gamesindustry.biz reports: “Game.tv has closed a successful round of funding to the tune of $25 million. The company operates Tourney, an AI-powered esports tournament platform which can be integrated into online communities (on Discord, for example) and run weekly tournaments based around when most players are online.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Disney+ has signed an exclusive distribution deal with French pay TV giant Canal Plus Group, which will see the unit of Vivendi be the sole distributor of Disney’s new streaming service in France from its launch March 31, 2020.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “The U.S. Department of Justice is examining whether concert promoter Live Nation — owner of Ticketmaster — should be allowed to buy a competing ticketing company called Rival and take over the startup’s contract with billionaire Stan Kroenke.”
Deadline reports: “ABC News and Apple News are partnering on coverage of the 2020 presidential election, starting with plans for a Democratic debate on Feb. 7 in New Hampshire. For that event, Apple News will feature ABC News videos and live streaming, as well as graphics and polling data. WMUR-TV also is a partner in hosting the debate.”
Forbes reports: “Rambler, a Russian media company, is planning to sue Amazon’s Twitch for allegedly and illegally broadcasting 36,000 Premier League soccer games—and has since blocked Twitch from streaming the games, according to Reuters.”
VentureBeat reports: “Bigscreen and Paramount Pictures announced a multi-year agreement to distribute classic 2D and 3D films in 10 countries through Bigscreen, the social VR movie-watching platform.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Boom times are here when it comes to music docs. On the heels of Apple TV+ ponying up a whopping $26 million for a film about singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Amazon paying $25 million for a Peter Berg-directed Rihanna doc, dealmakers say the space will only get hotter.”
Variety reports: “When ET Live first launched on Halloween of 2018, the free “Entertainment Tonight”-branded streaming network kicked off with 15 hours of live programming a week, in three daily installments of entertainment news a day at 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.”
VentureBeat reports: “The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is considering asking a court to stop Facebook from moving ahead with plans to integrate its WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger subsidiaries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.”
The Verge reports: “T-Mobile wanted to merge with Dish back in 2015, T-Mobile CEO John Legere told a federal court yesterday, but Dish shot the deal down over concerns that T-Mobile would “disintegrate.” The details, reported by CNET, confirm stories from 2015 about a potential tie-up between the two companies and explains why the deal never came to be.”
