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Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino Parrots Elon Musk’s ‘Global Town Square’ Talking Points in First Memo to Staffers - variety.com
variety.com
12.06.2023 / 18:39

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino Parrots Elon Musk’s ‘Global Town Square’ Talking Points in First Memo to Staffers

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Linda Yaccarino, who has taken over the role of CEO at Elon Musk’s Twitter, sent out her first communication to the social network’s employees Monday. In her 320-word memo, Yaccarino, who jumped ship from NBCUniversal to join Twitter, didn’t spell out specifically how she plans to run Twitter’s operations or what the vision for “Twitter 2.0” is. Instead, she borrowed some of the talking points of her boss, who has previously described Twitter as “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” “From space exploration to electric vehicles, Elon knew these industries needed transformation, so he did it,” Yaccarino wrote in the memo. “More recently it has become increasingly clear that the global town square needs transformation — to drive civilization forward through the unfiltered exchange of information and open dialogue about the things that matter most to us.”

Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan to Step Down, Saying ‘Decline in Civility’ in Politics Has Become ‘Toxic’ - variety.com - Washington - Washington
variety.com
12.06.2023 / 17:17

Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan to Step Down, Saying ‘Decline in Civility’ in Politics Has Become ‘Toxic’

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, announced that he is stepping down after nine years at Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper. Ryan cited “the decline in civility” in political discourse — and “more broadly across our society” — for his decision to leave the Post to lead the newly created nonpartisan Center on Public Civility, launched by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. In an earlier era, “Political leaders on opposite sides of the aisle could find common ground for the good of the country,” Ryan wrote in a memo to Washington Post staff announcing his departure. “Today, the decline in civility has become a toxic and corrosive force that threatens our social interactions and weakens the underpinnings of our democracy. I feel a strong sense of urgency about this issue.” (Read his memo below.)

Netflix Password Crackdown Drives U.S. Sign-Ups to Highest Levels in at Least Four Years: Researcher - variety.com - New York
variety.com
09.06.2023 / 14:13

Netflix Password Crackdown Drives U.S. Sign-Ups to Highest Levels in at Least Four Years: Researcher

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor At least initially, Netflix’s broad password crackdown appears to be producing the streamer’s desired results in converting freeloaders into paying customers in the U.S., according to early data from research company Antenna. On May 23, Netflix began notifying U.S. customers that users on their accounts who live outside their households would need to be added as an “extra member” (or get their own subscriptions). Since then, Netflix has had the four single largest days of U.S. user sign-ups since January 2019, when Antenna first began tracking the metric. Based on the most current Antenna data available, Netflix saw average daily sign-ups reached 73,000 from May 25-28, a 102% increase from the prior 60-day average. That was more than the spikes in subscriber sign-ups Antenna recorded during the initial U.S. COVID-19 lockdowns in March and April 2020.

Twitch Nixes Branded-Content Rule Changes After Backlash - variety.com
variety.com
08.06.2023 / 00:51

Twitch Nixes Branded-Content Rule Changes After Backlash

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Twitch to creators: Oops, never mind. The Amazon-owned livestreaming platform on Wednesday revoked its new branded-content guidelines the day after putting them into place, following a backlash from creators. The changes, which were scheduled to be effective July 1, would have restricted the kinds of ads allowed on Twitch — completely banning “burned-in” (i.e., in-stream) video, audio and display ads on the platform and restricting on-screen logos to a maximum of 3% of the screen size. Twitch on Wednesday reversed course. “Yesterday, we released new Branded Content Guidelines that impacted your ability to work with sponsors to increase your income from streaming. These guidelines are bad for you and bad for Twitch, and we are removing them immediately,” Twitch said in a statement.

Apple TV’s Next Update Will Add FaceTime, Dialogue-Enhancement Feature, Remote Finder and More - variety.com
variety.com
06.06.2023 / 21:14

Apple TV’s Next Update Will Add FaceTime, Dialogue-Enhancement Feature, Remote Finder and More

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor A software update for Apple TV devices coming this fall can turn customers’ big-screen TVs into videconferencing hubs with the addition of Apple’s FaceTime, and later Zoom and Webex. The tvOS 17 update, the next version of Apple’s operating system for Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD, also includes a feature called Enhance Dialogue, which promises to let users more clearly hear what is being said over the effects, action and music in a movie or TV show. The catch: It will work only on Apple TV 4K devices that are paired with Apple’s HomePod (second generation) smart speakers. In one handy new feature, tvOS 17 will let iPhone users locate the Apple TV’s Siri Remote if, say, it gets stuck between couch cushions or has fallen behind a cabinet. With the Apple TV remote inside the iPhone’s Control Center, an onscreen circle grows in size as users get closer to the misplaced remote.

