Aaron LaBerge, previously ESPN’s chief technology officer, is taking on a new role as EVP and CTO of Disney’s recently formed Direct-To-Consumer and International segment. LaBerge will be the first CTO of Direct-To-Consumer and International segment, reporting to chairman Kevin Mayer. The DTCI business, created in a March 2018 reorg, encompasses Disney’s media and direct-to-consumer
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WarnerMedia is joining Disney in the race to launch a global direct to consumer streaming platform next year. WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey unveiled the plan Wednesday during his address at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles. Stankey said the company will mine its library and content engines to create such a service
This fall, Vice Media is rolling out a slate of new programming on Snapchat, Instagram’s IGTV, and YouTube. The company also detailed its “contextual brand safety” solution for video, the company announced during Tuesday’s Digital Content NewFronts West in Hollywood. Ciel Hunter, Vice Media’s global head of content, said during the marketplace event that the
Lionsgate promoted marketing executive Amanda Kozlowski to executive VP of home entertainment and digital distribution marketing. In the new role, Kozlowski, a 10-year veteran of the company, will oversee Lionsgate’s marketing efforts across traditional and emerging platforms and technologies for the entire home entertainment and digital distribution division. Her purview includes home entertainment distribution of
Netflix flooded its U.S. streaming service with an all-time high tonnage of original TV shows and movies in the third quarter of 2018 – a positive signal that the No. 1 subscription-video service will hit its customer-acquisition targets, according to a new report from Wall Street firm Cowen & Co. The company bowed nearly 676
Fred Santarpia, chief digital officer of Condé Nast, is leaving after leading the company’s expansion in digital entertainment and content over the last four years. Santarpia, whose last day at Condé Nast is Nov. 2, announced his departure Tuesday in an Instagram post. He didn’t say what he plans to do next; the company has not named
PlayStation Network Online is rolling out the ability to change names using the PlayStation 4 as part of a beta next month with full support hitting next year, PlayStation announced Wednesday. The first change will be free, changes after that will be $10 a pop, though PlayStation Plus members will only pay $5. The PSN
October 10, 2018 5:01AM PT The streaming giant celebrates its 10th birthday with all-time-greatest lists called “Decade of Discovery.” While the company was founded in 2006, Spotify officially launched in October of 2008, and it’s no understatement to say that it has changed the way millions of people experience music. In observance of that anniversary,
Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb log plenty of hours each week hosting NBC’s “Today.” But they will add a few more to their schedules as NBC News works to expand its digital offerings around the venerable morning program. A fall slate of programming related to “Today” will continue a plan aimed at making available streaming-video
Snap thinks it’s figured out how to make short-form TV shows that sync with the smartphone-as-first-screen generation — and the company is about to unleash more than a dozen new original series for Snapchat this fall, including its first slate of scripted programming. The new serialized shows span drama, mystery, horror, comedy, and docu-series, and
Magic Leap and Weta Workshop used the headset maker’s inaugural L.E.A.P. developer conference in Los Angeles to launch “Dr. Gordbort’s Invaders” as one of the very first gaming titles on the Magic Leap One headset Tuesday. “Dr. Gordbort’s Invaders” is, in its essence, a steampunk-inspired robot shooting game that uses Magic Leap’s AR technology to
The Ellen Digital Network unveiled new and returning original programming during the 2018 Digital Content NewFronts West on Tuesday. Michael Riley, the general manager of Ellen Digital Ventures, announced at the event that EDN is collaborating with supermodel and body positivity activist Ashley Graham for a new digital series. Hosted by Graham, “Fearless” will explore
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the trade body for the worldwide record business, released its Music Consumer Insight Report for the year, which examines how music consumers ages 16 to 64 engage with recorded music in 20 of the world’s largest music markets. (Download the full report here.) To no one’s surprise, streaming
BuzzFeed has hired Eric W. Muhlheim, who previously spent 16 years at the Walt Disney Co., as its new CFO. Muhlheim replaces Mark Frackt, who departed as BuzzFeed’s CFO in July after more than six years with the company. Muhlheim officially starts at the digital-media company on Oct. 15; he’ll be based in L.A. and
A few years back, Gary Vaynerchuk knew he wanted to get into the content business. But the New York entrepreneur and investor, who has run ad agency VaynerMedia since 2009, didn’t want a clickbait farm just chasing quick-and-easy views. Vaynerchuk was friends with Ryan Harwood, founder of women’s lifestyle site PureWow. Over time, he came to
