VentureBeat reports: “To say that social media is not in the best of places at the moment would be something of an understatement. Trolling, abuse, conspiracy theories, propaganda, and terrorism have become increasingly active, and the companies behind these platforms — despite some efforts — are largely failing to stay in control.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “CBS’ plan to acquire Viacom for up to $15.4 billion could be announced Aug 8, giving is controlling shareholder the ability to leverage IP like ‘Star Trek’ across film and TV to better compete with Disney, Netflix and the rest.”
gamesindustry.biz reports: “It’s been a rough year for indies on Steam. To be fair, many of the 12 indie developers I’ve spoken to over the last six months might gently rap on my window and inform me that, no, it’s been a rough several years for indies on Steam.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Following a string of box-office duds, STX Entertainment will shore up its cashflow with an investment from Saudi Arabia. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter a deal between the country’s Public Investment Fund and STX is nearly complete.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Disney’s digital remake points to a future where VR could reduce the time (and money) it takes to make even the most complex movies ‘without the physical limitations.'”
Billboard reports: “Netflix shed $17 billion in value on Thursday as Wall Street punished the leader in streaming media for announcing a day prior that it added only 2.7 million subscribers in the most recent quarter, far shy of the 5 million it had previously forecast.”
Forbes reports: “Long-time U.K. pay-TV rivals Sky and Virgin Media have signed a new multi-year partnership that expands on the existing collaboration between the two content providers. From 2020, Sky’s ultra HD linear channel and additional video-on-demand content will be added to the current package of Sky TV channels already available on the Virgin Media network.”
VentureBeat reports: “Google, which has already paid security researchers over $15 million since launching its bug bounty program in 2010, today increased bug bounties across the Chrome Vulnerability Reward Program and the Google Play Security Reward Program.”
TechCrunch reports: “As Facebook continues to lay the foundation for getting some of the world’s largest payment processing and technology companies a seat at the global monetary policy table, the company faces significant obstacles to enacting its plans from both sides of the congressional aisle.”
Variety reports: “Netflix badly undershot its subscriber forecasts for the second quarter of 2019 — posting its first net U.S. customer decline since 2011 while growth slowed considerably overseas. The company added 2.7 million subs worldwide, almost half as many as the 5 million it had projected.”
