Todd Spangler Ny Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The new owners of Cheddar News, once touted as a kind of next-generation financial news network ala CNBC, have furloughed staff members because of “unforeseen” circumstances, the New York Times reported. Cheddar, founded in early 2016, was acquired by cable operator Altice USA in 2019 for $200 million. Last Thursday (Dec.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Canceling a SiriusXM subscription isn’t just annoying — it’s illegal, according to a lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general. New York Attorney General Letitia James this week filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM, accusing the satellite radio and streaming audio company of “trapping consumers” in subscriptions and “maintaining deliberately long and burdensome cancellation processes.” An investigation by James’ office found that SiriusXM “forces its subscribers to call or chat online with an agent to cancel a subscription, then deliberately draws out those interactions as part of its strategy to prevent subscribers from canceling.” The lawsuit alleges that SiriusXM violated state and federal laws concerning subscriptions that renew automatically by failing to provide subscribers with a cancelation mechanism that is “simple, timely and easy to use.” In addition, the suit alleges that SiriusXM engaged in fraud and deception by misleading subscribers seeking to cancel their accounts.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Joe Rogan claimed many Americans who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 are regretting that decision because of the 46th president’s alleged declining acuity — but to try to prove his point, the popular podcast host incorrectly attributed to Biden something Donald Trump had in fact said. On the Dec. 21 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which is the No.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Aylo, parent company of Pornhub and other sex sites, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. prosecutors to settle a charge it profited from deals with porn producers who were involved in sex trafficking. Under the settlement announced Thursday, Canada-based Aylo agreed to pay a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $1.845 million to the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Lawyers for Ozy Media, the defunct media and entertainment company founded by Carlos Watson, allege in a new lawsuit that Ben Smith, BuzzFeed and Semafor (the media startup co-founded by Smith in 2022) misappropriated Ozy’s trade secrets “for their own benefit.” The suit additionally alleges that BuzzFeed breached a nondisclosure agreement it entered into with Ozy in 2019 as part of its efforts to buy the company. Lawyers representing Ozy Media allege that Smith, former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief and New York Times media columnist who is currently editor-in-chief of Semafor, wrote “a series of hit pieces” about Ozy Media but that he did not disclose “his central role in BuzzFeed’s efforts to buy Ozy two years earlier” while he was at BuzzFeed.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Would the combination of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global — two companies heavily tied to the declining legacy TV biz — make financial sense? Investors reacted to news of early talks between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount about a potential merger, which broke just prior to market close Wednesday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Google agreed to pay $700 million and will make certain changes to the Google Play app store for Android devices under the terms of a settlement with all 50 U.S. states, which had alleged in a lawsuit the app store operated as an illegal monopoly. As part of the settlement, Google will allow app and game developers to implement an alternative billing option alongside Google Play’s billing system for U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Comcast, the largest cable operator in the U.S., said personal data for approximately 35.9 million customers of its Xfinity services may have been illegally accessed by hackers in a security breach that occurred in October. On Monday, Comcast began notifying customers of the hack.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Adobe called off plans to buy Figma, a web-based collaborative design platform, citing regulatory opposition to the proposed $20 billion deal. Adobe and Figma on Monday said they mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement, originally announced Sept. 15, 2022.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Activision Blizzard will pay $54.9 million to settle a lawsuit by California’s Civil Rights Department alleging a pattern of pay and promotion practices that discriminated against women. The settlement, announced Friday, comes after Microsoft closed its $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard in October following concessions Microsoft made to clear regulatory objections in the U.K. Activision Blizzard’s franchises include Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Diablo.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Hinge, the dating app owned by Match Group, has recruited Tamika Young as VP of global communications. Young most recently worked in PR for Netflix and prior to that spent more than five years at Spotify. She will lead global communications strategies across corporate, brand, consumer, trust and safety as Hinge continues to focus on reaching Gen Z and LGBTQIA+ communities around the world.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor There was a time when streamers — led by Netflix, burning a hole in its balance sheet with annual negative cash flow in the billions — were banking on double-digit subscriber growth. And they were spending on content like there was no tomorrow. Well, tomorrow came.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The Game Awards 2023, the video game industry’s year-end celebration, was bigger than ever this year, according to the kudosfest’s producers. The 10th annual awards show, held Dec. 7, 2023, generated an estimated 118 million global livestreams, up 15% over 2022’s showcase, according to The Game Awards.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In case you didn’t get enough of Elon Musk in “Elon Musk,” the 688-page authorized biography of the tech mogul penned by Walter Isaacson, here comes a new podcast from Isaacson talking about his experience spending two years shadowing the world’s richest person to research the book. The “On Musk” podcast, produced by iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope, premieres Dec. 12 on the iHeartPodcast Network (at this link) and all major podcast platforms, with all four episodes available at launch.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Imane Anys — Twitch’s most-followed female game streamer, better known to fans as Pokimane — has launched her first podcast. Called “Don’t Tell Anyone,” Pokimane independently developed the weekly show, which she is producing alongside producer and brand strategist Abigail Lowenthal. “The best stories always start with ‘don’t tell anyone…’ and Pokimane’s finally ready to share her hottest takes and most embarrassing secrets,” according to the podcast’s description.