Megyn Kelly isn’t on a mainstream news outlet at present, but that isn’t going to keep her from broadcasting. The former NBC News and Fox News Channel anchor confirmed Thursday what many media-industry observers have long suspected: She’s going the independent route. Kelly will launch Devil May Care Media, a production company that will back
Tech
ViacomCBS will have an extra-large helping of podcasts coming to iHeartMedia under a three-year deal between the companies. Under the deal, ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group — which comprises MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, Pop TV, CMT, VH1, TV Land and Logo — will work with iHeartMedia’s podcast group to create dozens of
The legacy of 2019’s Oscar-winning “Green Book” is living on via different media in the most innovative fashion. Beginning on Sept. 14, a new podcast revisits how African Americans traveled the segregated south during the Jim Crow era. But “Driving the Green Book” is not only a podcast, but an audio guide that will allow
Vice Media Group’s Refinery29 has recruited Simone Oliver, a former Facebook exec and New York Times editor, as the women-focused media brand’s global editor-in-chief. Oliver will start at R29 on Sept. 30, 2020, reporting to Vice Media Group chief digital officer Cory Haik. Oliver steps into the role after Refinery29’s previous EIC, Christene Barberich, resigned
Area 120, Google’s incubator division for experimental projects, has officially opened up Fundo — a platform for YouTubers and other creators to host paid, ticketed virtual experiences — to anyone in the U.S. and Canada. Fundo, as first reported by Variety, has been in beta for the past year with a few hundred “trusted testers,”
YouTube Music and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) on Wednesday announced a partnership with the goal of helping to preserve independent live music venues across the United States through the Save Our Stages initiative. Details were not immediately available, but the announcement reads, “Together, YouTube and NIVA will work on unique programming that will
Charlamagne tha God inked a partnership with iHeartMedia to launch the Black Effect Podcast Network, anchored by his own syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club.” The Black Effect Podcast Network is slated to debut this fall with 18 podcasts on iHeartRadio and other podcast platforms, curated by Charlamagne. According to iHeartMedia, the venture is positioned
For football fans in the time of COVID, Verizon Media’s Yahoo Sports app is introducing a new way to live-stream free NFL games virtually with friends — via the Zoom-like “Watch Together” feature. The Yahoo Sports app’s new Watch Together co-viewing experience will let users invite up to three people to watch live local and
Randall Rothenberg is relinquishing his role as CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau after 14 years atop the digital advertising and marketing trade association. David Cohen, who has served as president of IAB since March 2020 after more than two decades in the media agency world, will take over as chief exec as of Sept.
The Apple TV app — including access to Apple TV Plus — is now available on Vizio’s SmartCast-enabled TV sets to users in the U.S. and Canada. The pact between Apple and Vizio, the top-selling TV brand in the U.S., continues the tech giant’s strategy of bringing the Apple TV streaming-video app to third-party over-the-top
Do you want your company to be like Netflix? Co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings has written a step-by-step recipe detailing how Netflix created and evolved its unconventional corporate culture — although, as he freely admits, not every company can or should follow the same playbook. Hastings’ “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention”
Nearly two months after Peacock took flight nationwide, the NBCUniversal streamer remains unavailable on Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV — two of the biggest over-the-top video platforms — from their digital storefronts. What’s the holdup? The companies are at an impasse over business terms, including over the platforms’ access to Peacock ad inventory. (HBO Max
Apple is holding off on its requirement that app developers get opt-in permission before tracking iPhone users, which had been set to go into effect with the release of iOS 14 this fall. After complaints from partners, the tech giant Thursday said it will delay that requirement until early 2021. Analysts said Apple’s postponement of
Activision Blizzard had big plans for its inaugural season of the Call of Duty League (CDL) in 2020. Those plans focused largely on in-person events, with teams traveling from city to city, where fans could cheer on their favorite franchises from packed arenas. The coronavirus pandemic had other ideas. As lockdown orders spread across the
Peacock is going mad for the monkey. An all-new “Curious George” animated movie is coming to NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service, along with the first nine seasons of the TV series, three films and two holiday specials from the beloved franchise. Peacock original film “Curious George: Go West, Go Wild” will be available to users on
