TikTok is introducing a new feature, the TikTok Library, aimed at making it easier for creators to augment entertainment content and jump on trends. The TikTok Library will initially be populated with content from Giphy, including the audio-enhanced GIFs known as Giphy Clips. Companies ranging from TV and movie studios to game makers, record labels, sports leagues and media outlets have been sharing licensed content using Giphy Clips. Giphy was founded in 2013, and was in 2020 purchased for $400 million by Facebook, now Meta Platforms.  Continue reading TikTok Library Taps Giphy to Add New Video Creation Tools

YouTube recently announced that it plans to offer full seasons of ad-supported streaming TV series free of charge, a first for the Google video platform. The move will put YouTube in competition with a growing number of free streaming services such as IMDb TV, Peacock, Plex, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Tubi and Xumo. U.S. consumers can expect more than 4,000 free episodes to start, with up to 100 additional film and television titles to be added each week. The popular video site already offers more than 1,500 free, ad-supported movies, so the television content is expected to serve as a vital expansion of its streaming options. Continue reading YouTube Joins the Free, Ad-Supported Streaming TV Market

Senators Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) introduced the SMART Copyright Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation they say will “hold tech accountable by developing effective, widely-available measures to combat copyright theft.” While intellectual property owners see the proposal as a positive step to protect creators, critics view it as a potential threat to free speech. Essentially an update to 1998’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act, SMART allows the U.S. Copyright Office to create standard technical measures (STMs) to protect rightsholders through a filtering system implemented by online hosting platforms. Continue reading SMART Copyright Act Updates DMCA in Fight Against Piracy

Amazon completed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM late last week. The companies finalized the deal immediately upon expiration of the Federal Trade Commission’s mid-March deadline to object, though the agency let it be known that it can challenge a deal any time it finds cause. Amazon in May announced intent to acquire MGM, which has a library of more than 4,000 films and some 17,000 TV episodes as well as ongoing production in both areas. In August, a group of four labor unions collectively urged the FTC to quash Amazon’s bid. Continue reading Amazon Closes $8.5B Deal for MGM, FTC Watches in Wings

Netflix will test charging its subscribers an additional fee for account access for users outside the household in an effort to control unauthorized password sharing. The company has for many years ignored the practice of multiple users logging in to the same account from different locations, even though their terms of service say accounts “may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.” One analyst estimates Netflix leaves $6 billion a year on the table due to illicit password sharing. The result is “impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members,” the company explains. Continue reading Netflix Will Test Converting Password Sharers into Paid Subs

Discovery plans to merge Discovery+ and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max into one streaming service shortly after completing the acquisition of AT&T’s entertainment spinoff WarnerMedia. The news was shared by Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, speaking Monday at Deutsche Bank’s 30th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference. Wiedenfels said that the transition will likely take “several months” but “an interim solution” will be introduced “in the meantime.” “Building one very, very strong combined direct-to-consumer product and platform, that’s going to take a while,” he said. Continue reading HBO Max, Discovery+ Will Be Combined into a Single Service

Streaming video service Disney+ plans to introduce an ad-supported subscription tier in the U.S. later this year, with plans to expand the tier internationally in 2023. While the company has yet to announce pricing or specific launch dates, the AVOD plan will cost less than the current $7.99-per-month ad-free version. According to the entertainment giant, the new ad-supported offering is part of a larger goal to attract 230-260 million subscribers globally by the close of Disney’s 2024 fiscal year. Streaming leaders such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video do not currently offer ad-supported options. Disney’s Hulu does offer an ad-supported streaming plan. Continue reading Disney+ to Roll Out Ad-Supported Plan in U.S. Later This Year

LG has unveiled two new 4K HDR projectors that the company says are its most advanced models to date. Both the LG CineBeam HU715Q and HU710P feature 2,000,000:1 contrast ratios. With a retail price of $2,500, the HU710P uses a hybrid laser-LED light source that doesn’t require a color wheel and can pump up to 2,000 lumens of brightness. The $3,000 HU715Q ultra short-throw (UST) relies only on laser light, producing up to 2,500 lumens. Both projectors are designed for indoors, but LG says they’ll also work outside after sundown. Continue reading New CineBeam Models Are Most Advanced LG 4K Projectors

