Peacock is adding a new “Watch With” feature that lets fans watch special episodes with their favorite personalities, including live commentary, real-time reactions and live Q&A it says will be unfiltered. Watch With debuts with “Bel-Air” stars Jabari Banks and Olly Sholotan on February 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET, immediately following the show’s Season 2 premiere. Peacock will also add the feature to the live song contest “Eurovision” with host Johnny Weir and “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” with stars Candiace Dillard Bassett and Marysol Patton, with more to come. Continue reading Peacock ‘Watch With’ Feature Adds Split-Screen Interactivity

Netflix is expanding its paid sharing program to Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. The program, which was tested last year in several Latin American markets, is the company’s attempt to crackdown on the unauthorized password sharing that deprives the company of what one analyst estimates is billions of dollars per year. Where the program is live, subscribers can pay to add non-household members to their account at the rate of an extra CAD$7.99 a month per person in Canada, NZD$7.99 in New Zealand, Euro 3.99 in Portugal, and Euro 5.99 in Spain. Continue reading Netflix Password Sharing Plan Added in Four Global Markets

Netflix is hoping that offering cinema-like spatial audio on a catalog of more than 700 titles for those who subscribe to its $20 per month premium tier will encourage more customers to upgrade. Spatial audio is engineered to deliver a 360-degree audio experience, including sounds that appear to come from behind the viewer. Customers who subscribe to Netflix’s Standard or Basic plans will have access to some spatial audio titles “but only on a small, select number,” the company said, describing the audio tech as “a game changer for the Premium plan viewing experience.” Netflix Premium already supports 4K, HDR, Dolby Atmos and Netflix Calibrated Mode. Continue reading Netflix Premium Offers 700+ Titles That Feature Spatial Audio

OpenAI is piloting a $20 per month subscription plan called ChatGPT Plus for its text-generating chatbot. The paid plan offers benefits over the free version that include faster response times, access to ChatGPT even during peak periods and early access to new features. OpenAI will soon begin inviting U.S. customers to subscribe and said it plans to offer the Plus plan in more territories. Since debuting ChatGPT, the company has received feedback from “millions of people” using the viral to draft prose, edit content, brainstorm ideas, educate and assist with programming. Continue reading ChatGPT, the Fastest Growing App, Intros Subscription Plan

Spotify reported strong net growth of 33 million new monthly active users but another quarterly loss for Q4 2022, culminating a period during which the company invested heavily in podcasts. The news came amidst layoffs and an announcement that the company’s chief content and advertising officer Dawn Ostroff will depart. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek conceded with regard to the aggressive podcast growth that he “probably got a little carried away and overinvested relative to the uncertainty we saw shaping up in the market.” Given the result — 20 percent global user growth, to 489 million MAUs — Ek concluded “I would do it again.” Continue reading Spotify Reports Q4 Loss Despite 20 Percent Growth in Users

Paramount Global will be fully integrating Paramount+ and Showtime across both streaming and linear platforms later this year, according to president and CEO Bob Bakish, who said both the premium streaming tier on Paramount+ and the Showtime linear cable network will be known as “Paramount+ with Showtime” in the U.S. Pricing was not disclosed. In September, the studio began offering Paramount+ bundled with Showtime for prices ranging from $11.99 to $14.99 for premium. Paramount+ with Showtime will include Showtime original content, while Showtime will also get some Paramount+ original fare. Bakish said details will be shared in upcoming weeks. Continue reading A Rebranded ‘Paramount+ with Showtime’ Will Roll Out Soon

The National Basketball Association is extending its partnership with Meta Platforms in a multiyear deal that will include virtual reality experiences via the Horizon Worlds online platform and Meta Quest, “the official VR headset of the NBA and WNBA.” The NBA Arena in Meta Horizon Worlds will feature live NBA League Pass games in VR throughout the season. NBA-licensed apparel will launch in the Meta Avatars Store. Authenticated NBA accounts will also be able to experience shared watching in HD using Quest with VR sports hub Xtadium. Continue reading NBA Arena and Avatar Apparel Debut in Meta Horizon Worlds

