television
Hulu discounts its on-demand service to $1.99 per month for students
Looking to gain traction with a younger user base, Hulu this morning announced it’s dropping the price of its on-demand streaming service to $1.99 per month for students over 18…
Hulu’s live TV service gains 14 new channels as result of ViacomCBS deal
A new agreement between Hulu and ViacomCBS will bring 14 new channels to Hulu’s live TV streaming service, while also renewing the deal that allows Hulu to carry various CBS…
Streamers, including Netflix and CBS All Access, roll out new family-friendly features
As competition in the streaming service market heats up, services are looking for ways to differentiate their offerings. One area of increased interest — especially in light of fierce competition…
Discovery will launch its own streaming service on January 4
Discovery is the latest media company to launch a standalone streaming service — and the latest to adopt the simple naming strategy of just adding a plus sign — with…
HBO Max hits 28.7M subscribers in Q3, but few are over-the-top
AT&T painted a rosy picture of HBO Max adoption during the company’s earnings report on Thursday. Despite not being available on Roku, one of the top streaming platforms in the…
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Quibi is dead
Plagued with growth issues, Quibi, a short-form mobile-native video platform, is shutting down, according to multiple reports. The startup, co-founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, had raised nearly $2 billion in its lifetime as a private company. Quibi did not respond to requests for comment from TechCrunch. The company’s prolific fundraising efforts spanned prominent…
Venn, a network hoping to be gaming’s answer to MTV, raises $26 million
Venn, the streaming network hoping to be gaming culture’s answer to MTV, has raised $26 million to bring its mix of video game-themed entertainment and streaming celebrity features to the…
A quarter of US adults now get news from YouTube, Pew Research study finds
Around a quarter of U.S. adults, or roughly 26%, say they get news by watching YouTube videos, according to a new study from Pew Research Center, which examined the Google-owned…
Amazon redesigns Fire TV, introduces new Fire TV Stick and low-cost Fire TV Stick Lite
Amazon today announced a redesign Fire TV experience along with an updated Fire TV Stick and a new, lower-cost Fire TV Stick Lite. The updated interface for the Alexa-enabled smart…
Pandemic accelerated cord cutting, making 2020 the worst-ever year for pay TV
The pandemic has accelerated adoption of a number of technologies, from online grocery to multiplatform gaming to streaming services and more. But one industry that has not benefited is traditional…
YouTube TV hikes price to $64.99 per month following new channel additions
YouTube TV is getting another price hike, making its live TV streaming service less competitive with the cable TV services it aims to replace. The company announced today its service…
Disney Research neural face-swapping technique can provide photorealistic, high-resolution video
A new paper published by Disney Research in partnership with ETH Zurich describes a fully automated, neural network-based method for swapping faces in photos and videos — the first such…
Nielsen finds connected TV viewing remains higher than pre-COVID-19 levels, despite lockdowns lifting
The significant increases in TV watching and streaming services that were seen during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the U.S. may represent the new normal, new data from Nielsen suggests. During…
YouTube TV to gain 14 more ViacomCBS channels in expanded distribution deal
YouTube TV is expanding its lineup of channels thanks to a new, multi-year distribution agreement with ViacomCBS, announced this morning. The Google-owned streaming TV service is gaining 14 new ViacomCBS…
AT&T loses 897K more pay TV subscribers in Q1 2020, adding pressure to HBO Max launch
AT&T gave a first look into how the pay TV business is faring amid the coronavirus pandemic…and it’s not great. The company reported today as a part of its Q1…
Google adds a universal watchlist for movies and TV to Google Search
Google is adding a new feature to Search that will help you keep track of all the TV shows and movies you want to watch during these long weeks at…
HBO Max debuts on May 27th with 10,000 hours of content, including a handful of originals
AT&T’s WarnerMedia announced last fall its plan was to launch the new streaming service HBO Max in May 2020 for $14.99 per month. Today, we have a solid launch date:…
HBO makes some top shows, movies and documentaries free to stream on HBO NOW and HBO GO
Giving people even more of a reason to stay home and follow the social distancing measures designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S., HBO said it would…
Watchworthy’s personalized TV recommendation app will help you find your next binge
Ranker, an online publisher that turns crowdsourced lists and fan rankings into a data business, is now turning its attention to the world of streaming services. The company this week…
Amazon Prime Video is streaming kids’ movies and TV for free, no Prime membership required
Amazon is making a selection of family-friendly and programming for kids available for free streaming on Prime Video as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis, which has people trapped…
Oprah Winfrey’s new Apple TV+ show, ‘Oprah Talks COVID-19,’ arrives for free streaming
Over the weekend, Apple introduced the first two episodes of its new Apple TV+ show, “Oprah Talks COVID-19,” for free viewing. In the first episode, Oprah Winfrey interviews actor Idris…
Following Disney+’s successful launch, AT&T positions HBO Max as family-friendly
AT&T’s upcoming streaming service, HBO Max, is still on track for a May 2020 launch, said president and CEO John Stankey, speaking today at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and…
NBCU’s Peacock streaming service adds hundreds of hours of A&E shows
Peacock, NBCU’s upcoming streaming service, is expanding its unscripted lineup thanks to a new deal with A&E Networks. The licensing pact will allow NBCU to stream hundreds of hours of…
WarnerMedia’s new streaming service HBO Max is coming to YouTube TV, along with HBO & Cinemax
WarnerMedia and YouTube TV today announced a distribution deal that will bring HBO and Cinemax to the Google-owned live TV streaming service for the first time as well as, notably,…
Apple’s TV App and Apple TV+ arrive on 2019 LG TVs
The Apple TV app, including access to the new streaming service Apple TV+, has now arrived on LG smart TVs. This week, LG announced the launch of the Apple TV…
Whip Media Group, parent to TV show tracking app TV Time, raises $50M
In the streaming era, data on a show’s viewership and popularity is harder to come by. It’s no longer as simple as setting up a Nielsen box to get data…
‘Star Trek: Picard’ breaks streaming records on CBS All Access
CBS’ streaming service, CBS All Access, credits a trio of high-profile events — including the premiere of its new Star Trek series, “Star Trek: Picard,” as well as the 62nd…
Apple TV+ scores Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Meryl Streep, announces release dates for new shows
Apple has scored more big names for its newly launched streaming service, Apple TV+, including “Veep” and “Seinfeld” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as Meryl Streep, the latter who’s attached…
Roku expands to Brazil, launches Roku TV featuring Globoplay in partnership with AOC
Roku announced this morning it’s expanding into Brazil, a sizable market that could have a notable impact on the streaming device maker’s advertising business. The company last summer was said…
Roku TV adds brand partners plus a new ‘Roku TV Ready’ program
Amazon’s Fire TV isn’t the only connected TV platform aiming to reach more screens by way of new partnerships. While Amazon today announced plans to bring Fire TV to more…
