Near-Perfect Critic Rating For Ryan Gosling's 'Project Hail Mary'—Could Be Amazon's 1st Blockbuster
Amazon’s $200 million sci‑fi epic “Project Hail Mary,” starring Ryan Gosling, opened to a near‑perfect 95 % Rotten Tomatoes score from 61 critics. The film adapts Andy Weir’s bestseller and aims to become Amazon’s first true blockbuster after earlier mixed results. Early box‑office forecasts project a $50‑70 million opening weekend, potentially outpacing other 2026 releases. Positive buzz highlights practical effects and a blend of thriller, comedy, and drama that resonates with both critics and audiences.
Fortnite Price Hikes Are Coming, And They'll Affect Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Epic Games will reduce the V‑Bucks value of all real‑money bundles on March 19, dropping the standard $8.99 purchase from 1,000 to 800 V‑Bucks. The change also applies to larger bundles, while offering small cash‑back credits. Fortnite Crew, included in Xbox...
Reservoir Strikes Worldwide Publishing Admin Deal with Hans Zimmer, Expanding Relationship with Academy Award-Winning Composer
Reservoir Media announced a worldwide publishing‑administration agreement with Academy‑Award‑winning composer Hans Zimmer, giving the company control over his extensive catalog through Remote Control Publishing. Zimmer’s body of work spans more than 200 projects and has generated over $30 billion in global box‑office...
Jobs Roundup: March 2026 | ProbablyMonsters Expands Its Leadership Team
ProbablyMonsters announced three senior leadership hires—Jonathan Lander as CPO, David Reid as CMO, and Mark Subotnick as CPO—bringing deep publishing, marketing, and product expertise from Bethesda, Behaviour Interactive and internal studio roles. Kasedo Games appointed publishing veteran Timea Edvi to broaden...
People Spent Over $20,000 On Records From GLENN DANZIG, MAYHEM & TOOL Last Month
Rare vinyl collectors spent more than $20,000 on high‑value records in February 2026, according to Discogs Marketplace data. The standout sale was Glenn Danzig’s ultra‑rare 1983 purple‑and‑black pressing of “Who Killed Marilyn?” which fetched $10,000, a first‑time listing on the platform....
A Renewed Capital Investment For Sinclair In South Carolina
Sinclair Broadcast Group is reviving a two‑hour local morning news slot on WACH‑57 in Columbia, South Carolina. The station had dropped its local program in March 2023 in favor of the national‑focused The National Desk. The reinstated show will air...
Blooloop Business Confidence Pulse 2026: Cautious Optimism & Investment to Evolve
Blooloop’s first Business Confidence Pulse surveyed attraction leaders between December 2025 and January 2026, revealing a modestly positive outlook with an average confidence score of +0.8. Despite geopolitical tension and macro‑economic headwinds, 77% of respondents plan to increase or at least maintain capital...
Study: TV Remains Dominant Influencer in US Purchase Decisions
TVB’s 2026 Purchase Funnel Study, commissioned by GfK/NIQ, confirms television remains the most influential medium across all stages of the consumer purchase journey. TV outperformed the nearest competitor, social media, by fivefold in driving awareness and led trust metrics, with...
The Really Very Crunchy Podcast Signs with Airwave
Airwave announced an exclusive distribution, monetization and marketing partnership with The Really Very Crunchy Podcast, a rapidly growing show in the parenting category. The deal gives the comedy duo Jason and Emily Morrow full‑service network support to scale audience reach...
Gray Skies Point To A Potential Major Dish Dump
Gray Television, after merging with Raycom Media, now controls Savannah’s CBS affiliate WTOC‑11. A legal dispute could force Dish Network to block WTOC for its subscribers starting at 7 p.m. Eastern today. The station, a long‑standing ratings leader in Georgia’s Coastal...
BBC Studios Set to Partner with Bauer Media Audio in First of Its Kind Commercial Deal in Seven European Markets
BBC Studios has teamed with Bauer Media Audio to become the exclusive third‑party seller of its podcast advertising in seven European markets – Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Slovakia and Portugal. The deal, executed through Bauer’s audioXi digital audio marketplace,...
