Tech

Pocket.watch, the kids and family media company centered on creating franchises around YouTube stars, hired seasoned industry exec Xavier Kochhar as its first COO and CFO. Kochhar, who starts at Pocket.watch on Thursday, most recently was at AT&T in a corporate strategy and development role and prior to that headed strategy and biz dev for

Kate Mara and Adam Scott have boarded psychological thriller “Ghostwriter,” a “podcast movie” from C13Features, the feature-length podcast studio division of Audacy’s Cadence13. “Ghostwriter” is currently finalizing production plans and is scheduled to debut worldwide Dec. 6, 2021, on major podcast platforms. The project is the second scripted audio feature from C13Features studio, which is

Regional Australian funding body Screen Queensland has set up two projects, one a feature film, one a TV series, emanating from its relationship with fan-driven literary platform Wattpad Webtoon. Both will enjoy further input from super-fans before heading into production. Writer Dominic Morris and producer Nadine Bates from Brisbane production company Like A Photon Creative have been chosen to adapt “The

Jellysmack, a company that optimizes the distribution of creator videos and other content, has tapped Sean Atkins as president. Atkins has served as an official adviser to Jellysmack since 2019. He brings more than two decades of experience to Jellysmack after previous stints as CEO of RTL Group’s Digital Video Group, president of MTV, chief

Clubhouse, the live audio-chat startup, has hired 15-year NPR veteran Nina Gregory as head of news and media publishers. Gregory most recently was senior editor on NPR’s arts desk, where she has overseen coverage of film, TV, art, design, fashion, food and culture. In her new role at Clubhouse, Gregory will be working with media

Quibi — Jeffrey Katzenberg’s short-lived, short-form premium video startup — shut its doors nearly a year ago. But it has lived on as holding company because of a legal battle with interactive-video firm Eko, which alleged Quibi stole trade secrets and infringed Eko patents. Now the companies have buried the hatchet: Eko and QBI Holdings

Hasan Minhaj will voice Gotham’s notorious quizmaster — The Riddler — in “Batman Unburied,” a forthcoming scripted podcast from Spotify in partnership with Warner Bros. and DC. Minhaj (“Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj,” “The Daily Show,” “Homecoming King”) joins the cast of the superhero thriller from executive producer David S. Goyer (“The Dark Knight Rises”), which

Stars meet their biggest stans in Wondery’s new game show podcast series, “Celeb vs. Superfan,” hosted by stand-up comedian Taylor Tomlinson — in which the participants compete to see who knows more weird trivia about the celebrity featured in each episode. Amazon-owned podcast studio Wondery premieres “Celeb vs. Superfan” on Wednesday (Sept. 15) across all

Activision Blizzard has hired Julie Hodges, a 32-year veteran of the Walt Disney Co., as its chief people officer. Hodges joins the games giant effective Sept. 21, replacing Claudine Naughton, whom Activision Blizzard said is “leaving the company.” The change in HR leadership at the company comes two months after it was hit with a

Apple is hoping to trigger a big new iPhone upgrade cycle with the iPhone 13 — tricked out with an option for up to 1 terabyte of on-board storage on the high end of the line, and multiple enhanced camera features. The tech giant officially took the wraps off the iPhone 13, about which rumors

“I Promise,” a documentary film that tells the story of LeBron James’ efforts to close the educational achievement gap in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, is coming to the YouTube Originals channel later this month. The film, directed by Marc Levin, premieres Thursday, Sept. 28, at 12 p.m. ET, available free to watch (with ads).

Chris Spadaccini, a former longtime marketing exec at HBO and WarnerMedia, has joined family-oriented retail and experiential startup CAMP as chief marketing officer. In the new role, Spadaccini will lead CAMP’s brand, advertising, creative, media and growth marketing strategies as the company prepares for expansion. He reports to founder and CEO Ben Kaufman. Spadaccini departed

South Korea’s anti-trust regulator has fined Google KRW207 billion ($177 million) for blocking customization of its Android mobile phone operating system. The move is significant given the leading position of Korean firms Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in the mobile handset, tablets and wearables markets. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said Tuesday that Google

Influencer marketing company CreatorIQ announced that it closed a new $40 million funding round, looking to enhance tools for e-commerce and measurement of campaigns featuring internet-famous stars. The funding came from from existing investors TVC Capital, Kayne Partners Fund (the private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors), Affinity Group and Unilever Ventures (which is

