Entertainment News and Headlines
Entertainment News and Headlines
Entertainment Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
A federal judge has reinstated crucial funding for public broadcasters PBS and NPR, averting an immediate cash crunch. Meanwhile, DISH Network's parent company is pursuing a $31 billion debt refinancing to stave off bankruptcy risk. Roku announced a new mobile app for its ad‑free streaming tier, expanding its direct‑to‑consumer footprint. Additional cord‑cutting moves include Spectrum’s TV app debut on Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Prime’s $0.20‑per‑gallon gas discount for members.
The Coalition hinted that Gears 6 was already being evaluated before the E‑Day reveal, according to JD voice actor Liam McIntyre’s Twitter comments. McIntyre confirmed the studio had discussed a sixth installment but chose to pursue a new direction with E‑Day. The...
Dave & Buster’s reported a challenging Q4, with same‑store sales down 3.3% and adjusted EBITDA falling 12% to $111.4 million, resulting in a $39.8 million net loss. Despite the weakness, traffic trends improved, driven by a 7% rise in food and beverage...
Independent journalists Marisa Kabas, Katelyn Burns, and Kat Tenbarge have launched a 30‑day newsletter bundle through the new Trustfnd platform, letting readers access all three publications for a single $8.50 payment—about half the cost of buying them separately. Trustfnd bridges...
The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah’s largest newspaper and a nonprofit since 2019, will eliminate its digital paywall in May 2026, making all new stories free. Current digital subscribers will be converted to $10‑per‑month donors, retaining exclusive benefits such as commenting...
HYBE announced a $100 million paid‑in capital increase for its U.S. arm, HYBE America, acquiring 10 million new shares. The infusion is intended to smooth operations of the e‑commerce and label businesses, which posted $19 million revenue and a $12 million net loss in...
Independent filmmakers are urged to abandon supply‑side pitches and adopt demand‑side thinking to tap the $22 trillion pool of alternative assets that largely bypass indie cinema. Producer Daren Smith illustrates the shift by securing a $1 million equity commitment for his upcoming...
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous Cox Communications ruling, which bars liability for internet providers unless they actively induce infringement, is now being leveraged by Elon Musk’s X Corp to seek dismissal of a music‑publisher copyright case. X’s lawyers argue that...
The WICT Network and TVNewsCheck announced a media partnership to amplify thought leadership across media, entertainment, technology, sports and gaming. TVNewsCheck will promote WICT’s flagship events—including the Leadership Conference, Signature Awards Luncheon, Stanford Senior Executive Summit and new AI Summits—to...
Sprinklr and CreatorIQ have integrated their platforms, linking CreatorIQ’s Creator Graph with Sprinklr’s social media reporting environment. The unified system lets brands view creator, organic, and paid performance side‑by‑side, enabling clearer revenue impact analysis. It also allows direct activation of...
Nexon announced two new entries in its Dungeon & Fighter franchise at a Tokyo Capital Markets Briefing: Dungeon & Fighter Idle, a casual, mobile‑first title slated for launch later this year, and Dungeon & Fighter Classic, a modernized revival of...
Grammy‑winning singer‑songwriter Sara Bareilles has signed with talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). The deal adds a multi‑award‑nominated composer, performer and producer whose catalog includes over three million albums, 15 million singles and 3.5 billion global streams. Bareilles is currently developing a musical adaptation...
.png?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Psychedelic Games secured a $3.5 million funding round from PUBG publisher Krafton, esports org FlyQuest, and Arbitrum Gaming Ventures to develop its new MOBA, Golden Tides. The studio deliberately avoided traditional venture capital, opting for strategic partners that can contribute operational...
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Endgame extraction shooter, originally a campaign‑locked mode, is being released for free on Warzone as of April 2, 2026. The 32‑player, squad‑based experience pits teams against zombies and boss‑type Guild members on an expanded Avalon map, with...
Netflix’s live‑action adaptation of *One Piece* debuted at number one in multiple international markets, but its U.S. performance lagged behind domestic hits like *Love Is Blind: The Reunion*. With roughly 66.7 million U.S. subscribers—about 20 % of Netflix’s global base—the American viewership...
CoinPoker has unveiled CoinRewards, a $1.5 million‑per‑week incentive program that splits $1 million to cash‑game leaderboards and $500,000 to splash pots. The system features two‑hour leaderboard cycles, daily 15 % guaranteed returns, and full reinvestment of micro‑stakes fees. Launched after a record‑breaking March...