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney is bringing all past seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy” to Hulu — while they will remain on Netflix — coinciding with the official launch of Hulu on Disney+ in March 2024. Starting in spring 2024, Hulu and Netflix will share the co-exclusive U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is adding another live sports event to its calendar: the Netflix Slam, featuring Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in a special one-night tennis exhibition match. The event is scheduled for Sunday, March 3, 2024, at noon PT at the Michelob Ultra Arena at MGM Resorts International’s Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It will stream as a duaI broadcast in English- and Spanish-language markets.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The show is over for Showtime as a standalone brand. As of Jan. 8, 2024, Paramount Global will rebrand the linear Showtime cable network as Paramount+ With Showtime — the same name as the company’s top-tier streaming package.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk, continuing his campaign to make X a “free speech” refuge even to the detriment of the company’s business interests, said he is reinstating the account of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Twitter banned Jones in 2018, along with his Infowars program. Last year Jones was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion to families of Sandy Hook victims over his lies about the 2012 school shooting, which left 20 kids and six adults dead.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix‘s board has approved 2024 pay packages of its top execs, with co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters each to receive compensation worth $40 million. For Sarandos, it’s the same level of pay he is set to receive in 2023.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the hugely popular “Death Stranding,” had two pieces of news coming out of the Game Awards 2023. On Thursday evening at the Game Awards show in L.A., Kojima appeared on stage with filmmaker Jordan Peele to announce his next game project: “OD,” which Kojima describes as an “immersive and totally new style of game” that will explore “what it means to OD on fear.” It’s being produced in partnership with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube announced that the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI reached the “extraordinary milestone” of generating more than 93 million views in the initial 24-hour period on the Rockstar Games YouTube channel — shattering the previous record for a non-music video debut on the platform. Rockstar Games released GTA VI’s first trailer on Monday, Dec. 4, after it first leaked online.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Amazon‘s Prime Video and Premier Boxing Champions announced a multiyear rights agreement to bring top pay-per-view boxing events to U.S. viewers. Launched in 2015, PBC features over 150 active fighters across various weight divisions, including top contenders and current world champions.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Telecom giant Verizon hired Leslie Berland, previously the top marketing exec at Peloton and Twitter, as CMO. Berland will assume the role of executive VP and chief marketing officer at Verizon, effective Jan. 9, 2024.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Get ready to see “The Kardashians” standing next to Baby Yoda on your Disney+ home screen. Beginning Dec. 6, the significant majority of Hulu content will be available on Disney+ in the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Former “Good Morning America” hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes have addressed their ouster from the ABC News morning show for the first time — on a new podcast that debuted a year to the day after the network suspended them.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s a wonderful… robot? An AI-generated voice of Jimmy Stewart, the legendary Hollywood actor who died in 1997, reads a new bedtime story on the Calm sleep and meditation app. The voice of Stewart, who starred in films including “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Vertigo” and “Rear Window,” was recreated for the Calm story using AI voice-cloning technology. The project has the consent of Stewart’s family and his estate (managed by CMG Worldwide).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ted Sarandos is happy the twin Hollywood strikes are over — but the Netflix co-CEO claimed the streamer didn’t see significant “interruption” in its ability to launch original series and films. “We are mostly just thrilled that the strikes are behind us.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Verizon is making its latest aggressive push to bundle up streaming packages — offering ad-supported versions of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max for $10 per month. That’s about a 40% discount on the services compared with the $17/month it would cost to purchase them separately.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Susan Sarandon issued an apology for controversial comments she made at a pro-Palestine rally in New York last month. At the Nov.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In its never-ending effort to try to reach younger news consumers, CNN has launched CNN Shorts — a new vertical video player on its website designed for smartphones. CNN already produces vertical-video news briefs for platforms including TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. Now it sees a growing opportunity for CNN Shorts on its owned-and-operated platforms — where it can directly sell its own advertising.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk this week angrily told big advertisers like Disney and Apple who have halted spending on X/Twitter to “go fuck yourself.” Bill Ackman, head of investment holding company Pershing Square Holdings and an investor in X, believes Musk has a point — opining that large marketers employ a double standard in reacting to Musk’s combative rhetoric and “free speech” stance. “I thought @elonmusk’s interview with @andrewrsorkin was one of the great interviews ever,” Ackman wrote in a post on X Thursday evening, referring to Musk’s appearance the New York Times’ DealBook Summit.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok users in Big Sky Country are free — for now — to keep watching short-form videos on the app in the new year. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday blocking Montana’s first-of-its-kind U.S. ban of TikTok in the state, ruling that the law set to take effect Jan.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The same day activist investor Nelson Peltz announced he was launching a proxy campaign to get seats on Disney’s board of directors, the company adopted amended bylaws covering nominations of directors by outside parties. In a bid to win shareholder favor amid the brewing proxy battle, Disney separately on Thursday announced a cash dividend of $0.30 per share, payable Jan.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Moonbug Entertainment, the kids’ entertainment powerhouse behind the hit “CoComelon” franchise, is bringing on board its first chief marketing officer: Peter Stone, a nine-year veteran of Netflix. In the new role, Stone will be responsible for Moonbug’s global marketing strategy, as well as the evolution and growth of its brands. He will be based in Moonbug’s London office and starts Dec.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Linda Yaccarino, who’s already facing an uphill battle in winning over advertisers to X, has her work cut out for her to restore trust with big marketers after her boss profanely dissed those who had suspended advertising from the platform. Almost six months into her gig as CEO of X, Yaccarino continues to try to clean up PR messes created by Elon Musk, the shoot-from-the-lip megabillionaire and self-appointed defender of free speech who owns the company formerly known as Twitter.