Month: October 2019

NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke predicts that things are going to get even more intense among the media and tech giants launching streaming platforms before the marketplace inevitably settles down. Burke, speaking Thursday morning on Comcast’s third quarter earnings call, said NBCUniversal is committed to its strategy of launching into the streaming arena with the advertising-supported
0 Comments
Sony Music Entertainment’s newest podcast push will have a British flavor. The music company entered into a joint venture with U.K.-based podcast producer Renay Richardson for Broccoli Content, a company focused on developing and distributing original programming. Richardson is a producer who has previously worked for leading podcast platforms including Acast, Audible and Panoply. As
0 Comments
Spotify has revolutionized the music industry, but profitability has remained an elusive goal for the streaming giant. Today, it announced a new effort in that direction: Alerts paid for by artists or their labels. The alerts will take the form of full-screen recommendations that have been tested on the platform’s mobile app in recent weeks.
0 Comments
The BBC needs to come up with an integrated strategy to win young viewers, deliver original British programming, and be more open about how it operates, British media regulator Ofcom said in its second annual report scrutinizing the world’s biggest pubcaster. Ofcom said the BBC is “broadly delivering” on its mission, has upped program spending
0 Comments
October 24, 2019 4:22AM PT Anne-Marie Duff and Rafe Spall will star in “Salisbury,” the fact-based BBC drama about the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the southwestern English city. Duff (“Shameless”) and Spall (“The War of the Worlds”) will star alongside Mark Addy (“Game of Thrones”), Annabel
0 Comments
Twitter posted third-quarter 2019 results that fell below targets, blaming snafus in its advertising products for part of the sales shortfall, sending the social network company’s stock plunging as much as 20% in pre-market trading. Revenue totaled $824 million, up 9%, under the $874 million Wall Street analysts anticipated on average. Twitter said sales were
0 Comments
October 24, 2019 4:00AM PT [embedded content] YouTube has teamed up with the remaining Queen members to produce new music videos for 3 of the band’s classic hits compiled entirely out of fan submissions. The collaborative videos for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “A Kind of Magic” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” were published on Queen’s official YouTube
0 Comments
“Nina Wu,” a dark drama about the Asian film industry, sexual harassment, and one woman’s paranoia, will get a release in North American theaters in 2020. Rights to the Taiwanese-produced picture, which premiered at the Cannes festival in the Un Certain Regard section, were acquired by New York-based distributor Film Movement. The film was directed
0 Comments
Newen, the Paris-based production and sales company owned by TF1 Group, has signed a strategic deal with Anton, a producer and financier of global content. Under the pact, Anton will be co-investing in Newen’s distribution rights for both in-house productions and third-party programs across fiction, documentary and animation, up to €35 million ($39 million). This
0 Comments
October 23, 2019 7:25PM PT BoxOfficeMojo.com has been transformed into an IMDbPro site, losing some of its free features. The Amazon-owned site, which had previously operated free of charge, was given a new look with its header reading “Box Office Mojo by IMDb Pro.” Information such as breakdowns by genre is now only available behind
0 Comments
October 23, 2019 6:35PM PT Disney Plus has launched development of a sequel to 1993’s fantasy comedy “Hocus Pocus” with “Workaholics” writer and co-producer Jen D’Angelo on board to script. The original “Hocus Pocus” starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as a trio of witch sisters who have been cursed since 1693
0 Comments
October 23, 2019 6:26PM PT Variety has won two Eppy Awards from Editor & Publisher, including Best Digital Magazine and Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Feature for “American (In)Justice” — a collaboration with fellow PMC property Rolling Stone. “American (In)Justice” also tied with USA Today’s “Copy, Paste, Legislate” collaboration with The Arizona Republic and the Center for
0 Comments
Hollywood stars are partnering with men’s health charity, Movember, to support the moustache and raise awareness about the org’s fundraising campaign. Comedians Stephen Fry, Stephen Merchant, actor David Oyewelo and survival expert Bear Grylls join former Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger in a new public service announcement explaining why the ‘stache is so important. Watch
0 Comments
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the premiere date for “Seth Meyers: Lobby Baby” and Epix released a trailer for “Belgravia.” CASTING AMC announced that “Succession” actor Sarah Snook, David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”) and Sonya Cassidy (“Lodge 49”) have been cast in its upcoming anthology series from Will Bridges and Brett Goldstein. The still-to-be-titled series is set 15 years into the
0 Comments
Despite three new nationwide releases, domestic box office charts look to be dominated by holdovers — Warner Bros.’ “Joker” and Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” — during the last weekend in October. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” debuted last weekend with $36 million in North America, enough to dethrone “Joker” after the super-villain origin story’s back-to-back
0 Comments