Digital

Disney’s streaming bundle combining Hulu and Disney+ in one service officially launched Wednesday morning, ending a three-month beta period described by the company as a success. The “duo” plan, Hulu on Disney+, is priced $2 higher than each individual subscriptions alone. It follows in the the estimable footsteps of the three-service Disney Bundle first introduced in 2020, which also includes ESPN+. Unlike that ongoing offering, though, the two-service one is focused on streamlining the consumer experience and pooling the content of two large, established streaming players within a single outlet.

A privacy case against TikTok would add fuel to the bipartisan chorus of criticism directed at the company over its ties to China.

A search advertiser can’t proceed in court with claims that Google conspired with Apple to avoid competing in the search business, a federal judge has ruled. In a dismissal order, U.S. District Court Judge Pitts in the Northern District of California completely threw out the advertiser’s claims against Apple, and sent the claims against Google to arbitration because its contract with advertisers requires arbitration of disputes.

Former President Donald Trump’s ’s social media startup whipsawed in its first session as a publicly traded company, after the most high-profile blank-check deal in years added billions to his fortune — at least on paper. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. jumped nearly 59% on Tuesday and briefly triggered a volatility-related trading halt before paring gains. The merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. to take the unprofitable company behind Truth Social public caps an eye-popping meme stock run, and provides a potential windfall for Trump as he faces a mounting series of legal and financial woes.

Max has handed a straight-to-series order to The Pitt, a new medical drama starring and executive-produced by Noah Wyle. Fellow ER vets John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill are also on board as EPs. The Pitt, which has received a 15-episode order, is described as “a realistic examination of the challenges facing health care workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh.”

The NFL is breaking new ground this season with a September game in Brazil, the first time a regular-season contest will take place in South America. The Week 1 game will be exclusively streamed on Peacock, giving NBCUniversal three stand-alone games in the first week of the season.

Anthem Sports & Entertainment said that it hired Greg Drebin as head of content and marketing for its AXS TV and HDNet Movies networks. Drebin, most recently EVP of worldwide marketing, publicity and research at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, will look to expand viewership and improve the demographics of the two channels.

The Cox Media Group veteran will succeed the retiring Ray Carter at the group’s Atlanta ABC affiliate.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a law that prohibits social media platforms from allowing anyone under 14 to create or maintain accounts, and also requires tech platforms to obtain parental consent before allowing 14- or 15-year olds to create or maintain accounts.

As the viewing landscape continues to get more complex in the streaming era, ESPN is aiming to streamline things for sports fans by integrating video feeds from regional sports networks into its main app and website. Starting this week, subscribers to NESN, which carries Boston sports teams including the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics, will be able to tune into games via ESPN’s app or on ESPN.com. In May, timed to the start of the WNBA season, Washington, D.C.’s Monumental Sports Network will also be integrated. SportsNet Pittsburgh, which is operated by NESN, is also part of the ESPN agreement, though its coverage will be added down the line.

Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms face the risk of potentially hefty fines as the European Union opened a full-blown investigation into the firms’ compliance with strict new laws reining in the power of Big Tech. The European Commission said Monday that Apple and Google’s app store rules will be targeted in the first probes under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, how Google search results might unfairly preference its own services and how Apple may make it harder for users to choose alternatives to its Safari browser.

Some see the TikTok bill as the best chance for now to regulate the tech industry and set a precedent, if a narrow one focused on just one company. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the House bill, which overwhelmingly passed 362-65 this month after a rare 50-0 committee vote moving it to the floor. But it’s already running into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on the best approach to ensure that China doesn’t access private data from the app’s 170 million U.S. users or influence them through its algorithms. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The share price of Digital World Access Corp. began trending downward following a shareholder vote Friday morning to merge with Donald Trump’s social media company: Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the Truth Social digital platform. The deal, which personally gives Trump billions of dollars in potential equity value, includes contractual requirements barring him from selling shares for six months.

The remake of the beloved Nickelodeon animated series opened at No. 1 overall on Nielsen’s streaming charts for Feb. 19-25. Avatar had 2.56 billion minutes of viewing in the United States over its first four days (it premiered Feb. 22), the second biggest week for any streaming title in 2024 so far (behind the 3.04 billion for Fool Me Once in early January).

Over the past few months, the streaming giant has aired exhibition events in golf and tennis. It is also slated to air the July 20 bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. Beginning next year, Netflix will start carrying World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship show, Raw. So there’s been speculation about whether Netflix’s recent forays into live sports are a precursor to becoming a major player for live sports rights. While having another competitor for rights would certainly be welcomed, it is unlikely to happen soon.

Nearly every commercial that runs on TV is backed by a guarantee of how big an audience will watch it. Late last year, Fox and Netflix decided to throw out that rule, one of the oldest in media economics.

GTG powers and provides Sinclair stations’ websites with Game Center, offering a menu of integrated direct-to-consumer fan engagement games.

Reddit, the 19-year-old website that hosts millions of online forums, priced its IPO on Wednesday at $34 a share, the top of the expected range. The offering brought in $519 million, according to Reddit, and values the company at close to $6.5 billion. Reddit had planned to price the deal at $31 to $34 a share.