Showtime Streaming Service Is Shutting Down at the End of April

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Crunchyroll, the Sony-owned anime streaming service, is raising prices for its two top tier packages in select countries — the first pricing hike in five years. The pricing is increasing for Crunchyroll’s Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan subscription tiers in select countries. “The price change reflects the increase in content on Crunchyroll in recent years, expanding its catalog to more than 45,000 episodes via 1,400 series and films,” the company said in a blog post.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Oprah Winfrey is off the board of WeightWatchers — but she’s continuing to work with the company as part of her efforts to change the cultural conversation about weight. Winfrey will host “Making The Shift: A New Way to Think About Weight,” a three-hour event on Thursday, May 9, from 6-9 p.m.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The Onion has a new owner: a company called “Global Tetrahedron,” which is a real thing based on a fake entity invented by the satire site more than two decades ago. G/O Media, a private-equity backed firm that has owned The Onion since 2019, sold the site to a new Chicago-based firm called Global Tetrahedron, which is “made up of four digital media veterans with a profound love for The Onion and comedy-based content,” G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller said in a memo to staff Thursday. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok could be banned in the U.S. as soon as January 2025. Here’s what the new law means for users of the popular short-form video app.

When she announced she was leaving her role as a judge on “American Idol” while appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in February, Perry also teased new music in the works. “I mean, I love ‘Idol’ so much. … It’s connected me with the heart of America, but I feel like I need to go out and feel that pulse to my own beat,” she told Kimmel with a wink.When asked how her fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie reacted to the news, she joked they’d find out that night and said, “They know that I have some things planned for this year.”“So, it’s going to be a very, very exciting year … for all popstar girlies!” she added.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to approve a bill that would ban TikTok nationwide unless Chinese parent company ByteDance sells its stake in the popular app. The development will likely result in a court battle between the U.S.

Helen Skelton has shared the one thing 'we should never say' when it comes to motherhood as she shut down a question about being a doting mum to her three children while also managing a busy TV career.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix made a surprise announcement in reporting its (very good) first-quarter 2024 results this week: The streaming TV powerhouse will stop reporting quarterly subscriber figures starting in 2025. In response, Netflix shares have taken a hit: The stock is down 8.7% Friday on the news, as investors fret that the lack of visibility into the streamer’s customer numbers signals a looming slowdown in the company’s growth.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor A media consultant sued Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, alleging he is owed “at least several million dollars” for work he did related to the company’s $370 million acquisition in 2022 of Redbox, the DVD kiosk and streaming company. Keith Knee, described in his legal complaint as an advisory and consulting services professional in the media industry, filed suit against Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment on Friday, April 19, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok says it’s going to block accounts from appearing in its algorithmically generated For You feed if they repeatedly post content that runs afoul of its updated eligibility standards. As part of a larger update to its community guidelines, TikTok is updating its For You eligibility standards.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Viaplay‘s streaming service — specializing in award-winning Scandinavian series and films — is now available as an add-on subscription on Amazon‘s Prime Video Channels in the United States. Starting Wednesday, Prime members in the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Wall Street is betting that Netflix‘s stream machine continued to fire on all cylinders coming into 2024. After netting a whopping 13.1 million new subs in Q4, Netflix is riding a wave of momentum that continues to be buoyed by the paid-sharing strategy, as it converts password borrowers into paying members, according to analysts.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok inked a partnership with ticketing provider AXS to let users of the popular video app discover and buy tickets to live events. The feature is going live initially in the U.S., U.K., Sweden and Australia, with additional markets to follow at an undetermined date. Now, any certified artist on TikTok can use the in-app ticketing feature to promote their AXS live dates, according to the company.

J. Cole has removed his Kendrick Lamar diss track ‘7 Minute Drill’ from all streaming services.It featured as the closing song on his surprise-release new album, ‘Might Delete Later’, which dropped earlier this month.The track came after Lamar fired verbal shots at Cole and Drake on the track ‘Like That’, which was shared as part of Future and Metro Boomin’s recent collaborative album ‘We Don’t Trust You’.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Following a hack that exposed more than 15,000 Roku accounts last month, the company said Friday it discovered a second security incident that affected 576,000 additional user accounts. Roku said it reset the passwords for all affected accounts and are notifying those customers directly about the latest incident.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney released the official vote counts from its 2024 meeting of shareholders held April 3 — in which investors decisively defeated a campaign by activist investor Nelson Peltz to win a seat on its board. According to the votes disclosed in an SEC filing Tuesday, nine of the Disney-backed director candidates received more than 90% of the shares voted in their favor.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vince McMahon continues to cash out of his stock in TKO Group Holdings, the company formed by the merger of WWE and UFC that is majority-owned by Endeavor. McMahon, the founder of WWE, resigned from the board of TKO Group in January 2024 in the wake of sexual assault and sex trafficking allegations against him by a former employee as detailed in a lawsuit. McMahon has strongly denied the allegations.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Women’s pro hoops are coming back to Amazon‘s Prime Video for at least two more years. Prime Video and the WNBA on Friday announced a rights renewal deal under which Prime Video will continue to be the exclusive U.S. streaming partner for a package of 21 games each season, including the Championship Game of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Some subscribers to Disney‘s streaming services will start seeing some new messaging up this summer: Pay up for anyone outside your main household who’s illicitly piggybacking on the services — or face potentially getting disconnected. According to Disney chief Bob Iger, the Mouse House this June will “be launching our first real foray into password sharing” enforcement.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Trian Partners founder Nelson Peltz has accepted defeat — for now. Peltz, a day after the activist investor lost a costly proxy battle with Disney, went on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Thursday to discuss what happened. “The shareholders have voted.