The company’s video-programming executives have taken pitches from Hollywood studios about licensing older content for TV+ and have bought some shows and movies, according to people familiar with the matter. The move represents a subtle strategy shift for Apple TV+, which launched in November with a lineup of original programs.
Joe Rogan, comedian, television host and mixed martial arts commentator, who has become one of the most influential and lucrative podcast hosts in recent years. is taking his podcast to Spotify Technology in a licensing deal worth more than $100 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. His full library, dating back 11 years, is to hit the service Sept. 1, and become exclusive to Spotify after that, before the end of the year.
Facebook announced a new online retail initiative on Tuesday, aimed at spurring digital commerce as small businesses and retailers grapple with the economic devastation from the coronavirus crisis. Facebook Shops lets users sell goods and services online through storefronts hosted by Facebook and Instagram.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Like much of the rest of the global economy, new business activity slowed precipitously for the media services industry during the first quarter of 2020. Total volume of media account turnover declined 51% to $2.9 billion from $4.95 billion in the first quarter of 2019, according to just-published estimates compiled by Comvergence.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James, Jimmy Fallon, Spotify and HBO are among the 2020 Webby Award winners for internet excellence. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced […]
The live, free-to-consumer linear sports network Fubo Sports Network today debuted on the Pluto TV free streaming television service. Sports fans can catch all of Fubo Sports Network’s event coverage, […]
Exclusives
JESSELL AT LARGE
Jessell | Keep An Eye On Wireless Cable 3.0
Evoca, a broadcasting-based multichannel pay service, is launching in Boise this summer with confidence it won’t meet the fate of two previous similar ventures because of its reliance on NextGen TV with its IP interoperability, expanded capacity and superior receivability.
SPONSORED BY THE WEATHER COMPANY
Can multi-platform weather turn a viewership bump into a long-term trend?
Weather forecasts, long the most popular feature of local TV newscasts, are serving as respite for audiences gripped, and exhausted, by news about the global coronavirus pandemic. Can meteorologists, often adept at multiplatform engagement, help cement the relationship with the large numbers of new and younger audience members tuning in? Kevin Eubanks, chief meteorologist at KSL-TV Salt Lake City, Danielle Breezy, chief meteorologist at Nexstar Media’s WKRN Nashville, and Rodney Thompson, senior strategist at The Weather Co., an IBM Business, will talk about strategies for winning the loyalty of new and younger viewers during a June 4 TVNewsCheck webinar. Register here.
Rebecca Campbell, whose promotion to Disney’s chairman of Direct-to-Consumer & International on Monday put her in charge of Disney+, Hulu, Hotstar and ESPN+, took a less-traveled road the to the C-suite. During the bulk of her 23 years at the company, Campbell focused on local broadcasting, running individual stations and the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, which has stations in New York, Los Angeles and six other markets.
Kevin Mayer, the head of direct-to-consumer and international for Walt Disney, is leaving the company to become CEO of TikTok. He had been considered a leading contender to succeed Bob Iger as CEO of Disney but was passed over in favor of Bob Chapek, the former head of parks and resorts. Disney said Monday that Rebecca Campbell will replace Mayer, reporing to Chapek.
The FCC is proposing to help promote broadcasting as a new competitive broadband pipe by making it clear that legacy broadcast TV ownership regulations do not apply to broadcast-delivered internet services like over-the-top video and data. That is according to FCC commissioner Brendan Carr, who has been working on a draft declaratory ruling and notice of proposed rulemaking he says the FCC plans to vote on at its June public meeting.
Altice USA’s News 12 Networks, the hyperlocal news group serving the New York tri-state area, today appointed Jacques Natz general manager. Natz reports to Eric Harris, chief operating officer of […]
DMA 5: DALLAS
CBS Launches CBSN Dallas-Ft. Worth
The debut is the newest expansion of major market local news streaming services from CBS and features local news content produced by KTVT.
Roku’s fortunes have brightened considerably since the COVID-19 pandemic halted production in Hollywood and confined people to their homes.
NEW YORK (AP) — CBS All Access is bringing back Spock for its third full live action show in the “Star Trek” universe, ordering a new series set in the […]
Vice Media has laid off roughly 155 employees, according to a Friday memo from CEO Nancy Dubuc. The memo, reviewed by TheWrap, said 55 of the cuts will be domestic and around 100 will be from overseas divisions.
Facebook has agreed to buy Giphy, the popular platform of sharable animated images, Axios has learned from multiple sources. The total deal value is around $400 million. A source close to the situation says that the two companies first began talking prior to the pandemic, although that was more about a partnership than an acquisition.
LTN Global, a provider of transformative media technology and video transport network solutions says it will leverage Amazon Web Services (AWS) across its suite of modular offerings to improve video […]
Nearly half the employees at the international business news site will lose their jobs as the eight-year-old outlet emphasizes paid subscriptions over advertising revenue.
The NBCUniversal streaming platform will feature originals including Brave New World and a Psych movie when it goes wide July 15.
The IAB has announced details for the virtual NewFront presentations in June, adding newer presenters like TikTok and Roku to a roster full of mainstays like Hulu and YouTube. The NewFronts, usually a splashy New York affair that leads up to the traditional TV upfronts in May, will be held this year will be June 22-26, with daily blocks from noon to 4 p.m. ET.
Facebook is working behind the scenes to help launch a new political advocacy group that would combat U.S. lawmakers and regulators trying to rein in the tech industry, escalating Silicon Valley’s war with Washington at a moment when government officials are threatening to break up large companies. The organization is called American Edge, and it aims through a barrage of advertising and other political spending to convince policymakers that Silicon Valley is essential to the U.S. economy and the future of free speech.
Rep. Evette Clarke (D-N.Y.) is leading an effort to get some economic security for digital-native journalists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Joined by some two dozen colleagues, Clarke sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) saying that without immediate payroll assistance for those digital journalists’ employers, many formerly profitable media outlets will go under, and their staffs will be out of work.