68% of Nigeria’s 2025 Music Streaming Was Led by Three Companies
In 2025 three foreign distributors—Empire, Universal Music Group and Sony—dominated Nigeria's streaming market, accounting for 68% of total Spotify volume. Empire led with 1.2 billion streams (32.9% share), followed by Universal at 21% and Sony at 14%. The dominance highlights Nigeria's...
Encore Expands Its Studio & Broadcast Capabilities
Encore Canada has rolled out its Presentation Stage service to Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, adding full‑scale studio facilities across three key Canadian markets. The expansion delivers a unified, broadcast‑grade environment with cameras, lighting grids, green‑screen and LED wall options, plus...
Tayo Aina, Tomike Adeoye, and Dammy Twitch to Lead “ECHO” Accelerator Free Registration Closes 22nd
Woof Studios Africa has launched the ECHO accelerator, branding it as the “Harvard of the Creator Economy.” The program features a high‑profile faculty that includes Tayo Aina, Tomike Adeoye, Dammy Twitch, Ruth Kadiri and other African digital leaders. It aims to transform creators into...
The Rush Royale X Pac-Man Collaboration Comes From a "Partnership Built on Mutual Respect"
Rush Royale celebrated its five‑year anniversary and 100 million downloads with a limited‑time Pac‑Man collaboration. The two‑week event adds a retro 8‑bit co‑op level where one player controls Pac‑Man and the other controls Duck, blending classic maze mechanics with the game’s...
Sumo Digital Partners with Arm to Explore AI-Powered "PC-Class" Graphics for Mobile Games
Sumo Digital has partnered with chip designer Arm to evaluate Arm’s new neural technology, which embeds AI‑powered accelerators within its GPUs. The collaboration aims to deliver "PC‑class" graphics on mobile devices by leveraging AI‑driven rendering techniques. Sumo is testing the...
Prima Group Appoints Jan Wykrytowicz to Lead Prima+ VOD
Prima Group has appointed Jan Wykrytowicz as director of VOD and commercial services, effective April 1. In the newly created role he will lead the development of the prima+ streaming platform, expand subscription services, digital products and strategic partnerships, and devise new...
How Time Turned Events Into Its Biggest Revenue Driver
Time has transformed from a legacy news brand into an events powerhouse, with event revenue projected to account for half of its total earnings in 2025, up from 28% in 2023. The company hosted 11 events in 2022 and will...
Clash Royale Celebrates 10 Years and $4.9bn in Player Spending After Resurgence
Supercell’s Clash Royale marked its 10‑year anniversary with a surge in player spending, reaching nearly $5 billion in lifetime revenue and $646.8 million in 2025 alone—a 149 % increase over the prior year. The game’s resurgence follows a series of in‑game overhauls, including...
Edward Matthew Named VP, International A&R and Head of Creative for Scandinavia at Warner Chappell
Warner Chappell Music has appointed Edward Matthew as Vice President of International A&R and Head of Creative for Scandinavia, operating from Stockholm and reporting to Shani Gonzales and Lars Karlsson. Matthew, founder of the Stockholm‑based Lilly Raye Music, has partnered with Warner Chappell since 2019, with...
Bonnier News Notches Another Strong Business Result, and CEO Is Bullish on 2026
Bonnier News reported 2025 EBITA of SEK 1.08 billion, a 29% YoY increase, on revenue of SEK 10.9 billion, up 3%. Digital subscription revenue surged 14% with the +Allt bundle reaching nearly 500,000 digital subscribers and over 1.1 million total users. Reader revenue...
Leonardo Capalbo Joins Tartiere Artists for Management
Tenor Leonardo Capalbo has joined Tartiere Artists as its worldwide General Manager. Capalbo is celebrated for his interpretations of Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Mascagni and Puccini, and has performed at leading houses such as Covent Garden, Berlin State Opera and Chicago...
Moba Legends Master Series (MLMS) Debuts with a Direct Slot to the MSC 2026
Moba Legends Master Series (MLMS) is India’s first official publisher‑backed national tournament for the rebranded Mobile Legends title, Moba Legends: 5v5. The competition runs from March registration through a May LAN Grand Finals, offering a ₹46 lakh prize pool. The champion secures...
