10.17.14

Entertainment:

·         Please see below for three articles on TV unbundling and the rise of online streaming services/SVOD

o   http://www.wired.com/2014/10/cbs-hbo-unbundling/

o   http://www.videonuze.com/article/why-proliferating-svod-services-could-actually-be-very-good-news-for-pay-tv

o   http://online.wsj.com/articles/prices-add-up-with-a-la-carte-tv-1413501679?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories

·         AirMedia, a syndication network built specifically for video, hopes to find new distribution for premium publishers with its $2MM in funding

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/17/airmedia/

·         American Cinematheque announced today that Christopher Nolan will present this year's honoree Matthew McConaughey with the American Cinemetheque Award

o   http://deadline.com/2014/10/christopher-nolan-handing-american-cinemetheque-award-to-matthew-mcconaughey-853208/

·         “Fury” grossed $1.2MM last night in 2,489 theaters and is on track for a very respectable box office weekend

o   http://deadline.com/2014/10/box-office-late-nights-fury-opens-to-strong-1-2m-book-of-life-to-300k-853641/

·         The Hollywood Film Awards will be hosted by Queen Latifah

o   http://deadline.com/2014/10/queen-latifah-host-hollywood-film-awards-853633/

·         “Guardians Of The Galaxy” rocketed to a record debut in China last weekend with a $29.8M gross (the best of any title there in October) has now passed $700M worldwide

o   http://deadline.com/2014/10/guardians-of-the-galaxy-box-office-records-853083/

·         Tribune Media has reached a deal with Fox to extend the affiliation of its Seattle station KCPQ-TV, which Fox had been eyeing as part of its campaign to secure O&Os in key NFL markets

o   http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/tribune-extends-fox-affiliation-deal-in-seattle-market-for-a-price-1201332622/

·         A-Grade Investments, a venture capital fund founded in 2010 by Guy Oseary, Ashton Kutcher and Ron Burkle, has a valuation of $150MM

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6288966/exclusive-guy-oseary-ashton-kutchers-tech-fund-a

·         Akamai Technologies and Juniper Networks are teaming on an elastic content delivery network system, which is designed to enable network operators to address network scalability challenges driven by the rapid increase in video traffic

o   http://www.rapidtvnews.com/2014101735696/akamai-juniper-team-on-elastic-cdn.html#axzz3GKKtkeh6

Tech:

·         Please see below for a video tour of Eventbrite’s new HQ

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/16/tc-cribs-eventbrites-new-bright-and-shiny-hq/

·         MasterCard is launching a fingerprint-enabled credit card with technology partner Zwipe, which will have an embedded fingerprint scanner

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/17/mastercard-will-borrow-a-touch-id-trick-for-fingerprint-scanning-credit-card/

·         Twitter’s Music Card plays in its mobiles apps and supports iTunes previews

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/16/twitters-music-card-now-plays-in-its-mobile-apps-and-supports-itunes-previews/

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6288907/twitter-audio-cards-put-music-in-your-tweets

·         Twitpic to go out of business on Oct. 25^th

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/16/twitpic-couldnt-find-an-acquirer-will-shut-down-after-all-on-oct-25th/

·         Please see below for a reviews on OS x Yosemite

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/16/os-x-yosemite-review/

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/17/yosemite-adoption-on-macs-running-ahead-of-mavericks-on-first-day/

·         Tumblr launches on OS X, and lets users post anything in a window with a share button

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/17/tumblr-launches-on-os-x-lets-you-post-anything-in-a-window-with-a-share-button/

·         Facebook is actively trawling the dark web for stolen passwords

o   http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/17/6994333/facebook-is-actively-trawling-the-dark-web-for-stolen-passwords

·         Amazon confirms it will deliver fresh groceries in NYC

o   http://recode.net/2014/10/16/amazon-confirms-it-will-deliver-fresh-groceries-in-new-york-city/

Deals:

·         Warner Music Group acquired Playlists.net

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/16/playlists-net-acquired/

·         CF Industries and Yara have terminated talks over a $30B merger that would have created the world's largest maker of nitrogen-based crop nutrients

o   http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/17/cf-industries-yara-intl-ma-idUSL2N0SC08V20141017

Business:

·         JPMorgan is planning to build a new $6.5B headquarters in NYC

o   http://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-proposed-headquarters-in-hudson-yards-2014-10

o   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/nyregion/jpmorgan-chase-seeks-incentives-to-build-new-headquarters-in-manhattan.html?gwh=49370553200CE36AA11C0B178791E8CA&gwt=pay&assetType=nyt_now

·         Virgin Money to postpone its IPO due to market conditions

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/virgin-money-postpones-i-p-o-latest-to-cite-market-conditions/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=I.P.O./Offerings&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body&_r=0

·         SunEdison is in talks with a company from China about investing up to $2B to build a low-cost polysilicon factory in the country

o   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-16/sunedison-in-talks-for-2-billion-china-polysilicon-plant.html

·         Google shares dropped about 3% after it missed Q3 earnings expectations

o   http://deadline.com/2014/10/google-q3-earnings-2-852938/

·         VCs have already invested $3B more in 2014 than they did in all of 2013

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/17/vcs-have-already-invested-3b-more-in-2014-than-they-did-in-all-of-2013/

Exec Moves:

·         RCA Records hired Dan Chartoff as its VP of A&R

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6289015/rca-records-hires-dan-chartoff-as-vp-ar

·         Gayle Troberman has been named iHeartMedia’s EVP and CMO

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6288943/gayle-troberman-iheartmedia-executive-vice-president-chief-marketing-officer

Retail:

Startups:

·         Wilshire Axon Sports, which develops software to help sports teams connect with their fans via social media, has raised $2MM in funding

o http://www.socaltech.com/wilshire_axon_sports_finds__m/s-0057431.html

·         Osmo, which reimagines entertainment with education, raised $12MM in its Series A led by Accel Partners

o http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/osmo

Government:

Other: