Tuesday, November 25, 2014

11.25.14

Entertainment:      
·         Google continues to build out its lineup of content partners for the Chromecast streaming media device with new partners including Comedy Central, Sesame Street Go, Nickelodeon, and TuneIn
·         Tencent is now HBO’s exclusive online partner in China
·         News Corp announced its first investment in India, paying $30MM for a 25% stake in Elara, the company that runs real estated portal PropTiger.com
·         Aaron Sorkin’s much-anticipated Steve Jobs movie is now a Universal Pictures project, who bought it for a reported $30MM from Sony Pictures which ended its two-year development of the title this month
·         Operations at Sony Pictures were apparently completely shut down by a hacker, who hacked into and disabled the company's corporate network
·         Bernstein Research has introduced a new weekly tracking report analyzing ad-supported U.S. TV networks' viewership on a year-over-year basis, and the first version, released today, shows that for the week of November 10-16, audiences fell again across the board
·         HBO has hired 160 lawyers in anticipation of their new scientology documentary
·         USA Network has announced its flagship drama Suits will return for the remainder of its fourth season on January 28
·         Video creators cheer a potential new buyer as Google/YouTube bets on viewers paying for shortform content
·         HBO is bringing the first fully authorized documentary about Kurt Cobain to the screen
·         Netflix shares dipped as much as 3.5% Tuesday, after Wall Street firm Stifel downgraded the company's stock based on uncertainty about the subscription-video leader's U.S. growth trajectory
·         Australia’s BigPond music download service to close
·         Amazon has made exclusive video a component of Prime Instant Video streaming service, its answer to Netflix – and now the company is doing the same with music
·         Independent TV production and distribution company Endemol has entered into an exclusive first-look development and distribution deal with UK producer Amber Television
·         Shanghai Media Group (SMG) is to merge its digital media arm BesTV, Microsoft's Chinese partner, with its Shanghai Oriental Pearl division to create a huge new Internet and broadcasting company
Tech:
·         A new trend in tech is for successful entrepreneurs to back ‘Startup Factories’
·         Google Glass is still in beta, and the price for the product is pegged at $1,500
·         Google has unveiled its Devices and Activity Dashboard, which lists what devices are connected to your Google Account, along with when and where they’ve been accessed
·         Vine’s fast-becoming a place that houses funny and entertaining content from a range of different artists, and now the Twitter-owned company wants to help you keep with your favorites via push notifications
·         Tumblr is rolling a new mobile-only ad unit called “Tumblr Sponsored Apps” which will allow app publishers to target the social blogging service’s largely Millennial and heavily mobile audience with creative posts
·         The Wall Street Journal, one of the last major publications holding out on Flipboard in the U.S., will now allow Flipboard users to view its news stories there
·         Audio accessory startup Muzik is launching its product after two years of design and gearing up production, making the Muzik smart over-ear headphones available to consumers today for $299
·         A five-part video series by Stuart Brown of XboxAhoy has created a series of mini-documentaries that take a look at computer graphics
·         Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce site, raised $600MM in its Series H
·         Anthony Noto, Twitter’s CFO, appeared to accidentally disclose some confidential corporate strategy plans
·         Apple is now worth more than $700B after its stock ticked up in early trading on Tuesday
Deals:
·         VigLink just announced that it’s acquiring LinkSmart
Business:
·         SummitView Capital raises $1.7B private equity fund with Shanghai government for chip investments
·         BlackBerry offers up to $550 to trade your iPhone for a BlackBerry Passport
·         Medibank Private fell on its trading debut to below the price paid by institutional buyers after an initial public offering that raised about $4.88 billion for Australia’s government
Exec Moves:
·         Philip Falcone resigned on Tuesday as chairman and chief executive of the Harbinger Group
·         Russell Schwartz has stepped down as president of theatrical marketing at Relativity EuropaCorp Distribution
·         Ricardo Reyes, the communications chief for Square, has left the Jack Dorsey company to return to Tesla to work for Elon Musk
Retail:
·         Richard Baker, the chief executive of the Hudson’s Bay Company, announced that he had taken out a loan against the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store that values it at $3.7B
Startups:
·         According to the startup ‘Roomer’, which has just raised $5MM in Series A led by Disruptive, there are 81 million hotel room cancellations in the United States every year
Government:
·         The US economy expanded at its fastest pace (3.9%) in more than a decade during the spring and summer, according to a revised estimate of gross domestic product, showing the U.S. sits on a solid foundation despite increasing global uncertainty
·         China is considering a broad ban on smoking, including tobacco advertising, smoking in public places and cutting smoking scenes in film and TV
·         Please see below for articles on the Michael Brown case in Ferguson. No charges would be filed against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of black teenager Michael Brown. President Barack Obama appealed for calm - "There is never an excuse for violence."
Other:
·         Legendary indie music distributor Jim Schwartz died in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 8 of complications from Alzheimer's disease - he was 91


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