revenue, but losses continued to pile up. The acquisition also included the assumption Redbox's reported $325 million in debt.
Redbox, founded in 2002, is best known for red-colored, self-serve machines that sit outside of pharmacies or groceries stores to rent or sell DVDs. In Friday's filing, Chicken Soup for the Soul noted that it currently operates about 27,000 kiosks across the U.S. — down from 36,000 at the Redbox acquisition was finalized in August 2022.
Chicken Soup for the Soul also operates ad-supported streaming and video on-demand offerings. That includes Redbox Live TV and Crackle, a streamer that Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired from Sony.
ABC will air 6 additional “Monday Night Football” games starting this week with Bills-Jets
ABC will simulcast six more ESPN "Monday Night Football" games, including Monday's AFC East matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets.
The addition of the six games means ABC will air 17 this season — 14 simulcasts with ESPN (including two playoff games) and three games exclusively on ABC.
The decision to simulcast more games was a joint decision between the NFL and Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and ESPN.
The other added games are Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Oct. 21), Tampa Bay at Kansas City (Nov. 4), Houston at Dallas (Nov. 18), Baltimore at Los Angeles Chargers (Nov. 25) and New Orleans at Green Bay (Dec. 23).
The only two Mondays the rest of the regular season where ABC will not have a game are Nov. 11 and Dec. 2.
ABC had games all 18 weeks last season due to an agreement with the NFL since there was no new original fall programming due to the Hollywood writers and actors strikes. With more games on network television, "Monday Night Football" averaged 17.36 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a 29% increase over 2022.
It was the best audience numbers for the league's seminal prime-time package since 2000. The Super Bowl 57 rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City averaged 29.03 million.
Coming into the season, ABC had eight scheduled simulcasts, including two Saturday Week 18 games and two playoff games, and three exclusive MNF games when there were doubleheaders.
It also continues Disney's move toward putting more sports programming back on ABC. Super Bowl 61 from Los Angeles in 2027 will be on the network and the College Football Playoff championship game will also move to ABC the same year.
More games on ABC will also boost the ratings. Kansas City's 26-13 victory... Read More