In the latest escalation of its efforts to police harassment, Twitter has begun issuing bans to a number of extremist accounts. The new policies target accounts that are associated with hate groups, or that promote violence. Banned accounts include the American Nazi Party (yes, unfortunately there is such a thing), the white supremacist Traditionalist Worker […]
Facebook cracks down on posts that explicitly ask for likes
In other Facebook news, the platform has begun clamping down on posts that specifically ask for “Likes,” shares or comments. Facebook is referring to such posting behavior as “engagement bait.” Starting yesterday, Facebook started pushing “engagement bait” down in users’ News Feeds. And starting a few weeks from now, Pages and publishers that engage in […]
Disney to acquire 21st Century Fox assets, including Hulu stake
It’s official: Disney has finalized an agreement to buy most of 21st Century Fox. The all-stock deal will clock in at $52.4 billion. A slew of new properties are included in the acquisition, including 21st Century Fox’s film titles and studio, and media brands such as National Geographic and FX Networks. The deal grants Disney […]
FCC repeals net neutrality
The FCC voted to repeal its 2015 net neutrality rules, which had mandated that telcos treat all of their web traffic equally. As expected, the repeal passed on a party line vote, with the agency’s three Republican members voting in favor. FCC head Ajit Pai, who joined the agency in 2012 before President Donald Trump […]
T-Mobile buys Layer3 TV, will launch new TV service
T-Mobile is jumping into the OTT TV game. The telco announced that it’s acquiring Layer3 TV, a startup that current offers a broadband-delivered TV service in five U.S. cities. T-Mobile will use the Layer3 TV platform to launch a wider live TV service next year. So far, T-Mobile hasn’t provided many details about its upcoming […]
Redbox finally launches digital video service
Redbox, best known for its DVD kiosks, has launched a new VOD service. Simply called Redbox On Demand, the service features over 6,000 TV shows and movies. The titles are available through through VOD rental or electronic sell-through. Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Paramount are all supplying titles for the […]
Google rolls out new AR features
Google, too, is rolling out some new AR features. The company’s new “AR Stickers” – available to anyone with a Pixel smartphone – allow users to insert virtual objects into Pixel-recorded videos. The feature is driven by Google’s ARCore framework for augmented reality, which the company rolled out in August. (While ARCore products are limited […]
YouTube TV expands to 34 new markets
YouTube TV, Google’s OTT-based live TV service, just expanded to a slew of new markets. YouTube TV will now be available in 34 more areas, including New Orleans, Louisiana, Buffalo, New York, and Tucson, Arizona. The service was already available in 39 markets, accounting for more than half of U.S. homes.
Apple acquires music discovery service Shazam
Apple confirmed that it has acquired music discovery service Shazam. TechCrunch was the first to report that the deal was in the works. Shazam allows users to identify songs, TV shows, movies, and even commercials by playing brief audio clips. According to Recode, Apple is paying $400 million for the company. For Shazam, that valuation […]
BuzzFeed rolls out new Facebook Watch shows
BuzzFeed unveiled its new slate of content for Watch, Facebook’s recently-launched video section. Tubefilter was the first to report on the new content slate. All told, BuzzFeed is rolling out five new shows. Three of those shows debuted yesterday: Night In/Night Out, a food-heavy series featuring Try Guys co-founder Ned Fulmer; Puppy Prep, a show […]
CynCity
Cynsiders
Early Days of ESPN
The Early Days of ESPN: 300 Daydreams and Nightmares is “surely is one of the...With MoonBall Media, Two Athletes Step Into New Careers
MoonBall Media, led by former World Series Champion Eric Hosmer and award-winning producer and former...Cognitiv Goes OOH to Showcase the Power of AI
Cognitiv went big with its first brand campaign, showing agencies and brands the power of...