Streaming Media
Spotify is introducing a new “Basic” streaming plan in the United States, the company announced on Friday. The new plan costs $10.99 per month and includes all of the benefits…
Roku debuts a hilarious new trailer for ‘WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story’ starring Daniel Radcliffe
Al Yankovic, the 62-year-old parody artist known as Weird Al, is getting his own equally weird biopic this fall. The trailer for “WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story” gives a first…
This Week in Apps: Whistleblowing drama, Instagram’s teen safety features, Twitter adds podcasts
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. Global app spending reached…
HBO grows its ‘Game of Thrones’ franchise, gives spin-off ‘House of the Dragon’ a second season
Days after HBO’s “House of the Dragon” became the most-watched premiere for a new HBO original series, the “Game of Thrones” prequel series is renewed for a second season. Now…
Streaming media platform Plex has confirmed a data breach and is warning users to change their passwords. Plex said it discovered the compromise on Tuesday and found the intruder had…
YouTube TV update could let viewers watch up to four live streams at once
Google may be working on a handful of new features for its live TV streaming service, YouTube TV. According to Protocol, the feature is called “Mosaic Mode” and would let…
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ to premiere on Disney+ next month on Disney+ Day
Disney+ revealed that “Thor: Love and Thunder” will be coming to the streaming service on September 8. The announcement is a part of this year’s Disney+ Day — an annual…
Streaming viewership surpassed cable TV for the first time, says Nielsen
Streaming viewership reached new highs last month, exceeding cable usage for the first time, according to Nielsen. The measurement firm today released its total TV and streaming report for July,…
Netflix’s ad-supported plan may block offline viewing, code suggests
Netflix’s upcoming ad-supported tier could have a big drawback — besides the fact that your programming will be interrupted by commercials, that is. One of the streaming service’s more useful…
The Roku Channel adds 14 linear channels, expanding its local news offering
Roku announced today that it added 14 new linear channels through its Live TV Guide on its free streaming hub, The Roku Channel, including several new local news streams. Viewers…
YouTube may launch a channel store for streaming services, report says
YouTube may be looking to launch an online channel store for streaming services through the YouTube app, positioning itself in direct competition with Amazon, Roku, and Apple, three tech giants…
Plex introduces a social experience to its streaming app with launch of ‘Discover Together’
Streaming media platform Plex, already an expansive service for personal media, free streaming TV and new content discovery, is venturing into a new area with today’s launch of a new feature,…
Amazon Prime Video launches local service in Nigeria
Amazon Prime Video today announced the launch of the localized version of its streaming service in one of Africa’s biggest markets: Nigeria. Just as it did in Southeast Asia some…
Paramount+ grows to 43 million subscribers as other streaming services fall short
Paramount Global reported this morning that its streaming service Paramount+ had a net add of 3.7 million subscribers to bring its global total to 43.3 million, up from 39.6 million…
‘Lightyear’ streams today, the first Pixar film on Disney+ with scenes in IMAX’s Expanded Aspect Ratio
“Lightyear” was the first Pixar movie in two years to make it to theaters. A month and a half later, it finally hits the streaming platform Disney+. Today, August 3,…
Sling TV continues to drop subscribers, loses 55K subscribers in second quarter
Dish reported today that its streaming service Sling TV declined in subscribers during the second quarter of 2022, with a net loss of 55,000. This significantly differs from the first…
Paramount+ joins The Roku Channel’s premium subscription lineup, bringing more live sports
Paramount+ and all its films, TV shows, originals, 24/7 news and live sports will arrive on The Roku Channel as a premium subscription later this month. The launch brings live…
Disney+ delays ‘Andor’ to give the Star Wars series the largest live-action premiere ever on the service
Today, Disney+ released a new trailer for the Star Wars series “Andor,” while also revealing that the premiere will be postponed to September 21 to accommodate a three-episode premiere. So…
Amazon Prime Video launches localized services for top three markets in Southeast Asia
Amazon Prime Video today launched localized versions of its streaming service in Southeast Asia’s biggest markets — Indonesia, Thailand and The Philippines. The company is attempting to boost its subscriber…
Peacock’s paid subscribers stayed flat at 13 million, losses widen to $467 million
Peacock, the streaming service of Comcast’s NBCUniversal, ended the second quarter with 13 million paid subscribers, parent company Comcast reported this morning. In the first quarter, there were 13 million…
Spotify says Kate Bush streams jumped 9,000% thanks to ‘Stranger Things’ (and TikTok)
Spotify’s monthly active users grew by 19 million this quarter, surpassing its own estimates — but that’s not the only thing that’s running up a hill on the streaming platform. Spotify…
Netflix gives ‘The Gray Man’ its own universe with a confirmed sequel and spin-off
Netflix will be giving its spy thriller “The Gray Man” its own universe. The film was just released on the platform last week and is already a global hit, garnering…
Disney+ revives ‘Daredevil’ after Netflix canceled it four years ago
During Hall H’s presentation at Comic-Con this Saturday, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced “Daredevil: Born Again,” a new series for Disney+ that stars Charlie Cox as Daredevil and Vincent…
NFL+ streaming service launches in the US, replacing NFL Game Pass
Today, the National Football League launched its streaming service NFL+ which has been officially priced at $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year. However, with this launch, the outgoing NFL…
Disney+ delivers first looks of new Spider-Man, X-Men, Groot and Marvel Zombies animated series
Disney+ made its debut at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 (SDCC) and gave Marvel fans a whole bunch of shows to look forward to. This marked Marvel Studios’ first appearance at…
Disney+ US goes R-rated with ‘Deadpool,’ ‘Deadpool 2’ and ‘Logan’
Disney+ strays farther from its family-friendly image with the addition of “Deadpool,” “Deadpool 2” and “Logan” arriving to the streaming service today, July 22. Alongside Disney’s announcement yesterday, the company…
Warner Music Group signs on to SoundCloud’s artist-friendly payment model
When SoundCloud launched its artist-friendly fan-powered royalty system last year, the model was only available for independent artists subscribed to the streamer’s paid tiers. Now, SoundCloud has inked its first…
HBO’s new ‘House of the Dragon’ trailer offers a peek at the ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel
HBO Max just released the first official trailer for “House of the Dragon,” the “Game of Thrones” prequel series that premieres on August 21. The show takes place 200 years…
Netflix confirms its ad-supported tier won’t have all its content at launch
In today’s earnings call, Netflix confirmed the reports that have been circulating since last week that it is renegotiating deals to allow the streamer to put content on its cheaper…
Alongside the report in its Q2 2022 letter to shareholders that Netflix lost 970,000 subscribers, Netflix also announced the acquisition of Animal Logic, the Australian animation studio responsible for “Happy…
