Tech

Los Angeles-based immersive media startup Within added another augmented reality (AR) story to its children’s storytelling app Wonderscope Thursday: “Willowcrest Manor” gives kids a chance to become a ghost, haunt a house, and scare intruders away from hidden treasure. Wonderscope, which is available for most recent-generation iPads and iPhones, lets children explore animated stories in

The Upside Down delivered upside for Netflix in the third quarter: “Stranger Things” season 3 was the most-watched season of the series to date, according to the streamer. In the first four weeks of release, “Stranger Things” season 3 was watched by 64 million member households, Netflix said in the Q3 letter to shareholders. The

Netflix tried to downplay any pressure it may be feeling from the launch of Disney’s and Apple’s upcoming video subscription services Wednesday, declaring in its latest letter to shareholders that the new services may only cause “modest headwind to (the company’s) near-term growth.” “Many are focused on the ‘streaming wars,’ but we’ve been competing with

Netflix fell slightly short of its U.S. subscriber forecast in the third quarter — and projected lower Q4 subscriber growth than Wall Street was expecting as competition looms from Apple and Disney. Still, the company reported solid gains, announcing a Q3 record for paid subscriber additions and revenue, and handily topped analyst forecasts for profit.

October 16, 2019 12:35PM PT In celebration of its 10-year anniversary, Vevo today announced its Top 10 lists of the decade’s most-watched music videos. Not surprisingly, the Most-Watched Music Video accolade goes to Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” (featuring Daddy Yankee), with 6.4 billion views since its release in early 2017. The second most-viewed video is Mark

Television production in Los Angeles has received a major boost from streaming shows, according to a new report from the permitting organization FilmLA. The number of new digital projects nearly doubled between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 development cycles, increasing approximately 85.3% in a year. The number of digitally distributed original series in production has increased by

Hit-making TV writer and producer Shonda Rhimes is jumping into the podcast game in a much bigger way. Rhimes’ Shondaland production company announced a three-year pact with iHeartMedia to launch Shondaland Audio, which will produce a slate of original podcasts to be released as part of the iHeartPodcast Network. Rhimes will oversee development and Sandie

Thrillist, part of Discovery-backed Group Nine Media, has named food writer and journalist Helen Hollyman its new editor-in-chief. Hollyman will be based in Thrillist’s New York headquarters, reporting to chief content officer Meghan Kirsch, a former Vice and A+E Networks exec who joined this summer. Thrillist, which targets a millennial audience with coverage of food,

It’s early on a Monday morning in Hollywood, and Howard Stern is sitting behind a desk sipping hot water in the airy revamped performance space of SiriusXM’s glistening new West Coast digs. The 26,000-square-foot studio on Sycamore Avenue is appropriately located for the self-proclaimed King of All Media — in the heart of the Media

MIA market director Lucia Milazzotto is the main architect of Rome’s new format post-Mipcom, pre-AFM confab launched five years ago to serve as a driver for the Italian industry in the global arena. The MIA acronym stands for (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo, or International Audiovisual Market). Milazzotto spoke to Variety about how this unique event featuring

Twitter grants special exemptions to Donald Trump and other “world leaders” from its code of conduct, including from rules that apply to everyone else. But the social network — which is Trump’s go-to megaphone — says nobody is “above our policies entirely.” Critics including presidential contender Sen. Kamala Harris have blasted Twitter for failing to

With the new NBA season scheduled to tip off Oct. 22, basketball fans have no shortage of options for how they take in the action on the court. But there’s an expanding range of viewing experiences beyond linear TV that are evolving in fascinating ways. Jeff Marsilio, senior VP of new media for the league,

October 16, 2019 7:12AM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, MGM claims the top spot in spending with “The Addams Family.” Ads placed for the animated film had an estimated media value of $6.38 million through Sunday for 1,728

When Quibi launches next spring, it will have a daily adult-animation horoscope show from Will Arnett and digital media company ATTN:, starring 12 colorful animals representing the different signs of the zodiac. “Your Daily Horoscope” is part of the mobile TV service’s Daily Essentials news and lifestyle programming. The show was created by ATTN: and

Max Conze, CEO of German broadcast company ProSiebenSat.1 since June last year, appeared relatively relaxed about the prospect of the coming invasion of new subscription streaming players like Disney Plus into his territory when speaking to journalists at TV market and conference Mipcom in Cannes Tuesday. “Disney will not lock away all their content,” he

