Netflix wants people to pay their fair share to access its streaming service. But Reed Hastings promises that any crackdown on illicit password-sharing that the company decides to launch across its global footprint won’t be done in an aggressive manner. “We’ll test many things, but we would never something roll out that feels like ‘turning
Tech
After three and half years, Apple has finally given the Apple TV streaming set-top a makeover — and brand-new remote that uses a click-pad. On Tuesday, the tech giant took the wraps off its next-generation Apple TV 4K, which the company touted as a “massive upgrade to any television.” The new model will be priced
Apple unwrapped its latest bid to boost content revenue: The tech giant announced that it will roll out subscriptions for Apple Podcasts starting next month. It’s the “biggest change to Apple Podcasts” since the company first launched podcast support 15 years ago, CEO Tim Cook said on the livestream for Apple’s “Spring Loaded” virtual product
Luther Vandross was one of the greatest singers — not just R&B singers — of the past 50 years, and Google has fittingly paid tribute to him with an original Google Doodle animation. With Vandross’ 1981 debut solo single “Never Too Much” serving as the soundtrack, viewers are taken on a colorful trip through highlights
The 2021 Webby Awards nominations, recognizing the year’s best websites, podcasts, apps and other internet services, have been announced. Variety received three nominations: general social, entertainment; general websites and mobile sites, entertainment; and video series and channels, entertainment, for Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” series. Winners of the 25th Annual Webby Awards, presented by the International
Video infrastructure provider Bitmovin has raised $25 million in Series C financing, led by Swisscom Ventures, the venture arm of the Switzerland telco. Others participating in the funding round were Climb Ventures and existing investors Atomico, Highland Europe and Constantia New Business. The announcement brings Bitmovin’s total funding to $68 million to date. Customers of
Kevin Mayer, the hard-charging executive who was one of the architects of Disney Plus, says sports-only streaming platforms have every chance of being viable. As chairman of DAZN, he now has a chance to prove his point. The former TikTok CEO was speaking on Tuesday at APOS, the high-powered Asian media conference operated by consultancy
James Murdoch, former CEO of 21st Century Fox, and founder and CEO of Lupa Systems, is heralding a future that spotlights creator-led franchises. Delivering the opening keynote speech at the annual APOS conference, Murdoch said that the emergence of massive conglomerates meant that “there is less room for truly original work (and) lots more derivative
Imane “Pokimane” Anys has been playing games for more than half her life. Today, it’s her full-time career: She’s the most-followed woman streamer on Twitch, as well as one of the 10 biggest live-streamers overall on the platform. As a prominent female personality in the historically male-dominated games sector, Pokimane strives to create a positive
Apple said it will allow Parler, the social app popular among conservatives as a so-called “free speech” alternative to mainstream services, to be published again in the App Store — citing Parler’s improved ability to remove hate speech and posts inciting violence. “Apple anticipates that the updated Parler app will become available immediately upon Parler
The National Football League is calling a new audible — a bunch of them, actually. The NFL formed an exclusive multiyear podcast partnership with iHeartMedia, a deal that encompasses plans to coproduce and distribute two dozen new original shows. Under the pact, iHeartMedia will distribute NFL Media’s seven existing podcasts — “Around the NFL,” “Move
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Spotify’s Marian Lee Dicus and Jeremy Erlich and VP’s Pat Chin will be keynotes at A2IM’s Indie Week, which will be taking place virtually from June 14 through June 17. Indie Week will feature four days of keynotes, workshops, panels, and international networking opportunities. According to the announcement, the speakers “are
Buzzy live audio-chat startup Clubhouse has recruited Grey Munford as its head of global communications, with the PR pro leaving Spotify after two years. In an email last Friday, Munford said, “Following a wildly exciting and wonderful few years at Spotify I am packing up my virtual office (read: logging out of my company gmail)
NENT Group, the Nordic region’s leading streaming company, has ordered an English-language original biopic series about Börje Salming, one of Sweden’s biggest ice hockey stars. The series is created and directed by Amir Chamdin, whose latest show, “Partisan,” won the top prize at Canneseries in 2020. Valter Skarsgård (“Arn”) stars in the biopic as Salming.
