9.11.14

Entertainment:

·         Universal’s home video production arm signed a deal with Threshold Animation

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/universal-1440-entertainment-threshold-animation-832687/

·         Intern lawsuit against CBS and David Letterman was dropped by the intern who apologized and said she was coerced by lawyers

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/david-letterman-lawsuit-intern-dropped-labor-laws-cbs-worldwide-pants-832677/

·         21^st Century Fox is taking out a $1.2B loan due to low interest rates

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/fox-borrows-1-2b-832664/

·         There are 6 main hurdles for producers in California’s $1.65B tax deal

o   http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/californias-165b-tax-deal-6-731519

·         According to a study by Bureau of Labor Statistics, music industry jobs are down 19%

o   http://variety.com/2014/artisans/news/government-issues-bleak-jobs-report-for-movie-sound-recording-industries-1201303222/

·         Netflix acquired all 7 season of ‘Gilmore Girls’ in an exclusive streaming pact

o   http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/netflix-nabs-gilmore-girls-all-7-seasons-in-exclusive-streaming-pact-1201303623/

·         OK Go is claiming Apple ripped them off in their inspirational launch video

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6244250/ok-go-claims-apple-ripped-them-off-in-inspirational

Tech:

·         According to a study done by FutureAdvisor, Uber’s revenues are 12 times larger than Lyft’s revenues

o   http://www.wired.com/2014/09/ubers-revenue-12-times-bigger-lyfts-new-study-says/

·         Festicket, a UK startup that offers travel booking for festival goers, raises $2.7MM in its Series A

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/11/festicket-series-a/

·         According to a study conducted by eMarketer, YouTube will account for 19% of US online video advertisement spend in 2014

o   http://iq.videonuze.com/article/emarketer-youtube-will-account-for-19-of-u-s-online-video-ad-market-in-2014

·         Twitter to hold its first mobile developer conference on Oct. 22^nd called Flight

o   http://www.fastcolabs.com/3035587/elasticity/what-to-expect-from-twitters-first-mobile-developer-conference

·         Square partners with SumAll to integrate merchant sales analytics to its service

o   http://www.fastcompany.com/3035451/elasticity/square-partners-with-sumall-for-sales-analytics

Deals:

·         Twitter to raise up to $1.5B in a debt offering

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/10/twitter-to-raise-up-to-1-5b-in-debt-offering/

·         Tinder is raising a big round of funding from Benchmark, which could value Tinder between $750MM to $1B

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/10/tinder-is-raising-from-benchmark-at-a-valuation-north-of-750-million/

·         Ifbyphone, a maker of voice marketing software, raised $30MM and acquired Mongoose Metrics

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/11/ifbyphone-acquires-mongoose-metrics/

·         Blackberry acquired Movirtu, a company that allows multiple identity solutions (business and personal) for a single device

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/11/blackberry-buys-movirtu-to-offer-separate-business-personal-phone-numbers-on-one-device/

Business:

·         RadioShack says it may have to file for bankruptcy in the near future

o   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/radioshack-loan-said-prepared-by-ubs-standard-general.html

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/radioshack-says-it-may-have-to-file-for-bankruptcy/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Restructuring%20&%20Bankruptcy&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body&_r=0

·         Goldman Sachs to manage $2B of New York’s public pension fund

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/goldman-hired-to-manage-2-billion-of-new-york-public-pension-fund/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Investment%20Banking&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

Exec Moves:

·         CTO of eBay, Mark Carges, to step down from his position

o   http://recode.net/2014/09/11/mark-carges-cto-of-ebay-steps-down/

Retail:

·         Overstock.com is to become the first major retailer to accept bitcoin worldwide

o   http://www.wired.com/2014/09/overstock-com-becomes-first-major-retailer-accept-bitcoin-worldwide/

Startups:

·         Rowl launched as a new social discovery app for music, sports, comedy and other events

o http://www.socaltech.com/rowl_launches_social_discovery_app/s-0056870.html

Government:

·         Obama orders US airstrikes in Syria

o http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/11/us-iraq-crisis-obama-idUSKBN0H527Z20140911

·         A group of US senators urges Burger King to not move to Canada

o http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/11/us-tim-hortons-burger-kg-wld-offer-congr-idUSKBN0H608220140911

Other:

·         Richard Kiel, played Jaws in two James Bond films, has passed away at 74

o   http://variety.com/2014/film/news/james-bond-villain-richard-kiel-dies-at-74-1201303251/