Tech

To drive tune-in and engagement for Sunday’s Video Music Awards telecast, MTV is turning to TikTok, Roblox and other social platforms to get the conversation started and keep it going after the Moon Man statuettes are handed out. The VMAs are the “social media Super Bowl” for MTV and the team behind the VMAs has

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg sat down for chat with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, revealing in the interview that the social giant’s next major VR headset — said to be priced at more than $1,000 — will launch in October. Zuckerberg appeared to be referring to the company’s Project Cambria, a higher-end VR and mixed-reality headset

YouTube is reminding everyone that it offers variable playback speeds — which can add up to a ton of time savings if you’re able to keep pace with life in the fast lane. The video giant first introduced features in 2010 to allow users to control just how quickly or slowly they want to watch

The Duchess of Sussex has claimed the No. 1 podcast position on Spotify’s charts in six markets worldwide, including the U.S. and U.K. And, for the time being, Meghan Markle’s “Archetypes” is currently more popular than “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which in the U.S. is consistently the most-listened-to podcast on Spotify. “Archetypes,” released Tuesday exclusively

Notorious sports commentator Stephen A. Smith isn’t shy about sharing his thoughts. And he promises to unleash a new stream of unfiltered opinions — on a wide array of current events beyond sports — in his first podcast, set to launch next month. “Know Mercy With Stephen A. Smith,” produced by Audacy’s Cadence13 podcast division,

UPDATED: Gabbie Hanna was visited by police officers at her L.A. home Wednesday, after the social-media star raised serious concerns among her followers with a string of about 100 bizarre TikTok videos she posted over a 24-hour period. Amid her torrent of recent TikToks, Hanna said police had checked on her and left her a

It’s been an ugly year for most stocks, but for Audacy the pain has been especially acute. Shares of the radio broadcast and podcasting company on Wednesday dropped to an all-time low of 55 cents per share, falling 5.5% for the day — and down about 84% year-over-year. Audacy now has a market capitalization of

Presented in its worst possible light, the FN Meka controversy — in which Capitol signed, and then quickly dropped, a virtual rapper that used the N-word in its songs and was depicted in racially stereotypical scenarios in videos — seems like an inconceivable blunder. But a closer look at the details, along with conversations with

The power of fandom was on display in Downtown Los Angeles last week as thousands of K-pop devotees gathered for KCON, a three-day celebration of South Korean pop culture. KCON was more like a family reunion for many attendees, as several of them explain on the latest episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast. K-pop is

Fans of NBC’s current-season shows will no longer find them on Hulu as of next month — they’ll be flying over to NBCUniversal’s Peacock. NBCU announced that starting Sept. 19, Peacock Premium will become the streaming home for next-day access to current seasons of NBC shows the day after they air on the network. The

Plex, the popular streaming-media service, alerted users of a data breach in which a hacker was able to access private information – including usernames and passwords. The company said it is requiring Plex users to reset their passwords as a result of the incident. In an email to Plex users early Wednesday, the company said,

The BFI London Film Festival has revealed the line-up for LFF Expanded, its immersive art and extended realities strand (Oct. 5-16). Programmed by Ulrich Schrauth, the BFI’s immersive art and XR curator, this year’s program features interactive virtual reality, screen-based installations, augmented reality, mixed reality, immersive audio experience and live performance. The program will be

UTA is stirring up more action in the culinary field, signing top content creators Alexis Nikole Nelson, Matt Broussard (A Cook Named Matt), Owen Han, Danny Mondello (Meals By Cug) and H Woo. UTA will help guide the social media personalities as they grow their digital presence and expand into books, film, television, endorsements, branding,

Hideo Kojima, the renowned Japanese game creator behind hit titles “Death Stranding” and “Metal Gear,” will launch a weekly podcast exclusively on Spotify next month — covering a wide range of his favorite topics. “Hideo Kojima Presents Brain Structure,” premiering Sept. 8 on Spotify, will be released in both Japanese and English. According to Spotify,

Morty Smith, the easily distressed teen from hit animated show “Rick and Morty,” has joined Warner Bros. Games’ “MultiVersus” mashup fighting title as a new playable character. Morty — the teenage grandson of a mega-genius scientist Rick Sanchez — arrives as part of “MultiVersus” Season 1 and is a Bruiser-class character with more than a

