The PGA Tour plans to make betting information available more widely to fans, the latest example of a major sports league digging deeper into connecting its followers with gaming as more states begin to allow interactive wagering on sports matches. PGA Tour and Action Network, a sports-betting site and app backed by The Chernin Group,
Month: March 2020
Reed Midem, the organizer of TV conference and market MipTV, said Monday it is “monitoring the situation” after the French government banned indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people as part of efforts to contain the country’s coronavirus outbreak. Last year, 9,500 attended MipTV. France has reported 130 cases of the Covid-19 disease. Two people
Endemol Shine has cooked up new deals across Asia for its long-running format “MasterChef.” In Thailand, producer Heliconia H Group has commissioned a first season of “MasterChef All Stars Thailand,” expanding its five-year relationship with Endemol Shine. The new version of the format will continue to air in the Heliconia-owned airtime block on Sundays on
March 2, 2020 1:44AM PT Distributor Banijay Rights has struck a first-look deal with U.K. factual and formats producer Chatterbox, a relatively new production company founded by former Channel 4 commissioner Nav Raman and producer/director Ali Quirk. Chatterbox last year picked up two BAFTA Children’s TV Awards for its BBC documentary “Leaving Care.” Its agreement
March 2, 2020 1:58AM PT Red Arrow Studios Intl. has scored its first deals in Europe for new gameshow format “Block Out.” The format has been sold to Endemol Shine Iberia for Spain and Portugal, Tin Can for the Netherlands and GM6 for France. Originally created by Nippon TV and Red Arrow Studios, the series
The annual APOS conference in Bali, Indonesia, a leading event in Asia for the media, telecoms and entertainment industries, has become the latest victim of COVID-19. Its organizers, Media Partners Asia, have decided to move the event from spring to fall, joining a long list of cultural and entertainment events that have been postponed or
Image Nation Abu Dhabi has inked a multi-picture deal with Los Angeles-based Spooky Pictures and set up-and-coming director Chloe Okuno’s psychological thriller “Watcher” as the slate’s first title. Spooky Pictures, which is the low budget genre label recently formed by producers Roy Lee (“The Ring”) (who is pictured, right) and Steven Schneider (“Pet Sematary”), and the Abu
Margrethe Vestager, European Commission EVP for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, will open Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues, a one-day summit which this year debates regulation and commercial practice in a streaming platform age. Keynotes on the need – or not – for regulatory change will be delivered by Fremantle COO Andrea Scrosati and Giorgio
Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof, whose sixth feature “There Is No Evil” won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear on Saturday, is one of his country’s most prominent directors even though none of his films have screened in Iran where they are banned. In 2011, the year he won two prizes at Cannes with his censorship-themed
AT&T has officially kicked DirecTV, which has been hemorrhaging subscribers, to the back burner of its pay-TV strategy. But its new internet-fueled competitor likely won’t stanch the cord-cutting bleeding. Starting this week, the telco is throwing all its weight behind AT&T TV, which launches nationwide March 2. Built on an Android-based set-top, the broadband-delivered service
“I’m a happy idiot. What can I tell you?” This was John Sebastian, leaving the Alex Theatre in Glendale early Sunday morning after an epic Lovin’ Spoonful tribute show that lasted four hours, with the hall’s overtime fees accumulating as the group’s mostly reunited lineup got in one last “Daydream” right after the midnight hour.
