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HuffPost To Lay Off Staff

written by Ruben Jay

Verizon Media To Lay Off 7% of Work Force, Including HuffPost

In a new trend, Digital Media Companies have begun to lay off big chunks of their staff. Yesterday, it was announced that BuzzFeed would be laying off 215 staff members. Today, it was announced that HuffPost would be laying off a chunk of their staff as well.

HuffPost is owned by Verizon Media which announced that due to massive revenue misses, the division would laying off 7% of its staff. Verizon Media reported a $4.6 Billion write-down on the division.

What’s Next For HuffPost?

According to HuffPost’s Editor In Chief, Lydia Polgreen, the outlet will be focusing its talent and financial investments on content that has higher engagement with their readers.

“It’s a tough day for HuffPost, and we’re losing some talented and beloved colleagues,” Polgreen said Thursday. “We are deeply committed to quality journalism that reflects what matters most to our diverse audiences across the globe. HuffPost is aligning its talents and investments to areas that have high audience engagement, differentiation and are poised for growth at a time when our mission means more than ever.”

24 January, 2019 0 comment
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TechTelevision

Jim Gaffigan Signs With Amazon Prime For A Stand Up Special

written by Ruben Jay

Amazon Prime Jumps Into The Stand-Up Specials Space

Comedy stand-up specials were once a corner stone for traditional cable outlets like HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central. Now, they’ve become big game changers for streaming giant Netflix. Kevin Hart, Ellen Degeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, and others have all had extremely successful stand-up specials on the streaming platform.

Amazon Prime is now looking to compete with Netflix in the stand-up special space by signing Jim Gaffigan to a deal that includes a special to be filmed in March.

Jim Gaffigan Will Have A Comedy Special On Amazon Prime

Gaffigan’s new stand-up special, Quality Time, will be the streaming platforms first special. Quality Time will be filmed on March 9 in Minneapolis’ State Theatre.

I am so honored to be Amazon’s first original stand-up special. This is going to be exciting,” Gaffigan said

Gaffigan has an established relationship with Amazon already as he is the co-star on Troop Zero with Viola Davis and Allison Janney.

24 January, 2019 0 comment
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Tech

BuzzFeed Is Set To Lay Off 15% Of Staff

written by Ruben Jay

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced to his staff that he plans to lay off 15% of his staff (or close to 215 employees). In the memo titled “Difficult Changes”, Peretti said that the company’s attempt at growing revenue failed.

A spokesperson for Buzzfeed said that the layoffs would allow the company to move faster toward profitability.

This isn’t the first time that Buzzfeed has done layoffs. In 2017 they let go of over 100 employees. Granted, the last time they let go of employees, it was mainly advertising employees.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

23 January, 2019 0 comment
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FeaturedTech

Verizon Wireless Now Offers Apple Music To Its Highest Tier Of Unlimited Data

written by Ruben Jay

Verizon Wireless’ unlimited Data plan just got a whole lot better. The wireless carrier now offers free Apple Music to its top tier unlimited data plan.

If you have a Beyond or an Above unlimited plan with Verizon, you will get free Apple Music with your subscription. This doesn’t extend to the company’s GO Unlimited plan.

Verizon isn’t the only carrier offering some sort of streaming service with their unlimited plans. TMobile currently offers Netflix and Sprint offers a Spotify membership. I mean, why not include a service that you can use up that unlimited data on!

Are you likely to switch to Verizon for this perk? I am thinking about it.

16 January, 2019 0 comment
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FeaturedTech

Elon Musk Donates Water Filtration Systems To Flint, MI Schools

written by Ruben Jay

Elon Musk has done some good in the world – he donated money to Flint, MI’s school system for water filtration systems.

Musk made sure that every school in Flint had access to clean drinking water. This move once again shows that private money will always work faster and better than any form of government money.

“The new water filtration systems will be instrumental in helping our students return to the normalcy of what should be a fundamental right: having access to safe, clean water from water fountains in their school,” said Flint Community Schools Superintendent Derrick Lopez.