Disney touted its capabilities this week at the company’s Tech & Data Showcase for advertisers, part of the company’s Road to the Upfront. Among the disclosures, Disney in April will begin adding some Hulu ad-targeting capabilities to Disney+, with Hulu’s “full suite of ad products and services” available throughout the entire Disney streaming portfolio by July. Since last year Hulu has been deploying a proprietary ad server Disney is said to have built from the ground up, putting it to work on the ad-supported Disney+ Basic tier launched in December. Continue reading Disney Announces Plans for Its Proprietary Ad Delivery Stack

Reed Hastings is transitioning from co-chief executive to executive chairman of Netflix, with Greg Peters, who was instrumental in launching the platform’s new ad-supported tier, stepping up from COO and chief product officer to serve as co-CEO with Ted Sarandos. Hastings co-founded Netflix in 1997 and has run it ever since, transforming the company from a DVD-by-mail rental outfit to the world’s dominant streaming service. The C-suite shift comes as Netflix announced it beat its forecast for subscriber gains, ending Q4 with 230.8 million paid subscribers globally, news that spiked Netflix shares nearly 7 percent. Continue reading Reed Hastings Transitioning to Executive Chairman of Netflix

YouTube TV has unveiled redesigns of its Live guide and Library feature. The new Live guide touts a more traditional timeline-based grid presentation, topped by curated recommendations. Overall, YouTube says the grid layout is condensed yet provides more information. It also makes it easier to record. The updated Library has added content management features, including a “catch up on your favorites” shelf. Instead of side-navigation, a row of filters invites content categories exploration. YouTube says “Live and Library are the most used pages by YouTube TV watchers, so we decided to focus on improving those areas.” Continue reading YouTube TV Upgrades Are Designed to Streamline Navigation

YouTube is embarking on tests of a new FAST channel hub. The move is the latest by the Alphabet-owned platform to expand its ambitions to become a full-service video provider. YouTube is reported by The Wall Street Journal to be in talks with entertainment firms about featuring films and TV series in a configuration not unlike that typically offered by cable (i.e., packaged) and is testing the approach with a limited number of media companies in anticipation of a potential full-on launch later this year. Deployment of a free, ad-supported TV hub would put YouTube on a path to become a go-to destination for general video in competition with entities such as Roku, Pluto TV and Tubi TV. Continue reading YouTube Tests Waters with Hub of FAST Streaming Channels

Over the holidays, the National Football League announced a multi-year deal with Google that will provide YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels with exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket package, which includes all out-of-market Sunday games broadcast via CBS and FOX. Beginning with the 2023 football season, NFL Sunday Ticket will be available for U.S. consumers “on two of YouTube’s growing subscription businesses as an add-on package on YouTube TV and standalone a-la-carte on YouTube Primetime Channels,” according to Google. The agreement is valued at about $2 billion annually over seven years. Continue reading NFL Sunday Ticket Is Coming to YouTube TV and Primetime

Netflix is tooting its own horn for 10 years of Open Connect, an initiative designed to provide customers with improved technical performance. Since launching the program in 2012, Netflix has worked with global ISPs to optimize servers in high-density customer areas so programming will stream at high quality and with minimal lag time. Open Connect identifies the most efficient delivery route based on ISPs’ preferences, and ensures that the show or film is available on local servers ahead of time, ensuring access even when demand is at its highest, according to Netflix. Continue reading Netflix Open Connect Program Helps ISPs and All Networks

Spotify is estimated to have a one-third share of the global music-streaming market, and now the company is making a mark in B-to-B with Backstage, an open-source framework for building developer portals that is now in use by an estimated 200 companies, including American Airlines, Netflix, Roku, Epic Games, VMware and LinkedIn. Backstage centralizes management of engineering tools, resources and documentation — from CI/CD status and Kubernetes monitoring to API and library docs and more. While Spotify has made Backstage available free, it’s now introducing a package of five premium plugins via paid subscription. Continue reading Spotify Launches Premium Plugins for Backstage Framework

Verizon is opening its +play streaming hub in beta to mobile, 4G LTE and 5G home Internet customers. To sweeten the deal, the carrier is offering Netflix Premium free for a year to customers that sign-up for “a 12-month or seasonal subscription” to one of its other content partners. Verizon claims there are 20 platforms onboard for the beta launch, among them: HBO Max, Discovery+, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, NFL+ and Peloton. Netflix Premium usually costs $20 per month (or $240 a year) and includes 4K streaming as well as ability to simultaneously download or watch on four devices. Continue reading Verizon’s +Play Rollout Includes a Free Netflix Premium Offer