Quake in China’s Sichuan kills 19, including tourists, injures 247

JIUZHAIGOU, China (Reuters) – A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck a remote, mountainous part of China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, killing 19 people, including eight tourists, and injuring 247, the provincial government and official media said on Wednesday.

The quake hit a sparsely populated area 200 km (120 miles) northwest of the city of Guangyuan late on Tuesday at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was also close to the Jiuzhaigou nature reserve, a tourist destination.

Sichuan is frequently struck by tremors. A huge quake there in May 2008 killed almost 70,000 people.

A separate quake of magnitude 6.6 hit a remote part of China’s far northwestern region of Xinjiang, more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles) away, on Wednesday, the Chinese earthquake administration said. The People’s Daily said 32 people had been injured in the mostly rural area.

The Sichuan government said rescuers were gradually evacuating tourists and residents who had been cut off by landslides.

It added that 19 people had been killed, but most of those injured were not seriously hurt.

The dead included eight tourists, two residents and nine whose identities have yet to be confirmed, state television said.

In nearby Longnan in the neighboring province of Gansu, also jolted by the quake, eight people died in landslides caused by heavy rain, the People’s Daily said.

The Sichuan government added that 45,000 tourists had been evacuated from the quake zone with just 1,000 more still waiting to leave.

A few dozen tourists were camped out at Jiuzhaigou airport, waiting for flights. The airport was open and beginning to evacuate people by air, state media said.

A traveler with a young daughter who gave his family name as Li said he was in his hotel when the earthquake hit.

“The walls and floor shook. Some things fell off the table,” he said.

Some people were injured in the hotel but most were fine.

“The rescue services showed up quickly and gave us water and things to eat,” Li said, adding that he received priority in evacuation since he was accompanied by a small child.

“At first the road was blocked, but they had cleared a lane this morning for ambulances.”

A French man and a Canadian woman suffered light injuries, Xinhua reported.

All 341 Taiwan tourists in 19 tour groups were safe, the government of the self-ruled island said, however.

The Sichuan government dismissed as overblown earlier fears that part of a hotel had collapsed, saying damage proved minor and everyone was evacuated safely.

The Sichuan earthquake administration, which also assessed the quake magnitude at 7.0, said its epicenter was in Ngawa prefecture, populated chiefly by ethnic Tibetans, many of whom are nomadic herders.

The area was rattled by aftershocks on Wednesday.

Pictures on state-run social media sites showed some damage in Jiuzhaigou, with tiles having fallen off buildings and people gathering outdoors.

State television said electricity had largely been restored to affected areas and the military was also sending rescuers.

The Sichuan government said on one of its official social media sites that more than 38,000 tourists were now visiting Jiuzhaigou.

Shaking was felt in the provincial capital, Chengdu, and as far away as Xian, home of the famous terracotta warrior figures, according to the government.

The Xinjiang quake’s epicenter was in Jinghe county, about 100 km (60 miles) from the border with Kazakhstan, where about 140,000 people live, according to Xinhua.

Residents several hundred kilometres away in Urumqi, and the cities of Karamay and Yining, felt strong tremors, Xinhua said. The jolt lasted about 20 seconds, it said.

Additional reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai, Michael Martina in Beijing and Faith Hung in Taipei; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry and Clarence Fernandez

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Disney to offer two streaming services and end its movie distribution agreement with Netflix

Walt Disney Co. will launch two Netflix-like streaming services — one for sports and another for films and television shows — in one of the boldest moves by an entertainment company to address the changing media landscape.

The stand-alone subscription services would appeal to younger audiences who are turning away from traditional media and flocking to Netflix and other digital platforms. The ESPN service, which would be available next year, is expected to feature 10,000 sporting events annually, among them Major League Baseball games.

The Disney-branded film and TV offering, set to debut in 2019, would include original content developed by Walt Disney Studios.

The move comes at a time of growing unease in Hollywood about the rising clout of Netflix, which has siphoned viewers from linear television and changed consumer habits — threatening conventional business models. Until recently, studios have been happy to license their television shows and movies to Netflix, reaping big checks. A few have taken relatively modest steps to challenge Netflix by withholding certain films and shows.

