In an unusual step, Twitch, the Amazon-owned livestreaming service popular among gamers, has formally adopted a policy to suspend users if they engage in “severe misconduct” that occurs off the platform. The company noted that it has taken action before against serious and clear misconduct that took place offline — but until now, Twitch “didn’t
Tech
MrBeast, the hugely popular YouTube creator famous for his big-money giveaways and stunts, is angling to boost his viewership on Facebook and Snapchat. MrBeast (real name: Jimmy Donaldson) signed an exclusive deal with Jellysmack, a company that specializes in optimizing video distribution across internet platforms, to manage distribution of his video content on Snapchat and
Writers and producers at Spotify-owned Gimlet Media and The Ringer represented by WGA East have ratified their first collective bargaining agreements, making them among the first podcast workers to unionize with the guild. WGA East negotiated both three-year agreements concurrently. The contracts were unanimously ratified by Gimlet’s 48 union members and The Ringer’s 65 union
The worlds of music and gaming are being pureed together by Authentic Artists, a startup touting an AI-powered virtual artist platform whose backers include James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Linkin Park cofounder Mike Shinoda. The San Francisco-based seed-stage company has created prototypes of 12 “supernatural” virtual-artist avatars, which it describes as ranging from a “lo-fi
Patreon just got a boatload of fresh funding — and the creator-monetization platform says it now has a valuation of $4 billion, more than tripling from its most recent raise in September 2020. The San Francisco-based company said it raised $155 Million in Series F financing led by new investor Tiger Global Management, with participation
Brut., a leading digital media startup skewing millennials, has launched a subscription-based service, BrutX, which is dedicated to series, documentaries and films. Priced at €4.99 per month, BrutX offers content reflecting social or political issues, including the environment, women’s rights, the fight against all forms of discrimination, gender and diversity. Launched in France in 2016,
After canceling last year’s edition due to the pandemic, Cannes Lions, the international advertising and marketing showcase, has announced it will go fully digital for its 2021 edition, set to run June 21-25. “Over the last year, we’ve been consulting with our customers and working on our plans, including the development of Cannes Lions Live
Jordan Peterson, the conservative psychology professor and podcast host, has claimed on Twitter that he’s inspired the villain Red Skull featured in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run of “Captain America” comics. In “Captain America Volume 9 #28,” which was released by Marvel Comics on March 31, Red Skull preaches his “Ten Rules for Life” as well as
For years, YouTube has said that videos with hate speech, misinformation and other content that violates its policies represent only a minuscule amount of views on its platform. Now it’s releasing a new metric, dubbed the Violative View Rate, that YouTube says proves the amount of banned content comprises just a tiny fraction of the
Comedy Central International’s “Drunk History” series is back with new digital episodes focusing on Black stories and hosted by Rapman. Rapper, producer and director Rapman, whose credits include “Blue Story” and the upcoming “American Son,” hosts the six-episode “Drunk History: Black Stories,” which spotlights Black icons and their cultural influence, using comedy as the medium.
After last year’s E3 was completely canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade group that runs the video-game convention confirmed there will be one in 2021 — although it will be online-only. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced plans for a “reimagined” all-virtual E3 2021, set to take place June 12-15, 2021, featuring news
Zola Mashariki, former senior exec at Fox Searchlight and BET, is the new head of Audible Studios. In the role at the Amazon-owned audio content platform, Mashariki will lead the creation of all original programming from concept to release, overseeing the entire studio operation including the development and implementation of content strategy. Based in Los
Keke Palmer is taking her charisma off the screen and into the world of books. Following up her memoir-like guide “I Don’t Belong to You: Quiet the Noise and Find Your Voice,” she’s headed into the world of fiction with a collection of short stories that Amazon Original Stories will publish in the late fall.