Wondery Hires Netflix and Apple Podcast Alum N’Jeri Eaton in Senior Role (EXCLUSIVE) - variety.com - Boston
variety.com
06.06.2023 / 16:50

Wondery Hires Netflix and Apple Podcast Alum N’Jeri Eaton in Senior Role (EXCLUSIVE)

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor N’Jeri Eaton, former head of audio at Netflix and head of content at Apple Podcasts, is joining Wondery as head of co-productions for limited series. Eaton reports to George Lavender, head of creative production for limited series at Wondery. Eaton will oversee the podcast studio and network’s external collaborations, managing multiple shows from their initial idea through production and launch. For its original limited series, Wondery — a division of Amazon — has collaborated with partners including the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team (“Gladiator”), NBC News (“Do No Harm”) and Bloomberg (“The Shrink Next Door,” which was adapted as an Apple TV+ show).

YouTube Will Stop Removing Videos Pushing Lies About the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election - variety.com
variety.com
02.06.2023 / 20:23

YouTube Will Stop Removing Videos Pushing Lies About the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor On Dec. 9, 2020, YouTube enacted a ban on videos that falsely claimed then-President Trump won the U.S. presidential election. Since then, according to the platform, it has removed “tens of thousands” of videos that violated the policy. As of June 2, 2023, YouTube has reversed that decision: The video giant announced that it “will stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past U.S. Presidential elections.” Why is YouTube making this change? The Google-owned service, in an unsigned blog post Friday, tried to explain it this way: “In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm.”

Twitter Head of Trust and Safety Resigns - variety.com - New York
variety.com
02.06.2023 / 12:09

Twitter Head of Trust and Safety Resigns

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ella Irwin, after less than seven months as head of trust and safety at Elon Musk’s Twitter, has resigned from the company. Irwin confirmed to Reuters that she resigned but did not provide a reason for her exit. Earlier, Fortune reported that Irwin’s Slack account at Twitter appeared to have been deactivated. Neither Irwin nor Musk have publicly tweeted about her departure. An email to Twitter’s press account requesting comment returned an autoreply with a poop emoji. Attempts to contact Irwin were unsuccessful. As Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Irwin oversaw enforcement of its content moderation policies. Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” has eased some restrictions in Twitter’s content policies — and reinstated thousands of previously banned accounts. Third-party groups have criticized Twitter for apparent increases in instances of hate speech and lax policy enforcement since Musk assumed control; Musk has previously denied that an increase in hate speech on Twitter.

Netflix Shareholders Reject Executive Pay Packages in Symbolic Move, After WGA Urged Investors to Vote Against Them - variety.com
variety.com
01.06.2023 / 23:47

Netflix Shareholders Reject Executive Pay Packages in Symbolic Move, After WGA Urged Investors to Vote Against Them

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In a symbolic rebuke of Netflix’s top executives, company shareholders voted against approving the compensation packages of leaders including co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. At the streamer’s June 1 annual shareholders meeting, investors failed to approve the proposed exec pay packages for 2023. But the vote was a non-binding “say on pay” measure, meaning Netflix’s board can disregard the result. The vote came after the WGA had urged investors to vote against Netflix’s exec compensation measures in a letter Tuesday. “While investors have long taken issue with Netflix’s executive pay, the compensation structure is more egregious against the backdrop of the strike,” WGA West president Meredith Stiehm wrote in the letter to Netflix shareholders.

Vimeo Is Shutting Down Its TV Apps This Month - variety.com - New York
variety.com
01.06.2023 / 20:51

Vimeo Is Shutting Down Its TV Apps This Month

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vimeo is ending support for its existing TV apps — with the video management and hosting provider telling customers they’ll have a “better ongoing experience” by using video-casting features instead. The company is ceasing support for Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, and Roku as of June 27, 2023. “That means we will remove the TV apps from the app stores and we will not publish any new releases, security updates or provide technical support for TV apps,” Vimeo says in a notice on its help site. Why is Vimeo ending support for its TV apps? According to the message on the customer-support site, “Occasionally, we retire legacy products and features that are no longer consistent with our standards. We believe that our users looking to view Vimeo videos will receive a better ongoing experience by casting via our mobile app, enabling customers to enjoy Vimeo content on their TV.”

