The Hollywood Reporter reports: “The presidential election and the conclusion of the World Series helped drive overall TV use to a nine-month high in November. But despite those big events on linear TV platforms, both cable and broadcast outlets lost some share of viewing in Nielsen‘s monthly platform rankings.”
Games Industry Biz reports: “Build A Rocket Boy has acquired PlayFusion for an undisclosed sum. The partnership will see PlayFusion support Build A Rocket Boy’s AAA projects including MindsEye, in addition to its open world platform Everywhere and user-generated content tool Arcadia. PlayFusion CEO and CTO Mark Gerhard has been appointed co-CEO of Build A Rocket Boy as part of the acquisition.”
CNBC reports: “OpenAI said Monday it’s releasing its buzzy AI video-generation tool, Sora, later in the day. The AI video-generation model works similarly to OpenAI’s image-generation AI tool, DALL-E: A user types out a desired scene, and Sora will return a high-definition video clip. Sora can also generate video clips inspired by still images and extend existing videos or fill in missing frames.”
Breaking the News reports: “Meta Platforms Inc. announced on Tuesday that Instagram is launching trial reels, which will help users “try out” content and “experiment with new ideas” without worrying about how their followers will receive it. According to the social media giant’s press release, the trial reels will be shown to non-followers first so that users can check how their content will perform before posting it for their own followers.”
Cord Cutters News reports: “In a significant shift in the streaming landscape, major live TV streaming services like Sling TV, Philo, Fubo, and DIRECTV STREAM are now offering free ad-supported channels to attract new subscribers. This trend reflects a growing recognition of the power of free content to entice viewers and potentially convert them into paying customers.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “In a unanimous decision, a federal appeals court in the US has rejected TikTok’s lawsuit to challenge a law that could force it to cut its ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a complete ban in the US by mid-January 2025. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Friday that the government’s actions are justified on national security grounds, dealing a blow to TikTok‘s ongoing legal battle to remain operational in the US.”
CNBC reports: “Reddit is rolling out a new artificial intelligence feature designed to help people quickly find answers based on user posts, the company said Monday. A small portion of Reddit’s U.S. user base will have access to the Reddit Answers feature as part of an initial test before the company rolls the feature out more broadly.”
TechCrunch reports: “Podcast recording platform Riverside said Monday that it has raised $30 million in Series C funding led by Zeev Ventures, with participation from Seven Seven Six, and angel investor Sam Lessin. The company wants to use this funding to grow its team and build out solutions for the podcast and content creation space.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “The advertising business roared back in 2024, and is set to continue to grow in 2025 … but linear TV will be the exception that growth. That’s according to the annual end-of-year advertising forecast from the media buying giant GroupM. The agency says that 2024 will end with 9.5 percent growth in total advertising revenue, an upward revision from the 7.8 percent it predicted in June.”
Yahoo! Finance reports: “Warner Bros Discovery signed a multiyear deal with Comcast that lays the groundwork for the European launch of the Max streaming service, and resolves a dispute over a coming “Harry Potter” television series, the companies said on Monday. Under the wide-ranging agreement, Warner Bros Discovery’s portfolio of TV networks, including TNT, CNN, and Food Network, will be available to subscribers of Comcast’s Xfinity service in the U.S. and Sky in the UK and Ireland.”
