‘Taskmaster’ launches Netflix-style global streaming service

Keanu Reeves‘ films have reportedly been pulled from several streaming services in China.The Los Angeles Times reports that Reeves’ films have been removed from major streaming services in the country such as iQiyi, Tencent Video, Bilibili, and Xigua Video.Deleted films on iQiyi include The Matrix trilogy, Speed, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Something’s Gotta Give and The Lake House.The Los Angeles Times report that at least 19 films were removed from Tencent Video while Youku and Migu Video now house only Toy Story 4, in which Reeves voices a character.NME has reached out to representatives of Reeves for comment.It comes after Reeves attended at the 35th annual Tibet House Benefit Concert on March 3. The actor participated in the virtual concert alongside Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith, Cyndi Lauper, and Iggy Pop.The event once again featured artistic direction from composer Philip Glass, who was celebrating his 85th birthday at the event. All proceeds from the benefit went to Tibet House US.In the past, China has blacklisted many high profile figures who have supported Tibet or the Dalai Lama, its former head of state.

NEW YORK -- Once a familiar voice on NPR, Audie Cornish says she signed on to the new CNN+ streaming service in part out of the sense she was helping to open a new frontier.After much talk, nearly $100 million in development costs and some 500 employees assigned to the task — many, like Cornish, new hires — CNN+ is set to launch next Tuesday.The company on Thursday revealed a typical day's schedule, with a news countdown hosted by Kate Bolduan, a deep-dive news hour hosted by Sara Sidner, a Chris Wallace interview show, and hours on politics, international news and the media topped by Wolf Blitzer's evening newscast.“It's so rare to have a legacy news organization pour resources into something like this, at this scale,” said Cornish, whose weekly interview show “20 Questions” will debut in May. “A lot of times people say they will pivot into something, and it can be half-hearted.

March Madness to awards shows you'll definitely want to watch live, like the 2022 Academy Awards, you can cut the cable cord and sign up for a streaming service that lets you watch events as they happen. To help you find a live TV streaming service that's right for you, ET has curated a list of the best options below, whether you're a huge sports fan or want as many channels as you can get. If you're looking for a little bit of everything when it comes to live TV, here are the best streaming platforms to consider signing up for: A standard Hulu + Live TV subscription gets you more than 75 channels including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, ESPN 2, The CW, A&E, FX, Pop TV, TBS, TNT, USA and more. The streamer's live TV tier grants you access to a wide range of news, live sports and events like the 2022 Academy Awards — all available live or on-demand.

From Bridgerton to Pam & Tommy, streaming services have changed the way we watch some of the biggest films and TV shows. But as popular as they may be, after Netflix announced its recent price hike, the on-demand video service industry doesn’t come cheap. In fact, subscribing to Netflix, Disney+, Now, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Britbox could cost upwards of £43 a month – and that’s without any upgrades or deluxe packages.

EXCLUSIVE: Carlos King, who has exec produced series including The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Love and Marriage: Huntsville, is getting into the podcast game.

Vivienne Chow After a film career spanning more than three decades, production-costume-art designer Tim Yip has achieved plenty, including winning an Oscar and a BAFTA award. But he is only now launching his most uncompromising production, which he calls a “living film project,” and which he hopes will challenge the tradition of cinema.“I want to make a film that is infinitely long,” Yip told Variety.

Pink Floyd and David Gilmour are removing their music from streaming services in Russia and Belarus to show their support for Ukraine.Ukraine officially severed diplomatic ties with Russia and declared martial law after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on the neighbouring nation on February 24. At the time of writing, the Russian invasion has killed at least 549 citizens, including 41 children.

CNN will launch its new subscription streaming service on March 29.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDan Abrams’ true-crime channel Law & Crime has struck a carriage deal with Dish Network, Variety has learned exclusively.Live trial and 24/7 true-crime network Law & Crime, which recently aired national coverage of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the trial of Brett Hankison, a former police officer charged in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, has now launched on Dish and is available to customers on Channel 252. The new distribution pact between Law & Crime and Dish increases the channel’s reach to more than 27 million households across the U.S., the Bahamas and Virgin Islands.“We’ve had a deal with Sling for a number of years now and have always been aspiring to also be included in Dish,” Law & Crime founder, ABC News chief legal affairs anchor and NewsNation host Abrams told Variety. “And so this has been a number-of-years effort to add Dish to our roster of partners.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentTelefonica’s Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay-TV/SVOD operator, has launched an in-house overseas sales division, Movistar Plus Internacional, headed up by former Sony and Buendía Estudios exec Maria Valenzuela. Lorena Molloy, an ex-exec at The Mediapro Studio, has joined Movistar Plus Internacional beginning in March as its head of communication and marketing. Valenzuela, who began working with the platform last summer, heading international strategy and business development, reports directly to Domingo Corral, Movistar Plus’ director of original production.Movistar Plus Internacional is making further appointments, raising staff to around 10 employees, Valenzuela said. It will attend all major markets, beginning with Series Mania and MipTV/Canneseries, focusing at least in the short term on sales to Europe, Eastern Europe, U.S.

Netflix recently revealed the list of movies and television shows that have been banned by governments around the world from the year 2015 until present day.

Beauty meets Barbie! In advance of International Women’s Day, Mattel has launched a handful of very special “role model” dolls — including one for makeup legend Pat McGrath. From the backstage uniform to a makeup brush holder fastened on her waste, the Barbie is truly a doppelgänger for the Dame. 

EXCLUSIVE: Taskmaster, the quirky British game show, is taking another swing at the U.S. market with its own global streaming service.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla Vix and Vix Plus — a two-tier, macro-scale Spanish-language streaming service with more than 50,000 hours of content across genres for users in the United States, Mexico and Latin America — will launch March 31 as the first lovechild of TelevisaUnivision since the two media giants united.Vix may not signal the beginning of a trend, given that Pluto TV, Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, Tubi and FuboTV have offered Spanish-language content since they entered the fray, and services that stream solely Spanish-language content, like Pantaya, have existed for several years. But it certainly serves as fuel for the growing demand for Spanish-language programming geared toward U.S.

ITV has announced plans to launch a brand new streaming service later this year.

The next phase of ITVs digital strategy is here as the network launches a streaming service called ITVX that will air shows months before they arrive on linear, while posting impressive revenue and profit growth and record advertising spend.

Members of the Ukrainian music community yesterday called on Apple Music and Spotify to allow artists to include political messaging in their artwork on the streaming platforms in response to Russia’s invasion of their country.As the Russian army continues and escalates its military assault on Ukraine, President Putin’s regime is pursing a prolific propaganda campaign within Russia in a bid to hide the motives for and scale of the invasion. Ukrainian musicians want to pursue every possible way of informing Russian citizens about what is happening on the ground, including via the digital platforms that have an audience in Russia.

have been bumping up their prices, and it’s rumored more services, such as Disney+, will follow suit later in the year.But customers can still come out ahead with a little savvy — and a willingness to jump between platforms and cancel and re-up subscriptions on a rotating basis — according to Westchester streaming media expert Dan Rayburn.“When the next season of ‘The Mandalorian’ comes out on Disney+, just sign up for three months, watch that season and then cancel [your subscription],” Rayburn advised. “Consumers are jumping between HBO Max, Paramount, Netflix because they can.