Fidji Simo, Head of Video at Facebook, has revealed that three months since its global launch, there are already more than 400 million people monthly and 75 million people daily who spend at least one minute on Facebook Watch. In a Blog Post looking back on 2018 and looking ahead to 2019, Simo described 2018 […]
Smithsonian Networks is going OTT with the launch of subscription based Smithsonian Channel Plus. The $4.99 per month service will feature over 1,000 hours of content from the network’s slate of programming, including history, air and space, nature and wildlife, science, travel, pop and culture, said the company. Smithsonian Channel Plus is now available through […]
Yahoo Finance has announced its first standalone app for Apple TV. It provides users with free access to live-streamed market coverage, as well as on-demand video clips and editorially curated playlists, exclusive live-streamed events, original series, personal finance content, and more. Designed to include the best of Yahoo Finance in one place, the app will […]
Trade bodies DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) and Motion Pictures Laboratories, Inc. (MovieLabs), together with member studios, retailers, and service providers, have approved and released four updated supply chain specifications for digital distribution of film and TV. The specifications were developed and reviewed jointly by the three organisations through the Digital Supply […]
Negotiators from the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council have reached a political agreement on the proposed copyright legislation on TV and radio programmes. The new rules will make it easier for European broadcasters to make certain programmes available on their live TV or catch-up services online, and will simplify the distribution of […]
Eleven Sports, the so-called “Netflix of Sports” may be on the brink of closure in the UK as the UFC triggers its right to walk away as the company has failed to secure distribution on Sky, Virgin or BT. Eleven Sports, controlled by the Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, has been a controversial play from […]
The BBC’s E20 programme, to replace and enlarge the external set of long-running soap opera EastEnders and improve various infrastructure at BBC Elstree Centre is now forecast to cost £27 million more, and take an additional two and a half years to complete, compared to its plans in October 2015, according to a report from […]
Discovery and the European Tour have announced a new partnership that will see GOLFTV continue to expand its portfolio and move towards becoming the established ‘digital home of golf’ for fans around the world. The wide-ranging agreement includes international multi-platform live rights, in selected territories, to all European Tour events and the next two Ryder […]
Global Afro Urban media group TRACE has announced the acquisition of the UK-based music channels Chart Show TV, Chart Show Hits, Starz and The Vault from Sony Pictures Television (SPT). With this agreement, the media group has acquired, amongst other assets, four Sky channel electronic program guides (EPGs) and the associated brand assets. Through this […]
A report from analysts at MoffettNathanson (MN) suggests there are already different strategies emerging from the rival OTT suppliers to Netflix. MN says that 2018 will go down as the year in which some of the largest traditional media companies started to show their cards vis-a-vis their over-the-top distribution strategies. “With three large-scale mergers (AT&T-TWX, […]