- ViacomCBS is launching a new ad platform that will let marketers buy ads for all its networks (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Microsoft is launching a Netflix-style gaming service (CNBC)
- …And how does TikTok, an app that caters to dancing teens, fit with Microsoft’s business strategy? (The Verge)
- SAG-AFTRA and producers have reached a new three-year contract for animated projects, which will see more animation made for SVODs (Deadline)
- Sony’s profits increased 53% throughout the pandemic, with video games playing a major role in the growth (Variety)
- Tech earnings wrap-up: Apple, Facebook, YouTube and Amazon all had crazy-good Q2s (Tech Crunch)
- TikTok’s CEO says its planned US$200-million creator fund will grow to US$1 billion in three years (Tubefilter)
- Seemingly run by a bunch of theater kids all grown up, Disney+ is now adapting a Broadway musical (The Hollywood Reporter)
- With return-to-school plans in flux, parents are growing increasingly worried their kids will fall behind (The New York Times)
- On first blush, Peacock appears to be doing OK—the SVOD has added 10 million subscribers since its April launch (The Verge)
- Netflix VP of content acquisition Bela Bajaria gives a peek at the streamer’s plan to become a global TV giant (Variety)
- Pixar has laid out the details of its upcoming film Luca, which looks quite European in style (Polygon)
- The Emmys—like everything else this year—are going virtual (Deadline)
- AMC and Universal make nice, striking a deal that will shrink the traditional theatrical window (Vanity Fair)
- …But will 2020 usher in the end of the domestic box office? (Vulture)
- Family-skewing series The Mandalorian and Stranger Things picked up quite a few Emmy nominations (Variety)
- …And not all hope is lost for Quibi, which netted 10 noms of its own (The Hollywood Reporter)
- French broadcasters M6 and TF1 are both feeling the COVID-19 sting as revenues fall (Digital TV Europe)
- The cancellations keep coming—CES is moving its January 2021 event online (Kidscreen)
- ITV Studios and Fremantle join BBC in skipping MIPCOM this year (TBI Vision)
- One style fits all: PopSugar and Old Navy partner on a new gender-inclusive clothing line for tweens (Tubefilter)
- Asia’s box office, usually the most lucrative in the world, is down 92% this year as a result of COVID-19 (Variety)
- BBC does not plan on sending anyone to MIPCOM in the fall (TBI Vision)
- Ad spending doesn’t look good for 2020—a new report estimates it will drop at least 9% (The Hollywood Reporter)
- The creators of a video game meant to help kids with ADHD say it’s the future…critics say it’s all marketing (The Washington Post)
- Banning TikTok might not be the right move for the US, though it could set an example (The New York Times)
- …Meanwhile, the app has set up a US$200-million fund for creators (Tech Crunch)
- Disney has indefinitely delayed Mulan and pushed Star Wars and Avatar sequels to 2028 (CNN Business)
- …Paramount is also delaying its big-title releases to 2021 at the earliest (The Hollywood Reporter)
- How TikTok’s founder is racing to save the app before it’s banned in the US (BNN Bloomberg)
- With a return to school still up in the air, many parents are considering holding their young ones back (New York Times)
- HBO Max has logged more than four million subs one month since launch (The Hollywood Reporter)
- …Meanwhile, its parentco WarnerMedia will release more movies online as the pandemic continues (Variety)
- Several streamers will lose major titles, like Harry Potter, which drew in big numbers at launch (Tubefilter)
- Let me re-re-re-re-introduce you to the Muppets (New York Times)
- ViacomCBS Networks in the UK is instituting a “no diversity, no commission” policy (TBI Vision)
- Inside the mind of a child: How kids play, and what’s changing about it (New York Times)
- If tuning in for two minutes counts as a “view” for Netflix, does viewership data even matter? (Vulture)
- …And how Hollywood unwittingly built the SVOD it now competes against (Recode)
- Tenet, one of the big tentpoles for this year’s box office, has been delayed indefinitely (The Hollywood Reporter)
- …And without any releases lined up for 2020, exhibitors and theaters around the world are headed towards “catastrophe” (Variety)
- …This could spell big trouble for the toy industry, which usually sees big gains from movie releases (The Hustle)
- How will the collapse of Quibi affect the market for shorts? (TBI)
- This is going to be the summer of free-range kids (CBC News)
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