We are happy to hear that Musk is putting his money toward a good cause.

15 January, 2019 0 comment
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Tech

MoviePass, The Movie Subscription App That Had A Whirlwind 2018, Lost 58% Of Their Customers. Will They Survive 2019?

written by Ruben Jay

In 2018, my friends and I all jumped into the MoviePass bandwagon. We went to, on average, 3 movies a week and saw films that we never thought we’d pay a dime for. We racked up rewards points at almost all theatre chains and we had a blast.

MoviePass was a great deal. We bonded over movies and we were able to see many more films in one week than we had in a few years. However, in the back of our minds, we knew that eventually the gravy train would come to an end and we would no longer be using the service. In all fairness, I gave up on the service much quicker than my friends did.

MoviePass changed their plan from unlimited movies a month to 3 movies a month. Then, they stopped showing the big films. Eventually, they made it impossible for us to see any film because the only theatres showing films were 20+ miles away.

We jumped to AMC A-List and haven’t looked back. AMC A-List has problems as well, but for the price and the availability, you really can’t beat it. 3 movies a week for $20 a month. AMAZING.

So what happened to MoviePass? Well, according to BusinessInsider.com, they lost over half their paid members. Not sure if they lost their members to AMC A-List or just completely off the market but it’s a devastating number to think about.

MoviePass at one point bragged that they had 3 Million paid users. That would mean that now, they have less that 1.5 million users. They are currently brining in about $15 Million a month from paid users.

I hope this company can survive 2019. More competition the better.

14 January, 2019 0 comment
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ABCFeaturedNetflixTechTelevision

Former ABC Executive Channey Dungey Joins Netflix As VP Of Originals

written by Ruben Jay

Former Disney Executive Dungey is joining Netflix as a Vice President overseeing Original Content, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting. 

Dungey is the former President of ABC Entertainment who is most famous for firing Roseanne Barr earlier this year. 

Dungey announced that she was leaving ABC a few months after firing Barr. Since her exit from ABC, it was rumored that she would be joining Netflix in some capacity. 

“Channing is a creative force whose taste and talent have earned her the admiration of her peers across the industry,” Sarandos said. “She’s a risk-taker and ground-breaker and talent love working with her. I couldn’t be happier to welcome her to Netflix.

Added Holland: “We’re delighted to be adding Channing’s expertise, leadership and deep experience to Netflix, and I look forward to partnering with her as we continue to grow and evolve our global network. I have been a fan of her character and approach from our early days as executives.”

17 December, 2018 0 comment
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FeaturedTechTelevision

Apple Signs Exclusive Deal To Produce Peanut’s Programming

written by Ruben Jay

Apple is jumping into creating more and more exclusive content for what could eventually lead to a streaming service. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple has signed an exclusive deal with DHX Media to produce several bits of content. Most notably, the Peanuts will be coming to Apple. 

DHX Media acquired the rights to the Peanut’s franchise in 2017 and plan to bring a series of shorts to the Apple Platform sometime in 2019. 

Apple has been busy the last few years building up an extensive roster of producers and production companies to provide exclusive content. No official announcement has been made for an Apple streaming services separate from Apple Music or iTunes. 

14 December, 2018 0 comment
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ABCFeaturedTechTelevision

Disney Announces New Streaming Service ‘Disney+’ Coming In 2019

written by Ruben Jay

Disney is taking a major jump into the over-the-top direct to consumer streaming services. Earlier this year the company launched ESPN+ as a new way for consumers to view the ESPN product and since the launch has seen 1 Million paid subscribers join. 

Today, Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, announced the launch of their new streaming service, Disney+. No details on pricing or its launch date were announced, but we do know they are looking at a late 2019 launch date. 

Disney has also been working on creating new and exclusive content for the streaming service. Most notably a High School Musical spinoff. 

8 November, 2018 0 comment
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