Meta Announces Quest 3 VR and Mixed-Reality Headset, Starting at $500 — Just Ahead of Apple’s Expected Entry Into the Space - variety.com - Beyond
variety.com
01.06.2023 / 15:13

Meta Announces Quest 3 VR and Mixed-Reality Headset, Starting at $500 — Just Ahead of Apple’s Expected Entry Into the Space

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta — still trying to make the metaverse happen — unveiled its next-generation VR and mixed-reality headset, the Meta Quest 3, which will ship this fall for a price point starting at $500. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg announced the Quest 3 in an Instagram post Thursday. The headset is “the first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality” capabilities, according to Zuckerberg. It’s 40% thinner than the Quest 2 and “more comfortable” than its predecessor, he added. Meta’s announcement comes ahead of Apple’s 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference next week, where Apple is expected to introduce its own mixed-reality headset.

AMC Theatres’ Movie Streaming Service Is Shutting Down, Replaced by Fandango’s Vudu - variety.com
variety.com
01.06.2023 / 14:17

AMC Theatres’ Movie Streaming Service Is Shutting Down, Replaced by Fandango’s Vudu

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor AMC Theatres is mothballing its on-demand movie service — and moving users and their content libraries over to Vudu, the video rental and sell-through streaming platform owned by NBCUniversal’s Fandango. Starting Thursday, June 1, AMC Theatres On Demand users can transfer their accounts to Vudu, which now serves as the theater chain’s streaming platform. With the transition, the companies said, many of the movies previously purchased through AMC Theatres On Demand will be “upgraded to the highest-quality format available” on Vudu, including 4K Ultra HD. Consumers with applicable titles in their libraries will automatically receive those upgrades for free. Additionally, AMC Theatres On Demand users who are new Vudu consumers are eligible for a 15% discount on each purchase made on the service in their first month.

Pluto TV Streaming 200-Plus Movies Free This Summer, Including Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible Films, ‘Titanic,’ ‘Forrest Gump’ and More - variety.com - Indiana
variety.com
01.06.2023 / 13:31

Pluto TV Streaming 200-Plus Movies Free This Summer, Including Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible Films, ‘Titanic,’ ‘Forrest Gump’ and More

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Pluto TV is reprising its summer movie event with a rotating batch of more than 200 films coming to the streaming service — all for the low price of free. The titles include installments of fan-favorite franchises ahead of their upcoming new releases in theaters this summer, including the first four movies in the Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible series, plus “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.” Pluto TV’s Popcorn Summer Movies 2023 slate, the third year of the programming event, also includes popular films such as “Titanic,” “Gladiator,” “Old School,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” The additional movies are on top of Pluto TV’s existing catalog of several thousand free films.

Why Did HBO Max Become Max? Behind the Streamer’s Relaunch Strategy - variety.com
variety.com
26.05.2023 / 17:27

Why Did HBO Max Become Max? Behind the Streamer’s Relaunch Strategy

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor This week, HBO Max faded to black — and was reborn as Max. But many people are still wondering: Why did Warner Bros. Discovery decide to change the name? HBO, after all, remains a solid-gold brand representing premium-quality original TV shows, going back decades, from “The Sopranos” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to “Game of Thrones” and “Succession.” Meanwhile, Max, as observers have pointed out, is a pretty generic name from a branding standpoint. (Note that the Twitter handle @Max belongs to Instacart co-founder Max Mullen, while on Instagram it’s held by hockey star Max Domi, a forward for the Dallas Stars.) Here are the two basic reasons Warner Bros. Discovery chose to excise HBO from the HBO Max with the relaunch:

DirecTV Inks NFL Sunday Ticket Deal for Bars, Restaurants and Other Businesses After YouTube Nabs Retail Rights - variety.com
variety.com
26.05.2023 / 12:35

DirecTV Inks NFL Sunday Ticket Deal for Bars, Restaurants and Other Businesses After YouTube Nabs Retail Rights

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor DirecTV announced a multiyear deal to sell the NFL’s Sunday Ticket out-of-market games package to commercial venues in the U.S., starting with the 2023 season. Under the pact with the NFL’s EverPass Media, DirecTV will continue to offer the Sunday football games to customers including casinos, restaurants, bars, hotel lounges and retail shops. The announcement comes after DirecTV lost its 28-year hold on Sunday Ticket for consumers, with Google securing a seven-year deal with the NFL to sell the package via YouTube. The satellite TV operator didn’t announce pricing for Sunday Ticket — which includes all Sunday day games broadcast by CBS and Fox — under the new commercial agreement. In past years, DirecTV’s pricing for the package has been tiered based on fire code occupancy (FCO) rates starting at $650/season for establishments with a certified FCO of 1-100, stepping up to $6,000/season for establishments with capacity of 101-200 and even higher for larger venues.

