Tech

Discovery expects its forthcoming Discovery Plus streaming service to have an addressable market in the U.S. of at least 70 million homes — and at least 400 million households globally. That’s based on the assumption that there are 300 million broadband-only homes in the United States and about 80 million pay-TV homes, Discovery CFO Gunnar

Zoë Friend is leaving Netflix after more than five years to join entertainment research firm MarketCast as corporate senior VP of custom research and insights. In the new role, Friend will lead MarketCast’s custom research practice across all of its business segments for media, sports and brand clients. Most recently, Friend was Netflix’s VP of

QCode, a scripted podcast media startup, hired former Apple Podcasts marketing executive Steve Wilson as chief strategy officer. At QCode, Wilson will oversee partnerships, marketing, distribution and collaborate on content strategy. He joins the company after nearly 15 years at Apple, where most recently he headed marketing for Apple Podcasts and partnered with podcasters and

NBC has “The Voice.” Pepsi hopes to build a similar phenomenon with “Your Wildest Dreams.” The beverage giant will launch a virtual hip-hop talent competition on Triller, the social-networking app that helps users edit and synchronize videos to backing tracks that is owned by producer Ryan Kavanaugh’s Proxima Media. Over six weeks, Triller will conduct

Roku recruited Apple exec Brian Pinkerton, a tech veteran who served as chief architect of Siri for the past three years, as senior VP of advanced development. Pinkerton, who joined Roku last month, will “lead technical innovation and strategic software development,” according to the company. He has more than 30 years of experience in leadership

Apple recognized Disney Plus as the best Apple TV app of 2020 — an award capping a year of monster growth for the Mouse House’s streaming service. Disney Plus also was the No. 3 most-downloaded free iPhone app of the year globally, behind Zoom and TikTok, and the No. 2 free iPad app after Zoom,

The Paley Center for Media has appointed Jamitha Fields as VP of diversity, inclusion and engagement. In the newly created position, Fields will be responsible for creating and sustaining connections that help drive support for and participation in the center’s diversity and inclusion programs. Working with the human resources department, she will also aid in

In the biggest tech deal of the year so far, Salesforce announced that it plans to buy Slack Technologies — provider of the popular workplace-messaging system — in a cash and stock deal worth $27.7 billion. According to Salesforce, the combination of Slack with its flagship customer-relationship management system will “create the operating system for

Music streaming platform SoundCloud has announced that the company’s president, Michael Weissman, will succeed Kerry Trainor as chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2021. Weissman succeeds longtime colleague and partner, Trainor, who will remain a member of the Board of Directors. “I’m honored to lead SoundCloud’s next chapter,” said Weissman. “The company is in one

A massive new art installation is adding sparkle to Netflix’s new campus on Vine Street just south of Sunset Boulevard. On Tuesday, the On Vine complex unveiled Spectrum, a five-story tall portrait made of 39,000 metal sequins, designed by artist Maggie West. The unveiling can be seen online starting at 10 a.m., featuring interviews and

As part of Spotify’s annual Wrapped campaign , which launched late last night, the streaming giant has launched a partnership with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). As NIVA’s 3,000 members await the passage of the Save Our Stages Act in Congress to preserve independent music venues across the country, Spotify is continuing to shine a

As previously announced, the Quibi app as of Tuesday (Dec. 1) is no longer operable — marking the quick and quiet end of Jeffrey Katzenberg’s ill-fated $1.75 billion quest to carve out a new corner of the subscription streaming-video market. The Quibi app will remain on users’ devices until they delete it. However, the app

Showtime is unlocking a selection of original programming — for free, with ads — in a new channel on Pluto TV. It’s a logical bit of corporate synergy between the two ViacomCBS-owned divisions, with Showtime ultimately looking to coax free viewers into customers forking over $10.99/month. The new Pluto TV channel, Showtime Selects, launches on

Dave Chappelle’s performance delivered the week after the police murder of George Floyd was the No. 1 trending video on YouTube this year, according to the video platform. YouTube on Tuesday revealed the top 10 trending video rankings for the U.S., as well as the top creators and songs of 2020. Normally, YouTube releases those

As they do at this time every year, Spotify has unveiled the top artists, albums, tracks, playlists and podcasts that its 320 million users streamed the most in its survey 2020. MUSIC (GLOBAL) PODCASTS (GLOBAL) Spotify 2020 Wrapped Global Top Lists: Most Streamed Artists Globally Most Streamed Female Artists Most Streamed Albums Globally Most Streamed