Netflix is bringing “Heads Up!”, the charades game that originated on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show, into the Upside Down — and into the worlds of the streamer’s other original shows. The streamer is launching an exclusive version of the “Heads Up!” mobile game that will include 28 new decks from top Netflix series including

Senior Twitter executives deceived regulators — and the company’s own board — about lax security standards and its efforts to fight spam bots, according to an SEC complaint filed by the social network’s former head of security. Twitter fired Peiter “Mudge” Zatko in January 2022, a little more than a year after he was hired

In what sounds like a reality TV version “Cobra Kai,” TelevisaUnivision is set to release a mixed martial arts competition series — with a $50,000 prize for the winning squad of fighters — on its ViX+ Spanish-language subscription streaming service. The series comes from Combate Global, the Hispanic MMA sports franchise, and will be available

Meghan Markle deconstructs the history of societal stereotypes about women in “Archetypes,” her first show for Spotify, which premiered Tuesday. The first hourlong episode of “Archetypes” features Serena Williams, who recently announced her plans to retire from pro tennis, talking with Markle about the double standard women face when they are labeled “ambitious.” and Dr.

Elon Musk, in a new bid to bolster the claim that he has the right to walk away from his $44 billion bid for Twitter, issued a subpoena to Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter. Through the subpoena, revealed Monday in a court filing, the world’s richest individual is hoping to turn up

Warner Bros. Games’ “MultiVersus” — the free-to-play platform fighter that brings together a bevy of characters from across the WB portfolio — has surpassed 20 million players less than a month after it launched in open beta, according to the company. The game lets players team up in two-on-two fights and pick from a range

MoviePass, the beleaguered moviegoing subscription service that collapsed in spectacular fashion, is returning at the end of the summer. The subsidized ticketing service will relaunch in beta form on Labor Day, though potential users will have to first join a waitlist. Starting on Thursday at 9 a.m. ET, MoviePass will allow customers to sign up

Streamer subscriptions across the Arab world are expected to more than double over the next five years  with current regional market leader Netflix remaining firmly ahead of the pack. According to a study conducted across 13 Arabic countries by London-based research firm Digital TV Research paid SVOD subs in the Middle East region are set

Aubrey O’Day, social-media personality, one-time reality TV star and Danity Kane singer, hit back at accusations that she has posted several altered vacation photos on her Instagram feed — by cheekily sharing an image of herself with Jesus in heaven. “took the PJ [private jet] to Heaven in the last 24.. wanted to share with

Left hand, meet right hand. In what appears to have been an automated response, HBO Max’s customer-help account on Twitter proactively reached out Sunday night to ask the main @hbomax handle if it needed technical help to watch the premiere of “House of the Dragon.” The @hbomax account, about an hour after the 9 p.m.

Blackpink kicked in the door with the release of “Pink Venom,” which has become the most-viewed music video on YouTube this year to date in the first 24 hours. The K-pop powerhouse group’s dance-fueled video for girl-power anthem “Pink Venom” reached an impressive 86.2 million views within 24 hours after it dropped on YouTube at

Bought to you by the letters G-O-N-E: The content purge at HBO Max continues as the streaming platform has pulled about 200 older episodes of classic kids’ show “Sesame Street.” The removal of the “Sesame Street” episodes and other recent content by HBO Max appears to be part of new owner Warner Bros. Discovery’s belt-tightening

Roku is unleashing unprecedented promotional firepower for “House of the Dragon,” the “Game of Thrones” prequel set to premiere Sunday on HBO Max, in what the streaming platform company says is its biggest-ever subscription VOD marketing deal. Roku’s “House of the Dragon” campaign for HBO Max involved more than 100 staffers at the company. The

YouTube Shorts has pulled out a new weapon in its battle against short-form video juggernaut TikTok: watermarks. Going forward, the video giant will add a watermark icon to YouTube Shorts videos that creators download to share elsewhere, like on TikTok and Instagram Reels. That way, if a video that originated on YouTube Shorts goes viral

NBC’s “Password” reboot from executive producer Jimmy Fallon and host Keke Palmer has picked up its key demo ratings by 43% and its viewership by 27% with delayed and digital viewing following the show’s Aug. 9 premiere, Variety has learned exclusively. Over its first two episodes (the second airing Aug. 16), “Password” is averaging an