ESPN reports: “Venu Sports — the sports streaming platform planned by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery — will be available for $42.99 per month with its planned launch in the fall. The streaming service’s launch price was announced Thursday. Besides a seven-day free trial, those who sign up could receive it for the same price for 12 months with the ability to cancel at any time.”
Games Industry Biz reports: “Former Unity and Scopely developers have banded together to form Outer Haven Games. The team – which is based in California, USA, and consists of founders Austin Ashcraft, Stephen Fong, and Chuck Beaver, who lead on product, business, and creative, respectively – is already working on an “anime-inspired RPG” called Techno Infierno.”
Broadband TV News reports: “DAZN has announced the acquisition of broadcast rights to the English Football League’s National League, National League North and National League South, in the UK and on a global and exclusive basis. The National League sits fifth in the English football pyramid beneath EFL League 2, below come National League North and National League South, which are organised on a regional basis.”
TechCrunch reports: “Global startup funding was up 16% in the second quarter, according to Crunchbase data, led by an uptick in mega-rounds. That increase was led, unsurprisingly, by the AI sector. Funding to companies in AI made up 30% of all dollars invested and actually doubled quarter over quarter to $24 billion.”
Digital Music News reports: “Is Spotify preparing to roll out video bundles – or additional subscription options that don’t feature music at all? A newly inked distribution deal with Cineverse could mark the first step on that journey for the bundling-minded platform.
The involved companies formally disclosed their tie-up today, though in the music space, coverage has been decidedly light thus far.”
PYMNTS reports: “Artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI has begun rolling out an advanced voice feature for its ChatGPT platform. The feature, which utilizes the company’s GPT-4o model, offers hyper-realistic audio responses, according to a Tuesday (July 30) TechCrunch report. The new audio capabilities supposedly enable users to have real-time, delay-free conversations with ChatGPT and even interrupt it mid-sentence, addressing key challenges in achieving realistic AI interactions.”
Variety reports: “Viewership of livestreaming channels across Twitch, Kick and more platforms is up 10% from last year, per a new report, indicating a boost to that creator industry following a post-pandemic dip. According to a second-quarter trends report published Wednesday by analytics firm Stream Hatchet, a GameSquare company, livestreaming content has been watched for 8.5 billion hours between April 1-June 30.”
The Verge reports: “Microsoft is making Skype ad-free in an update that will rollout to users across all platforms soon. The update also includes improved AI image creation tools on Skype for Windows and macOS, and the ability to sign in automatically on iOS if you’re already signed into another Microsoft app.”
Broadband TV News reports: “Warner Bros Discovery is holding early talks with multiple platforms about the distribution of its Max service when it launches in the UK in 2026. Max is launching later in the UK market than in other European territories because its HBO content is currently the subject of an exclusive deal with Sky, which incorporates shows such as Game of Thrones and Succession into its Sky Atlantic channel.”
VentureBeat reports: “Apple has lifted the curtain on its latest artificial intelligence efforts, revealing details about new language models designed to power AI features across its devices while prioritizing user privacy and responsible development.”
