Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Super Mario Galaxy film targets $200M+ opening weekend
Nintendo and Illumination are positioning the upcoming "Super Mario Galaxy" movie to open with more than $200 million domestically over the Easter holiday weekend. The strategy leans on the franchise’s multigenerational appeal and a family‑focused release window, with analysts citing the 2015 "Avengers: Age of Ultron" $191 million opening as a benchmark.
Also developing:
By the numbers: K-Love seeks FCC approval to acquire WFCC
Tieline will unveil its new ViA Duo codec at the NAB Show, positioning it as an ultra‑portable broadcast platform that unifies IP workflows for remote, commentary and off‑tube productions. The device packs HDMI video output, multiple AoIP protocol support and optional Dante card into a hand‑sized chassis. It streams bidirectional stereo or dual‑mono audio via cellular, Wi‑Fi or Ethernet without additional gear, and can be controlled through an embedded web GUI or optional cloud controller. ViA Duo aims to replace bulky field rigs with a single, lightweight solution.
Creators Roger Black and Waco O’Guin launched a Kickstarter to finish their cancelled Netflix animated series Paradise PD and Farzar with a graphic novel titled Paradise PD & Farzar: The Final Season. The campaign quickly surpassed its £15,069 (~$19,150) goal, raising over...
Epic Games partnered with Esports and Gaming Agency MENA to launch Lantern Fest in Fortnite during Ramadan, featuring the iconic character Peely in Saudi‑themed scenes. The hero video went viral, resonating with regional gamers and spilling over to global audiences....
Amid war‑driven headlines, European publishers are countering news fatigue by spotlighting positive stories. France’s Libération introduced a “Ça va mieux en le lisant” label and daily push notifications, while Spain’s The Objective launched a dedicated Positive vertical and podcast. Both...
March’s ICYMI edition highlights eight platform updates reshaping social media, with Instagram and YouTube accelerating creator‑commerce tools while TikTok pivots toward micro‑drama formats. The newsletter also spotlights a new AI‑antidote creative style and the growing importance of recap content for...
Goafest 2026, South Asia’s premier advertising festival, has opened delegate registrations with early‑bird pricing until April 30, and will run May 20‑22 at the Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon, featuring keynotes, panels, workshops and networking. The event, co‑hosted by the Advertising Agencies...
Bob Dylan, now 84, has launched a Patreon called "Lectures from the Grave," charging $5 a month for access to a mix of AI‑generated lectures, historical anecdotes, and short stories. The content, ranging from Wild Bill Hickok to a fictional...
Policyband Analysis: Obama Judge’s TRO Filled with TDS (@TEGNA Derangement Syndrome) -- It was a shock to see another superstar company like @NXSTMediaGroup effectively ground to dust by a dystopian West Coast political class led by America Last Gov....
Two Colorado public‑media stations, Community Radio for Northern Colorado and Rocky Mountain Public Media, are in talks to merge, with plans to centralize operations in Denver while assuring staff no layoffs. The discussion, ongoing since last year, reflects broader financial...
On March 25, 2026 the Indian Ministry of Culture signed a Memorandum of Understanding with YouTube to bring folk, tribal and traditional musicians onto the digital platform. The agreement will equip artists with training in content creation, channel management, monetization,...
James Tolkan, the veteran actor who played the stern Lt. Cmdr. Tom “Stinger” Jordan in Top Gun and the school principal in Back to the Future, died at 94. His death was announced by family representatives, and colleagues recalled his iconic presence in 1980s...
The Nexstar‑Tegna merger, Live Nation’s DOJ settlement, and the Paramount‑Skydance‑Warner Bros. Discovery deal are all legally active but face ongoing state and congressional challenges. Executives are forced to integrate assets and allocate capital while the ultimate regulatory outcome remains uncertain....
MediaCo is launching Hot 97 TV on New York’s WASA‑TV broadcast platform on March 31, marking the first over‑the‑air television extension of the iconic Hip‑Hop radio station. The new channel will air the station’s on‑air talent—including Kid Mero, Funkmaster Flex and Nessa—alongside music videos,...
Google Play’s March 4 update lowers headline fees but adds a 5% billing surcharge in the US, UK and EEA and reduces subscription fees to 10%. The change is bundled with the Games Level Up program, which requires deeper integration with Google...
