Digital Entertainment Industry News and Highlights

April 20, 2016

The Obama administration last week called on the Federal Communications Commission to open the cable TV set-top box market to competition. Doing so would let companies create innovative, higher-quality and lower-cost products, the White House said. "Instead of spending nearly $1,000 over four years to lease a set of behind-the-times boxes, American families will have options to own a device for much less money that will integrate everything they want," wrote Jason Furman and Jeffrey Zients...

Amazon Offers Binge-Friendly Monthly Prime Subscriptions

April 18, 2016

Amazon on Monday began offering Prime Video as a standalone service with a monthly subscription option. Prime Video previously was offered only as part of a bundle with Amazon Prime, which is available for $99 a year. Amazon also offers a monthly Prime membership plan for $10.99, which includes all ...

ESPN Adds Drone Racing to Its Summer Schedule

April 14, 2016

The International Drone Racing Association and ESPN on Wednesday announced a multiyear international media distribution deal. Under the partnership, the network will showcase the 2016 U.S. National Drone Racing Championships, which will be held on Governors Island in New York City this summer. Both ...

Twitter Upsets Rivals to Win Thursday Night Football Streaming Rights

April 6, 2016

The National Football League on Monday named Twitter its exclusive global partner to live-stream 10 Thursday Night Football games during the 2016 season. Twitter reportedly beat out some of the top content and social media providers for the contract. It will live-stream the games for free to more th...

FCC Commissioner Sounds Alarm Over Netflix Throttling

March 30, 2016

FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly on Tuesday suggested the government should investigate Netflix's practice of throttling video content delivery to customers using mobile devices. However, Netflix's video throttling was not a violation of the FCC's Net neutrality rules, O'Rielly also said. Netflix l...

Low-Cost Bundle Beckons Gamers to PlayStation VR

March 21, 2016

Sony last week announced it would begin taking preorders for a cost-shaving virtual reality bundle. Priced at $499, the PlayStation VR bundle includes everything needed except the PlayStation 4 console. It contains a VR headset, cables, stereo headphones, a PlayStation camera, two PlayStation Move m...

Intel Gets Into the FreeD Sportscasting Game

March 11, 2016

Intel on Wednesday announced its intent to acquire Replay Technologies, the company known for elevating the NBA All-Star Weekend with cutting-edge 3D graphics. Replay develops and maintains what it calls "freeD" -- that is, free dimensional -- technology. Sports fans may have noticed the Matrix-esqu...

Yahoo May Have Found a Lifeline

February 11, 2016

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams last week confirmed that his company was exploring an acquisition of some of Yahoo's assets, which would be placed under the corporate umbrella of Verizon's AOL unit. McAdams discussed Verizon's interest in an interview with Mad Money host Jim Cramer. Giving AOL CEO Tim Ar...

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