Amazon hired a new head of its entertainment division, tapping the former Hulu CEO who netted the first outstanding-drama Emmy Award from a streaming service. Mike Hopkins, who most recently was chairman of Sony Pictures Television, will oversee Prime Video and Amazon’s movie and television studios, the e-commerce giant said Monday. He reports directly to CEO Jeff Bezos. …

Disney Plus‘ fairy-tale dreams may come true sooner than Disney thought: Disney Plus has signed up 28.6 million people less than three months after the service rolled out, Disney said Tuesday. To put that in context, Disney initially expected Disney Plus would take five years to reach between 60 million and 90 million subscribers. In less than 90 days, it’s …

Disney expects to start expanding its streaming service Hulu internationally in 2021, after Hulu has operated in the US almost exclusively for more than a decade, Disney CEO Bob Iger said Tuesday, noting that the company is prioritizing its global launch of Disney Plus before turning attention to widening Hulu.  Hulu’s expansion beyond the US has been closely watched for years. The service …

Netflix has dismissed any suggestions the so-called streaming wars would be its undoing. With its latest earnings report, the company still isn’t sweating the pressure, as it added more subscribers than expected even as it faced new rival services from Disney and Apple. Its not-very-secret weapon? Gigantic international scale.  Already the world’s dominant subscription streaming service, Netflix saw subscribers climb by …

Peacock, NBCUniversal‘s coming streaming-video service, will be free with advertising when it rolls out nationally July 15 coinciding with the summer Olympics, the company said Thursday at a star-studded unveiling. But to unlock Peacock‘s so-called “Premium” selection, with all its original programming and double the library, you need to pay either $5 a month to stream with advertising or $10 to go …

Disney Plus was the last year’s top-trending Google search term — and that interest seemed to translate to mobile downloads and spending too. The Disney Plus mobile app was downloaded 40.9 million times across Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store for Android, with the vast majority of interest coming from the US, according to a Tuesday report from mobile analytics firm …

This story is part of CES, where CNET covers the latest news on the most incredible tech coming soon. Amazon’s Fire TV streaming media devices have surpassed more than 40 million active users, up from the 37 million the company reported in September, seeming to continue a lead over Roku.  Roku, also considered one of the most popular streaming video …

Facebook may pursue rights to stream major record labels’ music videos, according to a report. It’s a pursuit that could set up Facebook and its video-centric Watch tab to take on Google‘s YouTube, the ruler of online music video viewing.  Facebook is in the middle of negotiations with the three largest music companies — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner …

One after another, media and tech giants are hurling themselves into a battle for your streaming-TV dollars. Last month ushered in the first clash: Apple TV Plus versus Disney Plus. The king of Hollywood and the smartphone profit king both launched their own services within days of each other.  By all early measures, Disney trounced Apple.  These battles are more …

Netflix detailed how big it is, region by region, outside the US for the first time Monday. Netflix’s biggest market by members is still the US and Canada, but Europe, the Middle East and Africa collectively come second — and they’re growing fast.  Netflix has long kept the nitty-gritty details of its international membership under wraps, even as it’s eclipsed the …