Verzuz Acquired by Triller’s Parent Company

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThere’s no question that the Verzuz musical battles — which find one artist or producer pitting their hits against another’s, in (mostly) friendly competition — have captured the imaginations of millions of online viewers since hitmakers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz launched the series last March. The series has seen veteran rapper Snoop Dogg go up against contemporary DMX, legendary soul singers Patti Labelle vs.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorGlobal TV sports programmer Eleven Sports is buying Team Whistle, a digital sports and entertainment company, in a bid to boost its online reach and expand into North America.London-based Eleven Sports didn’t disclose the value of the Whistle deal.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNews Corp clinched a deal to acquire Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s books and media segment for $349 million in cash, planning to combine the publisher with its HarperCollins Publishers subsidiary.The Rupert Murdoch-controlled company said it expects the deal to close in the second quarter of calendar 2021, subject to to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.The HMH Books & Media backlist of more than 7,000 titles include “The Lord of the

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, the UK office of Mark Gordon Pictures has won film and TV rights to Calla Henkel’s debut novel, Other People’s Clothes, and set Emmy-nominated Unorthodox co-writer and co-creator Alexa Karolinski to adapt.

EXCLUSIVE: Cinema Guild has secured the North American distribution rights to Expedition Content, a documentary that premiered in the Forum section at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival and had its U.S. debut as part of Film at Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real. Directed by Ernst Karel and Veronika Kusumaryati, the doc will be released in theaters later this year.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment has reached an agreement to acquire MSG Networks in an all-stock deal, confirming long-simmering press speculation.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentJapan’s comic fans will get a taste of what it is like to return to normal as the Anime Japan 2021 expo will be held in person for four days (March 27-30), starting Saturday at Tokyo Big Sight center.But the show may be a static, booth-bound affair as there will be no physical, in-person events.

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment announced Thursday it has acquired North American distribution rights to The Big Scary “S” Word, a feature documentary that “explores the rich history of the American socialist movement.”

Clayton Davis Netflix just tacked on another Oscar nomination to its already record-setting haul. The streamer announced that it has acquired worldwide rights to the Academy Award-nominated live action short film “Two Distant Strangers” from directors Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTriller, the short-form video app, has struck a licensing agreement with the National Music Publishers’ Association, which represents most American music publishers. The deal will see the platform compensating the songwriters and publishers covered by NMPA when their songs are used in videos on the platform.

Also Read: Florence Pugh to Star in Murderous Sex Robot Movie 'Dolly' at Apple TV+MGM will release “A Good Person” domestically through MGM’s joint distribution and marketing label United Artists Releasing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVerzuz is going ‘90s for its most recently announced matchup, which will see two all-female R&B legends squaring off: SWV against Xscape.The popular series, which was recently acquired by gaming platform Triller, launched last March with a battle between founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland.

The tragic events of last week have had a lot of folks talking about a form of racism that often goes unspoken in the US.

EXCLUSIVE: Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi brand Dust has acquired the worldwide rights to the Tom Lowe-directed documentary Awaken executive produced by Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life, The Thin Red line, The New World) and Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi). Awaken is set to debut on Apple TV, Amazon and all other major VOD platforms on April 9.

Focus Features has taken global rights to Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov’s thriller Profile which made its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2018 and won the Audience Award. A theatrical release date of May 14 has been set. Universal Pictures will distribute internationally, excluding CIS/Russia.

Microsoft is reportedly in talks to acquire gaming-focused chat software and platform Discord.Per a Bloomberg report, the potential acquisition could cost more than US$10billion, if a deal is struck between Microsoft and Discord. Bloomberg’s anonymous sources say Discord has been talking to a number of potential buyers, and reached out to Microsoft to “gauge interest”.

Also Read: ShortList 2016: 'Thunder Road' Turns Bruce Springsteen Song Into Funeral Eulogy (Video)“IFC has partnered with the boldest and most insanely talented filmmakers in history, Armando Iannucci, Paolo Sorrentino, Andrea Arnold, and hundreds of others and then they let us just ruin it in 2021,” Cummings said in a statement to TheWrap.

Meghan McCain has apologized after John Oliver called her out for saying she had “no problem” with Donald Trump calling COVID-19 the “China virus”… and then tweeting “Stop Asian Hate” a year later. The View co-host wrote March 22 on Twitter, “I condemn the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian-American community. There is no doubt Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric fueled many of these attacks and I apologize for any past comments that aided that agenda.”