Tech

Netflix has unlocked a selection of educational documentary films and series — available now for free on YouTube — saying it’s a way to help teachers and students during the COVID-19 quarantine. The 10 titles include Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” covering the mass-incarceration of people of color in the U.S.; nature docuseries “Our Planet,” narrated by

Vox Media, which owns titles including New York Magazine, Vulture, The Verge and SB Nation, is furloughing 9% of its employees without pay for a three-month period. It’s also taking other steps to cut costs during the COVID-19 downturn, including tiered salary reductions for remaining working staff and halting 401(k) matching contributions. Effective May 1-July

Amid the many ways artists are finding to cope with the coronavirus-imposed shutdown of the live-entertainment industry, it’s safe to say that Erykah Badu has found one of the more innovative solutions with her elaborate “Quarantine Concert Series,” which is streamed live from her home in Dallas. Launched late last month, what makes Badu’s series

With live sports dormant, ESPN wants to get as much bang for its buck out of “The Last Dance.” Alongside the linear airings of “Last Dance,” which premieres this Sunday (April 19) at 9 p.m. ET, the ESPN Plus streaming service will present “Detail: 1998 Chicago Bulls,” with five episodes over the next five Sundays.

Facebook is adding a new way for its 2.5 billion users to express empathy and compassion. In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, Facebook will introduce two new “care” animated reaction emojis starting next week: There’s a yellow face hugging a heart for the core Facebook service, while in Messenger app it will appear as

Facebook is slowing down its plans to have employees return to the office amid the COVID-19 crisis — and it has nixed all in-person events it had planned with 50 or more attendees through June of 2021, according to to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “Even beyond this next period, guidance from health experts is that it

When pro sports return, the NBA wants to be back in the game with a brand-new entrant in the over-the-top space: It’s developing a streaming service it promises will “transform” how fans experience the league’s hoops action, in some cases borrowing concepts from the video-game world. The NBA has entered into a multiyear deal with

Wealthy denizens of Hollywood and Silicon Valley — an elite strata not always held in the highest esteem by the general public — have pledged large donations amid the global economic chaos to help those afflicted by the coronavirus. “If anyone can afford to give right now, it’s the billionaire class,” says David Callahan, founder

In the past four weeks, 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment including 5.2 million last week, according to the Labor Department. That’s essentially wiped out all the net new jobs created in the past decade, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to inflict major damage to the U.S. economy. Now Google has added a new

Twitter has pulled funding for BuzzFeed’s “AM to DM” weekday morning news and pop-culture show on the social platform, leading the digital media company to suspend production and lay off employees working on the program. In a memo to staff Wednesday, obtained by Variety, BuzzFeed head of studio Cindy Vanegas-Gesuale wrote that Twitter — citing

Popular short-form video app TikTok is giving parents and guardians in the U.S. new ways to curtail how teenage kids use the app, including what they can view and who can direct-message them. And at the end of April, TikTok will completely turn off the ability for users 16 and younger to send or receive

Because who doesn’t need more Bob Ross right now? In another posthumous brand extension for TV’s most famous landscape-painting instructor, the Bob Ross Channel — stocked with about 380 episodes of his iconic show “The Joy of Painting” — launches Thursday, April 16, on Samsung connected TVs before becoming more broadly available next month. The

Rihanna’s The Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF), Twitter & Square CEO Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall and Jay-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation (SCF) today announced additional joint grants dedicated to supporting COVID-19 rapid response efforts in the United States and across the globe, the organizations announced today. According to the announcement, the latest funds, totaling over $6.2 million, will continue to go

After deciding to launch their 2020 edition online, the organizers of Visions du Réel had one month to create a new paradigm. They weren’t starting from scratch, of course; the selection was already locked, and the necessary steps were clear enough. But all the while, the organizers seized the opportunity to rethink a few elements.

