- Listen here: Riding an increase in podcast users, Spotify has grown to 124 million paid subscribers (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Snapchat, meanwhile, has reached 218 million users, but was hit by big Q4 losses (Tech Crunch)
- The UK is joining Canada in expressing displeasure that Netflix does not pay any corporation tax (BBC News)
- It seems everyone is integrating voice assistant tech…but how much of it is just a novelty? (The Drum)
- Don’t think outside of the box—think with the box! A new toy is reinventing packaging (Fast Company)
- Disney has picked up Hamilton for theaters and Disney+ (Vanity Fair)
- Facebook’s Messenger Kids is getting a privacy makeover (The Verge)
- YouTube is becoming slightly more transparent and reported its ad revenue for the first time (Variety)
- There’s been a rise in kids taking part in online activism…but their parents are still scared of the internet (Guardian)
- We’ve heard this one before: The gaming industry is promising to improve its diversity (BBC News)
- Kids are watching fewer ads than ever…and marketers are finding sneaky ways to reach them (The Atlantic)
- Brexit isn’t just hitting producers—international broadcasters are also fleeing the country (Digital TV Europe)
- Who cares if he didn’t get an Oscar nod? Adam Sandler is back doing what he does best, making four new movies for Netflix (New York Times)
- Nintendo is raking in the mobile dough, earning US$1 billion in revenue from its phone games (Digital Trends)
- Keep an eye on Nigeria, Africa’s unofficial tech capital (Tech Crunch)
- Amazon Prime has reached 150 million paid members, but Amazon didn’t say how many of those are watching its content (Variety)
- …Meanwhile, the company released its transparency report, revealing a dip in governments demanding user data (Tech Crunch)
- Cartoon Network is launching a digital series for Black History Month (Broadcasting & Cable)
- An inside look at how VFX artists built Disney’s The Lion King remake (Engadget)
- The animation directors behind Oscar-nominated films on how they created their characters (The Hollywood Reporter)
- WarnerMedia is investing in HBO Max, and pivoting other networks to focus on unscripted content (Variety)
- Schools in Finland are teaching kids how to fight back against fake news (The Guardian)
- Snapchat is getting into mobile TV with short emoji-focused toons (TechCrunch)
- HBO Max is a big swing for WarnerMedia, which took a US$1.2-billion hit in Q4 (The Verge)
- …Meanwhile, Apple Services grew 17% in 2019, but the TV+ revenue was “immaterial” (TVB Europe)
- The latest entrant to the streaming wars is…Procter & Gamble? (Variety)
- Is the BBC bad at engaging young audiences online? And how can it get better? (The Guardian)
- The future is OTT—and it’s set to surpass US$200 billion by 2024 (Digital TV Europe)
- There isn’t a lot left for companies to buy, but MGM appears to be the main target in 2020 (CNBC)
- Netflix is bringing in lots of awards and subscribers right now…all with less content than before (Recode)
- …But some new content will be coming from Titmouse, which has signed a multi-year animation deal with the SVOD (Tubefilter)
- A co-author of Kobe Bryant’s children’s book has deleted his draft (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Why is everyone so coding-crazy? And is it time to stop trying to teach toddlers the language? (WIRED)
- Netflix dominated the Annie Awards, picking up 19 trophies, including Best Feature for Klaus (Variety)
- Following the Marvel TV layoffs, several animated Marvel series are no longer moving forward at Hulu (Deadline)
- Reports suggest pay-TV broadcaster Sky is nearing a deal with Disney+ (City AM)
- Apple TV+ has reportedly built a subscriber base of 30 million (Digital TV Europe)
- Vine’s successor Byte has launched—but with TikTok around, does anyone care? (Tubefilter)
- It’s an American invasion: Netflix opens its second office in Europe this month, this time in Rome (Variety)
- Good news for producers—original content is driving Gen Z’s purchasing decisions (Billboard)
- Despite not wanting to be political, it’s happening to TikTok anyways (Vox)
- It’s all about sustainability in marketing now…but how much is just talk? (Digiday)
- In an effort to keep improving, has tech gotten worse? (Tech Crunch)
- Perhaps a signal of TikTok’s growing entertainment ambitions, the app has opened an office in Culver City (Variety)
- …Meanwhile, the social platform is also making the American bathroom an inescapable part of online life (New York Times)
- Now that we know IGTV is a flop, will it follow Facebook Watch’s monetization strategy? (Ad Week)
- From Cartoon Network to Disney+ to Netflix, is the future of kids TV queer? (Digital Spy)
- Disney is selling a Fox-owned video game development studio (Screen Rant)
February 5, 2020
February 4, 2020
February 3, 2020
January 31, 2020
January 30, 2020
January 29, 2020
January 28, 2020
January 27, 2020
January 24, 2020
January 23, 2020
Newsletter
