8.19.14

Entertainment:

·         Millennium Entertainment to acquire Millenniums’ catalog of assets from Nu Image

o   http://deadline.com/2014/08/millennium-entertainment-sale-bill-lee-nu-image-821561/

·         John Legend has teamed up with the MCN ‘DanceOn’ to cast dancers for his upcoming film ‘Breaking Through’

o   http://deadline.com/2014/08/john-legend-breaking-through-danceon-casting-call-821071/

·         Sam Smith to perform at the MTV VMAs

o   http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/mtv-vmas-sam-smith-perform-726222

·         Liam Hemsworth bought a stunning house in Malibu

o   http://variety.com/2014/dirt/real-estalker/liam-hemsworth-quietly-acquires-malibu-compound-1201286036/

·         Fox Sports aims to reach a younger audience by producing daily web-video series on YouTube Space LA

o   http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/fox-sports-taps-youtube-space-la-for-social-focused-thebuzzer-web-show-1201285549/

·         Aaron Paul states that ‘binge watching’ will be the future of TV

o   http://www.indiewire.com/article/emmy-nominee-aaron-paul-explains-why-binge-watching-is-the-future-of-tv-20140819

·         NFL asks artists to pay to perform at the Halftime Show

o   http://online.wsj.com/articles/nfl-to-coldplay-pay-to-play-the-super-bowl-1408465018?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories

Tech:

·         Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, voices his opinion against ISP mergers in an article he penned for Wired

o   http://www.wired.com/2014/08/save-the-net-reed-hastings/

·         Tom Hank’s typewriter app, Hanx Writer, is sitting at the top of the iTunes store

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/18/tom-hanks-typewriter-app-shoots-to-the-top-of-the-app-store/

·         PayPal unveils a simple one-touch checkout for apps to compete against Venmo

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/paypal-rolls-out-one-touch-mobile-checkout-for-apps/

·         Google reveals its new music subscription service, YouTube Music Key, which allows users to listen to and watch music videos ad-free

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/googles-new-music-subscription-service-youtube-music-key-revealed/

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/18/youtubes-music-service-reportedly-gets-a-name-and-a-10-a-month-price-tag/

·         Roku will be embedded directly into Hisense and TCL TVs

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/18/roku-tv-hisense-tcl/

·         Barnes & Noble will sell the Samsung Nook for $179 tomorrow

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/19/barnes-noble-to-start-selling-new-samsung-nook-for-179-tomorrow-report-says/

Deals:           

·         Square and Victory Park Capital reach a deal to bankroll Square by giving the company a cash advance

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/19/square-building-on-its-knowledge-of-businesses-revenue-expands-cash-advance-program/

·         Intel to acquire Avago Technologies for $650MM

o   http://www.crunchbase.com/acquisition/040379e6bf1e4fe23373a16188a04646

·         Samsung Electronics to acquire Quietside, a distributor of heating, AC, and ventilation products

o   http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140819005233/en/Samsung-Electronics-America-Acquire-Quietside-Leading-Distributor#.U_N9y_ldV8F

Business:

·         Elon Musk’s SpaceX is raising money (roughly $200MM) at a valuation pegging the company close to $10B

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/spacex/

o   http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/19/6044555/elon-musks-spacex-raising-funding-10-billion-valuation

·         Analysts state that after 10 years from the Google IPO, it is still a growth stock

o   http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-is-still-a-growth-stock-on-its-10-year-anniversary-2014-08-19

Exec Moves:

·         Doug Scott joins WME/IMG as EVP of Marketing

o   http://deadline.com/2014/08/wme-doug-scott-marketing-branding-821524/

Retail:

·         WebLinc raises $6MM to grow its eCommerce platform

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/weblinc-raises-6m-series-a-to-expand-its-fast-growing-ecommerce-platform/

Startups:

·         PlayFab raises $2.5MM in seed funding to help manage gamer servers and purchases through Steam

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/playfab-raises-2-4m-for-its-gaming-backend-service/

·         Zvooq, a Russian music streaming service, raised $20MM in Series A

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/russian-streaming-music-service-zvooq-closes-20-million-series-a/

Government:

Other:

·         SNL announcer, Don Pardo, dies at 96

o   http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/don-pardo-saturday-night-live-1201285782/