For decades, the heart of the national ad biz has been nestled in the Big Apple. Now the digital media industry’s marquee pitchfest is heading to L.A. to tap into a new set of potential buyers. The inaugural Digital Content NewFronts West will run Oct. 9-10 at NeueHouse Hollywood, featuring a lineup of 20 presentations
In today’s utterly media-saturated world, content publishers are being forced to test new, innovative ways to get in front of consumers, who are just an app-click away from finding something else to do. Premium content producers are employing new advertising and content formats including podcasts, shoppable videos and smart speakers, while also boosting their branded-content
The population of Fox Nation is growing. The Fox News subscription-based service will feature multiple long-form and documentary series, the 21st Century Fox-owned outlet said Tuesday, including what it billed as an offering of “patriotic specials.” The service is slated to debut in the fourth quarter. A price has yet to be unveiled. Offerings will
Google announced a new version of its Chromecast streaming adapter, the third generation of the company’s streaming device, which supports playback video at higher frame rates and can also stream multiroom audio. The new device goes on sale Tuesday in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and
It turns out there’s a large group of Americans who don’t watch just Netflix or other ad-free video services: 45% of consumers who regularly watch video online say they mainly watch ad-supported over-the-top services. That’s according to a new study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The online-advertising trade group’s research also found that the largest audience
Google’s very own smart display is here: The company unveiled its $149 Home Hub at a press event Tuesday in New York, touting it as a smart display that you won’t mind putting into any and every room of your house. That’s because you won’t ever have to fear that it will watch you: Home
October 9, 2018 9:00AM PT Entertainment One’s VR subsidiary Secret Location launched its latest VR production “The Great C” on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive Tuesday. “The Great C,” a 37-minute animated adaptation of a Philip K. Dick short story by the same name, is selling for $5.99 on the Oculus Store, Viveport and Steam,
Tech and culture publication Wired is adding about 40 hours of licensed and original programming to its recently launched over-the-top video channel, as Condé Nast angles to drive up viewing time on big-screen TVs. New content launching this week includes two original series, “[De]constructed” and “Wired Masterminds”; two seasons of the BBC World News tech/gadget
Even as Facebook’s disclosures of massive user-data breaches this year have damaged its reputation, the social giant’s revenue juggernaut doesn’t show signs of slowing down. In 2018, Facebook — including Instagram — will rake in $6.81 billion in video-ad spending in the U.S. alone, capturing about one-fourth of digital video-ad spending in the United States
Shay Carl Butler, a longtime YouTube creator better known to his millions of fans as ShayCarl, has left the Mouse House. Butler has switched his flagship Shaytards channel on YouTube — a vlog featuring his wife and their four kids that has 5 million subscribers — along with his and his family’s other channels from
“I don’t think a girl would say that.” That opinion was delivered by a male producer to a female singer and songwriter, artist Violet Skies, who was as flabbergasted when she heard it years ago as she is now, sitting in a makeshift lounge at YouTube’s Los Angeles complex of offices and shooting stages. As
Google is shutting down its long-neglected Facebook competitor Google+ following the disclosure of a vulnerability that could have resulted in third-party developers accessing private data from around 500,000 users, the company announced Monday. In announcing the closure, Google acknowledged that Google+ failed to gain significant traction with consumers. “The consumer version of Google+ currently has
October 8, 2018 10:10AM PT Apple took the unusual step to send a letter to Congress Monday to deny last week’s Bloomberg report that it had fallen victim to a sophisticated Chinese hardware hack. “You should know that Bloomberg provided us with no evidence to substantiate their claims and our internal investigations concluded their claims
October 8, 2018 9:27AM PT Helsinki-based virtual reality (VR) hardware startup Varjo has raised a new $31 million Series B round of funding led by Atomico, the venture capital company of Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstroem. Other investors include Next47, EQT Ventures and Lifeline Ventures. Including the new cash infusion, Varjo has now raised a total of $46 million.
The media and advertising world just got a lot more interesting. You see, a funny thing happened while you were streaming video on your phone, listening to podcasts and interacting with your smart, IP-connected TV: Great advertising morphed into great content that consumers don’t just passively consume. They actively demand it if you want their