The proposed merger of telco giants Sprint and T-Mobile is getting some significant push-back: On Tuesday, 10 states including California, New York and the District of Columbia, sued to prevent the merger from going forward. The lawsuit alleges that the merger will reduce competition, leading to higher prices and less access for consumers. T-Mobile didn’t
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June 11, 2019 9:26AM PT Music recognition app Shazam can now identify the songs you are listening to even when you are wearing headphones. The new feature, dubbed Pop-up Shazam, was added to the latest Android version of the service this week. Techcrunch was first to spot the new feature. Headphone monitoring is not available
Hearst Magazines has tapped a new head of original video: Zuri Rice, a 14-year veteran of Viacom who most recently led short-form originals at Nickelodeon. Rice joins the company as senior VP, head of video development and content strategy for Hearst Originals. In her new role, she will be responsible for overseeing the creative direction
Vice is reorganizing its international business once again, reshuffling its senior management and creating the new roles of international executive managing director, head of Viceland TV for the EMEA region, and senior vice president, international, at Vice Studios. Hosi Simon, Tamara Howe, and CJ Fahey fill those three positions, respectively. The international arm of the
The first seven Time Lords from the BBC’s “Doctor Who” have landed on free streaming service Pluto TV — on a pop-up channel stocked with about 200 episodes of the cult-favorite sci-fi series. Viacom-owned Pluto TV also launched a dedicated pop-up channel for the U.K. version of “Antiques Roadshow,” with more than 300 episodes of
June 10, 2019 5:56PM PT The lead execs at Facebook’s Instagram app and VR/AR efforts believe breaking up Facebook wouldn’t do much good. Instagram head Adam Mosseri and VR/AR VP Andrew Bosworth appeared Monday in a joint Q&A at the Code Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., where they addressed the speculation that their company could face
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki apologized Monday for her company’s handling last week of anti-gay comments that appeared on the video platform. “I know the decision we made was very hurtful to the LGBT community and that was not our intention at all,” she said in the opening remarks of an interview she gave on stage
Dave Perry, a 17-year Viacom veteran who was most recently head of Nickelodeon’s VP of social media marketing, has joined Amazon as global head of social media for Prime Video. In joining the Amazon Prime Video team, Perry has relocated from New York to L.A. He reports to Andy Donkin, global head of marketing for
Beat games, the company behind the breakthrough virtual reality (VR) rhythm game “Beat Saber,” has struck its first major-label partnership: Beat Games released an Imagine Dragons music pack Monday, allowing “Beat Saber” players to slice and dice their way through 10 songs from the band’s four studio albums. “Beat Saber,” which is a bit like
Ahead of the launch of “Men In Black: International” this week, Sony Pictures Entertainment is getting ready to transport fans into the universe of the franchise: The studio announced a new partnership with VR startup Dreamscape Monday to bring a “Men in Black” VR experience to Dreamscape’s flagship location at the in Century City, Calif.
CBS Launches Los Angeles Hub for Streaming-Video Outlet CBSN – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds June 10, 2019 8:08AM PT CBS launched a new streaming-video outlet for Los Angeles consumers, CBSN Los Angeles, marking the second of the company’s efforts to debut direct-to-consumer streaming news services in different markets
Can Mailchimp — yes, the email-marketing services provider — produce a series as entertaining and engaging as anything on TV or Netflix? That’s the goal for the company, which is assembling a slate of short-form unscripted and scripted programming to promote its brand in concert with entertainment industry partners like Vice Media, WME, Scout Productions
HBO is not renewing Vice Media’s “Vice News Tonight,” ending the premium cabler’s seven-year relationship with the youth-culture media company — throwing another curveball at Vice as it tries to turn its business around. Vice announced that it has tapped Jesse Angelo, former CEO and publisher of the New York Post, to oversee all news
Hulu is owned by TV companies – and now it’s working to try to capture some of TV’s ad dollars before it’s too late. The streaming-video hub has been offering lower rates of increase to advertisers willing to commit more dollars than in the past to its business, according to four people familiar with recent
Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman offered an in-depth look at their new short-form video service during the Produced By conference on Saturday in Los Angeles. Quibi (short for “quick bites”) was first unveiled by Katzenberg and Whitman back in August. The company has already raised $1 billion from investors, though Whitman noted
June 7, 2019 2:00PM PT Virtual reality developer Mohen Leo decided to recreate his apartment in VR using Unreal assets to use with his new Oculus Quest, and the results are pretty dang cool. Leo then posted videos and explanations on Twitter, as spotted by Digg. Using his phone as a camera, under his nose,
Have you ever asked Alexa about her feelings? Or told her that she is hilarious? No need to be embarrassed, you’re not alone. Browse the reviews of the Echo smart speaker on Amazon.com, and you’ll find countless examples of people calling Alexa playful and funny, and a great companion, or even a friend. That’s no
Colleen Ballinger, best known for her awkward and weird YouTube-famous character Miranda Sings, will make her Broadway debut in “Waitress” this summer. Ballinger will appear in the musical starting Aug. 20, in a limited four-week engagement through Sept. 15. “Waitress,” based on the 2007 movie written by Adrienne Shelly, is scored by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles.
