Tech

Ed Helms has managed to find the amusing parts of impending nuclear Armageddon. The actor, writer and comedian hosts “Snafu,” a nonfiction comedy series in which he’ll dissect some of history’s most notorious screwups. In the inaugural season of the iHeartPodcast series — set to premiere Oct. 5 on major audio platforms — Helms tells

It’s not a dream: The third installment of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” audio drama on Audible is now available. All 19 episodes of “The Sandman: Act III,” with James McAvoy again lending his voice to the title role, are now available exclusively on Audible. It’s a surprise release for the third seasons of the popular

The Foxtel Group and contact sports entertainment firm WWE have agreed a multi-year partnership that will see Foxtel’s portfolio of pay-TV and streaming brands become the exclusive home of WWE in Australia. The move also deepens a relationship between WWE and the Murdoch family-controlled News Corp. Foxtel, a 65:35 joint venture between News Corp and

UTA has signed content creator and multi-hyphenate Tefi Pessoa, aka Tefi, for worldwide agency representation in all areas. Known on TikTok as @hellotefi, she first gained prominence for her pop culture deep-dives on the platform, in which she breaks down hot topics like celebrity couples and scandals for her 1.5 million followers. UTA will find

Popular comedy group The Try Guys have cut their ties with Ned Fulmer, one of the four founding members, amid allegations of misconduct by Fulmer. “Ned Fulmer is no longer working with The Try Guys,” the group said in a tweet Tuesday. “As a result of a thorough internal review, we do not see a

Marcus Mabry, a six-year veteran of CNN, has been promoted to SVP of digital editorial and programming at the news outlet. In the role, Mabry will lead CNN’s digital global programming, features and visuals teams, including Opinion, CNN Style and CNN Travel. He will report to CNN’s chief digital officer, a role that is currently

True-crime podcaster John Allen — better known to fans as MrBallen — is bringing his show exclusively to Amazon Music. Starting Nov. 1, Amazon Music will be the exclusive home to all new and existing episodes of the “MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories.” Amazon Music also inked a first-look deal with Ballen Studios,

OnlyFans has become synonymous with sexually explicit content and providing a way for adult creators to earn money online. Now the social-media platform wants to tickle some funny bones, as well. OnlyFans announced the launch of its Creative Fund: Comedy Edition, which will let creators in the U.K. and Ireland compete for the chance to

Meghan Markle’s podcast “Archetypes” is returning on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The episode will feature comedian and actor Margaret Cho in a conversation about Asian American tropes in the entertainment industry. In light of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Sept. 8, the recently launched “Archetypes” delayed the release of new episodes “during the official mourning period

For Dude Perfect super-fans, it may be the equivalent of Disney World. The five-member comedy and sports YouTube creators — who have a massive following of more than 58 million subscribers on the platform — are planning a new Dude Perfect headquarters and “family-friendly” entertainment destination. The new three-story HQ building will feature a 330-foot

The life of global porn icon Rocco Siffredi is the subject of a new Netflix original series titled “Supersex,” which has started shooting in Rome. The seven-episode drama is freely inspired by the real life of Siffredi, who has more than 1,500 hardcore films to his name. But, in an interesting career twist, Siffredi has

Live sports streaming service DAZN has struck a deal to buy global sports media business ELEVEN Group, which holds rights to the top soccer leagues in Portugal and Belgium.  The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will boost DAZN’s offerings in Italy, German-speaking markets and Spain, where it already holds top league domestic soccer rights. Additionally,

South Korean entertainment leader CJ ENM has invested in U.S.-based virtual reality concert platform AmazeVR. The move is intended to enhance the group’s presence in the metaverse and expand opportunities for K-Pop and unscripted content. AmazeVR claims to be the first and only company using its exclusive and proprietary technology, to capture hyper-real 9K+ live-action footage

Netflix is establishing an internal games studio in Helsinki, Finland, announcing that it will be led by former Zynga and Electronic Arts exec Marko Lastikka as studio director. “This is another step in our vision to build a world-class games studio that will bring a variety of delightful and deeply engaging original games — with

Days after top YouTube exec Robert Kyncl was named as the next CEO of Warner Music Group, the company revealed in an SEC filing that he will earn approximately $15 million in his first year on the job, depending on performance targets. When Kyncl’s name was first mentioned as a potential successor to outgoing CEO