FuboTV, the over-the-top live TV streaming provider, has tapped technology veteran Mike Berkley as chief product officer. Berkley joins the company effective immediately, reporting to FuboTV CEO David Gandler. As chief product officer, Berkley will lead product strategy and development for FuboTV across platforms, including connected TVs, mobile and web. Berkley most recently was chief

Dua Lipa’s “Studio 2054” livestream concert event drew a whopping 5 million-plus global views, according to an announcement from her reps — this tally is said to be a record for a paid livestream. That tally includes over 1.9 million unique log-ins from China, 95,000 from India and 263,264 tickets sold across the regular ticketing

The NFL’s Week 16 matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, Dec. 26, will not be broadcast on national TV — instead, it will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch. Amazon also confirmed that it plans to stream CBS’s broadcast of the NFL Wild Card playoff game

Miley Cyrus and Lil Nas X will star in the first episode of “Holiday Plays,” Amazon Music’s first holiday special, taking place on Tuesday (Dec. 1) at 8 p.m. ET. The show marks her first performance since the release of her new album “Plastic Hearts.” Lil Nas X will kick off the episode, performing his new

Instagram is full of wannabes, but there was only one Sylvia. Describing herself as a “coffee-operated robot living her best life,” Sylvia was born in May 2020, made her online debut on July 4 at the age of 30, and passed away last week at the grand old age of 80. Sylvia made a lot

Looking for an awesome Black Friday deal to feed your streaming habit? Here’s a summary of the best limited-time discounts and special offers from a range of services, retailers and device makers for the 2020 holiday shopping season. Streaming Services CBS All Access: Get one month free of either the $5.99/month (with ads) or $9.99/month

In 1968, idealistic Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa founded an independent micro nation on a tiny island he built on a platform supported by steel pylons off the coast of Rimini, Italy, outside Italian territorial waters. He named the platform — which had its own bar/restaurant, post office and radio station — the Republic of Rose

On Wednesday night, G4, the gaming network that aired from 2002-2014 and recently announced a revival, held a charity special that saw its previous lineup of hosts — Olivia Munn, Kevin Pereira, Adam Sessler, Morgan Webb, Kristin Adams and Blair Herter — reunite for a night of nostalgia and reminiscing. But, at the very end

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. The holidays are here and a new generation of video game consoles is upon us. Sony’s PlayStation 5

Starting in January, Comcast will impose data-usage caps on Xfinity Internet customers in areas where it doesn’t already have them in place. Beginning in April 2021, the nation’s biggest cable provider will charge up to $100 if broadband users exceed the maximum monthly allotment — and some Comcast customers are upset about the change. The

On Oct. 24, Donald Mustard, worldwide creative director at “Fortnite” developer Epic Games, sat down on a Zoom call with The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley and hundreds of his closest fans for a relaxed Sunday afternoon conversation. Answering questions from both Keighley and the fans, Mustard touched on everything from his career path, the

Prentice Penny wants to see life imitate art — imitating life — in joining the effort to inspire people to buy from Black-owned businesses this holiday shopping season. The showrunner and executive producer of “Insecure,” the HBO comedy created by and starring Issa Rae, is among the guests on Friday’s finale of Facebook’s “#BuyBlack Friday,”

The centuries-old game of chess is suddenly cool — thanks to Netflix hit “The Queen’s Gambit.” In the three weeks after “The Queen’s Gambit” premiered, unit sales of chess sets jumped 87% in the U.S. and chess book sales rose an eye-popping 603%, according to research firm NPD Group. The spike comes after years of

Three French media executives with track records at Canal Plus, TF1 and M6 have joined forces to create the production company Taleseed. The banner will be developing, producing and distributing internationally driven series, films and documentaries with remake potential, and will aim to work with both broadcasters and streaming platforms. Taleseed is headquartered in Paris

YouTube has penalized the right-wing One America News Network for promoting a bogus cure for COVID-19. On Tuesday, YouTube said it removed a video posted by OANN, a relentlessly pro-Trump outfit owned by Herring Networks, because it violated the site’s policy prohibiting coronavirus misinformation. Because OANN has received a “strike,” it is temporarily prevented from