MoviePass Launches Nationwide at 4,000-Plus Theaters - variety.com - Atlanta - Chicago - county Dallas - county Bay - state Kansas - Houston - city Oklahoma City
variety.com
25.05.2023 / 15:27

MoviePass Launches Nationwide at 4,000-Plus Theaters

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s back! MoviePass, after emerging from bankruptcy under new ownership, is launching its movie-theater subscription service nationwide ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. The service lets MoviePass members choose from more than 4,000 theater locations across the U.S., including those operated by AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark. However, the reincarnated MoviePass is a far cry from the too-good-to-be-true $9.95-per-month subscription for one movie per day that the company had offered in its previous life. Plans start at $10/month for 1-3 movies per month, ranging up to $40/month for up to 30. The new MoviePass uses a credit-based system to offer different options for the total amount of films a subscriber can see each month (see plan details below).

Comcast Launches $20 Monthly Streaming Service Now TV, With 60-Plus Channels and Peacock - variety.com
variety.com
23.05.2023 / 16:07

Comcast Launches $20 Monthly Streaming Service Now TV, With 60-Plus Channels and Peacock

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor With cord-cutting at an all-time high, Comcast is introducing a new streaming subscription option to keep broadband customers in the video fold. On Tuesday, Comcast announced Now TV, a new streaming offering that includes more than 40 live cable entertainment channels from A+E Networks, AMC, Hallmark and Warner Bros. Discovery — but no local broadcast TV or sports channels — plus 20-plus integrated free, ad-supported television (FAST) channels from NBC, Sky and Xumo Play. In addition. Now TV includes a bundled subscription to Peacock Premium with ads. Now TV will be available to Comcast’s Xfinity Internet customers within the next few weeks, priced at $20 per month. Now TV does not require an additional set-top box and lets customers sign up or cancel at any time.

Paramount+ With Showtime to Launch in U.S. Next Month, Standalone Showtime App to Be Shut Down by End of 2023 - variety.com
variety.com
22.05.2023 / 21:41

Paramount+ With Showtime to Launch in U.S. Next Month, Standalone Showtime App to Be Shut Down by End of 2023

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s the beginning of the end for Showtime as a standalone brand. Paramount Global will launch the newly integrated Paramount+ With Showtime service in the U.S. on June 27, establishing it as the company’s top-tier streaming product without commercials. As previously announced, the Paramount+ With Showtime plan will cost $11.99 per month — up 17% from $9.99/month, but still less than the standard ad-free packages from rivals like Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max (nee HBO Max) and Netflix. At the same time, the price of the Paramount+ Essential Plan (without Showtime) will increase from $4.99 to $5.99 per month.

TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App, Arguing It Violates First Amendment - variety.com - China - USA - Montana - Taiwan
variety.com
22.05.2023 / 21:41

TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App, Arguing It Violates First Amendment

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok says Montana’s newly enacted law that would criminalize usage of the short-form video app is unconstitutional — and the app company has taken legal action to fight the state’s ban. TikTok filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana seeking to have the law reversed. It was signed into law last week by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who said it would “protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.” TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a China-based internet conglomerate. “We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,” the app maker said in a statement. “We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”

Max’s Priciest Plan Will Have 1,000-Plus Movies and Episodes in 4K Ultra HD - variety.com
variety.com
22.05.2023 / 21:41

Max’s Priciest Plan Will Have 1,000-Plus Movies and Episodes in 4K Ultra HD

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor With HBO Max turning into Max, Warner Bros. Discovery is introducing a higher-priced plan — $19.99 per month — with an expanded bouquet of 4K Ultra HD content aimed at pushing customers to the pricier package. On Monday, the company announced that the 4K tier will feature more than 1,000 films and episodes in 4K UHD, an increase of nearly eightfold over what has been available in HBO Max. The 4K UHD content on Max will include “Game of Thrones,” “The Last of Us,” the Harry Potter films, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight trilogy, the Matrix films and more. Additionally, all Warner Bros. movies released this year and going forward will be available in 4K UHD when they arrive on Max following their theatrical windows.

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