Tech

Nielsen’s media data arm Gracenote is launching new tools to measure the “bingeability” and streaming availability of TV shows to offer companies guidance in licensing and acquisition during the Peak TV era. Joining Gracenote’s Content Analytics data group, which features Inclusion Analytics and Audience Predict, the Distribution Dynamics and Program Availability Archive will “provide the

Popular chef, author and humanitarian José Andrés is joining the ranks of newsletter scribes and podcasters His media company José Andrés Media, will launch “Longer Tables,” a new weekly newsletter in partnership with Substack that aims to highlight stories that illustrate how food connects people around the world. The publication is expected to contain “deep

After five weeks at No. 1 on Variety’s Trending TV chart, Netflix’s “Heartstopper” dropped to No. 3 for the week of May 23 to 29. Taking the top spot was another Netflix entry, “Stranger Things,” which debuted the first half of its fourth season after a three-year hiatus. the first episode of stranger things season

Brut, the digital media startup that became the Cannes Film Festival’s media partner this year, covered the 75th edition with 1,200 videos that were watched by 220 million people around the world. The company hosted the Cannes Creators Connection, an initiative that brought a flurry of content creators and social media stars to the festival

The Jonas Brothers are giving fans a new way to access exclusive videos — charging $5 per month for the privilege — on Scriber, a smartphone-based subscription startup. Jonas Brothers followers who subscribe via Scriber are promised “unique, behind-the-scenes videos and updates” directly from the singing trio. Subscribers also will be eligible to enter contests

The foul-mouthed antiheroes of “The Boys,” the satirical superhero series on Amazon’s Prime Video, are coming to battle-royale game PUBG Mobile. Launching alongside “The Boys” Season 3 premiere June 3 on Prime Video, players will be able to obtain a number of exclusive items tied to the show, including the iconic super suits of Homelander,

Disney+ added a warning to the page of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” that some viewers may find “certain scenes” in the Star Wars series “upsetting.” That appeared to be in response to the mass shooting earlier this week at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children dead. A message on some Disney+ accounts on

Digital artist and NFT virtuoso Emily Yang joined Variety and Kering at the Cannes Film Festival for an inspiring Women In Motion conversation on Friday, just ahead of the final day of the festival’s 75th edition. In just over two years, Yang went from being on unemployment insurance to becoming a rockstar in the NFT-driven

In today’s podcast news roundup, Marc Maron goes into business with Acast; iHeartMedia orders slate of podcasts from Bloomberg Media; Financial Times and Pushkin Industries probe the porn biz; Sony Music goes into “Binge” mode; American Girl launches podcast network based on its doll franchise; and more. DEALS Top podcaster Marc Maron inked a three-year

China’s e-commerce and media giant Alibaba recorded lower profits in the 12 months to March 2022, following a year of turmoil for tech companies, a weakening Chinese economy, a COVID revival and Russia’s war in Ukraine.. Group revenues increased by 19% in the year to March, reaching $135 billion (RMB853 billion). In the fourth quarter,

Chinese video streamer iQiyi unveiled a rare quarterly profit in the three months to March, amidst a mixed picture on revenue and subscriptions. The company, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange but is predominantly controlled by Chinese tech conglomerate Baidu, said in a filing that it had achieved net income attributable of RMB169

The Federal Trade Commission levied a $150 million fine on Twitter, alleging that the social network let advertisers use private data to target specific users — without informing users of the practice. According to the agency, Twitter violated a 2011 FTC order that “explicitly prohibited” the company from misrepresenting its privacy and security practices. In

Since 2014, satirical website The Onion has published virtually the same article — each with the same headline, “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” — 21 times, each one following a major gun massacre in the United States. On Wednesday, The Onion posted all 21 of the articles on

Can “Exploding Kittens” bring some pyrotechnics to Netflix’s nascent games strategy? The popular “Exploding Kittens” card game is coming to the streamer’s mobile apps starting May 31. It’s the latest in a string of more than a dozen games Netflix has introduced since last fall, but so far it’s too early to tell whether the

Splice, the online music marketplace for rights-cleared sounds and beats, has hired Adobe’s Kakul Srivastava as its new CEO. Founder and CEO Steve Martocci will transition to executive chairman and chief strategy officer. Srivastava arrives from Adobe, where she oversaw and led the company’s $9 billion Creative Cloud business along with building and scaling platforms