Kids these days: They’re just not programmed to watch TV like their elders. Generation Z displays strikingly different entertainment preferences than older age groups, according to Deloitte’s 2021 Digital Media Trends survey. Among Gen Z consumers in the U.S. (those currently aged 14-24), video games are their No. 1 entertainment activity — and watching TV
While Amazon is shelling out an epic $465 million for season 1 of its “Lord of the Rings” TV adaptation, the company’s games unit has canceled plans to send players to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. In 2019, Amazon Game Studios had announced plans for a massively multiplayer online game set in “a time long before the
Twitter went down Friday for many users, with thousands of people reporting problems viewing and sending tweets on the social network site. An error message on twitter.com said, “Something went wrong. Try again.” In the Twitter app, an error message said, “Tweets aren’t loading right now.” Twitter’s support team said in a message posted at
Jeffree Star, a popular and controversial YouTube beauty creator and makeup mogul, was hospitalized Friday after he and friend were injured in a car accident in Wyoming, according to the influencer’s Twitter account. “A few hours ago Jeffree and Daniel were in a severe car accident and the car flipped 3 times after hitting black
Well, that was a short time-out: Less than a month after Chrissy Teigen said she was quitting Twitter for good — she’s back on the social network. “it feels TERRIBLE to silence yourself and also no longer enjoy belly chuckles randomly throughout the day and also lose like 2000 friends at once lol,” Teigen tweeted
Amazon spent a cool $11 billion on TV series, movies and music for its Prime services last year, an increase of 41% from $7.8 billion in 2019, the ecommerce giant disclosed in its annual report. The total content spending includes licensing and production costs associated with video and music offered to Amazon’s Prime members, as
Discovery Plus, the cable programmer’s fledgling nonfiction streaming service, is available on Amazon Prime Video Channels in the U.S. — although for now, Prime members are able to sign up only for the higher-priced version with no ads. Discovery Plus launched Jan. 4 in the U.S. on most devices and services, including Amazon Fire TV
In a leadership shakeup, Tencent Music Entertainment Group has announced that Zhu (“Ross”) Liang has been appointed as the company’s new CEO, with Cussion Kar Shun Pang moving over to executive chairman of the company’s board of directors. According to the announcement, as CEO, Liang’s primary responsibility will be to oversee TME’s QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo
Looking to boost revenue from its digital news readership, Reuters is following major rivals in adopting a paywall strategy for its website, reuters.com. The company will charge $34.99 per month for access to the site’s content, allowing non-subscribers to view up to five articles per month for free. Reuters’ move, announced Thursday, brings it in
Pearpop is turning social-media capital into real dollars — and the startup has banked $16 million to build out its marketplace for buying and selling social collaborations among creators. The total includes $10 million in Series A financing led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners as well
Amazon Prime, the ecommerce giant’s membership program that includes access to Prime Video, now counts more than 200 million subscribers globally, founder Jeff Bezos wrote in his final annual letter to shareholders as CEO. Bezos most recently had announced that Amazon Prime had topped 150 million members in January 2020. The company rarely releases such
Hulu has acquired U.S streaming rights to Sabrina Van Tassel’s timely documentary “The State of Texas vs. Melissa” which was selected for Tribeca in 2020 and it has won a flurry of accolades, including Raindance’s best documentary award. Hulu acquired the documentary from FilmRise, which represents theatrical and digital rights to the film for North
Samuel Montoya, identified as a video editor for the Infowars far-right conspiracy website, was arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. Federal agents arrested Montoya at his Texas home on April 13, and he was charged Wednesday on four counts: entering and remaining in a restricted
Tagger Media secured an $8.5 million Series A investment from Five Elms Capital, a global investor in high growth B2B software businesses. The funding will accelerate its product roadmap development and momentum of sales and marketing reach around the globe. “Tagger is shaping the future of how brand marketers will plan, manage and measure their
CAA has inked an advisory deal and partnership with Sweety High, which tailors video content, and lifestyle and commerce offerings for Gen Z audiences. Sweety High has created multiple scripted video series and launched an influencer network called Social Impact. It’s also rapidly expanding its Gen Z management roster, including talents like Lilly K and
Adam Perkins, the Vine star best known for his viral “Welcome to Chili’s” video, died Sunday. He was 24. His twin brother Patrick Perkins announced the news late Tuesday night in an Instagram post. He did not disclose his brother’s cause of death. “I can’t even really put into words what this loss means for