Tech

DNEG, a U.K.-based visual effects and animation house whose customers include Netflix and major Hollywood film studios, has called off plans to go public amid the broad global slump in financial markets. In January, DNEG had announced plans to merge with Sports Ventures Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a deal valuing

In today’s podcast roundup, domestic guru Martha Stewart teams with iHeartMedia for a talk-show podcast; ESPN expands its partnership with Peyton Manning for a new slate of podcasts; Audible taps Dominic Monaghan for a new spin on Sherlock Holmes’ famous nemesis, Moriarty; SiriusXM premieres original scripted podcast “Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine”; and more. DATES Martha Stewart

Spotify is reducing its hiring forecast by 25% amid broader economic uncertainty, according to a companywide memo sent by chief exec Daniel Ek on Wednesday. Spotify will “reduce hiring growth by 25%,” according to Ek’s memo. The email also said that the company will “continue to still hire and grow” but that “we are just

Spotify is planting a stake at VidCon for the first time. The audio streaming giant is set to activate two immersive booths at the confab, to he held at the Anaheim Convention Center from June 22 to June 25, and will also present VidCon’s Night of Music on Saturday (June 25) featuring a headlining performance

Internet Explorer, the once-popular web browser from tech giant Microsoft, has died. The software program was 26. Internet Explorer, also known as “IE,” is survived by Microsoft Edge, the browser the company launched in 2015 that very few people use. The company had previously announced that it would cease support for Internet Explorer on June

Just a few short months ago, Matt Damon exhorted us to fearlessly buy into cryptocurrencies — in a slick CGI ad for Crypto.com hyping the tagline, “Fortune Favors the Brave.” Now, with cryptocurrencies in freefall and cratering to new lows, the Oscar-winning star of “Good Will Hunting” and “The Martian” is getting mercilessly dragged again

YouTube Shorts — the TikTok-like short-form video feature YouTube launched nearly two years ago — has become massively popular. So far, it’s not generating direct revenue. But YouTube is touting the short-form format as enabling creators to attract viewers for other monetizable content. According to the video giant, YouTube Shorts now has more than 1.5

Raffaele Annecchino, president of Paramount International Studios, Networks and Streaming, is “on leave” from the company. A terse internal Paramount memo obtained by Variety also says that JC Acosta, president, International Studios, Streaming and Networks for Southern Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa; Maria Kyriacou, president, Australia, Canada, Israel and U.K.; and Mark Specht,

Tubi snared a multiyear deal with Lionsgate to be the exclusive ad-supported VOD streaming service for 30 feature films. The agreement encompasses titles not covered under Lionsgate’s Pay 1 theatrical output agreement with Starz, the cable and streaming provider that Lionsgate is in the midst of spinning off. Under the agreement, Tubi, which is part

Jen Garcia Allen, a veteran journalist and digital media executive, has been named co-president of social entertainment studio and brand consultancy firm Shareability. Garcia Allen will oversee day-to-day operations of the company as well as key divisions including strategy, content and the newly formed Insights group. She will report to Shareability CEO Tim Staples. “I

Apple is looking to get more streaming kicks from sports. The tech giant has struck a 10-year rights pact with Major League Soccer, in a deal that will make the Apple TV app the exclusive place to see every single live MLS match beginning in 2023. The new rights deal will tie Apple to soccer

Spotify has created an 18-member council to advise the company on policies addressing harmful content on the audio platform “while making sure we respect creator expression.” The move comes after a backlash earlier this year against Spotify and Joe Rogan, host of the No. 1 podcast on the service, over accusations that “The Joe Rogan

Viacom18, a TV and streaming group backed by billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, has paid $3 billion to win an online auction for two packages of digital rights to Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket. It now has the leverage to change the Indian broadcasting landscape and to the tip the balance even further in favor of

On Pluto TV, there’s now more than meets the eye. The free streaming service from Paramount has launched a dedicated channel for animated series based on the iconic Transformers toy franchise, available 24 hours a day. Transformers TV initially hosts more than 200 hours of content, spanning iconic moments from more than 30 years of

Yahoo, the nearly three-decade-old internet brand, is adding six new members to the privately held company’s board, including actor and entrepreneur Jessica Alba. Verizon Media sold Yahoo last year for $5 billion to private-equity firm Apollo Group, while the telco retained a 10% ownership stake. The company hired Jim Lanzone, former Tinder and CBS exec,

