March, 2019 | CompuScoop.com

Disney now has a major steak in Hulu

CompuScoop Staff March 22, 2019 1

Now that Disney closed on their deal to buy most of FOX including their share of Hulu. This means for the first time Hulu will have a majority owner as Disney now owns 60% of Hulu.

The other 40% of Hulu is currently owned by two companies with Comcast owning 30%, and AT&T owning 10%. That is a huge change from about a year ago when Disney owned 30%, FOX owned 30%, Comcast owned 30%, and AT&T 10%. (AT&T’s 10% is a nonvoting share.) Even that is a change from a few years ago when FOX, Disney, and Comcast each owned one-third of Hulu. This means for the first time one company has a majority control of Hulu, but not sole control.

One of the main criticisms about Hulu was that there were too many cooks in the kitchen. Now that Disney has 60% of Hulu many are wondering how that will change Hulu’s future.

With that said even though Disney now has 60% control of Hulu, they may still be limited in what they can do. Yet Disney has hinted they plan to use Hulu to stream their adult-focused programming and have children’s programming on their new Disney service. We still may not know for a few months or even a year exactly what control over Hulu Disney has.

There are even reports that Comcast and AT&T have started talks with Disney to sell their share of Hulu. This could mean Disney will someday own 100% of Hulu. For now, though all we have is rumors.

Via: Cordcuttersnews.com

Premium Channel Providers don’t even know full plan of Apple’s Video Service

Dan Uff March 22, 2019 0

Even media companies who have signed up to offer services via Apple's soon-to-launch video services are still in the dark about what exactly Apple will reveal, according to JP Morgan, but apparently the amount Apple will pay will be on a par with other similar services.

Stay with CompuScoop all weekend as we will be monitoring any breaking news and information about Apple's media event which is scheduled for Monday at 1pm ET (10am PT).

NYT CEO compares Apple News to Netflix, cautions against partnership

CompuScoop Staff March 22, 2019 0

New York Times CEO Mark Thompson in an interview on Thursday offered a pessimistic take on Apple's news subscription service, saying publishers should not rely too heavily on third-party services for digital distribution.

When asked by Reuters whether The New York Times planned to partner with Apple on the tech giant's forthcoming news service, Thompson deflected.

"We tend to be quite leery about the idea of almost habituating people to find our journalism somewhere else," he said. "We're also generically worried about our journalism being scrambled in a kind of Magimix (blender) with everyone else's journalism."

He went on to liken a potential deal with Apple to agreements film and television production companies struck with Netflix when the one-time DVD rental company forged the beginnings of what would become a massive digital streaming market.

"If I was an American broadcast network, I would have thought twice about giving all of my library to Netflix," Thompson said. "Even if Netflix offered you quite a lot of money. [ ... ] Does it really make sense to help Netflix build a gigantic base of subscribers to the point where they could actually spend $9 billion a year making their own content and will pay me less and less for my library?"

Hollywood was eager to take Netflix's money, perhaps without fully understanding the ramifications of its actions. Building on a base of licensed third-party content, Netflix was able to build a substantial audience and produce its own catalog of original shows that now competes with those very same offerings.

While Thompson did not explicitly comment on talks with Apple, the general tone of today's published interview suggests The Times will not be part of a for-pay service expected for unveiling next week. The CEO said his publication has no plans to distribute content through third-party platforms, and will instead focus on bolstering its in-house digital subscription brand. Still, the Gray Lady is not above tapping younger demographics through experimental projects involving products like Snapchat.

Apple is widely expected to reveal a news subscription service alongside a video streaming product at a special event on March 25.

Though the tech giant is leveraging its massive installed user base as an incentive to join the new news initiative, publishers are reluctant to hand over control of content on what is said to be onerous terms. Previous reports claim Apple is demanding a 50 percent cut of revenue on an anticipated subscription rate of $10 per month. By comparison, The Times charges $15 a month for access to its own platform.

While many major publishers are undecided about inclusion, or have declined outright, Apple has reportedly landed The Wall Street Journal in what is viewed as a major coup for the as-yet-unannounced service.

Via: AppleInsider.com

MSNBC announces Apple TV app

Dan Uff March 22, 2019 0

Now you can watch all of your favorite MSNBC shows and specials via the MSNBC app for Apple TV, such as the Rachel Maddow's show, Deadline: Whitehouse, and more.

The app is available now.