IMAX is looking to expand beyond film exhibition, and is adding a regular slate of concerts, stand-up comedy performances and eSports tournaments, in addition to other attractions. The company’s new era launched in December with the live stream of Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead” concert, which took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and simultaneously beamed to 35 IMAX theaters, which sold out, adding an additional 10,000 seats. Last week, the company reteamed with West, streaming his “Donda 2” show from Miami to 60 IMAX theaters for an additional 18,000 tickets priced between $20 and $30. Continue reading IMAX Expands Its Offerings with More Live-Streamed Events

Online film sales tool Cinemarket, a platform for international buyers and sellers, is launching Cineverse, which intends to make it possible to market and distribute films and associated items using NFT and blockchain technology. The company reportedly has about 300 films in the pipeline for its soft launch at the this month’s Berlin International Film Festival and is prepping for a major debut May 21 at the Cannes Film Festival. Cineverse is designed to be an open platform that uses social media tools to allow filmmakers and marketers to connect directly with audiences. Continue reading Indie Cinema Leverages NFT, Blockchain, Social Media Tech

ViacomCBS has renamed itself Paramount Global following a record surge in streaming subscribers led by Paramount+. “We achieved our best quarter ever in streaming subscription growth — more than doubling our subscriber additions from last quarter with a record 9.4 million additions, expanding our total global streaming subscribers to over 56 million,” ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said. Quarterly streaming revenue was up by 48 percent, to $1.32 billion, topping forecasts of $1.27 billion. Streaming subscription revenue was up 84 percent, while streaming ad revenue grew 26 percent in Q4. Continue reading ViacomCBS Rebrands as Paramount Global, Reports Growth

Three months after MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes shared hopes to resurrect his subscription movie service, shuttered late 2019, the executive held a New York press conference to announce his summer reboot. “A lot of people lost money. A lot of people lost trust,” Spikes told reporters, explaining that he plans to run MoviePass 2.0 like a co-op, with top-level stakeholders eligible to hold partial ownership and a lifetime subscription. “Moviegoing is not going anywhere. Cinema is not going anywhere,” Spikes said during last week’s press event at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. Continue reading MoviePass Service Plans to Be Back in Operation by Summer

The Walt Disney Company reported record revenue in its theme parks sector and strong gains in streaming, a rather unlikely situation of benefitting from both sides of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Disney+ added 11.8 million new subscribers while people flocked to its location-based U.S. venues. “We’ve had a very strong start to the fiscal year,” said CEO Bob Chapek, announcing “record revenue and operating income at our domestic parks and resorts, the launch of a new franchise with ‘Encanto,’ and a significant increase in total subscriptions across our streaming portfolio” for the company’s first fiscal quarter, ended January 1, 2022. Continue reading Disney’s Quarter Reflects Theme Park and Streaming Success

The Disney+ streaming video service, which launched in November 2019 and is already available in 64 countries, plans to launch in 42 additional countries and 11 new territories sometime this summer. The announcement did not include exact release dates or regional pricing, but the scope of the expansion should help the platform jumpstart subscriber growth to better compete with other streaming services such as Netflix and HBO Max. The expansion plans should also steer Disney toward its previously predicted target of 230 million subscribers before the end of 2024. Disney+ already had 118 million global subscribers by the end of last year. Continue reading Disney+ Service to Debut in 42 More Countries This Summer

Netflix stock dropped 20 percent Thursday on news that the streaming platform’s subscriber growth is slowing. Netflix missed its target only slightly, adding 8.3 million subscribers in Q4, versus its projected 8.5 million. But that missed target is combined with escalating content costs and a forecast that 2.5 million subscribers will be added in the first three months of 2022 as opposed to 4 million in Q1 2021. A significant portion of Q4’s subscribers growth was in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, up 3.5 million. Netflix added 1.2 million subs in the U.S. and Canada, only a slight improvement year over year. Continue reading Netflix Subscriber Growth Ebbs in U.S. but Is Solid Overseas