Average Seinfeld episode valued at $1m by Hulu in Sony Pictures deal April 29, 2015 Video streaming site Hulu is believed to have paid $180m for the rights to classic 90s sitcom Seinfeld. The site, which is expected to announce the acquisition at a presentation later today, acquired the rights to all 180 episodes from Sony Pictures Television, valuing each one at $1m on average, according to Variety. Other estimates [...]
eSports streaming site DingIt.tv secures $1.5m seed funding from Black Green Capital April 28, 2015 Money continues to be pumped into the UK eSports market with leading streaming platform DingIt.tv the latest to raise seven-figure sums of capital. DingIt.tv, which offers a HD streaming platform to eSports firms around the world, has secured $1.5m of seed funding from London venture capital firm Black Green Capital. The seed and A-round investment [...]
Broadcasters told by Ofcom to make phone-in charges simpler April 28, 2015 Telecoms regulator Ofcom has forced TV companies to change how they advertise phone-in and mobile voting competitions – because, it says, they're currently too confusing. The watchdog has changed the broadcasting code – the rules which govern TV and radio in the UK – to reflect how they can make pricing clearer. Viewers [...]
Avengers: Age of Ultron box office tops $200m with biggest UK opening weekend for a superhero film April 27, 2015 Marvel Studios' superheroes continued to conjure super-size box office revenues as Avengers: Age of Ultron raked in $201.1m (£132.5m) around the world, almost eating up its entire $205m production budget. The sequel to The Avengers – the third-highest grossing film of all time – smashed its way to the top of the box office charts in all [...]
Burberry boss Christopher Bailey hails new supermodel James Corden – in pictures April 21, 2015 James Corden graced the catwalk as part of fashion brand Burberry's London in Los Angeles event last week, prompting the retailer's somewhat reclusive boss Christopher Bailey to quip: “Fashion has a new icon and his name is Corden.” The British film and TV star was performing a sketch for his CBS “The Late Late Show [...]
Netflix v HBO: Streaming site chief exec says rivalry will be like the “Yankees and the Red Sox” April 20, 2015 Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings has a simple message to HBO as the cable TV giant steps into the online streaming market: bring it on. The American billionaire who also sits on the board of Facebook founded Netflix in 1997 originally as a rental-by-post DVD service before moulding it into the dominant player in the [...]
Liberty Global’s Telenet snaps up Belgian telecoms firm Base from KPN in €1bn deal April 20, 2015 Liberty Global has snapped up a Belgian rival for €1.3bn (£938.5m). The US cable owner's Belgian subsidiary Telenet will buy Base, Belgium's third-largest mobile operator, to expand its mobile and fixed line business in the country. The all-cash buyout will end a deal for network capacity with the country's second largest mobile network Mobistar, but [...]
Furious 7 becomes highest grossing Universal film of all time with $1.15bn box office April 19, 2015 Furious 7 has lived up to its name after a roaring box office performance made it the seventh highest grossing film in cinematic history. Released less than a month ago, the action franchise seventh instalment has raced to a $1.15bn international box office making it Universal's highest-ever grossing film. The film starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne "The [...]
All Nippon Airways unveil Star Wars jet as Japanese airliner adds to Pokemon planes April 17, 2015 It might not take you to a galaxy far, far away or zoom you into hyperspace like the Millennium Falcon, but All Nippon Airways' Star Wars jet will nevertheless excite your inner geek more than anything else in the skies. As part of a five-year Star Wars project, the Japanese carrier will deck one of its brand-new Boeing [...]
eSports firm Gfinity teams up with Rupert Murdoch’s News UK April 17, 2015 Rupert Murdoch's News UK has recognised the booming appeal of eSports by agreeing a two-year commercial partnership with professional video gaming firm Gfinity. Aim-listed Gfinity has a rapidly expanding online user base in excess of 300,000 and boasts of the UK's first eSports-dedicated arena which hosts weekly professional competitions of games such as Fifa '15, Counter-Strike: [...]