Brett Favre’s weekly NFL show for SiriusXM has been put on hold, a company spokesman confirmed to Variety. It’s the latest business deal in jeopardy over the pro QB’s involvement in a welfare fraud case in Mississippi. The SiriusXM rep declined to provide further comment. Favre, who retired from the NFL in 2010 after 20

Hulu’s loss is Peacock’s gain. NBCUniversal’s claw-back of programming rights from Disney’s Hulu has resulted in the removal this week of dozens of past seasons of popular shows on the streamer — including the entire run of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” — as those have now flown over to NBCU’s own Peacock. Seasons 1-20

Internet personality Rickey Thompson has signed with WME for representation. The agency will represent Thompson in all areas, working to further develop Thompson’s businesses across brand partnerships, film, television and digital media. Thompson has amassed nearly 11 millions followers across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter, as well as hosts his Spotify-exclusive podcast “We Said What

Netflix’s recently hired principal accounting officer, former EA finance exec Ken Barker, has resigned after about three months on the job. Barker, who reported to CFO Spencer Neumann, submitted his resignation on Thursday and will depart the company on Oct. 7, Netflix disclosed in an SEC filing. “Mr. Barker’s resignation was a personal decision and

Charlie Collier, after more than two decades in broadcasting and cable TV, has jumped ship from the traditional television biz — betting that TV’s future is all about streaming. As first reported by Variety, Collier is leaving his post as CEO of Fox Entertainment, departing from the Murdochs’ fiefdom to head up Roku Media, where

It seems like everyone is launching a podcast these days — and now comes the Central Intelligence Agency. But don’t expect any major revelations from CIA’s “The Langley Files,” which is really a PR-outreach initiative to burnish the agency’s image as well as dispel notions that it’s a glamorous line of work as often portrayed

In a sign of big moves to come for Roku, veteran TV executive Charlie Collier is exiting his post as CEO of Fox Entertainment to join the digital distribution platform as president of Roku Media. Collier will oversee advertising sales and content for Roku’s owned-and-operated channels featured on the streaming platform that hosts the fast-growing

Canal+ Group, the Vivendi-owned French TV group, has won its court case against TF1 after being sued by latter following a dispute over carriage fees. The ruling was issued on Sept. 22 by the business court of Paris. Chaired by Maxime Saada (pictured), Canal+ was previously distributing TF1 and its channels TFX, TF1 Séries Films

[UPDATE, 2:30 p.m. ET: Instagram’s PR account on Twitter reported that service was restored after it resolved the technical problem. “We resolved the issue that caused today’s outage, and apologize for any inconvenience,” it said in a tweet.] Meta’s Instagram app appeared to be experiencing technical problems Thursday, as thousands of users globally reported problems

Sorry, conspiracy-theory fans: “The Simpsons” did not in fact predict the date of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, according to fact-checkers. The false claim that the animated hit show — legendary for its eerily prescient prognostications — foretold the Queen’s death has been the subject of dozens of doctored videos and memes by hoaxsters

Instagram is working on a way to let users block unsolicited nude photos that they’re sent via direct messages — using a “nudity protection” filter to screen out and hide such pics. The social media giant confirmed the development of the feature but did not provide a timeline for when it would become available. “We’re

The iconic music video for R.E.M.’s 1991 hit “Losing My Religion” has surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube — one of only about a dozen songs from the decade to hit the milestone. The alternative band’s official video for “Losing My Religion” has averaged more than 300,000 views globally per day across YouTube so far

TikTok can add jet fuel to entertainment marketers’ messages — but they have to learn how to speak the language of the platform to effectively harness the creativity of its creators. That was one of the key takeaways from the Variety/TikTok Culture Catalysts Dinner, held in West Hollywood on Sept. 20. Paramount Pictures’ approach with

Kevin Hart’s “Die Hart” action-hero spoof is bringing in some fresh faces for Season 2 of the Roku original comedy: John Cena, Ben Schwartz and Paula Pell have joined the cast of “Die Hart 2: Die Harter,” the streaming company announced. In addition to the new cast, Nathalie Emmanuel will reprise her role in Season

Live sports streaming service DAZN has acquired rights to broadcast the English Football Association (FA) Women’s Super League soccer matches and Women’s FA Cup for two seasons across multiple territories including in their key markets of Spain, Japan, and Italy. Under the deal DAZN will be offering live and on-demand access to at least two