Variety reports: “Scopely is now a unicorn. The privately held free-to-play mobile-games publisher announced a $200 million Series D funding round, bringing it to $458 million raised to date.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Comcast-owned European pay TV giant Sky and AT&T-owned WarnerMedia’s HBO are understood to be on the verge of renewing their long-running programming output deal, which has given Sky access to HBO content for its European territories.”
Variety reports: “With the highly-anticipated launch of Apple TV Plus Nov. 1, Variety television critics Daniel D’Addario and Caroline Framke discuss the service’s present and what could be its future.”
The Verge reports: “Google parent company Alphabet is in talks to buy wearable company Fitbit, Reuters reports. There is currently no confirmation that the deal will definitely take place, according to sources familiar with the talks.”
Spotify reports: “Spotify grew to 248 million monthly average users in the last three months and beat analysts’ expectations on paid Premium subscribers, reaching 113 million, the company reported in a Q3 letter to shareholders Monday.”
Billboard reports: “For songwriters and other creators, keeping track of collaborators and dividing royalties on songs can be a pain. Music payment and workflow management platform Jammber wants to make it easier with Splits, its new end-to-end royalty management app.”
Variety reports: “AT&T chairman-CEO Randall Stephenson has signaled his willingness to consider selling all or part of DirecTV as the satellite provider struggles with major subscriber losses.”
Deadline reports: “Nexstar, the No. 1 owner of local TV stations, is making a significant shift in its approach to negotiations with advertisers, ditching traditional ratings in favor of a “cost-per-impression” model.”
The Verge reports: “Sony is currently looking for a buyer of its PlayStation Vue TV streaming service, according to a new report published by The Information.”
Billboard reports: “Over the course of its 15 year history, Facebook has variously ignored news organizations while eating their advertising revenue, courted them for video projects it subsequently abandoned, and then largely cut their stories out of its newsfeeds.”
