March 13, 2020 8:47AM PT Cable giant Charter Communications will provide free broadband for two months to households with students, as a number of U.S. schools are shutting down because of concerns about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Starting next Monday (March 16), Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to
Many were stunned last summer when Jay-Z unexpectedly announced that his Roc Nation company had struck an entertainment and social-awareness campaign with the NFL. After all, the rapper-mogul had harshly criticized the NFL over its treatment of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose controversial symbolic kneeling during the National Anthem to protest racial
LevelK has sold Icelandic vampire splatter comedy “Thirst” to several territories including North America following its market premiere at the European Film Market. Directed by Gaukur Úlfarsson and Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, the movie was jointly acquired by Uncork’d Entertainment and Dark Star Pictures for North American distribution, as well as Njutafilms for Sweden, Denmark, Norway
The Masters, golf’s most prestigious tournament, is the latest sporting event to succumb to the Coronavirus pandemic. Fred Ridley, chairman of The Masters, announced the decision to postpone the tournament via the following statement. “On Wednesday, March 4, we issued a memo stating that our plans to host the Masters Tournament, the Augusta National Women’s
Apple Music has inked new, multi-year licenses with the three major music companies — Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group — in recent months, according to the Financial Times, although the deals do not extend to the company’s planned bundles with Apple TV or Apple Arcade. Apple has been working to create
Unlike in Italy and Belgium, French theaters will remain open in spite of a ban on gatherings for more than 100 people, according to a spokesperson for the FNCF, France’s national exhibitors org. French prime minister Edouard Philippe has banned gatherings for more than 100 people to contain the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
March 13, 2020 6:05AM PT Today, Amazon Music is launching “Amazon Music for Artists”: a mobile app for artists and their teams to better understand their business on the platform. At launch, Amazon Music for Artists will be available on both iOS and Android, offering streaming performance and insights into an artist’s audience on the
Spirit Music Group has signed a publishing deal with Grammy-winning producer- songwriter and music publisher Christopher “Tricky” Stewart. The deal covers his future works, as Stewart sold his catalog to Hipgnosis Songs in 2018. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart’s hits, many written with The-Dream, include Rihanna’s Grammy-winning “Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning “Single Ladies (Put a Ring
For now, VidCon’s flagship U.S. edition is still a go amid a wave of cancellations of other events and shutdowns including the closure of Disneyland and other theme parks over the coronavirus outbreak. VidCon US 2020 remains scheduled to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center from June 17-20, 2020, according to a spokesperson for
U.S. equities markets were poised for a rebound on Friday after Thursday’s coronavirus pandemic-fueled bloodbath marked the worst declines in indices across the board since the Black Monday meltdown in October 1987. Dow futures were up more than 1,000 points in the pre-market session. The wild swings of the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ markets
The U.K.’s Broadcasting Press Guild held its 46th Television and Radio Awards at London’s Banking Hall on Friday, with “Chernobyl” and “The Virtues” among the winners. The BPG Awards, given for work commissioned or premiered in the U.K. and screened in 2019, are selected independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers. “I’m proud
March 13, 2020 5:45AM PT Following the shutdown of schools and universities announced by France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, the French prime minister has now banned gatherings for more than 100 people to contain the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. The new ban, announced by the prime minister Edouard Philippe on Friday, has
March 13, 2020 5:47AM PT U.S. equities markets could see something of a rebound Friday as futures trading in major indices soared in the early hours before the trading session begins at 9:30 a.m. ET. Dow futures were up 1,100 points, following Thursday’s bloodbath that saw the worst declines for the Dow and other indices
March 13, 2020 3:31AM PT France’s second biggest commercial network M6 is set to sell 50% of the capital of its technology company Bedrock to RTL Group with the aim of creating a leading streaming service in Europe. Bedrock, which is spearheaded by Jonas Engwall, is responsible for developing a platform used by 6Play, RTL
European broadcasting giant RTL Group on Friday reported a 10% increase in 2019 profit as revenue reached a record €6.65 billion ($7.44 billion), driven mainly by higher sales from global content unit Fremantle and its digital business. With sales up 3.2%, 2019 marked the fifth consecutive year that RTL’s revenue reached record levels. The group’s