The E.W. Scripps Company’s local‑channel portfolio was pulled from Comcast’s Xfinity platform after a retransmission‑consent agreement expired. The blackout affected WSFL‑39 in Miami, WHDT‑9 in West Palm Beach and other Scripps stations nationwide. The dispute surfaced during the Florida Panthers’...
Grammy‑winning rap duo Salt‑N‑Pepa filed a 71‑page appellate brief urging the Second Circuit to reverse a district‑court dismissal of their lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the ownership of their 1986 master recordings. The duo contends the lower court applied...
CTM Outlander, a joint venture between Dutch CTM and US Outlander Capital, announced the acquisition of the master recording catalog of American singer‑songwriter Matt Simons. The deal covers Simons’ six albums, including the 2015 breakout hit “Catch & Release” (Deepend...
Ultra Europe has named Viagogo and StubHub as official "open distribution" partners, allowing fans to buy face‑value tickets directly on these platforms. The partnership aims to curb inflated resale prices after Viagogo’s history of legal penalties, including a AU$7 million (≈$4.6 million)...
Spotwise.ai announced a $450,000 pre‑seed round led by Outlast Fund, with participation from BADideas.fund and 500 Global. The funding will accelerate development of its agentic AI platform that combines broadcast monitoring, analytics, and sales automation for media companies. The solution processes...
A cross‑party group of UK MPs, backed by YouTube, has urged Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to add the creator economy to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2026 framework. The sector generated about $2.8 billion (≈£2.2 bn) in 2024 and supports 45,000 jobs,...
h8games, after early premium failures and a costly lawsuit, pivoted to hyper‑casual development and scored a breakout hit with Helix Jump, amassing over 800 million downloads. Leveraging that momentum, the studio partnered with SayGames to transition into hybrid‑casual, launching Little Farm...
Billion Dollar Boy’s AI‑driven platform Companion now includes a Creator Payments feature, built with Lumanu’s financial infrastructure. The tool consolidates onboarding, tax compliance and payout distribution into a single dashboard, handling up to 14 administrative actions per creator. An accompanying...
WideOrbit unveiled WO Aurora, a cloud‑powered evolution of its radio automation platform, offering cloud, on‑premise or hybrid hosting. The system introduces Web Studio, a browser‑based interface that lets on‑air talent log in from any device and use the Live Mic...
Shutterstock has launched a dedicated app inside OpenAI’s ChatGPT, allowing users to search, preview and license images, video, music and sound effects without leaving the conversational interface. The integration taps into one of the world’s largest rights‑cleared media libraries, turning...
The broadcast radio and television sector is wrestling with accelerating cord‑cutting while streaming consumption soars, leaving the broader industry with a Zacks rank of #192 and a 37% drop in 2024 earnings estimates. Companies that have diversified into over‑the‑top (OTT)...
TV 2 and Amedia have formed a joint venture to offer Norwegian football broadcasting rights from 2026 to 2034, using a shared streaming platform. The partnership combines TV 2's national reach with Amedia's extensive local newspaper network and its Direktesport...
Nexon unveiled Mono Lake, an end‑to‑end AI platform trained on billions of player sessions, to inject contextual intelligence into every development decision. CEO Junghun Lee said the system will free engineers from routine coding, letting them focus on creative problem‑solving....
James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster *Titanic* cost roughly $200 million, making it the most expensive film of its era, and earned $2.264 billion worldwide. The iconic sinking sequence required a 775‑foot replica built on a custom seaside set in Mexico, hundreds of stunt...
Bitmovin announced support for Server‑Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) across its playback suite, using HLS interstitials to signal ad breaks. The hybrid approach merges client‑side flexibility with server‑side scalability, enabling real‑time, personalized ad decisions. By standardizing the insertion point, Bitmovin aims...
Spanish drama "La mesías" has launched in the United States, streaming exclusively on Hulu and the Hulu‑on‑Disney+ bundle. Created by acclaimed duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, the seven‑episode series follows siblings confronting religious trauma and seeking redemption. The show...
AgileTV has entered the DACH market through a partnership with Austrian operator LIWEST, launching a next‑generation IPTV platform that merges linear TV, streaming and app‑based entertainment. The service features super‑aggregation, an open content system for third‑party integrations and regionalisation tools...
