Allen Media Group this week announced Local Now, its ad-supported streaming service that provides local news and entertainment content. Available on most major platforms with plans for expansion, Local Now has been in development for more than three years and emphasizes curated local content. According to Byron Allen, the founder, chair and CEO of Allen Media Group, the service “uses proprietary software and artificial intelligence to produce, aggregate, curate, and stream — in real-time — local news, weather, sports, traffic, movies, TV shows, documentaries, and channels geo-fenced to the user’s zip code.” Read more

SMPTE Hollywood will offer a glimpse into moviemaking in a post-COVID world this evening when it hosts the producing team behind the live-action, sci-fi short “Ripple Effect.” The virtual meeting is scheduled for April 22nd at 6:00 PM PDT on Zoom. Producers Erik Weaver, Greg Ciaccio and Kathryn Brillhart will discuss virtual production, remote workflow and on-set safety for post-COVID production. “Ripple Effect” is ETC@USC’s latest R&D short film; its goal was to test virtual and remote production techniques and tools in this era of social distancing. Registration for tonight’s event is available online. SMPTE Hollywood meetings are free and open to all, even non-members. Read more

Netflix, with 207.6 million global subscribers, still dominates streaming video. But the growing number of rivals, including Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, is beginning to chip away at its position. Netflix reported four million new subscribers in Q1 2021, below the six million it predicted; it expects only one million new customers in the current quarter. It is also cracking down on password-sharing, but co-chief executive Reed Hastings said the process won’t be aggressive. Read more

Apple’s 2021 “Spring Loaded” product launch this week included a new iMac, an updated iPad Pro with 5G and the company’s M1 chip, an AirTag lost-device tracking device, a refreshed Apple TV 4K with a new remote, and a purple iPhone. Apple shares fell 2 percent after the event. Previous iPad Pros used A-series chips, that power the company’s iPhones; the M1 chip in the high-end iPad Pros are used in its Mac computers. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro also offers an improved USB-C connector for high-res monitors and faster camera downloads. Read more

Deloitte’s 2021 Digital Media Trends survey revealed the entertainment tastes of Generation Z, those aged 14 to 24 years old. About 26 percent named video games as their No. 1 entertainment activity, and 87 percent in the age bracket said they play video games daily or weekly. Second most popular entertainment activity is music, at 14 percent, following by surfing the Internet (12 percent) and social media (11 percent). In fifth place, 10 percent of Gen Z said watching TV or movies was their favorite entertainment. Read more