Case closed: Judge Judy Sheindlin is ending her blockbuster first-run syndicated series “Judge Judy” after 25 seasons, Variety has confirmed. Sheindlin is set to make the announcement on “Ellen” this Monday. The final full season of “Judge Judy” is yet to air, which means it will remain in originals through the 2020-2021 TV season. After
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Free Will,” the third episode of “Outlander” Season 5. “Free Will” was an interesting “Outlander” episode because a big chunk of the plot took Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) away from the main storylines and diverted them into a complete horror show
Pete Buttigieg has dropped out of the Democratic presidential race, the New York Times reported on Sunday. Following a fourth place finish at the South Carolina primary and a distant third place at the Nevada caucuses, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., couldn’t rally enough support to stay in the crowded race. His candidacy
Harrison Ford’s canine adventure “The Call of the Wild” is shaping up to be the latest box office dud for the Disney-owned 20th Century. The film, based on Jack London’s best-selling novel, has made $45 million in the U.S. and $79 million globally after two weeks in theaters. That wouldn’t be a bad result, had
Jennifer Lopez opened up on her snub at this year’s Oscars during a discussion with Oprah Winfrey, admitting she felt disappointed about not getting nominated. Many expected the “Hustlers” star to have her name called out during this year’s nominations for supporting actress, but Lopez was missing from the list. Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”), Laura
A woman-in-peril movie is a not a new thing (just think of “Wait Until Dark,” “Eyes of Laura Mars,” or “Panic Room”), and neither is a woman-in-peril movie in which the heroine, after being stalked and terrorized, takes charges and fights back. That was the scenario, 30 years ago, in “Sleeping with the Enemy,” a
March 1, 2020 10:57AM PT Senator Bernie Sanders has been issued a cease and desist from Flavor Flav after the rapper’s Public Enemy co-founder, Chuck D, was announced to perform at a Sanders rally under the group’s moniker. The letter, sent by Flav’s lawyer to Sanders on Friday, asserts that the rally uses Flav’s “unauthorized
Despite a solid showing from Universal’s “The Invisible Man” at the international box office, Paramount’s family film “Sonic the Hedgehog” reigned supreme for the third weekend in a row. “Sonic” added $26.8 million from 62 abroad markets, representing about 76% of its foreign footprint and bringing its international total to $137.2 million. Domestically, the movie
March 1, 2020 8:59AM PT Now we know what Drake was filming in Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects last month: The rapper dropped two new songs late Saturday night, “When to Say When” and “Chicago Freestyle,” which are merged into a single video. The footage, directed by Theo Skudra, was also shot in Manhattan’s Diamond district and
Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Invisible Man” materialized at the top of box office charts after debuting to $29 million in North America over the weekend. “The Invisible Man” is Universal’s latest attempt to remake its classic monster properties, an effort that flailed spectacularly with 2017’s “The Mummy” starring Tom Cruise. After that movie was commercially
It’s a strange feeling to be among the earliest audiences — and who can tell just how many more such a disturbing, hard-sell film will reach — for a project destined for notoriety. But then Sandra Wollner’s “The Trouble With Being Born” inspires nothing but strange feelings, from unnerving horror to shocked admiration to visceral
Two only glancingly connected stories of street-level life in Lagos form the ostensible backbone of “This Is My Desire,” the engaging, earnest, loose-limbed debut feature from Nigerian twin-brother directors Arie and Chuko Esiri. But the shape of those lives is vaguely similar. Both characters begin their chapters not just dreaming of escaping the everyday grind
At 34, Bridget doesn’t know what she wants, but she knows she doesn’t want a baby — not now, at least — and so she doesn’t hesitate to make the decision that might’ve served as the focal point of a different kind of film. In “Saint Frances,” getting an abortion is just one of the
Vice president Mike Pence has been put in charge of managing the coronavirus concerns, and that is giving Beck Bennett a chance to step into the spotlight on “Saturday Night Live.” But he didn’t do it alone, as the sketch quickly turned toward the democratic presidential hopefuls, including special guest host John Mulaney as Joe
Some were bemused earlier this month when Joaquin Phoenix used his entirely expected Oscar win as a less predictable occasion for an impassioned animal-rights plea: It was certainly the first time bovine artificial insemination had been discussed amid the glitter and glistening tears of Hollywood’s biggest night. What we didn’t know, however, was how neatly
Joe Biden has won the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, marking the former Vice President’s first-ever state primary win despite two previous runs for the White House. CNN reported that Biden commanded an easy win with about 49% of the vote. Current Democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) came in a distant second with about 20%