Some established media companies have taken a more aggressive approach, launching their own streaming services. HBO, CBS, Showtime, Starz — even the Tennis Channel — each has its own digital channels offered directly to consumers. At the same time, streamers such as Amazon.com are looking to get deeper into the live television business and have been on the hunt for sports rights.

But Disney’s actions, announced on the same day it delivered weak fiscal third-quarter earnings, go much further, and represent a major shift in strategy. The company said Tuesday that it would end its distribution agreement with Netflix for new films, beginning with the 2019 calendar year theatrical slate. Instead, viewers would have to go to the Disney service to stream those movies. Shows currently produced by Disney’s Marvel Studios such as “Jessica Jones” would still be available on Netflix.

“This is a declaration of independence by Disney, and now you have a direct competition between these two behemoth players,” said Peter Csathy, founder of the advisory firm Creatv Media. “Netflix has a huge head start, but Disney thinks it can win. And Disney can feature the most valuable content library in the world.”

As part of its effort to create the new services, Disney is paying $1.58 billion for a greater stake in Bamtech, a streaming video company that is developing both products. Disney previously disclosed it was working on the ESPN service when it acquired a 33% interest in the company, which was created by Major League Baseball, in August 2016. Disney will now own 75% of Bamtech.

“No one is better positioned to lead the industry into this dynamic new era, and we’re accelerating our strategy to be at the forefront of this transformation,” Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said during a conference call with analysts.

Disney’s third-quarter earnings report underscored the reasoning for the tactical realignment. For the quarter that ended July 1, Disney reported a profit of $2.37 billion, down 9% from a year earlier. It delivered adjusted earnings per share of $1.58 and revenue of $14.2 billion, which was essentially flat compared with a year earlier. Analysts had predicted earnings per share of $1.55 on revenue of $14.5 billion, according to Factset.

Disney’s media networks unit, which houses ESPN and ABC, had a tough quarter, reporting segment operating income of $1.84 billion, which was down 22% from a year earlier. The unit’s operating income declined on a year-over-year basis for the fifth quarter in a row. Within the cable networks group, which includes ESPN, segment operating income was down 23% to $1.46 billion. Disney attributed the drop-off, in part, to higher programming costs because of a new NBA TV contract, and lower advertising revenue at ESPN.

ESPN has long been the profit engine for Disney. But ESPN has been squeezed by rising sports rights costs at a time when pay-TV revenue has been under threat because of cord-cutting. ESPN has lost more than 10 million subscribers since 2010, according to Nielsen data.

Robin Diedrich, an analyst with Edward Jones Research, said that the subscriber losses probably drove Disney’s decision to launch the new platforms.

“We continue to see more erosion of general subscribers in the traditional business,” she said. “That is the concern and probably what was pushing them to do this sooner rather than later.”

Iger said that “monetization possibilities are extraordinary” for Disney once it launches the new streaming services, whose prices have not been disclosed.

He said that the Disney-branded product would include exclusive films and TV shows — a prospect that could make it a must-have for some consumers because of the many popular brands in Disney’s stable. Over the last decade or so, Disney’s multibillion-dollar acquisitions of Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm have given it a trove of valuable intellectual property. Disney’s lucrative franchises include “Star Wars,” “The Avengers” and “Toy Story.”

“It’s been clear to us for a while [that] the future of this industry will be forged by direct relationships between content creators and consumers,” Iger said.

Disney has worked with Netflix for years to distribute its content — including hit films and original television shows. In a statement, the Los Gatos, Calif., company affirmed its business relationship with Disney, noting the two companies continue to work together on Marvel TV projects. Both Disney’s and Netflix’s stock lost more than 3% at one point in after-hours trading Tuesday. Shares of Disney had closed up about half a percent to $106.98 in regular trading.

Netflix has been riding a wave of enthusiastic investor sentiment after it posted strong growth for the second quarter that ended in June, surpassing 100 million subscribers worldwide during the recent three-month period. The company has attributed the growth to its strong content slate, which includes new seasons of popular series including “House of Cards,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “Master of None.” This week, it acquired comic book publisher Millarworld and signed a deal to do a six-episode talk show with David Letterman.

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