When, in mid-March, Swiss authorities closed cinemas and banned group assemblies for the foreseeable future, Visions du Réel artistic director Emilie Bujès found herself in a tough spot. For weeks she held out hope that her festival, which was due to kick off late April, would still be able to go forward as planned, but

Netflix — for now — is worth more than Disney, after the streaming company’s shares hit an all-time high Wednesday. Netflix’s stock, extending its three-day rally, closed up 3.2%, to $426.75 per share. That gives Netflix a current market capitalization of $187.3 billion, putting it just over Disney’s $186.6 billion, after the media conglomerate’s stock

Two remotely produced comedy series have been ordered by ViacomCBS Networks International brands MTV and Comedy Central. MTV International has greenlit “Lockdown Laughs with Charlotte Crosby” (working title), which sees the British reality TV star curate the best quarantine clips from across the globe. Meanwhile, Comedy Central International has commissioned short-form digital series “Comedians in

RoadNation, a platform that enables artists and fans to build tours together, and A2IM (American Association of Independent Music) today announced a new program that aims to help independent artists earn money from livestream performances. The program will kick off with a livestreamed concert Friday featuring performances by AZRA, Rayvon Owen, RuthAnne Cunningham, Stefan Poole

Amazon has piled more free-to-stream content into Prime Video, including HBO original series, Warner Bros. movies and 20 “Sesame Street” episodes. Through a deal with HBO, Prime Video is making free — to anyone in the U.S. with an Amazon account — all episodes of “Big Little Lies,” “Barry,” “Ballers,” “Silicon Valley” and “Succession”; Warner

Andrea Bocelli is officially YouTube’s newest superstar. The Italian tenor’s live-streaming solo performance on this Easter Sunday, streamed on April 12 exclusively via YouTube from the Duomo in Milan, has gone into the record books as drawing the biggest audience for a classical live stream in YouTube’s history. Bocelli’s “Music For Hope — Live From

Endeavor Content and production company Keller/Noll launched “Factorious” on Tuesday, a game show podcast led by television host Matt Iseman. The trivia series offers contestants clues and relevant facts to win cash prizes, with guidance from Iseman, of “American Ninja Warrior,” and a previous winner himself of “The Celebrity Apprentice.” He’s a four-time Emmy nominee,

Netflix is benefiting from Wall Street enthusiasm in the time of “quarantine and chill.” Shares of the streaming leader rallied to approach their all-time high Tuesday, as investors have elevated expectations for how the COVID-19 pandemic has likely increased Netflix’s subscriber signups at the tail end of the first quarter. Netflix’s stock closed Tuesday at

NBCUniversal’s Peacock is ready to start rolling out to Comcast cable customers starting this week as scheduled — but most of Peacock’s original series will not be hitting the streaming service until 2021. On April 15, Comcast will launch an “early preview” of Peacock Premium ad-supported tier, available for  no extra cost to some 31.5

Dish Network’s Sling TV is unlocking more free television for Americans stuck at home during the coronavirus crisis. Starting Tuesday, Sling TV is launching “Happy Hour Across America,” offering free TV every night from 5 p.m. to midnight local time. The deal is available to new Sling TV users who sign up by entering an

Shares of Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, climbed over 4% to a new all-time high for the stock — giving the colossal company a market value of more than $1.1 trillion. Amazon’s stock was up 4.2% in Tuesday morning trading to over $2,260 per share, topping its previous all-time high on Feb. 19 when it

Verizon Media is giving away $10 million in digital ad inventory to groups responding to the COVID-19 crisis, with a focus on mental health. The donation is earmarked for five mental health partners that aim to support high-risk populations affected by the outbreak, including LGBTQ youth, hourly wage workers and families struggling with mental health

Global streaming giant Netflix has expanded its line-up of South Korean TV content with an agreement to produce zombie horror series ” All of Us Are Dead.” The move comes shortly after its planned release of Korean thriller film “Time to Hunt” was held up by a court injunction. Adapted from a well-known web cartoon

South Korean video streaming platform Wavve is to supply Korean content to NBC Universal, under a deal announced Sunday. Content Wavve is a consortium established last year involving the country’s three terrestrial broadcasters, KBS, MBC and SBS, and local telecoms firm SK Telecom. The supply deal has an initial life span of three years and

Stay-at-home edicts during the coronavirus pandemic drove up Roku’s streaming hours and active user accounts for the first three months of 2020 — but the economic uncertainty caused by the crisis led the streaming platform company to withdraw its previous guidance for the full year. Roku, citing “broader business and economic uncertainties arising from the

Editorial staff at trade magazines The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard will be affected by previously reported layoffs and financial cuts coming down at parent company Valence Media, Variety has learned. Leadership at the organization, run by Media Rights Capital founders Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk, has been asked to prep lists of layoff candidates at