Latest Digital
Netflix and Apple Open Door to Bundling With Streaming Rivals
After years of mostly sitting on the sidelines, two streaming companies that have long been reluctant to bundle their wares with competitor services seem a bit more open to the idea. On Monday, the telecom giant Verizon announced a $10 per month deal that includes the ad tiers of both Netflix and Max. That’s a […]
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Spotify to Cut 17 Percent of Global Workforce
Music streaming giant Spotify is making another round of job cuts, slashing 17 percent of its global workforce as the company continues its strategy to become “both productive and efficient.” In a blog post published Monday, founder and CEO Daniel Ek wrote that the new layoffs would “reduce our total head count by approximately [17 […]
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Jack Harlow, Emilia Clarke and Halle Berry Serve as Talent Advisors for Fan Engagement Platform MITH
A new fan engagement platform is set to launch with backing from entertainment industry partners and talent like Jack Harlow, Emilia Clarke and Halle Berry. It’s called MITH and is designed to give creators “a unified platform allowing unprecedented freedom to control how they create, connect with and distribute to their fans.” Part of that […]
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Jezebel Acquired by Paste Magazine After Shutdown
Jezebel is back. Paste Magazine has acquired the digital publication three weeks after G/O Media, led by Jim Spanfeller, decided to wind down the feminist news and opinion site and lay off its employees. Terms of the deal to revive Jezebel were not disclosed, but Paste Magazine said the acquisition “expands its reach and bolsters […]
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Ryan Seacrest Can’t Quit Radio, Inks New iHeart Deal (Exclusive)
The voice of morning radio in Los Angeles is staying put. iHeartMedia has inked a new three-year deal with Ryan Seacrest, bringing his contract through the end of 2027. Under the agreement, the omni-present entertainer will continue to be a core personality across all iHeartRadio platforms, hosting and producing its No. 1 L.A. morning drive-time […]
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Joe Rogan, Alex Cooper Named as Spotify’s Top Podcasts Globally in 2023
The Joe Rogan Experience was the top podcast of the year globally in 2023, marking its fourth consecutive year in that position, according to Spotify Wrapped data released Wednesday. Wrapped, which analyzes listening data in 2023 about the most-streamed artists and podcasts on the platform, also saw Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy (which, like Joe […]
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BBC Subscription Podcast Service Launches in 166 New Countries
BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the U.K. public broadcaster BBC, on Tuesday launched BBC Podcasts Premium, its Apple subscription podcast service, in 166 new countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. Specifically, the service is now available in France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, India, Japan, South Korea, Hong […]
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How Gen Z Is Driving the Adoption of Generative AI in the U.K.
The adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in the U.K. is driven by teenagers and children, according to a new study from media regulator Ofcom. “Gen Z driving early adoption,” it says in the summary of the latest version of its annual Ofcom Online Nation 2023 report, published just after midnight London time on Tuesday. Generation […]
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Amid AI Boom, Merriam-Webster Names “Authentic” as Word of the Year
Amid a boom in generative artificial intelligence technology and continued interest in how people present themselves on social media, Merriam-Webster says that “authentic” has been named its 2023 word of the year. The dictionary says that interest in AI, as well as “celebrity culture, identity, and social media” drove readers to the word. “The rise […]
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YouTube Star and Comedian Daniel Howell Signs With UTA, InterTalent (Exclusive)
UTA and the comedy division of U.K. talent management company InterTalent have signed British YouTube star, author, TV host and comedian Daniel Howell. The news follows Howell’s global tour and builds upon the achievements of his 2020 book You Will Get Through This Night, which became a Sunday Times bestseller, online following and advocacy for […]
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Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham AFC to Be Focus of New Men In Blazers Weekly Series
Wrexham AFC, the U.K. football club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney — and the focus of the recently renewed FX series Welcome to Wrexham — is getting the Men In Blazers treatment. The soccer, er, football-focused podcast network is in the middle of an expansion push, and as part of that has decided […]
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How Reece Feldman Became Hollywood Studios’ Gen Z Whisperer, One TikTok at a Time
Reece Feldman admits that he broke a couple of rules on his way to becoming the go-to TikTok consultant for Hollywood studios. The 25-year-old behind the @guywithamoviecamera account — which has more than 2 million followers on TikTok — started working on reality shows in 2020, soon landing a gig as a production assistant on the […]
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Microsoft Hires Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Shake-Up of AI Landscape
After a weekend in which the future of artificial intelligence research seemed up for grabs, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that his company has hired former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his top deputy, Greg Brockman. “Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research […]
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White House Condemns Elon Musk for Promoting “Antisemitic and Racist Hate” on X
The White House has condemned Elon Musk for promoting antisemitism after he agreed with a bigoted X post that accused Jewish communities of promoting “dialectical hatred against whites.” “We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans,” said a statement from the […]
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AI-Generated Voices of John Legend, Demi Lovato and Charlie Puth Are Coming to YouTube
Would you like a song from John Legend about your morning walk? Or a ditty from Demi Lovato about dinner last night? Or a ballad about a sunset from T-Pain? YouTube is releasing a tool that will make those a reality. Called Dream Tracks, the AI tool will let users input a brief prompt and […]
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Lawmakers Press Apple on Whether Jon Stewart’s Show Was Canceled Because of China Concerns
A group of House lawmakers want to know: Was China the reason for Jon Stewart’s exit from Apple TV+? Stewart’s show, The Problem with Jon Stewart, effectively ended last month when Stewart and his team parted ways amid “creative differences.” Sources told The Hollywood Reporter at the time that “there had been tension between Apple […]
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