Twitter Technical Glitch Is Logging Users Out of the Website

EXCLUSIVE: Comedy Central is making changes to its late-night lineup.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube’s biggest ad innovation for 2023? It might be borrowing a well-worn page from old-fashioned linear TV. At the YouTube Brandcast upfront event Wednesday in New York, execs announced the introduction of 30-second unskippable ads in top-performing YouTube content on TVs — you know, just like the commercials that have run on broadcast and cable networks for decades. YouTube also will start testing new “Pause Experiences” for YouTube on TV screens, showing an ad when viewers pause a video akin to the pause ads Hulu first bowed four years ago. In their pitch to Madison Avenue types, YouTube execs also boasted of the streaming service’s massive reach: More than 150 million unique viewers in the U.S. watched YouTube and YouTube TV on televisions for the month of December 2022, according to Nielsen estimates. YouTube remains the No. 1 most-watched service on TV screens in America (across both streaming platforms and traditional TV networks), and in April was one of the only streamers to see month-to-month growth, per Nielsen.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk, after dramatically slashing Twitter’s headcount following his takeover of the social platform, said the company will try to rehire some of them — acknowledging that the job cuts were too deep. Musk has slashed Twitter’s headcount by about 80%, from 7,800 to about 1,500, as he has attempted to cut costs and get the company in the black. “Some people who were let go probably shouldn’t have been,” Musk said during an interview with CNBC anchor David Faber following the 2023 Tesla annual shareholder meeting Tuesday at the car maker’s headquarters in Austin, Texas. “Desperate times call for desperate measures… Unfortunately, if you do it fast, there are some babies who will be thrown out,” Musk said. Twitter now will probably try to rehire some of the Twitter employees that were let go, he said.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube, already the most popular streamer on big-screen TVs, last month built on its lead as one of the only major services to see viewing time among U.S. TV households increase, according to new Nielsen data. For the period from March 27-April 30, 2023, TV viewing of YouTube videos (excluding YouTube TV) was up 1.5%. That translated into an increase of 0.3 share points, with YouTube ending the month with 8.1% of total time spent watching television, according to Nielsen measurements. Time spent viewing on most other streaming platforms, including Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Prime Video, Peacock and Hulu, was flat or down compared with March 2023, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge report for April. Along with YouTube, two free, ad-supported TV (FAST) services had month-over-month gains: Fox’s Tubi was up 6% from March, adding 0.1 share point to capture 1.1% of overall TV viewing, and Paramount’s Pluto TV viewing increased 3.9% for the month to hold at 0.8% share.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Amazon Games is taking another shot at Middle-earth. The ecommerce giant announced a deal with Middle-earth Enterprises for Amazon Games to develop and publish a new massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic “The Lord of the Rings.” The upcoming game, as yet untitled, will be “an open-world MMO adventure in a persistent world set in Middle-earth, featuring the beloved stories of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ literary trilogy,” according to Amazon. The game is in early stages of production, with development led by Amazon Games Orange County, the studio behind Amazon Games’ open-world MMO game “New World.” Amazon Games will publish the game globally for PC and consoles, but it did not announce an expected launch date.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ilya Pozin made a bunch of money when Viacom bought Pluto TV, the free video-streaming company he co-founded, for $340 million four years ago. Since exiting Pluto about a year after that deal closed, Pozin has been working on another startup venture — one he thinks will be a much bigger deal. On Monday, Pozin’s brainchild, Telly, comes out of stealth after two years in development. Telly wants to ship out thousands (and eventually millions) of free 4K HDTVs, which would cost more than $1,000 at retail, according Pozin. The 55-inch main screen is a regular TV panel, with three HDMI inputs and an over-the-air tuner, plus an integrated soundbar. The Telly TVs don’t actually run any streaming apps that let you access services like Netflix, Prime Video or Disney+; instead, they’re bundled with a free Chromecast with Google TV adapter.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In what may have been an highly unconventional job interview, NBCUniversal ad chief Linda Yaccarino hosted a discussion with Elon Musk about Twitter’s content policies and approach to working with marketers at an industry conference one month before Musk announced that he’d hired her as the social network’s CEO. The April 18 keynote conversation was billed as a talk about Musk’s “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships” at MMA Global’s Possible marketing event in Miami. Yaccarino told Musk that marketers want “protection for their ad campaigns,” with content moderation policies ensuring that “provocative speech” is properly labeled. She applauded Twitter’s announcement last month to promote “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach,” under which the company said it will limit the reach of tweets that violate policies concerning hateful conduct and violent speech.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk claims he’s hired someone to replace him as CEO of Twitter. But for now, the tech tycoon isn’t revealing who that is. “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” the mega-billionaire tweeted Thursday. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.” Back in December, Musk said he would step aside as Twitter’s chief executive once he found “someone foolish enough” to take over the role. Even then, however, the billionaire will retain control of the social network and remain closely involved in running it. Musk closed a $44 billion deal for Twitter in October 2022, but he’s since said he now values the company at less than half that — at $20 billion.

By On a particularly wet, frigid afternoon in New York, I was home in my apartment with just two things on the menu: my Chipotle bowl and Sex and the City. I’ve seen every episode of about 67 times, so picking an episode to watch these days is a bit laboring. Do I watch Carrie wear that red cowboy hat in the Hamptons for the umpteenth time? Or recite Lexi Featherston’s, “New York is over!” speech yet again? Faced with such boundless options, I left my episode choice up to fate.

