Apple angling to buy a rapper-owned music service? That has a familiar tune. The gadget giant is said to be the latest company eyeing Tidal, the subscription streaming music service owned by hip-hop star Jay Z. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported Apple was holding exploratory talks about a takeover to bolster its own …

Amazon has sealed an exclusive deal with PBS to stream popular PBS Kids programming on its Prime Video streaming service. Programs include “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Caillou,” “Arthur,” “Wild Kratts” and “Reading Rainbow.” The company said in a release Friday that the shows will premiere on PBS stations and then move to Amazon Prime Video later. The titles will also be …

Now playing: Watch this: Spotify and Apple in an App Store spat, says report 1:22 Apple has never won any friends with its policy of taking a cut out of in-app purchases, but it may be turning Spotify into a full-fledged enemy. Spotify’s lawyer sent a letter to Apple, accusing the gadget giant of rejecting an update to its app …

Netflix jealously guards data about the audience for its original shows, but Nielsen’s attempt to puzzle it out hints that at least one of those shows really is big. “Orange Is the New Black” pulled in 6.7 million viewers for the premiere episode of its latest season earlier this month, comparable with the second most-viewed cable drama on TV, according …

Roku said Hitachi’s US unit is joining its lineup of television makers offering internet-connected TVs with the capabilities of Roku’s streaming media boxes built into the unit itself. The companies said that they will make models in a variety of screen sizes, available in the US fall months. Hitachi is making units with HD and 4K Ultra HD displays. Roku …

Twitch is testing a new way fans can pay broadcasters, called “cheering,” that lets viewers punctuate a live stream’s chat room with animated emojis that can cost as much as $140. Twitch Twitch, the Amazon-owned service where people broadcast their video gameplay live for others to watch, is introducing “Bits,” a sort of currency that users can bank to unleash …

Paid streaming video services like Netflix are as prevalent in US homes as digital video recorders, TV-ratings giants Nielsen said Monday in a quarterly report. Subscription video-on-demand services were in half of US households in the first quarter, according to Nielsen’s latest Total Audience Report. That’s up from 42 percent of households a year earlier. Meanwhile, DVRs have held steady, …

Viacom is launching its BET network as a standalone online service, as it dips another toe in the video streaming waters. BET Play won’t stream the network’s live channel, but it will let international subscribers watch live events and shows on demand online. Viacom The new online subscription service, called BET Play, will be available in 100 countries for $3.99 …

Facebook is in love with live streaming, and it’s paying celebrities and media companies $50 million to fall for the mania too. The world’s biggest social network reportedly signed deals with almost 140 people and publishers to broadcast video live to news feeds. Facebook has been enticing big names to join Facebook Live for months, but a Wall Street Journal …

Amazon’s video service has surged in usage in the last year, jumping to third place behind Netflix and YouTube by traffic in North America. Amazon Video accounted for 4.3 percent of downstream internet traffic during peak evening viewing hours in North America, according to network equipment maker Sandvine in its twice-yearly Global Internet Phenomena Report Wednesday. That’s still far behind …