Lady Gaga, the talk of the Oscars for her Sound of Music medley, is joining season five of FX anthology series American Horror Story. It’s the singer’s first major role as an actress; no other cast members have been confirmed for the AHS chapter, called “Hotel.”

In a rule change that might not amuse Orange Is the New Black, which has reaped awards show gold as a comedy, the Television Academy decreed that only 30-minute shows will be considered comedies come Emmy time. It will take a two-thirds vote from a nine-member panel for a show to be reassigned. On the miniseries front, the category is now called Limited Series, with distinctions including no recurring stories or characters that would disallow shows like Luther and Sherlock.

….More Emmy moves: the number of nominees in drama and comedy series categories has increased from six to seven, the Variety category has been split into Variety Talk and Variety Sketch and the Guest Actor categories exclude performers who appear in more than 50 percent of a program’s episodes. “As our growing membership creates and produces more content for ever-changing platforms, today’s changes in the rules and procedures are vital,” said academy chairman Bruce Rosenblum. “We’re sure that in coming years we will continue to evolve our rules as our dynamic industry grows.”

SPORTS 

Major League Soccer formalized reports about the league’s newest foray across the Atlantic, announcing a partnership with British sports broadcaster Sky Sports. In addition to the two regular season games shown on a weekly basis, the four-year deal will also showcase the AT&T MLS All-Star Game, every MLS Cup Playoff game, and the MLS Cup final. In addition to weekly MLS highlights. The deal launches with the kickoff of MLS’s 20th season this year…..“As MLS continues to grow into a global brand, we are excited to partner with Sky Sports, a leader in the UK TV market, to bring the sport to millions of soccer fans,” said Gary Stevenson, president and managing director, MLS Business Ventures, in a statement. “2015 is a milestone year for MLS including new stars, new clubs and a new brand. Sky Sports will help continue to grow the League and clubs worldwide.”

FIFA confirmed long-held suspicions that the organization was on the cusp of a major change for the 2022 World Cup, with a task force formally targeting November/ December as the most viable period for the worldwide tournament in a move to dodge the summer heat in Qatar. The proposed event dates have the full support of all six Confederations, according to the organization, and the shift will be discussed at the next meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee, scheduled to take place from March 19-20. The recommendation comes after various proposals for alternative dates to June/July for the 2022 FIFA World Cup were discussed….According to the release, “Given that the two bidding cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics – Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing (China PR) – pledged recently to host the winter games from 4 to 20 February 2022; that the month of Ramadan begins on 2 April in 2022; and that consistently hot conditions prevail from May to September in Qatar, the only remaining effective option is the November/December window. For legal reasons, the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup must be played within the calendar year 2022.”

DIGITAL 

The Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of Net Neutrality yesterday, passing by a 3-2 vote for the FCC to implement new rules that support an open Internet. “ No one – whether government or corporate – should control free open access to the Internet,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said about the new policy. Service providers will have to make a neutral gateway, dropping pay levels or various traffic speeds for certain websites.

 YouTube’s kids’ destination officially launched this week. The YouTube Kids app features videos from Jim Henson Co., Mother Goose Club, DreamWorks Animation, National Geographic Kids, Hit Entertainment and others with shows including Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Thomas the Tank Engine, Reading Rainbow and Talking Tom and Friends. Additionally, the app will include parental controls, limited pre-screened advertising (pre-rolls but not click-through ads) and a playlist of channels from music to learning categories. YT creators such as Vlogbrothers and Stampylonghead will also provide content for the app. It is currently only available for free on Android devices and on Google Play.