Facebook Watch, the social giant’s two-year-old video streaming platform, has become a massive destination — now attracting over 1.25 billion users each month, the company claims. The growth of Facebook’s aggregate global video audience, which is tuning in to live events, original shows, sports, news, music videos and user-generated content, is an indicator that it’s
Former New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, died on Monday. He was 75. The Baseball Hall of Fame and ESPN reported that his death was due to Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 complications. “We are heartbroken to share that our beloved husband and
Spotify launched Joe Rogan’s popular podcast this week. But the batch of 1,691 episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” currently available on the streaming platform is conspicuously missing a several controversial segments. The Rogan episodes on Spotify omit his interviews with conspiracy monger Alex Jones and other far-right figures including Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes,
Legendary NBA player Michael Jordan was named a special adviser to DraftKings, an online sports wagering and entertainment company. Under the appointment, Jordan — currently owner of the Charlotte Hornets — will receive an undisclosed equity stake in DraftKings. Jordan will provide “guidance and strategic advice” to DraftKings’ board of directors on on key business
David Blaine, in his first live stunt in nearly eight years, soared above a desert in Arizona to an altitude of 24,900 feet — about 4.7 miles — piloting more than four dozen helium balloons. It’s believed to be the highest that anyone has flown using only a cluster-balloon rig. The stunt, launched Wednesday from
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have set their sights on streaming: The royal couple has signed a deal with Netflix, Variety has confirmed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who moved to California earlier this year, had been pitching movies and TV plans around Hollywood, Variety previously reported. Under their new, multi-year deal at Netflix,
The Q&A and Human Re Sources team has launched Homebase, which it describes as a “virtual collective of global creators on TikTok.” According to the announcement, “Homebase seeks to foster community digitally, while uplifting a global group of TikTok creators to take their hustle to the next level.” As a part of the launch, TikTok
SiriusXM and The Tim Bergling Foundation have announced “BPM Presents: Avicii Birthday Tribute for Mental Health Awareness” on SiriusXM’s BPM channel. The special will kick off on Tuesday, September 8 — Avicii’s birthday, and during Suicide Prevention Week. Avicii (real name: Tim Bergling) died in 2018 of a suspected suicide. “BPM Presents: Avicii Birthday Tribute for Mental
Twitter has taken down a video tweeted by President Trump that used the song “Electric Avenue” after receiving a copyright complaint. Trump tweeted the video on Aug. 12, which featured an animated train with his campaign logo barreling through a town while Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden followed behind slowly on a railroad handcar. “Electric
Patreon, whose platform lets creators earn money from fans through subscriptions, has raised $90 million in new funding. The seven-year-old company says it now has a valuation of $1.2 billion, and it’s planning to use the financing to expand internationally and beef up tools for creators (and their fans). Patreon CEO Jack Conte, in a
David Blaine is hoping to turn the fantasy of the 1956 classic French short film “The Red Balloon” (“Le Ballon Rouge”) into reality. Blaine, a career magician, illusionist and endurance performer, is set to take flight over the desert in Page, Ariz., on Wednesday, Sept. 2 — piloting a cluster of 52 helium-filled balloons. The
Ever since the Verzuz DJ battles launched in March, fans have clamored for one matchup above all others: Brandy vs. Monica, the R&B singers who spawned one of the biggest hits in history with 1998’s “The Boy Is Mine,” and have sparred off and on ever since. On Monday night, they finally got it —
The first title scheduled for release is “Hell and High Water,” which will bow Sept. 8. Heilemann is co-founder and executive editor of Recount. Heilemann will converse with influential figures in politics, entertainment, technology and business to explore how the country is moving forward through the current turbulence. “The 2020 election is, without question, the
The odds are now streaming in your favor: The four “Hunger Games” movies starring Jennifer Lawrence are available for free on Tubi. The sci-fi dystopian blockbusters from Lionsgate are now available on Tubi’s free, ad-supported platform in the U.S. The “Hunger Games” film franchise grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide. Alongside Lawrence, the movies starred Josh
Amazon Music is letting artists deliver live concerts and other live-streaming sessions from Twitch directly in the Amazon Music mobile app — giving them a new way to reach fans during the COVID pandemic, according to the internet giant. More than 1,000 artists have already connected their Amazon Music accounts to Twitch, the company said.