For the past six years the Annecy Animation Film Festival has looked to entrench VR producers within the global animation community. After launching a dedicated showcase in 2016, introducing a full-on competition in 2019, and keeping the VR component active for two years of hybrid and online-only editions, this year’s return to full force will

Cooper Noriega, a popular TikTok creator, died on Thursday. He was 19 years old. Noriega was found dead in a Los Angeles mall parking lot on June 9, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office. Just hours before his death, the social media influencer posted a video of him lying in bed with the

Game giant Activision Blizzard said Friday it will commence talks with Communications Workers of America union representatives to negotiate a contract on behalf of 27 quality-assurance employees at Raven Software, the studio that is the primary developer for the “Call of Duty” series. The reversal comes amid Microsoft’s $69 billion pending bid for Activision Blizzard,

In today’s podcast roundup, Luminary drops a three-part interview with the late Bob Saget; “Too Hot to Handle” and “The Circle” star Chloe Veitch is launching a sex and dating podcast; USG Audio’s first scripted podcast, thriller “The End Up” from executive producer Sam Esmail, is premiering at the Tribeca Festival; and more. DATES Luminary,

The Washington Post fired national political reporter Felicia Sonmez, according to published reports. Her reported termination comes after Sonmez lambasted the Jeff Bezos-owned paper’s leadership and engaged in highly public feuds on Twitter with other staffers. The Post’s firing of Sonmez was first reported by the Daily Beast. A rep for the Washington Post did

Facebook once called its Portal family of devices, first introduced in 2018, “the future of video calling” — and spent big on ad campaigns pushing the products. Now the social media giant, since renamed Meta Platforms, is switching gears: The company will no longer produce consumer versions of the Portal and instead will focus on

Spotter, a startup that pays YouTube creators cash up front for monetization rights to their video libraries, has hired digital media veteran Damon Berger as executive VP of business development and operations. Berger most recently was chief marketing officer at kids and family entertainment company WildBrain. Prior to that, he served as VP, head of

Cate Blanchett (“Carol”) and Terrence Malick (“The Tree of Life”) have reteamed on “Evolver,” a VR free-roaming, music-filled interactive and transcendental experience which is world premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. Produced by the artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (“We Live in an Ocean of Air”) in the U.K., Atlas V (“Spheres”) in France and

TV’s streaming wars aren’t just about TV. Microsoft’s Xbox will bring cloud gaming to Samsung 2022 smart TVs starting June 30 — in a bid to bring videogaming to a broader audience, who won’t have to rely on a console — and eke out share in the battle for consumer attention on the connected TV

Elon Musk may be about to get more data from Twitter than he knows what to do with. Twitter’s board of directors, after resisting Musk’s demands for data backing up its claims about spam and bot accounts representing less than 5% of daily active users, has decided to change course, the Washington Post reported, citing

Spotify disclosed some key financial metrics of its podcast business for the first time — and while the $1 billion-plus the streamer has invested into podcasting so far has been a drag on overall profits, the company expects podcasts to eventually have higher margins than its core music biz. The company outlined its long-term strategy

Pluto TV is — finally — bringing its free, ad-supported streaming service to Canada. Launching in the fall of 2022, Pluto TV Canada will include more than 100 curated channels and more than 20,000 hours of content, all available for free across a range of devices and with no registration required. For the Canada launch,

A new study estimates that upwards of 10% of Twitter active accounts post spam content — double the company’s own claims. The report from U.K.-based data analytics and consulting firm GlobalData comes as Elon Musk, the billionaire Twitter power-user, has threatened to nix his $44 billion deal for the social network over the question of the

Superhero fish-guy The Deep — from Amazon Prime Video hit “The Boys” — is revealing his, uh, deepest secrets in a new Audible original podcast. Launching June 9, “The Boys: Deeper and Deeper” is presented as an “in-world” interview. The setup: The Deep, portrayed in the TV series by Chace Crawford, is on the road

Global arthouse movie streamer, producer and distributor MUBI has acquired all Turkish rights to Iranian director Saeed Roustaee’s timely Cannes title “Leila’s Brothers.” A female empowerment drama set against the backdrop of a family crushed by debts linked to international economic sanctions, “Leila’s Brothers” won the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) prize for best