Roku, NFL Films and Skydance Sports are teaming on a documentary feature about the NFL Draft.

Beetlejuice is getting a sequel, 35 years after its initial release. The 1988 film starred Michael Keaton in the titular role, and co-starred , , Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara. Beetlejuice followed a recently deceased couple who haunt their own home and contact Beetlejuice to help them get the new owners to leave.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fans of “The Voice” will soon be able to jump into a new immersive virtual world where they can create music, show off their dancing skills, compete in battles, win digital merch — and even audition to be on an upcoming season of the reality-competition series. “The Voice Studios,” from ITV Studios and metaverse developer Virtual Brand Group, is set to debut May 12. The global launch of the Roblox-style virtual world is timed for the final weeks of Season 23 of “The Voice” on NBC. Free for anyone to access, “The Voice Studios” will be located in Vegas City, the entertainment destination in metaverse platform Decentraland (at this link). Its launch follows a virtual pop-up event for “The Voice” last year at the Decentraland Metaverse Music Festival that also was created by VBG.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Grogu, better known to his legion of fans as Baby Yoda from Disney+’s “The Mandalorian,” has infiltrated the Googleplex. Type “Grogu” or “Baby Yoda” into the Google Search bar — and the diminutive creature appears in the lower right-hand section of the screen. When you click or tap on Grogu, he commences to use The Force… and knocks out the top section of the search results. If you keep clicking on him, he continues to dismantle the Google Search page. Grogu stars alongside Pedro Pascal in Disney+ original series “The Mandalorian,” which just finished its Season 3 run on the streamer, and the toddler also appears in “The Book of Boba Fett.” (Before he was identified by name, Grogu was simply called “The Child.”)

Curtains up! The 76th annual Tony Awards are just around the corner and stars including Jessica Chastain, Jodie Comer and Josh Groban will be recognized for their work on Broadway during the ceremony.

Princess Anne thinks the future of the British monarchy is pretty straightforward when it comes to her older brother King Charles III's reign.In a rare interview with, the 72-year-old daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip gave her take on the type of monarch she believes her brother will be.«Well, you know what you're getting because he's been practicing for a bit,» Anne said with a laugh. «And I don't think he'll change.

Former royal butler and footman to our late Queen, Paul Burrell, will be in the capital this weekend, along with thousands of others, to watch the King's coronation procession. And to kick off the celebrations, Paul and his husband Graham Cooper invited us to their Cheshire home as he gave his views on the royals and what he think Charles will be like as King, having previously worked with him.The I'm A Celebrity: South Africa star also shared an unseen Princess Diana letter exclusively for OK! VIPs which proves she was a "monarchist." Sign-up or login below to see the shoot and read the full article.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney+ subscribers will be able to jump into the Quantum Realm next month when “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” hits the streaming service. The film, starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Jonathan Majors, will come to Disney+ worldwide on May 17. That’s 89 days after “Quantuamania” opened wide in the U.S. on Feb. 17. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” has been one of the worst-reviewed Marvel movies to date. It hauled in $213 million at the domestic box office during its theatrical run and grossed $261.6 million worldwide; the movie had an estimated production budget of $200 million.

I'm A Celebrity… South Africa was full of explosive twists on Wednesday as Georgia "Toff" Toffolo had to pick someone to replace in main camp. During the latest episode, Coronation Street's Andy Whyment, Myleene Klass and Toff joined the show as late arrivals but they had to stay in Savannah Scrub as opposed to main camp.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Roku came in above analyst estimates on the top line for the first quarter of 2023, as it gained 1.6 million active streaming accounts in the period. But the company told investors that the macroeconomic environment was still “challenged” in the quarter. The company posted Q1 sales of $741 million, up 1%, and a net loss of $193.6 million, or $1.38 per share. On average, Wall Street analysts were expecting Roku to post Q1 of $708.49 million and a net loss of $1.37 per share. Click here to sign up for Variety’s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial news and more.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube, as part of promoting subscriptions to the newly secured NFL Sunday Ticket games package, is flying more than a dozen top creators to Kansas City, Mo., for the 2023 NFL Draft – including popular trick-shot specialists Dude Perfect. Dude Perfect, the five-member comedy and sports group with more than 59 million YouTube subscribers, and Ryan Trahan (12.3 million subscribers) are slated to appear on stage at the NFL Draft to announce some of the picks in this year’s draft. The 2023 NFL Draft, to be held April 27-29 at Union Station Kansas City, will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network. All told, the YouTube creators tapped to attend the NFL Draft have a combined reach of more 145 million subscribers, according to the video platform. In addition to the Dude Perfect crew and Trahan, YouTube creators scheduled to be on-site in KC this week at the 2023 NFL Draft include: NichLmao (23.6 million subscribers), Topper Guild (17 million), Jesser (12.8 million), Adam W (12 million), Deestroying (5.1 million), Lisa Nguyen (4.35 million), Pierson (3.7 million), Katie Feeney (3.2 million), Haley Kalil (1.8 million), Ashley Yi (1.1 million) and The Pivot (686,000).