Guns N Roses’ ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ Hits 1 Billion Views on YouTube – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Guns N Roses’ smash single from 1987, has joined YouTube’s billion views club. It is not only the first music video from the ’80s to pass

Wall Street is expecting Netflix to hit or slightly beat subscriber and financial targets when it reports third quarter 2019 results on Wednesday after market close. But then what? Debate among analysts continues to rage about what will happen to Netflix’s market-leading position once it’s facing big new rivals in Disney Plus and Apple TV

An app that can predict the date and time of your death may have been too much for Apple to stomach: The iPhone maker removed a viral app inspired by the upcoming horror movie “Countdown” a few days ago, putting an end to its meteoric rise. Before its removal, “Countdown” had surpassed TikTok, YouTube and

Google is effectively phasing out its Daydream virtual reality (VR) platform: The company’s latest flagship Pixel 4 flagship phone, which Google unveiled at a press event in New York Tuesday, won’t support Google’s Daydream mobile VR platform anymore, a spokesperson confirmed to Variety. The company will also stop selling the Daydream viewer, but continue to

When Google revamped its Wifi router product, it extended the devices reach and doubled their speed, while also adding a full-blown smart speaker with Google Assistant. But the company paid just as much attention to Google Wifi’s design, down to the decision to ship the product in three colors. The surprising reason for this: Google

Google introduced a revamped version of its entry-level smart speaker at a press event in New York Tuesday: The new $49 Nest Mini speaker effectively replaces its Home Mini predecessor with bigger sound, a built-in machine learning chip for faster responses, ultrasound for proximity detection and the ability to pair 2 speakers for inexpensive stereo

October 15, 2019 7:37AM PT Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh gave us an update on the company’s game streaming service Stadia during the company’s fall hardware event in New York Tuesday: Stadia will be available to the public on November 19. Stadia promises to stream games directly from the cloud, with no need to buy

Jia Yueting, the colorful Chinese entrepreneur who founded the LeEco electronics-to-video streaming group, has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Jia, sometimes known as YT, has debts on both sides of the Pacific and has been in the U.S. from late 2017, in defiance of an order from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to return

Apple’s TV and movie streaming app has landed on Roku. Starting today, most Roku device users will be able to add the Apple TV app for free. Under the companies’ agreement — for the first time — Roku users can use the Apple TV app to discover and watch movies, TV shows and more, including

Discovery-owned Eurosport has inked a content and ad sales deal with Twitter for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Eurosport has rights to the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 16 European markets. Under the deal, Twitter will carry extensive event highlight clips including medal-winning moments during the Games. Territories covered in the deal include Austria, Belgium, the Czech

Adam Rippon will serve up a daily dish of “useless” throwback celebrity moments for Quibi, the short-form mobile TV streaming service set to hit phones in the spring of 2020. The former Olympic ice skater will host “This Day in Useless Celebrity History,” produced by Hearst Magazines’ originals division, for Quibi’s Daily Essentials news and

Will Ferrell wants to grab more people by the ears. The actor, comedian and producer has formed Big Money Players Network, a podcast company focused on comedy shows, in partnership with radio and podcast giant iHeartMedia. The new venture plans to produce and launch 10 podcasts in the next 24 months, starting to roll out

TV Time, whose app provides user-reported data about TV and movie engagement, has acquired Mediamorph, a provider of entertainment content distribution and tracking services. Terms of the cash-and-stock deal weren’t disclosed. As part of the acquisition, the combined companies will operate under the name Whip Media Group led by CEO Rich Rosenblatt (above, left). TV

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment — the company that acquired a controlling stake in Sony Picture Television’s Crackle streaming service — is expanding its original content ambitions. New York-based CSS Entertainment announced that it is investing in the launch of Landmark Studio Group, an integrated entertainment company led by 30-year entertainment industry veteran David

Radio broadcaster Entercom Communications is hoping to expand listenership of its live programming by bringing TiVo-like functionality to its Radio.com platform. Launching this week, Radio.com Rewind lets listeners pause, rewind and fast-forward live radio. It’s accessible via the online player or in the Radio.com app. Eventually, the company said it will integrate the feature with