When WNYW-TV reporter Dan Bowens found himself wiping away an inch of dust from Beta tapes of newscast recordings excavated from the Fox O&O’s archives, he knew he had something. Bowens is the host of WNYW’s podcast “The Tape Room,” which focuses on deep dives into unsolved crimes from the New York, New Jersey and
Spotify is bringing back Sound Up, its five-day accelerator program to educate and support women of color in developing new podcasts, to New York City this summer. It will follow the same format as its inaugural Sound Up program in the U.S. last year. Spotify will select 10 women for an all-expenses-paid week-long podcast workshop
BuzzFeed expanded the role Cindy Vanegas-Gesuale, most recently head of programming for BuzzFeed News, to also oversee the digital-media company’s original video production unit. Vanegas-Gesuale takes over for Lauren Dolgen, who last month exited as head of BuzzFeed Studios after a year to join Paramount Network. “Cindy and the BuzzFeed Studios team will continue to
Forever Dog is barking up a batch of new content. The comedy podcast network, which recently announced a TV and streaming development partnership with National Lampoon, is launching 11 new shows to add to its lineup of over 30 podcasts. Each series is helmed by a different comedic talent, with hosts including Jamie Lee, who
WarnerMedia’s entry into the streaming wars may not just be built around HBO — it will reportedly include the premium service bundled in the initial baseline package. The AT&T-owned media company is looking to launch the still-unnamed WarnerMedia subscription VOD service at a price point of $16-$17 per month and is likely to bundle together
June 6, 2019 11:31AM PT Entertainment Weekly is going monthly – at least in print. Publisher Meredith Corp. said it intends to boost the outlet’s social video, events and digital platforms while scaling back its magazine publication schedule to once a month. The first monthly issue, slated to debut in August, will focus on Comic-Con.
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are the latest to jump into the podcast game, under a pact with Spotify to produce a series of podcasts exclusively for the streaming platform. Under the multiyear deal between Spotify and Higher Ground Productions, the former first couple’s production company, Barack and Michelle Obama are set to develop,
To describe veteran music business attorney Dina LaPolt as “outspoken” is an understatement of almost comic proportions, but she was in rare form Wednesday during her keynote Q&A at the Midem conference in France. LaPolt — who works with Britney Spears, 21 Savage, Fifth Harmony and played a leading role in the passage of the
YouTube, under fire for initially taking no action against a right-wing vlogger who has chronically bullied a gay Hispanic video journalist, said it will take “a hard look at our harassment policies with an aim to update them.” Here’s the backstory: Carlos Maza, a Vox video producer, said in Twitter posts May 30 that since
We hope Drake still has room on his credit card after peeping his $100 million plane three weeks ago, because a pair of VIP tickets to tonight’s Game 3 at Oracle Arena could set him back more than $100,000. Then again, what better way to break in your plane than flying to the Bay to
Netflix may not have much more room to grow in the United States — particularly as new rival streaming services from Disney and WarnerMedia are poised to hit the market, according to a new research report. “Netflix appears to be nearing its peak subscriber point in the U.S.,” the consulting firm said in its Global
Mass Appeal is a hip-hop, culture-focused brand that was born in the 1990s as a New York-based fanzine-style magazine, but CEO Peter Bittenbender is adapting for the future. As choppy waters continue to batter the similarly situated Vice Media and other digital content endeavors in recent months, Bittenbender is looking toward diversification as a solution