Tech

PewDiePie’s Bro Army remains stronger than ever: The top YouTuber is the most-viewed creator of 2019 on the platform year-to-date, with more than 4 billion views this year, according to YouTube. The comedian, game vlogger and meme aficionado, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, is also the most-subscribed individual YouTube creator, currently with 102 million

Analytics, monetization and the expanding landscape of entertainment will be the focus of Variety’s Innovate Summit: Discovery & Data Science in Media on Dec. 5 in West Hollywood. The event is presented by PwC. The summit will feature 32 speakers, each considered industry leaders in the emerging world of streaming. Each panel will speak to

First there was “Bandersnatch,” now there is “Tala’s World.” Interactive media is making the jump to smart speakers, starting with a new serialized young adult adventure series produced by audio startup Xandra, and licensed exclusively by Amazon. “Tala’s World” consists of seven episodes, which invite listeners to come along on an audio adventure that involves

“This is really insane. Nothing like this has ever been done on this stage.” Billie Eilish was addressing the packed crowd midway through her set at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in California’s Silicon Valley, marking the first time an artist has given a public concert at the iconic home to Apple’s keynote

YouTube is out with its year-in-review lists for 2019, documenting the top videos, trends, creators, music, games and more. Leading the list of U.S. top-trending videos was beauty influencer James Charles’ “No More Lies” (pictured above), his video response to accusations of betrayal and misbehavior by vlogger Tati Westbrook. After the controversy blew up in

Apple TV Plus is nearing a deal to acquire a yet-untitled Billie Eilish documentary, directed by R.J. Cutler and produced by Interscope Films, a source close to the situation confirmed to Variety. While reports have that said that film is part of a $25 million deal and has a budget between $1-2 million, a source

Instagram will finally begin enforcing its policy to allow only users 13 or older to sign up for the service in most countries — or, at any rate, people who claim they’re at least 13. Starting Wednesday (Dec. 4), the Facebook-owned photo and video platform will ask for date of birth when someone creates an

December 4, 2019 8:25AM PT Amazon Music today announced the latest in its upcoming mini-documentary series, this one looking at “Mariah Carey is Christmas: The Story of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” focused on the making of the singer’s seminal holiday hit, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the corresponding album, “Merry Christmas.” Watch

Producer-director Stephanie Laing aims to put a modern twist on branded content by teaming with an iconic lingerie maker to generate a showcase for fresh female talent. Laing has partnered with Authentic Brands Group, owner of Frederick’s of Hollywood, to produce a short-form “comedy-action miniseries” revolving around five women who pursue their dreams in the

Comcast’s NBCUniversal is promising a deeper dive on Peacock, its entry into the streaming-video wars, at a presentation set for next month. The company announced it will host an investor meeting on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, starting at 4 p.m. ET to discuss NBCU’s plans for the forthcoming Peacock streaming service, “including the overarching strategy

Jay-Z rarely does anything without a flourish, and apparently as a 50 th birthday present to himself, the billionaire has returned his catalog to Spotify after an absence of nearly three years. Back in April of 2017, Jay, who is the primary owner of the competing Tidal platform, pulled most of his catalog from the

In an unusual licensing pact, digital shows hosted by influencers Adrienne Houghton and Jordin Sparks are migrating over to cable TV — after already running on YouTube and other internet platforms. Lifestyle entertainment company Kin struck a deal with Cleo TV, the TV One-owned cable network that targets millennial women of color, to license the

December 4, 2019 6:00AM PT Reddit has grown its user base by 30% year-over-year, according to new data released by the company Wednesday. The self-proclaimed front page of the internet now reaches 430 million monthly active users, who collectively have created 199 million posts and 1.7 billion comments. The announcement comes some 20 months after

Media center app maker Plex officially launched its ad-supported video service with movies and TV shows from MGM, Warner Bros., Lionsgate and Legendary Wednesday. The service will be available in more than 200 countries and territories, making it the first ad-supported video service with a nearly global reach. Getting the rights to launch in so

December 3, 2019 9:21PM PT Former BBC executive, Myleeta Aga has been appointed by Netflix as director of content in Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand. Erika North, who was previously director of original content in Asia, has departed the streaming giant. “She is not ‘replacing’ Erika. Myleeta was hired months before Erika’s departure.

Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority is teaming with Asian streamer Hooq and Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) to fund and develop local content for distribution in Southeast Asia and India. Both partnerships are under the aegis of the Capabilities Partnership Programme that is part of the IMDA’s ‘Made With Singapore’ initiative. The Hooq collaboration will

MediaCorp, Singapore’s public broadcast group, is moving ahead with the first project to emerge from its partnership with online story vault Wattpad. The news was announced on the first day of the Asia Television Forum in Singapore. The pair will adapt hit romantic story “Slow Dancing” by Singaporean writer Noelle (@Hepburnettes) as a six part

Genius Media Group filed a lawsuit against Google and LyricFind, a Toronto-based lyrics provider, alleging the companies ripped off song lyrics from Genius. The lawsuit seeks at least $50 million in damages from Google and LyricFind. “Defendants Google LLC and LyricFind have been caught red-handed misappropriating content from Genius’s website, which they have exploited —

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is adding another responsibility to his job: Pichai will also be the CEO of parent holding company Alphabet going forward, taking the helm from co-founder and longtime CEO Larry Page. Additionally, co-founder Sergey Brin will be resigning from his post as the president of Alphabet. Brin and Page jointly announced the

A plush toy of Baby Yoda — the adorable character officially known as The Child from Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” — is now available to pre-order, as are two bobble-head figures from Funko. But fans of the toddler-like green alien may be disappointed: The new products are not expected to ship until next year. The

December 3, 2019 11:27AM PT YouTube is engaging in some year-end cleanup that could result in channels seeing a decrease in their subscriber counts. The video giant on Tuesday warned creators that they may see a decrease in subscriber counts on Dec. 3 as it removes “closed accounts” from the overall tallies. YouTube didn’t say

YouTube’s live TV streaming service is finally getting of forced ad breaks for all cloud DVR recordings: YouTube TV announced on Twitter Monday afternoon that consumers will now be able to fast forward through ad breaks on recorded shows from CBS, the Smithsonian Channel and POP TV. What’s sweeter than unlimited DVR space? Full control

December 3, 2019 9:10AM PT Hot on the heels of the announcement of the first-ever Apple Music Awards, Shazam (which is owned by Apple) has announced its 2019 year-end statistics, including most-Shazamed songs, artist and more. Billie Eilish topped two of the charts (most-Shazamed songs and most-Shazamed pop song) and J Balvin was the most-Shazamed

AT&T’s multibillion-dollar bet on HBO Max, set to debut next spring, will anchor the telco’s video-entertainment strategy in 2020 and beyond, according to chief financial officer John Stephens. HBO Max is “the key aspect of the video strategy going forward,” said Stephens, speaking at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit in Las Vegas Tuesday. “This is a

December 3, 2019 8:30AM PT Fans are registering huge interest in “The Mandalorian” around the world, despite the fact that only those in a handful of markets can watch the Disney Plus series. Parrot Analytics measures demand for TV shows across social media, blogs, and elsewhere to produce a demand rating, and said the “Star

Discovery’s Motor Trend streaming service is reviving “Top Gear America” with a new trio of hosts: Dax Shepard, Rob Corddry and British journalist Jethro Bovingdon. Set to debut in the spring, the series marks the latest effort to put a U.S. spin on the enduring U.K. franchise that celebrates the automotive world by putting the

December 3, 2019 6:47AM PT Imperative Entertainment is teaming with Texas Monthly on “Boomtown,” a new 10-part weekly podcast series that looks at the biggest oil boom in history. The series unfolds in West Texas and focuses on roughnecks and billionaire wildcatters whose interest in black gold is impacting the climate, the economy, and geopolitics.

In the wee hours of Tuesday Apple announced the inaugural Apple Music Awards, “a celebration of the best and boldest musicians of 2019 and the enormous impact they have had on global culture this year.” The winners are Artist of the Year Billie Eilish, Breakthrough Artist of the Year Lizzo, and the Song of the

Riot Games, developer of “League of Legends,” will fork over at least $10 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of women employees alleging the company’s “bro culture” resulted in systemic gender discrimination. Terms of the settlement in the case, reached in August, were revealed in court documents filed last week in California

December 3, 2019 3:58AM PT Eurofilmlaunches, a new platform that will give distributors movie release details by territory, has gone live. Digital agency Gruvi has launched the site, which is free and allows distributors – and consumers – to search for information on new releases and track them by territory. There is also a calendar