Variety reports: “Netflix and Mediaset on Tuesday in Rome announced details of an alliance in Italy under which they will jointly produce seven Italian-language feature films, a move that marks the U.S. streaming giant’s biggest Italian content deal to date.”
VentureBeat reports: “Medal.tv, a maker of short-form gaming videos, has acquired Megacool to expand into mobile game clip sharing. The purchase price was not disclosed.”
gamesindustry.biz reports: “A Canadian law firm has begun proceedings to open a class action lawsuit against Epic Games. Acting on behalf of the parents of two minors, Montreal-based Calex Legal filed a legal notice late last week, claiming that Epic Games knowingly created Fortnite to be as addictive as possible.”
Billboard reports: “Group Nine Media plans to acquire PopSugar amid a period of consolidation in the media industry. The deal means the merger of female-focused PopSugar with the company that owns the Thrillist (food and travel), The Dodo (animals), Seeker (science) and NowThis (news and politics) brands.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Having already applied diversity requirements to its film awards, the British Academy is now set to deploy them to TV. Announced Tuesday, BAFTA will pilot the BFI Diversity Standards to all U.K. production categories at the BAFTA TV Awards, with an aim to introduce them fully for the 2021 Awards.”
Deadline reports: “CBS News and Quibi are teaming on a weekly news program as part of a licensing deal with 60 Minutes. Under the pact, 60 Minutes will produce 60 In 6, a weekly program targeted toward an audience consuming content on mobile phones.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “On Friday, several advertising agencies revealed the details of a proposed settlement with Facebook that would end a class action alleging the social media giant overstated the average time its users spent watching video.”
The Verge reports: “Roku TVs have recently started showing interactive pop-up ads overlaid on related TV commercials received over cable or antenna, Cord Cutters News reports. An image posted by the publication shows a pop-up ad for Ghost Town that appeared during a Geico commercial (Ghost Town is sponsored by Geico).”
VentureBeat reports: “Three years ago, Spotify told GitHub followers that an app for the Apple TV wasn’t coming “anytime soon,” as development had been “down prioritized” — most likely a result of ongoing strife between the music streaming giant and Apple, which was actively promoting its competitive Apple Music service.”
VentureBeat reports: “Fortnite was still the most-watch game on livestreaming platform Twitch in the third quarter, but the hours watched on the platform declined, according to a report by Newzoo and Streamlabs.”