Child development experts have sent a letter signed by over 200 specialists urging Google to stop serving AI‑generated videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids. They describe the low‑quality “AI slop” as misinformation that can distort early learning and note that...
London‑based cultural platform Dialled In has launched Dialled In Records, a label dedicated to elevating South Asian artists on the global stage. Its first signees are co‑founder Ahadadream and the Mumbai/Delhi‑area collective Excise Dept, and the debut single “Bass Dhol”...
The Tampa Bay Rays have secured a limited over‑the‑air broadcast partnership with Hearst Television for the 2026 season. Hearst’s stations in four Florida markets will air ten selected Rays games, including the April 6 home opener at the newly repaired Tropicana...
YouTube will host its annual Brandcast Upfront on May 13 at Lincoln Center, featuring CEO Neal Mohan, CBO Mary Ellen Coe, and Google President Sean Downey. The event highlights YouTube’s claim as the #1 U.S. streamer, reaching over 238 million adults...
British singer ELIZA, formerly Eliza Doolittle, has terminated her Parlophone contract and launched her first fully independent project, the album "The Darkening Green." The record marks a stylistic turn toward darker, alt‑rock and neo‑soul textures, while lyrics explore capitalism, motherhood,...
Fox News is expanding its reach to Generation Z by leveraging TikTok, where chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst posts daily bulletins to a million followers. The network’s traditional cable dominance remains strong, outpacing CNN, MSNBC, and even broadcast rivals like...
Mary Meder, president of Harmelin Media, publicly condemned the practice of agencies pocketing media rebates, urging advertisers and peers to reject the opaque fee structures. She argues the rebates undermine client trust and inflate campaign costs. Meanwhile, Meta has assembled...
The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, approved Nexstar Media Group’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna in a closed‑door vote, allowing the combined entity to reach 54.5 % of U.S. television households—well above the 39 % cap that previously limited market concentration. The...
Oakland death‑metal trio NECROT has officially signed with veteran label Metal Blade Records, aligning the band with a 45‑year legacy of extreme‑music support. The deal coincides with NECROT’s inclusion on the 2026 Decibel Magazine Tour, featuring 30 dates across the...
Dynamite Songs, the UK‑based independent publisher, has appointed Claudia Namukasa as Catalogue Manager and Charlotte Hancock as Rights Acquisition Manager to bolster its rights‑management and acquisition capabilities. Namukasa arrives from PRS for Music with licensing expertise, while Hancock joins from...
Matter has been appointed agency of record for Clear Channel Outdoor, tasked with expanding the out‑of‑home giant's earned media, social and thought‑leadership footprint. Marino will lead branding and executive storytelling for Hillpointe, a Sun Belt multifamily developer seeking greater market...
NPR Distribution’s vice president Badri Munipalla announced at the Public Radio Engineering Conference a next‑generation ContentDepot Edge receiver, a low‑latency terrestrial solution for live broadcast distribution. The Edge platform, currently in pilot, adds station‑to‑station sharing, geo‑targeted delivery, richer metadata and...
ResearchAndMarkets released a report forecasting the digital rights management (DRM) market in media and entertainment to rise from $3.97 billion in 2025 to $4.75 billion in 2026 and $9.56 billion by 2030. Growth is driven by expanding OTT video consumption, rising piracy concerns,...
Reign Maker Group has launched Kernel Management, a talent agency focused exclusively on tech creators such as YouTube’s Tech with Tim. The firm aims to connect creators with AI and software brands, offering sponsorships that can exceed $1 million for long‑term...
Instagram is positioning itself as a "music superfandom" platform, backed by a Luminate‑commissioned report that finds 58 % of music superfans use the app and 32 % of daily music engagers qualify as superfans. Meta’s experimental activation program delivered an average 10 %...
Bethesda announced that The Elder Scrolls Online will debut on the Xbox PC Game Pass on June 2, 2026, with Xbox Play Anywhere support allowing console owners a free PC version. The launch coincides with Season Zero: Dawn and Dusk, which begins April 2...
Sony Music Publishing announced the promotion of longtime executive Shane Knotts to Senior Vice President, Global Royalties. Based in Nashville, Knotts will continue overseeing the Global Royalty Center while adding responsibility for data accuracy, royalty matching, and AI‑driven automation. The...
