Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Mobile startup FunCraft has emerged from stealth as it announces a successful funding round of $1.8 million. The investment was led by Play Ventures, reports GamesBeat, with contributions from Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus, the CEOs of Gucci and Huuuge Games, plus the co-founders of Allbirds, Harry’s and Warby Parker.”
Hypebot reports: “An estimated 37.5 million people in the US will watch streaming video on Amazon-owned Twitch at least monthly in 2020, according to eMarketer.”
Variety reports: “Discovery lost viewers in the fourth quarter, saw ratings decline and increased the amount of money it invested in new businesses. And yet, fourth-quarter profit rose as the company saw revenue from advertising and distribution rise in both the U.S. and overseas.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications, a couple of days after unveiling a deal that will see an investor group led by former Viacom CFO Wade Davis acquire a 64 percent stake in it, on Thursday said it swung to a fourth-quarter profit amid higher revenue and lower expenses.”
Deadline reports: “The ever-deepening ties between the U.S. and UK television industries were laid bare today in a chunky report by Ofcom. The British media regulator dropped a five-year study on the state of play at British public service broadcasters — namely the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and ViacomCBS’s Channel 5.”
TechCrunch reports: “TikTok is one of the hottest social media platforms but the CEO of Reddit had some harsh words for the popular app, calling it “fundamentally parasitic” at an event Wednesday.”
Hypebot reports: “While some legacy songwriters are nostalgic for royalty systems from days gone by, the reality is that such systems were sluggish and often unreliable when it came to actually paying artists.”
VentureBeat reports: “DeltaDNA and Earplay are bringing advanced analytics to Amazon and Google voice-based games and apps. The integration of DeltaDNA’s analytics enables Earplay users to better optimize the player experience, boost engagement and drive in-content spending, with more tools and services set to roll out in the coming months.”
Billboard reports: “The RIAA released its 2019 year-end revenue numbers for the U.S. recorded-music business Tuesday (Feb. 25) and for the fourth straight year it was full of great news in the form of double-digit percent increases and a wealth of money coming in from paid streaming.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Elsewhere in competitive gaming, the Premier League takes the ‘FIFA’ tournament to Philadelphia and a 7-year-old girl from Singapore is the newest ‘Pokemon’ champion.”
