By Daniel Kohn July 5, 2018 | Fans who couldn’t wait to see the red band trailer of Sony’s upcoming “Khali the Killer” film were in for a major surprise when they went to check it out… and it wasn’t due to its violent content. Instead, when the clip was posted on Tuesday, the entire movie landed on Sony’s official YouTube page, accidentally...
By Todd Spangler July 4, 2018 | Netflix is kicking the tires on a new high-end streaming plan — dubbed “Ultra” — to see whether consumers are willing to pay more for four Ultra HD streams or content in HDR format. The Ultra plans cost $16.99 per month and is being tested in two versions. One offers four Ultra HD streams, while the existing $13.99 Premium plan would drop...
June 28, 2018 | In the heyday of the talkie, Louis B. Mayer, head of the biggest studio, was Hollywood’s lion king. In the 1980s, with the studio system on the wane, “superagent” Michael Ovitz was often described as the most powerful man in town. Now the honour falls to someone who used to run a video store in Phoenix,...
By Ryan Faughnder June 28, 2018 | Walt Disney Co. is shuffling its executive ranks as it prepares to launch its streaming video service, a key initiative by the company to remain a dominant entertainment player in the digital age. The Burbank-based studio on Thursday put its film marketing president, Ricky Strauss, in charge of content and marketing for its streaming initiative, which...
By Bryan Bishop June 28, 2018 | We’ve known for some time that DC Comics has been preparing its own digital streaming service, but today, the company revealed that the platform will go far beyond just TV shows. DC Universe isn’t a streaming platform so much as a subscription service for all things DC, including comics, TV shows, and movies. A beta version...
By Paul Bond June 27, 2018 | Amazon should buy CBS so that its Prime Video subscription service can give Netflix a run for its money, an analyst said in a research note he distributed to clients this week. "Despite all of Amazon's many accomplishments, Prime Video appears to be lagging in both usage and reach," wrote Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson, an independent...
By Todd Spangler June 27, 2018 | Warner Bros. has reached a new agreement that will make all of the studio’s new release DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles available to rent at Redbox’s kiosks the same day as their retail on-sale dates. Previously, Warner Bros.’s agreement with Redbox allowed for rentals seven days after home-video release. Under the new pact, the retailer also...
By Antonio Villas-Boas June 27, 2018 | Headphones may start to look like old technology in 2019 when Noveto, a startup based in Israel, showcases its new "focused audio" devices to attendees of the biggest tech show of any year, CES. Noveto has come up with a technology that can do exactly the same thing as headphones — deliver sound right to your...
By Ben Munson June 22, 2018 | The Walt Disney Company is promising to sell off even more Fox assets if its $71 billion deal for the company’s studio and cable network businesses earns regulatory approval. In a filing with the SEC, Disney said that it would be willing to part ways with Fox assets representing up to $1 billion in total EBITDA. That’s an...
By Paige Albiniak June 20, 2018 | Under chairman Mike Hopkins, Sony Pictures Television is being reorganized across its television networks, distribution and home entertainment units. As part of these changes, global networks operations and worldwide distribution/home entertainment will combine into a single business unit operating in a “territory management model.” SPT also will establish a direct-to-consumer unit “focused on engaging audiences and building new platforms.” The...