Capcom Confirms Capcom Cup 12 Finals Will Remain Pay-per-View, Locks Down Co-Streaming
Capcom confirmed that the Capcom Cup 12 Finals and the Street Fighter League World Championship 2025 will be broadcast as pay‑per‑view events, with strict limits on co‑streaming and clipping. The early qualifier stages remain open for community coverage, allowing unrestricted streams and...
Winning the Young Ones: How NTM Grew Its Under-25 Subscriber Base by 500%
Swedish news publisher NTM announced a 500% increase in its under‑25 subscriber base within a single year. The growth stemmed from a bold move to make content free for readers under 25, abandoning traditional age‑based paywalls. The results were presented...
Saunders Appointed MD of Sky Business
Sky has appointed Damian Saunders as Managing Director of its Sky Business division, marking the latest step in the company’s B2B expansion. Saunders, who joined Sky in 2012 and has held multiple senior roles—including Strategy and Commercial Director and CRO—has...
Disney Channel Returning to Spain
Disney Channel will relaunch in Spain on April 1, replacing Disney Junior and expanding its schedule to target children aged six to eleven. The revived pay‑TV channel will retain preschool programming through clearly labelled Disney Junior blocks. Disney Junior previously held...
How the NBA Keeps Younger Viewers Engaged
The NBA is reshaping its fan‑engagement strategy to capture younger viewers who avoid traditional TV appointments. By aggregating data across League Pass, the NBA app, social platforms and betting interfaces, the league sees that youth consumption is actually rising, just...
Why the Gap Between the Game and Your Screen Is a Business Problem
Live‑sports streaming latency now reaches 40‑plus seconds on many platforms, turning a quality‑of‑experience nuisance into a revenue‑critical issue. Research from the Super Bowl showed Peacock lagging 48 seconds while broadcast stayed within 19 seconds. In‑play microbetting, a $21 billion market projected...
First Study of Investor Sentiment on Music Aims to Bring More Transparency to the Inner Workings of Music Investment
Fourth Pillar released its inaugural Music Investment Barometer, surveying 125 senior decision‑makers who oversee over $3.24 trillion in assets. The study finds music IP now recognized as a formal asset class, with 86% planning to increase allocations and average deal sizes...
Walmart’s Vizio Acquisition Finally Opens Up Retail Advertising’s Growth
Walmart’s purchase of Vizio gives the retailer control of a smart‑TV operating system that blends content discovery, advertising, payments and commerce on the living‑room screen. The move transforms retail media from search‑based placements to first‑screen TV inventory, especially as 2026‑model...
Exclusive: MNTN Hires TikTok and NBCUniversal Veterans to Chase the SMB Market
MNTN announced the hiring of Garland Hill, former TikTok growth chief, as its first chief revenue officer, and Peter Blacker, former NBCUniversal streaming head, as global head of premium content. Hill previously scaled TikTok’s small‑business division to over $1 billion in revenue, while...
David F. Caravaca Joins GoDirect Artists Management
David F. Caravaca has been appointed General Manager at GoDirect Artists Management, bringing his rising profile as a Spanish conductor to the agency. He is a prize‑winner of the Leipzig Conducting Competition and the inaugural Orquesta de Juventudes Musicales award....
SportsCast Global Partners with FAST Channels TV
SportsCast Global announced a partnership with FAST Channels TV to launch a 24/7 free‑ad‑supported streaming (FAST) sports channel. The channel will feature football, motorsport, basketball, tennis and baseball content, including classic games, highlights, commentary and athlete profiles. FAST Channels TV...
Behind NYT’s First Foray Into In-Game Advertising
New York Times has introduced Crossplay, its first two‑player word game that embeds ads directly within gameplay. The ad‑supported format targets non‑subscribing users, with six‑second mandatory video ads after each turn. JPMorgan Chase partnered for the launch, aiming at financially active, digitally savvy...
Behind NYT’s First Foray Into In-Game Advertising
The New York Times launched Crossplay, its first two‑player word game, as a standalone app that embeds ads directly within gameplay. The ad‑supported model applies to non‑subscribers, while a Games subscription removes the ads. JPMorgan Chase partnered on the launch, using...
