Monday, November 17, 2014

11.17.14

Entertainment:      
·         Please see below for an interesting article on how Disney is becoming a mobile company
·         TVGN's announced the ‘Pop’ rebrand will become official on January 14, which is when the CBS/Lionsgate joint venture takes on its new on-air look and creative design that celebrates “the fun of being a fan”
·         The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will hand its 2015 Outstanding Performer of the Year Award to Steve Carell
·         Signaling a concerted push into China, Universal Pictures and Comcast brass gathered at an opening ceremony for the studio's new Beijing office today
·         UK's Channel 4 has taken a minority stake in drama, factual and comedy producer, Eleven Film
·         Interstellar has grossed $321.9MM globally
·         CBS introduced a web site today warning Dish Network customers that when its carriage deal expires this month the company “may drop” the network-owned stations in 14 cities
·         DreamWorks Animation's merger talks with Hasbro have stopped after the toy company became concerned about the drop in its stock price
·         Conde Nast has settled their intern lawsuit at $5.85MM
·         Softbank, the Japanese investment conglomerate that recently held acquisition talks with DreamWorks Animation, has launched a new streaming service for Japanese smartphone users
·         BMG Chrysalis has acquired Vagrant Records - the home of PJ Harvey, Rocket From The Crypt, School of Seven Bells and more
·         Please see below for an article on how Irving Azoff believes YouTube lacks licensing rights
·         SFX Entertainment plans to consolidate its operations
·         Please see below for an in-depth look at Diplo
·         The execs behind Candy Crush and Angry Birds have backed a Swedish game accelerator called Stugan
·         Time Warner Cable has completed the roll-out of its TWC Maxx program in Los Angeles and New York City
·         NBCUniversal and Comcast have held a hackathon in Universal City, challenging participants to create cross-platform solutions using content, products, and technology from NBC Entertainment, Telemundo, Fandango, Universal Cable Productions, Syfy and Universal Pictures
Tech:
·         Facebook is apparently testing a product called Facebook at Work, designed to let people use Facebook at work
·         Uber has announced a partnership with Spotify
·         WeWork is a social network comparable to LinkedIn, but offers co-working spaces where startups and freelancers can feel like they’re part of something larger - it’s valued at $1.5B, and is on track to triple membership within the next 12 months.
·         App Store customers in China can now link their UnionPay debit or credit cards to their Apple IDs for purchases
·         Photon Interactive, a company that’s been focused on building mobile experiences for large brands, is teaming up with Panasonic
·         Netflix has killed off its public API
·         Yik Yak is closing on roughly $75MM in new financing, according to several sources with knowledge of the company
·         Resignation Media, the startup behind the popular photo site theChive, is moving into the viral video business with the launch of a new property, theBomb
·         Uber is expected to hit an annual revenue run rate of $10B by the end of 2015, sources told Business Insider’s Henry Blodget
Deals:
·         Actavis is close to reaching a deal to acquire Allergan for up to $65.5B
·         GrooveBook, a photo-printing app and subscription service that creates personalized photo books featuring up to 100 of your photos, shipped monthly, has been acquired by photo printing giant Shutterfly for $14.5MM
·         Squarespace announced it is acquiring the team behind Brace, a minimalistic website building service powered by Dropbox and Amazon’s cloud
Business:
·         Walmart confirmed that it has updated its price-matching policy company-wide to allow its retail stores to match the prices from nearly any online retailer, including top competitor Amazon
·         Google plans to test Project Loon, its ambitious attempt to deliver Internet connectivity via hot air balloons, in Western Australia later this year
·         Mobile payments app Venmo is getting a series of security and social updates for its peer-to-peer platform, and the company announced that users can now sign into Venmo with Apple’s Touch ID feature on iPhone 5S, 6, and 6 Plus
·         Amid a campaign to merge AOL and Yahoo, activist investor Starboard Value has revealed that it bought a 2.4% stake in AOL in the third quarter
·         Please see below for a list of big transactions and announcements in tech last week
Exec Moves:
·         Music video streaming service Vevo today announced that Rio Caraeff is stepping down from his role as the CEO
·         Vice Media has recruited Alyssa Mastromonaco, former assistant to President Obama and White House deputy chief of staff, to run its global operations
Retail:
Startups:
·         Glossier, a New York-based startup that sells a simple, highly curated line of beauty products, is taking $8.4MM in venture funding to pursue a tried-and-true strategy that many other e-commerce brands like Warby Parker have followed
·         A music startup out of New York could give StubHub and other ticketing sites a run for their money - it’s called Jukely and it’s offering users an unlimited subscription to concerts in their city for just $25 a month
·         San Diego-based Soci, a developer of a social content discovery engine and social media marketing software product, has raised $1.5MM in a Series A funding
·         OrderWithMe, which aggregates orders of small businesses and offers discounts that are provided by suppliers for bulk orders, has raised $28MM in its Series B
·         Eyeview, a video ad tech company, announced $15MM in financing from existing investor Marker
Government:
·         China and Australia have reached a free-trade agreement, deepening the economic relationship between the two countries
·         Japan has fallen into a recession
Other:
·         An Ebola patient in Nebraska has died

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