Tech

Spotify hopes to change the podcast-advertising game — which has been largely stuck in the static past. The streaming music and audio company announced the launch of Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI), a new proprietary podcast ad system that will let advertisers buy targeted spots that are inserted into podcasts when they’re streamed to listeners. With

With media and entertainment sectors continuing to be whipped by winds of digital disruption, many industry execs believe they need to change the ways they’ve done business — or see their companies perish. About 50% of M&E executives said their company cannot rely on traditional business models to survive the shifting landscapes, according to a

Over the past century, sonic branding in advertising has taken on many forms, from the early days of radio jingles to the more recent use of mnemonic devices often heard at the end of commercials from companies like Intel, State Farm and AT&T to the occasional hit single backed by a big brand (Justin Timberlake’s

Ivanka Trump talked about the current and future state of the U.S. workforce at CES — an appearance that was met with a fair amount of enthusiasm among the tech-industry attendees. In a keynote session Tuesday at CES in Las Vegas, the daughter of and adviser to President Donald Trump said the administration has worked

January 7, 2020 2:17PM PT Soledad O’Brien will host a new true crime podcast about the 1964 murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer in Georgetown, D.C. It was a shocking and still unsolved killing, one that resulted in a trial and wave of press coverage that exposed racial tensions and whipped up political scandal. This original

Hold on to your popcorn: An Imax location near you could soon be beaming live competitive video-game action onto its big screens. Imax has inked a partnership with Vindex (vindex.gg), an esports infrastructure startup formed by Major League Gaming co-founders Mike Sepso and Sundance DiGiovanni, under which Vindex will create esports events and experiences exclusively

Retired NBA superstar Dwyane Wade is putting his son Zaire into the entertainment game. Walmart’s Vudu ordered docuseries “Legacy” starring and executive produced by the 13-time NBA All-Star. The series, produced by digital-media company Whistle, follows the progeny of top pro athletes who are trying to make a name for themselves — including Wade’s son,

DVR pioneer TiVo has officially planted its battle flag in the internet-streaming device wars. The company announced the TiVo Stream 4K — a streaming video dongle that will launch with Dish Network’s Sling TV as the preferred subscription TV partner along with apps for services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Walmart’s Vudu and YouTube.

January 7, 2020 4:00AM PT Michelle Obama is turning to Instagram’s IGTV video platform with a new series aimed at inspiring young people to plan for college careers by chronicling the experiences of first-year students. The former First Lady teamed with progressive digital-news outlet ATTN: on “A Year of Firsts,” which will follow students as

Is this the droid you’re looking for? Samsung Electronics outlined a vision for a future of human-centered technology during a CES 2020 kickoff keynote — starring Ballie, a small, yellow rolling robot reminiscent of BB-8, the spherical Star Wars droid that made its first appearance in “The Force Awakens.” The name also conjures up the

More companies and industry organizations have rallied around the UHD Alliance’s Filmmaker Mode, which brings a more cinematic viewing experience to home entertainment by turning off motion smoothing on TVs, among other setting adjustments. Three Hollywood guilds, the Film Foundation, and consumer-electronics companies Samsung, TP Vision’s Philips and Kaleidescape have joined others in support of

ViacomCBS has changed up the leadership of Viacom Digital Studios, Variety has learned: Kelly Day, who has served as VDS’s president since its inception over two years ago, is exiting the role. Stefanie Schwartz, a 20-plus year Viacom veteran has been named executive VP and general manager of Viacom Digital Studios. Day is in discussions

In celebration of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival’s 20th anniversary, YouTube Originals today announced it is partnering with the fest for a feature-length documentary called “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert,” set to premiere March 31 on YouTube. The news comes on the heels of the announcement of Coachella’s official 2020 lineup —

Top creators and platform execs will discuss the ways that technology and innovation are transforming Hollywood during Variety’s annual Entertain­ment Summit at CES, set for Jan. 8 during the massive Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, CBS Interactive CEO Marc Debevoise, Imax president Megan Colligan, Fox Entertainment’s SideCar Content Accelerator chair Gail

Entertainment has always been a key component of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, but the explosive growth of subscription streaming is arguably making the tech­nology showcased there more integral to Hollywood’s future than ever.  The new breed of 8K TVs, expected to be on ample display at the Jan. 7-10 event in Las Vegas, not

Ad-supported free VOD streamer Tubi announced a deal with Vidaa International, a subsidiary of Hisense — the world’s third-largest TV maker — to bring its service to Hisense’s Vidaa platform. Beginning in the spring of 2020, Tubi users will be able to watch the company’s library of over 20,000 movies and TV shows on new

For the second year running, the “Oscars All Access” official red-carpet pre-show will be live-streamed exclusively on Twitter. The 90-minute show, broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, will be available at @TheAcademy account on Oscars Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, starting at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. Produced by

LiveRamp, an identity-tracking and measurement company serving the advertising industry, tapped Jay Prasad, formerly chief strategy officer at ad-tech firm VideoAmp, to lead strategy for its LiveRamp TV division. Prasad had moved into an advisory consulting role for VideoAmp earlier in 2019; he officially starts at LiveRamp this week. He comes on board after LiveRamp’s

January 6, 2020 2:24AM PT Want to watch Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok videos on a big-screen TV? Samsung has designed a product just for you — though it’s still not clear if the company’s Sero TV is a proof-of-concept gimmick or an idea that will have legs. Samsung Electronics, at its CES 2020 “first look”

In 2016 when India’s richest man, the oil to retail billionaire, Mukesh Ambani launched his nationwide mobile broadband service Jio Infocomm, he amped up the digital economy in the world’s second most populous nation. Now he and Reliance Industries Ltd. are intent on riding that digital wave to incumbent-challenging new heights. The $22 billion launch

While introducing “Jojo Rabbit” at the Golden Globes, Sacha Baron Cohen made fun of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, comparing him to a character in the Nazi parody film. “The hero of this next movie is a naive misguided child who spreads Nazi propaganda and only has imaginary friends. His name is Mark Zuckerberg. Sorry, this

The streaming wars are set to unleash a river of cash. With major media companies entering the market, American consumer spending on subscription-video services will increase 29% in 2020, hitting an estimated $24.1 billion, according to the Consumer Technology Association’s sales and forecast study for the year. The anticipated jump comes as streaming video providers

Angela Yee, host of Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club,” has become one of the media’s best-known multi-hyphenates. A businesswoman who founded her own “Lip Service” podcast, Yee spent much of the fall of 2019 on the road, teaming up with Live Nation for “Lip Service Live.” The tour featured guests in every major city who

Snap has acquired AI Factory, a startup developing image and video recognition, analysis and processing technology, the company confirmed. Snap is using AI Factory’s tech to power Snapchat’s recently launched Cameos feature, in which users can insert a selfie of themselves, deepfakes-style, into a scene and and send the short, looping videos to friends via

2019 was kind to GAFA. The four big tech companies entered 2020 with their combined market cap valued by the markets as worth $3.4 trillion, an increase of 31% (or $811 billion) on 2019’s first day of trading. The media sector began 2020 with a combined valuation of $1.5 trillion, 28% greater than 2019’s level

Starting Jan. 1, YouTube started treating content aimed at children differently from everything else uploaded to the world’s biggest video site. The changes are supposed to make YouTube a safer place for kids. The big problem is, nobody is sure what “child-directed content” means exactly, and producers and creators are worried they could be socked

In this week’s International TV Newswire, Variety looks at what Netflix overseas rankings say about its business model, a BBC iPlayer smash hit, Viacom’s latest production as it swells Spanish-language scripted titles at Miami-based Viacom Intl. Studios, a Netflix Egyptian puppet show, and HBO Latin America’ first fantasy suspense series in Brazil: Netflix: Rankings Suggest

iQIYI, a video streaming company that is often referred to as China’s Netflix, needs to raise new finance. Equally, there is an imperative for it to grow internationally. The two issues go hand in hand. That’s because its powerful growth surge in China has slowed dramatically, and so far has not yet yielded the profitability

Chinese streaming giant iQIYI has appointed Kelvin Yau as the new vice president of international business department and general manager of iQIYI Thailand. Yau will oversee the company’s strategic growth, operations and overall development in Thailand, and begin in early 2020.  Yau comes to iQIYI from BBC Studios, where he was since 2015 the senior

Chinese authorities have approved a new set of comprehensive regulations that expand the scope of online censorship, emphasize the war against “negative” content and make platforms more liable for content violations. While China previously had numerous, separate regulations floating about for everything from live-streaming to news media to chat groups, the new “Provisions on the