Howard Stern is continuing to criticize people who refuse to get vaccinated for COVID-19, and he’s now set his sights on Joe Rogan after the controversial podcast host revealed he took ivermectin to treat his COVID diagnosis, rather than get vaccinated. Last week, Rogan ranted on a podcast about the media’s coverage of his supposedly

Fox Corp. aims to rev up the tempo of its digital news, sports and lifestyle offerings now that the company has completed its acquisition of TMZ from WarnerMedia at a price tag estimated at around $50 million. Fox has acquired all of the company behind the daily syndicated TV shows “TMZ” and “TMZ Live,” which

Latino-owned TV and media company Fuse Media is rolling onto the streaming battlefield with the official launch of Fuse Plus, priced at $2 per month as a standalone service and available at no extra cost to customers of participating pay-TV operators. Fuse Plus officially launches Sept. 13, after debuting in beta in June. The service

Leading French podcast production company Paradiso Media has completed a Series A round of financing to pursue its international development, build its workforce and continue producing more film and TV adaptations. Although Paradiso Media did not disclose the amount of the financing round, a source close to the company said a total of €5 million

Credit rating giant TransUnion announced a deal to acquire Neustar, an identity resolution company — which tracks and aggregates consumers’ digital activity for marketing and anti-fraud applications — for $3.1 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. TransUnion is

A federal judge issued a permanent injunction barring Apple from preventing developers from including other forms of in-app payment in their iOS apps, in a win for Epic Games. The injunction is scheduled to take effect Dec. 9, which is 90 days from the issuance of the order Friday. In August 2020, Epic Games, creator

ViacomCBS unveiled its fall podcasting slate, continuing its strategy centered around extending popular franchises into audio programming. The media company, which claims downloads of its podcasts have nearly doubled year-over-year across the portfolio, is set to debut all-new podcasts from CBS, CBS News, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. The lineup includes a podcast version of “The

Yahoo, less than two weeks after officially separating from Verizon, announced digital media veteran Jim Lanzone as its new CEO. Lanzone, most recently CEO of Tinder and former head of CBS Interactive, will join Yahoo on Sept. 27. He will join the company less than a month after the close of the $5 billion deal

Since the advent of streaming services, one of the major problems with DJ mixes has been ensuring that every musical element in those mixes is identified and paid for. Well, Apple Music has unveiled a new process — in cooperation with major and independent labels — whereby it can properly identify and directly pay the

Digital media company BuzzFeed, poised to go public through its recently announced merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), touted a rebound in sales for the second quarter of 2021. The growth, however, comes off a sudden and steep revenue shortfall in Q2 last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second quarter

Epic Games said it will shut down Houseparty, the live video-chat app that the company bought two years ago — evidently concluding that the app is not financially sustainable. Houseparty announced Thursday that it will discontinue the app in October. According to a blog post on its site, the team behind Houseparty is “working on

Discovery’s Food Network is hungry for more on-the-road cooking improv escapades from the Try Guys, the YouTube viral-video comedy troupe. The cabler picked up “No Recipe Road Trip With the Try Guys” to series, with an additional five-episode order. Food Network previously had announced a deal with the Try Guys for a one-off special of

Judy Sheindlin, after ending her 25-year run as daytime TV’s favorite judge, is taking her gavel — and other elements of “Judge Judy” — into the streaming wars. Sheindlin’s new IMDb TV original series, officially called “Judy Justice,” is set to premiere Nov. 1 exclusively on the Amazon-owned free streaming service. New episodes of “Judy

As the world exits the COVID pandemic and enters the streaming era, nobody can doubt that the entertainment industry is undergoing permanent changes. Few companies, however, are preparing for it in the fashion of Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures. It is going to be less American and more youth-driven, Silverman, a former president of creative development

Marvel says it has redesigned the Marvel Unlimited digital-comics subscription app from the ground up — with an update that includes some top-requested features and brand-new content. The revamped app, available starting Thursday (Sept. 9), launches with Marvel’s first major line of exclusive Infinity Comics, which are full-screen vertical comics designed for phones and tablets.

In today’s podcast news roundup, “No Time to Die” official podcast featuring Daniel Craig and more debuts; Spotify launches incubator program for Latino podcast creators; Meghan Trainor sets a new podcast series on motherhood and mental health; Chance the Rapper explains why “Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong”; and more. DATES The first two episodes of “No