Joan E. Solsman

Facebook adds official music videos, taking on YouTube

Facebook said Friday it’s adding official music videos to its social network in the US, starting this week. The feature will allow people to find, watch and share music videos on Facebook, taking on the world’s No. 1 place to watch music videos online (and the No. 1 place to watch, well, all videos online): Google‘s …

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NBC’s Peacock streaming service hits 10 million sign

Peacock, the streaming service that Comcast’s NBCUniversal launched two weeks ago in the US, has signed up 10 million accounts, Comcast said Thursday. That includes people who registered with Peacock when it rolled out just to Comcast pay TV customers in April as well as new members who’ve signed up since its national launch July 15.  By comparison, Disney Plus reported more than 10 million …

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CBS All Access widens library of shows and revamps interface

Streaming service CBS All Access on Thursday said it revamped its user interface, and it announced a widely expanded library to include shows from networks like BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Smithsonian Channel and movies from Paramount, as well as some new originals planned for release soon. The addition of about 3,500 episodes increases CBS All Access’ catalog to about 20,000 episodes and movies, which …

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Quibi lets you screenshot now (if you know a cheat code)

Quibi, a mobile streaming service that launched in April, now lets viewers screenshot its shows, the company’s head of product Tom Conrad said in a Twitter thread Thursday — a seemingly simple function but one that’s crucial to building social-media buzz for shows.   Everyone! start your meme maker: Mock the Golden Arm with precise photographic evidence! Share your cel-drawn horoscope …

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HBO Max hits 4.1 million signups in its first month

HBO Max had 4.1 million subscribers signed up as of late June, one month after its May 27 launch in the US, parent company AT&T said Thursday. AT&T CEO John Stankey said that out of the 4.1 million, about 3 million accounts subscribe directly to $15-a-month HBO Max. The remaining 1.1 million or so activated a Max account by upgrading their existing HBO service …

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Netflix names Ted Sarandos as Reed Hastings’ co

Netflix made an unexpected change to its top leadership Thursday, naming a co-CEO. Ted Sarandos, the company’s top content officer who led Netflix programming as the company grew into an online TV behemoth, will serve alongside Reed Hastings, the company’s longtime CEO and co-founder. “Ted has been my partner for decades,” Hastings said in a letter to shareholders. “This change makes …

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Peacock isn’t on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, entrenching a battle line

Peacock, the streaming service from Comcast’s NBCUniversal, launched Wednesday across a range of the biggest devices, but the two most popular ones to stream to televisions are missing: Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV. It’s a replay of the same standoff in May that pit Roku and Amazon against AT&T’s HBO Max, marking a new stage in the evolution of streaming video, one …

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Peacock’s Android app is live, Google Play Store snafu hid it from searches

For the company that rules search, Google complicated the Android app launch of Peacock, a streaming service from Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Wednesday, when the Google Play Store failed to show the app in search results for much of the app’s launch day. Android’s Peacock app published overnight in the Google Play Store as planned, and it was available to download if you had a link to find …

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Peacock is free. It may be the streaming service’s not

If you’re tired of the parade of new streaming services launching every couple months, you’re not alone. But the last one rolling in — Peacock, from Comcast-owned NBCUniversal — wants to snap you out of your stupor with something the others won’t match: a free option.  Peacock launched Wednesday, and yet again, it’s another splashy new service from a media or technology giant. Just like …

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Disney Plus to release Hamilton special Friday, interviewing cast, director

Disney Plus will release a Hamilton special Friday that interviews the musical’s cast and director, as well as a Harvard professor to discuss the show’s historical context, coming a week after Disney’s filmed version of the Broadway hit stoked a surge of interest in Disney Plus.  The special, Hamilton: History Has Its Eyes on You, features Good Morning America host Robin Roberts conducting remote …

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