Hollywood has become increasingly dependent on Gulf sovereign wealth funds, which have poured billions into studios, streaming platforms and a $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts. The ongoing U.S.–Iran war threatens to raise financing costs, delay closings, and trigger material‑adverse‑change exits...
Pixar’s original animated feature Hoppers is on the cusp of a $300 million worldwide box‑office milestone, having amassed $297.6 million after its fourth weekend. The film posted a $12.2 million domestic three‑day haul and $24.8 million overseas, marking the strongest fourth weekend for an...
Legendary singer‑songwriter Bob Dylan has entered the subscription‑based creator economy by launching a Patreon account priced at $5 per month. The platform currently hosts six pieces of content, including a historic Mahalia Jackson performance video, a fictional Mark Twain letter,...
Israeli legal thriller *Your Honor* (originally *Kvodo*) is set for its first Latin American version in Brazil, produced by Teleimage. The adaptation makes Brazil the 14th territory to localise the format, which K7’s Tracking the Scripted Giants Report names the...
BCNEXXT will use the NAB Show in Las Vegas to showcase its cloud‑native playout platform, Vipe, positioning it as a solution for broadcasters facing operational pressures and evolving market demands. The company highlights Vipe’s elastic scaling, IP‑based distribution capabilities, and...
A consortium of music publishers—including Capitol Music Group, Warner‑Tamerlane, BMG Rights Management and Essential Music Publishing—purchased a 25% stake in the song *Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)* from Robert Resnik and are moving to substitute themselves as defendants in...
Facepunch Studios has secured a new license with Valve that lets creators export games built in s&box as standalone, royalty‑free titles on Steam. The agreement resolves long‑standing Source 2 licensing hurdles and paves the way for developers to ship full games...
Hallmark Media will discontinue its TV Everywhere app on Roku, Fire TV, Google TV and other smart platforms on March 31, 2026, redirecting users to error screens thereafter. The removal ends the authenticated streaming option that let cable and satellite subscribers watch...
Metasports has appointed Manoj Kadarla as head of marketing to drive the global expansion of its flagship cricket strategy game, Hitwicket. Kadarla will oversee user acquisition, brand development, partnerships, and social strategy across Metasports’ portfolio. The hire leverages his eight‑year...
United Spirits, Diageo’s Indian arm, launched a new campaign for its Johnnie Walker Luxe Blended Water brand featuring cricket legend Virat Kohli. The film, set to a re‑recorded KISS track by YUNGBLUD, portrays Kohli in multiple roles to reinforce the “Keep...
Indian cricket icon MS Dhoni has invested in Kuku and taken on the role of brand ambassador for its microdrama app, Kuku TV. The AI‑driven storytelling platform, founded by three IIT alumni in 2018, boasts over 350 million installs across its...
Microsoft has added two mobile‑wallet payment options—Google Pay and Apple Pay—to the Xbox digital store. The new methods are currently available in the United States and United Kingdom, with Apple Pay limited to mobile devices and Google Pay also supported...
Warner Bros. Discovery is launching two new sports channels, Eurosport 3 and Eurosport 4, in Poland on April 1, 2026. The channels will be carried by 34 satellite and cable operators, expanding the existing Eurosport 1 and 2 lineup. Eurosport 3 will broadcast the full Speedway...
South Korean supergroup BTS released 'Arirang' to a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, moving 641,000 equivalent album units. The week includes 532,000 pure sales and 208,000 vinyl copies, marking the largest first‑week sales for a group since 2013.
Imagine Communications will use the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas to unveil a suite of purpose‑led solutions across its Make and Monetize portfolio. New offerings include the Prismon software‑defined multiviewer, the compact SNP‑XS network processor, XVR subscription‑based playout engines,...
Sony announced a $150 price increase for its PS5 Pro console as AI‑driven demand for DRAM pushes memory chip costs up 80‑90%. Industry leaders warn the resulting "RAMageddon" could cripple product timelines through 2028.
Bethesda announced that The Elder Scrolls: Blades, its free‑to‑play mobile spinoff, will cease operations on June 30, 2026. The game has been delisted from all app stores and will give every player a free bundle of Gems and Sigils, with...