March 12, 2020 11:00PM PT Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an NYPD detective tracking a European serial killer in this grisly yet uninspired thriller. There have been a lot of adaptations (primarily for TV) of megaselling author James Patterson’s pulpy fictions, none particularly memorable, with the possible exception of hit 1997 thriller “Kiss the Girls.” But
Earlier this year, recently-married “Glee” and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: An American Crime Story” star Darren Criss put his Los Angeles starter home up for sale. Lucky for him, buyers went hog-wild over the supremely located midcentury bungalow, which is tucked away in the coveted Los Feliz neighborhood of town on L.A.’s Eastside. The
When asked to diagnose himself early in “Inside the Rain,” Benjamin Glass, a college film student played by Aaron Fisher, cheerfully runs down a checklist: “I’m bipolar, ADHD, OCD, borderline personality disorder… You name it, I’ve got it.” It’s a moment that is at once both amusing and unsettling — even more so if you’re
Maybe it’s the fault of “The Fault in Our Stars” that we assume, in the flourishing modern era of the young-adult genre, that one of the story’s romantic leads has to die in order to advance the dramatic stakes. Fortunately, that’s not the case with director Julia Hart’s “Stargirl.” Adapted by Hart, Kristin Hahn and
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the season finale of “Project Runway” Season 18. This season of “Project Runway” couldn’t end without Sergio Guadarrama fighting for one final cause. This time? The arctic, and what humanity is doing to it. He also stole some spotlight for a personal proposal. But
Following a number of release dates moving and premieres being cancelled, Marvel and Disney have decided to temporarly shutter production on “Shang-Chi.” The delay comes due to director Destin Daniel Cretton being asked by a doctor to self-isolate. Cretton was not feeling symptoms of COVID-19, but chose be tested as a precaution since he is
March 12, 2020 8:14PM PT Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have shared an update from Australia, where they both remain in isolated care after testing positive for coronavirus. “Rita Wilson and I would like to thank everyone Down Under for taking such good care of us,” Hanks wrote on social media. “We have COVID-19 and
March 12, 2020 6:27PM PT NBA commissioner Adam Silver appeared on TNT Thursday evening, the day after game play was suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus outbreak, revealing that the league’s hiatus would last for “at least 30 days.” “We don’t know enough to be more specific than that,” he told “NBA on TNT’s” Ernie
In today’s film news roundup, film festivals in New Jersey and Idaho are being postponed, Oscar-nominated Jason Hall will direct wrestling drama “Unstoppable” and the StoryPlace Studios database of story content is unveiled. FILM FESTIVALS Amid cancellations of major film festivals such as Tribeca, events in New Jersey, Idaho and Beverly Hills have opted to postpone
March 12, 2020 5:31PM PT The spread of coronavirus has been a hot topic among some of the opinion hosts on Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. But their bosses behind the scenes have been grappling with it as well. The top executives at Fox News Channel told employees Thursday to cut back on
March 12, 2020 5:47PM PT Fox News Channel said it would pull repeats off the air during overnight hours to present continuous live coverage of the national response to the spread of coronavirus, adding four new hours of live content and dedicated hosts starting Monday, March 16. Fox News said it would expand Shannon Bream’s
The annual LA Screenings program market held every year on the heels of the upfronts is the latest industry staple to be sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic. Industry sources said it made no sense to proceed with plans for a week-long showcase of new programs for international buyers at a time when travel to and
It might’ve been a Tuesday night in Hollywood, but the “Boomerang” cast, crew and exec. producer Lena Waithe were ready to celebrate “Waithe Wednesdays” at the BET drama’s second season premiere. “It’s a beautiful time, you know,” Waithe told Variety at the event’s green carpet, speaking to press for the third time in just over
March 12, 2020 4:21PM PT Netflix is shutting down one of its LA offices after an employee was believed to have contracted coronavirus, Variety has learned from sources. All Los Angeles employees were advised to leave and begin working from home. The building where the potential coronavirus patient worked is undergoing a deep cleaning. Netflix declined to
NBC and CBS said they would suspend production of its two flagship late-night programs for a period of at least two weeks, the latest bit of fallout around wee-hours TV related to the spread of coronavirus. Starting Friday, “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night” will suspend production through a previously planned hiatus, which had been