Established streaming industry leaders like Netflix and Amazon are facing more competition than ever. Now legacy entertainment giants are in the game with their own subscription services, like Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and the Disney Plus / Hulu / ESPN Plus bundle, while Apple TV Plus attacks around the edges. Meanwhile, the rise of ad-supported free platforms like Roku Channel and Pluto TV has attracted enough attention that Plex, YouTube, and Amazon’s Freevee are trying to get a chunk of the action too.
Both sides came to an agreement on Wednesday that would end a nearly two-year-long legal battle over the self-governed special district that DeSantis took over from Disney.
Disney agreed to recognize its last-minute rule change in the district in 2023 as “null and void.” The company also agreed to drop its public records lawsuit against the district.
[POLITICO]
Before I became a dad, I thought the idea of kids repeatedly pestering there parents with “are we there yet?” on long car trips was just a cliché. Good lord was I wrong. Thankfully, Yoto’s popular card-based storytelling app is coming to CarPlay and Android Auto to help relieve the boredom. From the looks of it, the app will work very similarly to other podcast apps. Now I just have to steel myself to listen to The Very Hungry Caterpillar 3,000 times in a row.
[Yoto Space]
Instead of sharing a Tidal-specific song link with friends, now you can let them choose the service they want to open it with — whether it’s Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music. Tidal is rolling out universal links today, and you can see how it looks in the screenshot below.
The marketing team for the longtime sci-fi series halted its use of generative AI for Doctor Who marketing emails following complaints, reports Deadline.
As part of a small trial, marketing teams used generative AI technology to help draft some text for two promotional emails and mobile notifications to highlight Doctor Who programming available on the BBC.
We followed all BBC editorial compliance processes and the final text was verified and signed-off by a member of the marketing team before it was sent. We have no plans to do this again to promote Doctor Who.
The creators of 3 Body Problem want to have ‘a back and forth’ with the book
Though Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is very different from Cixin Liu’s novel, the show’s creators say they wanted the two stories to share the same essential narrative DNA.
ESPN’s digital plan is sort of all over the place. It’s building a streaming version of the cable network, it’s part of the “Hulu for Sports” coming later this year, and now it’s offering listings for some local sports — though you’ll still have to subscribe to your network and watch the actual games separately. Odd!
ESPN has long talked about being something along the lines of a TV guide for streaming sports; seems like this is what it looks like.
Neither has any of the apps we’re used to.
Andrew Webster’s reviews of the 3 Body headset and the tablet from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom each drive home the necessity of a healthy ecosystem, even for the coolest tech.
The biggest new battle royale is ready for your phone
Plus, in this week’s Installer: a peek at the Humane AI Pin, new Stardew Valley, 3 Body Problem, and much more.
3 Body Problem VR headset review: magical tech in need of more apps
The device is far more advanced than an Apple Vision Pro, but it needs more than one game to justify the purchase (once you can actually purchase one, that is).
The new Hulu exclusive series features Moss as super spy Imogen Salter. According to FX’s show description, it explores “the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London.” The show is written and executive produced by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders).
The six-episode season is expected to debut on Hulu on April 30th.
While we already knew The Boy and the Heron would soon be available on Max in the US, Netflix has secured worldwide streaming rights, and announced its plans to debut the movie in the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America markets in the comings months.
Netflix’s 3 Body Problem adaptation channels the book’s spirit but not its brilliance
Though David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo’s 3 Body Problem is impressive, it really feels like just an introduction to Cixin Liu’s deeper ideas.
And Prime Video’s staggering amount of Indian programming is a likely factor. Head of Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios Mike Hopkins told an audience in India on Tuesday that the country would be key to the streamer’s growth.
Currently, Indian Prime users sign up for Prime Video more than any other Amazon benefit.
Netflix’s latest sports docuseries follows the same format as the Peyton Manning-produced Quarterback. The only difference is that it highlights top NFL receivers, including Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The eight-episode series, Receiver, hits Netflix this summer and comes as part of the streamer’s broader push into sports documentaries and live events.
Live-action Star Wars show The Acolyte will bring the High Republic era of the franchise to TV for the first time on June 4th.
StarWars.com announced the show’s premiere date with this less-than-subtle bloody lightsaber poster, reading “In an age of light a darkness rises.” Spoooooooky. Also, the site says to expect the series’ official teaser trailer tomorrow.
The NCAA’s March Madness Live app is also getting a new, swipeable vertical video highlights feed.
The “Vision Pro compatibility” means the iPad app, so you won’t get any “spatial” features, but at least it’s there (unlike, say, YouTube). What, did the Samsung Gear VR app not do well or something?
The NCAA also says it’s offering “expanded live game radio” for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
[NCAA.com]
If it’s been a while since you thought about Sofia Boutella in Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire as Imperium soldier Kora, there’s a solid chance Rebel Moon — Part Two The Scargiver’s new trailer will leave you more than a bit confused about what’s going on.
The movie hits Netflix on April 19th.
You can easily watch most of Sony’s live-action Spider-Man movies on Disney Plus if the mood strikes you. But if you’ve been yearning to see Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland’s Peters Parker back on the big screen, you’ll have a shot at catching all eight of the past Spidey films in select theaters beginning April 15th.
There’s a lot in this Wall Street Journal profile of ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro. The switch to streaming; the Hulu for Sports plan; the battle over ever-more-expensive sports rights. But the undercurrent here is pretty clear: if ESPN can make all that work over the next couple of years, Pitaro might get Bob Iger’s office. (But that’s a really, really big if.)
The satellite company announced today that subscribers choosing its new “No Locals” package will save $12 a month.
The company helpfully suggests viewers drop local channels in the summer months to try it out and add them back in the fall. As Variety notes, that just so happens to be when the NFL, which is increasingly streaming in more places, picks up again.
A Twitch help page says it’s ending the feature that lets people watch Amazon Prime Video and chat together on April 2nd, as its usage has “declined over the years” since its 2020 rollout.
The feature lives on for Prime Video subscribers. But if you and your friends want to watch Ricky Stanicky or whatever, the host will need to have an ad-free subscription.
[help.twitch.tv]
We still don’t know much about the Among Us animated series, but the show has its crew, with a voice cast including Randall Park, Ashley Johnson, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Elijah Wood. Sounds like a group that would really love a pizza party.
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Pete Distad has been named CEO of the upcoming sports streaming service from ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Distad has had lengthy stints at both Apple — where he had a big hand in getting Apple TV Plus off the ground — and Hulu. He left Apple back in May.
The as-yet-unnamed service will launch this fall and is expected to cost around $50. “Pricing is going to be in the higher ranges of what people have talked about,” Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in early March.
[ESPN Press Room US]
Are we really going to ban TikTok?
On The Vergecast: what we do and don’t know about TikTok, why all the other apps are trying to be TikTok, and the photo scandal rocking the royals.
Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry’s production companies are behind a documentary film for Prime Video about the only AI you can trust to be The Answer, Allen Iverson.
Now, through unprecedented access and personal stories, along with intimate interviews with family, friends, and fellow NBA players and coaches, Iverson shares a more reflective side of his present-day self, as he takes us on a journey through his storied history into the present day where he realizes his cultural impact long after his playing days have come to an end.
[press.amazonstudios.com]