After more than five years, Serial Box is jettisoning its name: The episodic audio-fiction company is rebranding as Realm — and simultaneously expanding its business model to release original shows as free, ad-supported podcasts. Until now, the New York-based producer’s serialized audio stories have been available only as à la carte purchases. As Realm, it
Teen rapper Bhad Bhabie has evidently captured the crown as queen of OnlyFans — claiming that she racked up more than $1 million in just six hours after her debut on the not-safe-for-work site. Bhad Bhabie is charging $23.99 per month for access to photos and videos on her OnlyFans page. Subscribers also are promised
HYBE, the company formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, which is home to BTS, the South Korean pop group, has merged with Ithaca Holdings, the company led by SB Projects (SBP) founder Scooter Braun. In the deal, HYBE will acquire through HYBE America, its wholly owned subsidiary, a 100% stake in Ithaca Holdings and its
Wondery has been swallowed by Amazon — and the e-retailing giant’s deep pockets and global reach promise to accelerate the podcast publisher’s growth. Amazon Music announced its deal to buy the four-year-old podcast startup in December 2020, in a deal reportedly worth around $300 million. After the acquisition closed Feb. 10, Jen Sargent — a
Alan and Alex Stokes, twin brothers who run a popular YouTube prank-video channel, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment and reporting false emergencies in connection with a pair of fake bank robberies in 2019, Orange County prosecutors said. The charges stemmed from stunts the brothers carried out in Irvine, Calif., on Oct. 15,
Josh Richards, one of the most popular TikTok creators with more than 24 million followers on the short-form video platform, has signed with ICM Partners for representation in all areas. Richards previously was repped by Gersh. The 19-year-old digital influencer, entrepreneur, musician, writer, actor and host overall has more than 38 million followers across platforms.
YouTube is getting a bit less bluenose-y about its advertiser-friendly content standards. YouTube said it expanded its monetization policies to allow for moderate profanity — for example, “shit” and “bitch” — used in the first 30 seconds of a video. It already had allowed light profanity (like “hell” or “damn”) throughout videos and in video
To honor Transgender Day of Visibility on Wednesday, Lucasfilm debuted an exclusive cover of the “Star Wars: The High Republic” comic book series that features two trans non-binary characters. “In honor of #TransDayOfVisibility we’re proud to unveil an exclusive cover highlighting Terec and Ceret, trans non-binary Jedi, currently featured in Marvel’s The High Republic comic,” the
Looks like laughter is less than a mile away, as gay dating app Grindr is poised to enter the streaming comedy space. The location-based service that connects LGBTQ people will produce the livestream comedy special “Gag Reflex,” featuring a roster of rising queer comedians. “Comedy is such an integral part of the queer experience and
President Biden’s proposed $2 trillion spending plan unveiled Wednesday — designed to modernize and strengthen the U.S.’s infrastructure — earmarks $100 billion in broadband investment over the next eight years. The goal: to ensure every American has access to high-speed internet service before the decade is out. Today, about 30 million U.S. residents live in
TV streaming wars have erupted in Hollywood and are wreaking havoc on Madison Avenue. They are even making a splash in places like Gainesville, Ga. Wesley Lowery recently visited this town in the northeastern portion of the state, part of an effort to create a report for “60 Minutes Plus,” the new streaming-news counterpart to
UnitedMasters, a music distribution platform for independent artists founded by industry veteran Steve Stoute, announced a $50 million Series B investment led by Apple with follow-on investments from Alphabet and Andreessen Horowitz. According to the announcement, the Series B investment “fuels the company’s mission to enable artists to maintain full ownership over their work while
Vuulr, a digital marketplace for rights to filmed content, has tapped two entertainment industry veterans to expand its presence in mainstream Hollywood. Former Vudu content head Daniel Gagliardi has joined as senior vice president of development and strategy. Andrew Marshall, who has worked at Disney and NBCUniversal to name a few, joins as head of
Thumbs up or thumbs down? For years, YouTube has allowed viewers to rate the videos on the site using either the “like” or “dislike” icons. But only now has the Google-owned video platform gotten the message that the thumbs-down button might be a means of bullying individual YouTube users. YouTube on Tuesday announced that it
Spotify will roll its own rival to the buzzy Clubhouse live-audio chat app — saying it will launch a range of new live and interactive programming in the next few months. Spotify announced the acquisition of Betty Labs, the creators of Locker Room, a live audio app focused on sports talk. Terms of the deal
Netflix says it has a plan to hit net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2022, with a big part of the streaming giant’s efforts aimed at operating more eco-friendly film and TV productions. The “Net Zero + Nature” plan was outlined Tuesday in a blog post by Emma Stewart, PhD, who joined
After more than 50 years as Entercom Communications, the radio and podcasting company is unfurling a new banner: Effective immediately, it is changing its name to Audacy. With the rebranding, the company also has retired the Radio.com name for its direct-to-consumer platform, which has adopted the Audacy moniker. The company’s new website is audacyinc.com. “The