The past 12 months were billed as the year when a flood of new entrants would force streaming services to wage an all-out war for subscribers. Instead, incumbents and rookies alike feasted on a base of shut-in customers eager for more things to watch. From a report: The largest streaming services finished 2020 with combined U.S. subscriber numbers more than 50%…
Tag: walt disney
How the Nature Conservancy, the World’s Biggest Environmental Group, Became a Dealer of Meaningless Carbon Offsets
An anonymous reader shares a report: At first glance, big corporations appear to be protecting great swaths of U.S. forests in the fight against climate change. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has paid almost $1 million to preserve forestland in eastern Pennsylvania. Forty miles away, Walt Disney has spent hundreds of thousands to keep the city of Bethlehem, Pa., from aggressively harvesting…
Disney+ Has More Than 73 Million Subscribers
Disney+, the streaming service that launched one year ago today, grew to 73.7 million paid subscribers as of early October. TechCrunch reports: That’s according to The Walt Disney Company’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which covers the company’s finances through October 3. The company previously said Disney+ had 60.5 million subscribers as of August 3. The release also includes subscriber numbers for Disney’s…
TikTok CEO Mayer Quits After Three Months, Just as Firm Challenges US Ban
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has left the Chinese-owned video app firm just three months since joining, and only days since the company sued the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over an executive order effectively banning it in the United States. He will be replaced by U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas on an interim basis, TikTok said in a statement. From…
Disney Kids Channels To Shutter In UK, Content Moving To Disney+
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Walt Disney Company is closing down its three Disney Channels in the U.K. this fall and moving the content to its streaming service Disney+. From the report: From Oct. 1, Disney+ will become the exclusive U.K. home for content from Disney Channel, DisneyXD and Disney Junior, the company said Thursday. “The direct-to-consumer service, which garnered…
Illegal Netflix, Amazon Streamers Cut Off After European Arrests
European police busted an illegal streaming ring that provided service to 2 million people and was so sophisticated that it had its own customer-service team. From a report: The criminal network operated for over five years and offered more than 40,000 channels, movies, documentaries and other content, according to European police coordination agency Europol. The scale of the operation shows how…
Disney World Furloughing 43,000 Workers
Walt Disney World in Florida plans to furlough about 43,000 workers after it closed last month because of the coronavirus pandemic, the company and a union coalition representing the workers said. From a report: In mid-March, Disney theme parks worldwide closed, including Disney World in Florida and Disneyland Resort in California. The furloughs, which are set to begin on April 19,…
Stuck at home? Take a tour through Disney’s (empty) Star Wars, Pandora and space-age parks
From the comfort and safety of your own home, you can now explore Walt Disney World all by yourself. Source: https://www.livescience.com/disney-world-galaxys-edge-pandora-tomorrowland-aerial-images.html
Facebook Lowers Video Quality In Latin America, Following Europe
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Facebook will lower video streaming quality on its platform and on Instagram in Latin America, replicating measures adopted in Europe, to ease network congestion in a region that is starting to feel the grip of the coronavirus. On Sunday, the world’s largest social network followed the steps of Netflix, Alphabet’s YouTube, Amazon and…
Disney CEO Bob Iger Steps Down, Capping His Career With Disney Plus’ Epic Launch
Disney CEO Bob Iger stepped down as CEO today, effective immediately. “Iger — who spent his entire career at the company and will leave with Disney’s titanic transition to streaming with Disney Plus as the legacy capping his tenure — will remain chairman of the Walt Disney Company until the end of next year, and Disney’s head of parks, Bob Chapek,…