Friday, March 20, 2015

3.20.15

Entertainment:
·         Tapping into a gray area of the net neutrality debate, HBO, Showtime and Sony are in talks with broadband providers about having their Web TV services treated as "managed services," giving them a separate lane that would ensure their content gets special treatment
·         Santa Monica-based food show producer Tastemade said that it has conducted a brand research study, which finds that brands that integrate into content do far better with viewers than those who use typical advertising
·         James Caan has departed Fox's multi-camera/hybrid pilot “Fantasy Life” following its table read today
·         The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said in a sweeping ruling today that cable and satellite providers must offer consumers an affordable basic lineup and allow them to choose additional channels
·         For the second time in two months, a freight train has killed a personal trainer who was filming too close to the tracks
·         MGM delivered strong year-end financial results
·         Lionsgate's sequel “Insurgent” took in $4.1MM Thursday night as it began rolling out at the North American box office
·         President Barack Obama is set to announce that the American Film Institute (AFI) and the Screen Actors Guild-America Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) are teaming up to mentor aspiring young storytellers from across the country to pursue careers in the cinematic arts
·         CBS and Turner are off to a great ratings start with their joint coverage of college basketball’s March Madness, as Thursday’s games produced the best-ever overnight rating for a first full day of action
·         Sony Pictures Entertainment has announced that the trailer for Adam Sandler’s “Pixels” has generated 34.3 million views worldwide in its first 24 hours online
·         Financial losses have deepened at Youku Tudou, one of China’s leading online video companies, as it continued to chase growth
·         Australian actor Hugh Jackman has joined forces with Australian sportsmen to urge the government to reconsider closing down remote Indigenous communities
·         Univision has launched a mobile and tablet game app for Nuestra Belleza Latina (Our Latin Beauty), the media company's first licensed mobile game app for a TV show.
·         Chinese video-on-demand service YOU On Demand has formed a partnership with licensed over-the-top (OTT) platform operator Galaxy Internet Television Company, a joint venture comprising China National Radio, Jiangsu Television Station, Baidu's iQiyi, and Dr Peng Telecom Media Group
Tech:
·         Free-to-play games are soon coming to consoles owners – these games make money from in-game purchases and they have largely been confined to mobile platforms and PCs
·         Elon Musk says the next big software update for the Model S will roll out in 90 days with an auto-steering function that will make the cars largely autonomous on the highway
·         Reuters has joined Bloomberg, New York Times and Wall Street Journal in being blocked in China
·         Medium has announced that the latest update to its iOS app will finally let users compose posts from their iPhone or iPad
·         Next week at its F8 developer conference, Facebook will announce new ways for third parties to offer experiences through its Messenger app
·         The FAA just released a statement indicated that Amazon now has limited permission to test and develop drones in the United States
·         On the new Apple TV, users will be able to see an App Store for the set-top box, as well as an official SDK, Siri support, increased onboard storage and HomeKit support for passing on Siri instructions to connected home devices
·         Magic Leap is showing what it might look like to use its hardware for augmented reality gaming in the future, with a new demo of what the team is apparently “playing in the office” right now
·         Widerun, an Italian company, is making moves to embed virtual reality firmly in the fitness realm, with a device designed to bring the great outdoors to indoor cycling
·         A developer involved in the streaming video pirate service, Popcorn Time, claims the application is being downloaded now at the rate of 100,000 times per day
Deals:
·         Giphy, the betaworks-backed Google of gifs, has today announced it has acquired Nutmeg, a Gif messaging app
·         The Simon Property Group announced on Friday that it was raising its takeover offer for a rival mall operator, the Macerich Company, to $95.50 a share from $91 a share in what it said was its “best and final offer”
·         FedEx has disclosed the prices for two acquisitions it paid for last January and December - $1.4B for third-party logistics provider GENCO Distribution System and $42MM for e-commerce platform Bongo International
·         Ticketfly has announced the acquisition of Northern Tickets, a small ticketing company of The MRG Group, a Canadian entertainment and hospitality company
Business:
·         U.S. stocks rose today, lifted by results from Nike and another climb in biotechs, as investors assessed the impact of a stronger dollar on corporate profits.
·         BNY Mellon has announced it will pay $714MM to settle federal and state allegations of foreign exchange rate fraud
Exec Moves:
·         HTC has announced that longtime Chief Executive Peter Chou will step down, to be replaced by chairwoman and co-founder Cher Wang, after struggling for three years to reverse declining market share
·         Fox 2000 has upped Erin Siminoff to EVP of Production - she most recently worked on the studio hit “The Fault In Our Stars”
·         Endemol Beyond USA has named Adrian Sexton, a digital marketing veteran who previously held top digital media positions at Participant Media and Lionsgate, as its chief operating officer
·         Longtime Facebook Engineering Director David Recordon was named the Director of Information Technology at the White House on Thursday
Startups:
·         Los Angeles entrepreneurs behind online horse racing site YouBet.com have launched a new startup, called b Spot, which is looking to bring legal, online wagering to a wider audience - so far raised $17MM
·         The Quid Intelligence Platform, which is radically changing how people interact with information, has raised $39MM in its Series D
·         Maple, which is setting a new standard in food delivery by pairing the best chefs in the city with top-flight technology and logistics, raised $22MM in its Series A
·         MarketWatch analyzed 477,358 startup pitches, and discovered a shockingly unoriginal secret formula for success
Government:
·         President Barack Obama told Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would "reassess" its options on U.S.-Israel relations, following Netanyahu's shifting positions on Palestinian statehood
·         The Obama administration is expected to issue long-awaited regulations today setting new standards for hydraulic fracturing in the oil and natural gas industries
·         Despite strong objections from the U.S., Australia has signaled its readiness to join the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, following Japan which said it would consider becoming a member
·         Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock’s campaign finances are under investigation by the FBI and local authorities
Other:
·         Please see below for an interesting article on the Bar Exam and how it has recently come under fire from deans of law schools
·         At TED 2015, Monica Lewinsky gave a powerful talk about her experiences being one of the first—if not the very first—victim of cyberbullying

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