What if Bruce Wayne wasn’t an orphan — would there still be a Batman? And how would the superhero be different if Wayne were a Black man, instead of the rich white scion of one of Gotham’s elite families? Variety recently spoke with Winston Duke, star of “Batman Unburied,” the original podcast drama from DC/Warner

Playboy, the 69-year-old lifestyle brand owned by PLBY Group, has hired Loren Piretra as VP of creator and influencer marketing, heading strategy for its recently launched Centerfold platform. Piretra most recently worked at Amazon-owned Twitch as global head of creator and influencer marketing. She starts at PLBY Group on June 1. In her role at

SiriusXM has acquired Team Coco, the Conan O’Brien-led podcast network and digital media business. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The satellite radio company’s pact for Team Coco is worth about $150 million, per the Wall Street Journal. With the deal, Team Coco’s staff will join SiriusXM, continuing to produce the network’s slate of podcasts

CNN Digital editor in chief Meredith Artley is exiting the news organization after more than 12 years, coming a little over a month after the close of the deal creating Warner Bros. Discovery. Artley, who joined CNN in October 2009, announced her departure in a memo to staff Friday. “It’s been a rewarding and long

Epic Games’ Fortnite is feeling The Force again. Under a pact with Disney’s Lucasfilm, Obi-Wan Kenobi is coming to Fortnite’s item shop next week — with an outfit and gear based on Ewan McGregor’s turn as the fabled Jedi Master in the forthcoming Disney+ series. Kenobi made a brief appearance in Fortnite on May the

Disney’s Hulu hopes to usher in a raft of subscribers with a new special deal — offering its ad-supported streaming plan for just $1 per month for three months. Starting Friday, new and eligible returning subscribers can sign up for the Hulu with ads package for $1/month for three months. That’s an 86% discount off

For the first time, Nielsen has reported TV time spent viewing estimates for HBO Max — with the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned service coming in with a 1% share for April 2022, as the streaming sector overall took its highest share of U.S. TV viewing to date. HBO Max previously was included in Nielsen’s “other streaming”

Kids love rewatching their favorites — but how to get them to watch something new? Netflix has cooked up a new way to spur tykes to stream more content: It’s tempting them with a “Mystery Box,” which will reveal a recommended TV show or movie they haven’t seen before. The Mystery Box is launching on

This year, Global Accessibility Awareness Day falls on May 19. And Netflix is using the occasion to announce major plans to expand the global translations of its audio descriptions and subtitles for customers who are blind, deaf or hard-of-hearing. The streamer will expand audio description (AD), subtitles for the deaf or hard-of-hearing (SDH) and dubbing

FaZe Clan, the digital-native media, entertainment and esports platform, has hired music industry veteran Zach Katz for the role of president and chief operating officer. Katz arrives from music-tech investment venture fund Raised In Space Enterprises, which he cofounded in 2019 — in partnership with Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings — and led as CEO. In

Cannes is going Meta. The social giant formerly known as Facebook is taking the Croisette by storm and rolling out the red carpet for creators at the festival. Meta has unveiled its first creator villa, which will be powered by Instagram and host up to 300 content creators over two days at the iconic Palais

Disney is anticipating that over the long term, the majority of Disney+ customers will pick the lower-cost, ad-supported plan, which is set to launch later this year. “Based on our Hulu experience, we actually have more AVOD [ad-supported video-on-demand] than SVOD [subscription VOD] subscribers,” Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said, speaking Wednesday at the 9th Annual

Bob Iger, Disney’s former CEO and chairman, is now a part-owner of Gopuff, a company that provides quick-delivery services in 1,200 cities worldwide that counts Selena Gomez among its investors. The amount of Iger’s investment in Gopuff wasn’t disclosed. He will become an adviser to the company’s co-founders and co-CEOs Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev

Gen Z superstar JoJo Siwa is getting her own show on Facebook, following the exuberant multihyphenate on “crazy-fun adventures” with her pals. Facebook Watch greenlit original hybrid docuseries-format series “JoJo Goes,” slated to premiere in the summer of 2022. In the show, Siwa will be joined by celebrity friends to partake in a range of

TikTok is finally going to let users of the short-form app properly give credit where credit is due. The Bytedance-owned app is introducing the first iteration of creator-crediting tools that will enable — and encourage — users to link back to the videos of TikTok creators and trend originators. Until now, TikTok creators could only