Entertainment:
·
YouTube announced its plans for an ad-free, subscription-based
service by way of an email sent out to YouTube Partners
o
http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/08/youtube-confirms-plans-for-an-ad-free-subscription-based-service/
·
Lionsgate says this morning that it has teamed with Comic-Con
International to create a year-round, Netflix-like subscription VOD streaming
service
·
Universal Pictures has raked in $1B at the global box office
at its fastest rate ever, thanks largely to early hits such as "Fifty
Shades of Grey" and the surprising runaway success of racing tentpole
"Furious 7”
·
The CBS Affiliate Board say today that they’ve reached terms
that will enable CBS All Access — CBS’
$5.99 a month streaming service — to offer local stations’ live
broadcasts in their markets.
·
Music streaming service 8tracks just signed a few licensing
deals with independent music labels to make playlist creation much easier
·
Lego has a new game in the works with Warner Bros.
Interactive, which brings the building blocks into the toys-to-life category to
compete with the likes of Skylanders
·
SoundCloud, now on the road to monetizing more of the tracks
on its platform through ads and paid subscriptions, is adding a key partnership
into the mix to help track what gets played and when: it is now working with
Zefr to identify content posted and listened to on the platform
·
Vivendi, the French media conglomerate, said on Wednesday that
it planned to raise the amount of money it will pay to shareholders, settling a
fight with the American hedge fund P. Schoenfeld Asset Management
·
Some of Europe’s top directors have come together to issue a
statement offering alternatives to the European Commission’s proposed Digital
Single Market that could revolutionize — and decimate — the European film
business
·
In a surprise development, WME has just signed Eli Roth, best
known for his prolific output of genre fare
·
Lionsgate is developing a grand-scale retelling of history’s
greatest voyage home, Homer’s “The Odyssey.”
·
On Thursday, a court in the Polish city of Krakow adjourned
until May 22 on a hearing to decide whether to extradite Roman Polanski to the
U.S. to face sentencing for raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977
·
When “Avengers: Age of Ultron” opens in May, it will likely
have either the top-grossing or second-highest grossing debut in movie history
- $200MM
·
Cinema advertising chain Screenvision has extended its
partnership with Marcus Theatres that will keep its second largest exhibition
client in the tent as part of what is being billed as a “long-term” agreement
·
Tidal's artists that give the subscription service exclusive
content are helping draw attention, and subscribers, to the artist-owned
company - but the artists have to weight the tradeoff of being absent from far
more popular services.
·
Established players such as Sky Europe and Netflix, allied
with new services from HBO and Sling TV, are driving a new era of streaming
entertainment to hit 100 million subs by 2015, according to analyst Ovum.
o
http://www.rapidtvnews.com/2015040937858/ott-streaming-to-hit-100mn-subs-by-2015.html#axzz3WjkNlruY
·
NanoTech Entertainment has inked a licensing agreement with
Paramount Pictures to show “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” on UltraFlix, its Ultra HD
network
Tech:
·
See below for an interesting article on social media and how
it needs more limitations, not choices
·
Kik, the mobile messaging app company based in Waterloo,
Canada, is assessing opportunities to advance its service through partnerships
and strategic investment with established tech firms
·
Zynga shares plunged 11% premarket following news that
controversial founder/chairman Mark Pincus is returning as CEO of the
social/mobile game developer to replace Don Mattrick, who is resigning after
less than two years in the job
·
See below for a review on the new Macbook Air
·
Fast-growing Chinese phone maker Xiaomi said Wednesday that it
broke its own flash-sale record, selling more than two million phones in a
12-hour period as part of a “Mi Fan Festival.”
·
In a 2014 advertising cost analysis for TV and Internet, SQAD
found that the average CPM for an online, in-stream video ad in 2014 was
$24.20, about 60% more expensive than the average 18-49 CPM for cable TV, which
came in at $15.11.
Deals:
·
LinkedIn purchased Lynda.com, the
online learning company, for $1.5B
·
Santa Monica-based HAIL, a developer
of mobile apps that help restaurant diners split and pay for meals with
friends, has been acquired by restaurant reservations service Reserve
·
Intel has ended discussions to buy
Altera, a designer of specialized computer chips, people briefed on the matter
said on Thursday, putting to rest what would have been the company’s
biggest-ever takeover
Business:
·
New data show that budget cuts at the IRS mean the agency is
investigating fewer wealthy taxpayers
·
Computing giant IBM said today that it has secured a deal that
will bring its hybrid cloud computing services to a division of the U.S. Army.
Exec Moves:
Startups:
·
Lobster, a marketplace for licensing
user-generated content, is now launching a universal search feature that allows
brands and publishers to search for user-generated content across multiple
social platforms
·
Vulcun, a tournament site for
fantasy e-sports, announced today that it has raised $12MM in venture capital
from Sequoia Capital and other investors
Government:
·
Greece has made a €450M loan repayment to the IMF, Bloomberg
reports, although other outlets just say that the country will make the payment
today
Other:
·
About 30,000 cases of Sabra hummus sold nationwide are being
recalled due to a possible Listeria contamination
·
Convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s mother,
Zubeidat, has reportedly posted a statement online declaring Americans “the
terrorists here” and calling her son “the best of the best”
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