Disney has opened the World of Frozen land inside the newly renamed Disney Adventure World at Disneyland Paris, marking the first major expansion of the park. The $2 billion rebranding effort doubles the park’s size and leverages Frozen’s $2.7 billion global box‑office...
Netflix inaugurated a new Warsaw office, consolidating 300 engineers, creators and support staff under one roof. The hub joins Netflix’s only technology center outside the United States and will broaden work on infrastructure, gaming and production tools. Since launching in...
Unity announced it will shut down the IronSource advertising and user‑acquisition network on April 30, 2026 and will divest its Supersonic publishing arm. The move is framed as a simplification effort that lets the company double‑down on its AI‑driven ad platform, Vector,...
Canal+ secured a landmark ruling from the Paris Court of Appeal allowing it to block illegal streaming and IPTV services through alternative DNS providers such as Google, Cloudflare and Cisco. The decision, the first of its kind in France, confirms...
Brand safety has moved from a low‑priority checkbox to a strategic imperative for influencer marketers, especially after Meta scaled back its third‑party fact‑checking in early 2025. While only 5 % of brands cite safety as their top challenge, a staggering 63 %...
Streaming subscription revenue reached $157.1 billion in 2025, surpassing the $150 billion milestone for the first time. The market has tripled since 2020, driven by international expansion, price hikes and the rapid adoption of ad‑supported tiers. The United States alone generated half...
Genelec has partnered with Titrafilm to equip its two Paris post‑production sites with a full suite of Genelec monitors, covering mix, ADR, sound‑edit, picture‑edit and grading rooms. The installation features 1032C and 8340A speakers for 38‑speaker Atmos setups, 4430A Smart IP...
A coalition of broadcasters—including Sony, BBC, France Televisions and Neutral Wireless—has urged mobile operators to expose standardized QoD and QoS APIs through the GSMA Open Gateway. The request targets the CAMARA API set to give broadcasters real‑time control over 5G resources, improving...
Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE is selling advertising slots for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, reigniting a long‑standing feud with private‑sector group UTECA. RTVE bought the rights for about $63 million and reported $94 million in commercial revenue last year, citing recent legal...
The Paris Court of Appeal ruled that DNS providers Google, Cloudflare and Cisco must block illegal streaming services, delivering a decisive win for Canal+. The judgment validates blocking via alternative DNS as technically feasible and proportionate, extending earlier rulings that...
Broadcasters are moving from siloed infrastructures to unified hybrid orchestration layers that combine IP, AI, cloud and 5G to deliver story‑centric, multi‑platform live content. The shift enables remote, distributed workflows and leverages agentic AI to automate planning and execution, while...
Universal Music Group announced its first‑ever share‑buyback programme worth €500 million (approximately $575 million). The move is framed as a response to a perceived valuation dislocation and signals strong confidence in the company’s long‑term strategy. UMG’s Q4 results showed 10.6% revenue growth...
Jeffrey Hedquist argues that radio ads succeed when they pull listeners with a story rather than push commands. He outlines a classic narrative arc—opening, conflict, climax—that creates an itch the advertiser can satisfy. By leveraging audio’s ability to evoke sight,...
Jay Sean’s "Down" featuring Lil Wayne is now Diamond in the U.S., marking 10 million units sold. The global hit reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the biggest crossover pop-R&B singles of its era. https://t.co/Uo67YQYpI2
The NASCAR Euro Series has signed a multi‑year broadcast partnership with German‑based Sportdigital, moving its German‑speaking market coverage (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) from Motorvision TV to Sportdigital’s premium Sportdigital1+ channel and streaming app starting in 2026. The deal includes live airings...
people hating on movie theaters but Q1 theatrical gross is up 25% from last year. PHM helped close out the win.
In late March courts in New Mexico and California held Meta and YouTube liable for using addictive tactics that harm young users, issuing $375 million and $6 million verdicts respectively. While the monetary penalties are modest for the platforms, the rulings provide a...
Pinterest has reorganized its monetization team, appointing Vik Gupta as VP and GM of Monetization and Sumanth Jagannath as VP of Measurement. The duo will fuse product, engineering and data‑science functions to tighten ad measurement and attribution, targeting greater spend...