Fed Up With High Costs, American Theater Takes a Trip to London
Rising production costs and shrinking profit margins are prompting U.S. theater producers to stage new shows in London rather than domestically. Musicals such as "Beautiful Little Fool" and Disney’s "The Greatest Showman" have debuted in modest UK venues to leverage...
MPN Video Podcast: How Streaming, Sports, and Social Media Are Reshaping Fandom
Sports fans are abandoning traditional TV, turning to streaming services and short‑form platforms for live games and highlights. Rights are being split across multiple OTT providers, creating frustration as viewers juggle subscriptions. Hub Entertainment Research’s Wave 5 report shows documentaries like...
Indie Artist Coalition Files Major Lawsuit Against Google Over AI Copyright Theft—’Broadest, Most Comprehensive Attack’ Against AI Music Models
A coalition of independent musicians has filed a federal lawsuit against Google, alleging that its AI music tools—Lyria 3 and ProducerAI—train on millions of copyrighted songs without permission. The complaint claims Google strips copyright metadata, misattributes ownership, and distributes the...
OpenAI Is B Building the Ad Tech Stack It’s Currently Borrowing
OpenAI is rapidly assembling an internal advertising infrastructure, hiring engineers, product designers, and trust‑and‑safety staff to replace its current reliance on third‑party vendors. In the short term it is partnering with Criteo and The Trade Desk to bring advertisers into...
Evrideo Appoints Rob Malcolm and Greg Willis as Senior Executives
Evrideo, the cloud‑native SaaS platform for broadcast operations, announced two senior‑level hires. Rob Malcolm joins as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Product Officer, bringing over 25 years of SaaS and broadcast experience. Greg Willis becomes Vice President of Sales &...
‘Silly Stories for Kids’ Podcast Is Winning over Children Globally
Australian‑made children’s podcast “Silly Stories for Kids” has amassed 2.47 million listens and 1.37 million downloads in the past 30 days, generating over 21.8 million listening minutes. The audience is now dominated by North America, which accounts for 52 % of listeners, while downloads...
Winx Club & Friends SVoD Channel Launches on Prime Video
Rainbow's studio has launched its first themed subscription video‑on‑demand (SVoD) channel, Winx Club & Friends, on Amazon Prime Video. The channel is live in the UK, Italy, France, Finland and Sweden and bundles flagship series such as Winx Club, Huntik,...
G Flip Reignites ‘All Fired Up’ for Paramount+ X AFC Women’s Asian Cup Campaign via Hello
Paramount+ and creative agency Hello have teamed with ARIA‑winning artist G Flip to relaunch Pat Benatar’s classic “All Fired Up” as the official anthem for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026. The reworked track will feature across Paramount+ live coverage, radio play, streaming platforms...
AEW Set for International, FAST Growth
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is expanding its digital footprint by teaming with streaming technology firm Kiswe to launch MyAEW, a subscription‑based platform that includes a free FAST channel called Watch AEW. The channel streams on Android TV, Apple TV and...
Fiber Frenzy
Comcast has broken ground on a $5.9 million fiber build‑out extending its high‑speed network into Greater Hartford and Middletown, Connecticut. The project, slated for completion later this year, targets the region’s business community with Ethernet and dedicated internet services up to...
Countdown to World Cup
Fox Sports announced an aggressive 2026 FIFA World Cup broadcast plan, featuring 70 matches on the Fox broadcast network and a total of 340 live hours across its platforms. The schedule includes 21 primetime games on Fox and 19 primetime...
Optimum Launching New Net
Optimum is set to launch a new network called In2 TV next month, bundling News 12 original series, mystery documentaries, cultural stories and exclusive sports. The channel will be carried on all video customers subscribed to Optimum's Basic package and...
Philo’s New Plans
Philo, under new CEO Mike Keyserling, unveiled two refreshed subscription tiers this month. The $25‑per‑month Essential plan bundles over 70 live TV channels, 120 FAST channels, video‑on‑demand and unlimited DVR storage, plus a 7‑day free trial. The former Core plan...
Versant’s DTC Investment
Versant announced a multi‑brand direct‑to‑consumer push, unveiling an MS Now streaming service, a Fandango AVOD platform, and a CNBC DTC product aimed at retail investors. CFO/COO Anand Kini emphasized that the rollout will rely on existing video‑playback, commerce, and brand infrastructure, keeping...