According to research firm TDG, six-in-ten connected-TV households now watch a free ad-supported streaming service on television. YouTube remains the dominant free VoD provider, with free ad-supported streaming TV services (FASTs) such as Pluto TV and IMDb seeing growing audiences. “Clearly the effects of work-from-home and lack of traditional leisure options during the pandemic accelerated […]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged three former Netflix software engineers over an alleged insider trading ring that made $3 million (€2.5m). The SEC alleges confidential Netflix subscriber growth data was used in the scheme. The information was allegedly used to trade the streaming service’s shares ahead of its earnings reports. The […]

Comcast Corporation and ViacomCBS have announced a partnership to launch a new SVoD service, branded SkyShowtime, in more than 20 European territories. At launch, SkyShowtime will offer 10,000+  hours of entertainment, movies and original series from the NBCUniversal, Sky and ViacomCBS portfolio of brands, including titles from Showtime, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+ Originals, Sky Studios, […]

Australian multiplay telco Optus says it is raising the bar on innovation with the introduction of Optus SubHub, describing it as a “world-first game-changer” that simplifies content subscriptions and memberships by putting them in one place and allowing eligible Optus customers to save money and discover new content options. SubHub complements the recently announced Optus […]

HBO Max has given a series order to Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (working title), a new, young adult animated series. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, the ten-episode series, a spin-off from the popular Adventure Time series, will explore adventurer Fionna and magical cat Cake’s relationship, and the mysterious land of Ooo. Adam Muto will […]

Commerce Signals, a Verisk company and specialist in payment based marketing solutions, has announced the SVOD Trends Report, a new service that tracks and analyses consumer subscription behavior on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock across a variety of key performance indicators. The SVOD Trends Report is a companion service […]

Seven times the amount of hours of Olympic Games content were watched on YouTube during Tokyo 2020 compared with Rio 2016, according to a Blog post from the video-sharing site. “We worked with broadcasters around the world to deliver the most comprehensive viewing experience, including live streams of opening and closing ceremonies, clips of memorable […]

Apple Original Films has announced that upcoming sci-fi road trip movie Finch, starring Tom Hanks, will debut on Apple TV+ on November 5th. Hanks’ follow-up to the blockbuster Apple Original Film Greyhound comes from filmmaker Miguel Sapochnik, with an original screenplay by Craig Luck, making his feature-film writing debut, and Ivor Powell. The film also […]

The Walt Disney Company has  revealed its Disney+ streaming service passed 116 million global subscribers in Q3, more than double year-on-year. Its US-based services also saw growth, with Hulu up 21 per cent to 42.8 million subscribers and ESPN+ jumping 75 per cent to 14.9 million, for a total 174 million subscribers across the Disney […]

Amazon Studios has announced that its as-yet untitled The Lord of the Rings original series will film its second season in the UK. Amazon says the shift from New Zealand to the UK aligns with its studio’s strategy of expanding its production footprint and investing in studio space across the UK, with many of Amazon […]