Digiday reports: “The 2021-22 TV upfront marketplace, accounting for some $20 billion or more in advertiser commitments laid down across linear, cable and streaming/connected TV for the next 12 months starting in 3Q, is close to wrapping up initial negotiations, said several media buyers.”
Variety reports: “MusiCares, which has distributed more than $25 million in Covid-19 relief to members of the music community, announced Monday that it is distributing a “final round” of such funding.”
Variety reports: “The CEO of NBCUniversal said the company enjoyed robust demand in the TV industry’s upfront market, but offered no tangible details on volume or pricing to help bolster his case.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Qualcomm would be ready to take a stake in UK semiconductor firm Arm if the Nvidia deal was to fall through.”
Deadline reports: “Documentary+, the non-fiction streaming service established by studio XTR, is to share viewership data with its filmmakers, potentially becoming the first digital platform to reveal ratings.”
CNET reports: “US lawmakers unveiled a wide-ranging antitrust agenda Friday, aiming to rein in the competitive power of giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google with five bipartisan bills that would represent the most meaningful refashioning of antitrust laws in decades.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “The following MBW op/ed comes from Kim Bayley (pictured inset), CEO of the UK’s Entertainment Retailers Association, whose members include the likes of Amazon, Deezer, HMV, SoundCloud, Spotify, and YouTube. ERA recently released its 2021 Yearbook, packed with data about the UK entertainment market.”
Variety reports: “Netflix has been selling its subscription products direct-to-consumer since it was founded more than two decades ago. Now the streaming giant has launched Netflix.shop — the company’s first owned-and-operated retail outlet to sell products directly.”
Variety reports: “Sony Music Entertainment has announced “an expansion of the comprehensive support we provide to thousands of our artists around the world” via a new initiative called Artists Forward, “prioritizing transparency with creators in all aspects of their development,” the company stated in a letter to artists.”
Variety reports: “Over its nearly five-decade history, HBO has never run commercials. Now WarnerMedia, in a bid to maximize its streaming base, has rolled out a cheaper version of HBO Max with ads — $9.99 monthly, 33% less than the regular $14.99 no-ads plan.”
