Media

Sony called off the merger between its India unit and Zee Entertainment on Monday, ending a two-year acquisition deliberation that would have created a $10 billion media powerhouse in the South Asian market. Sony said in a statement that it has sent a termination letter to Zee after the Indian firm

YouTube is following in Netflix's footsteps as it decides not to release a dedicated app for the Apple Vision Pro's upcoming launch. Like Netflix subscribers, viewers will have to go to the web browser version if they want to watch YouTube videos. “We’re excited to see Vision Pr

Netflix isn't planning on releasing a dedicated app for the Apple Vision Pro, nor will the company modify its iPad version to run on the headset. Instead, users will have to resort to the web version, meaning they can't access features like downloading titles for offline viewing. “Our mem

Amazon Prime Video is said to be downsizing its Africa and Middle East operations in a move that will affect teams in the two regions; according to a report in Deadline, the company will instead focus on European originals. Following the changes, Prime Video will stop contracting originals in Afric

Yet another series of layoffs has hit Google, this time at its video-sharing platform, YouTube. The company will eliminate 100 employees, a spokesperson confirmed to technewss. Last week, Google laid off more than 1,000 workers across several divisions, including engineering, services and voice-ac

The European Parliament is calling for new rules to bring more fairness and transparency to music-streaming across the bloc, including proposals for a new bill to force streaming platforms to open up their recommendation algorithms. The bill would also require Spotify et al to make it clear where a

Disney-owned animation studio Pixar is poised to undergo layoffs this year, technewss has learned and the company confirmed. While sources at the company said the layoffs would be significant and as high as 20% — or reductions that would see Pixar’s team of 1,300 dropped to less than 1

Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook company, is laying off 5% of its staff, according to a leaked memo obtained by Business Insider. Per the memo, Audible CEO Bob Carrigan praised staff for a strong 2023 and assured them that the business was in good shape… but, due to the “increasingly

Just over two years ago, Netflix announced it would enter a new business: gaming. Amid a mobile gaming market dominated by free-to-play and ad-supported business models, Netflix’s plan was to make its games free without ads or in-app purchases. The gambit may now be starting to pay off. In 20

In addition to the 500 layoffs at Twitch, Amazon is also making cuts to Prime Video and MGM Studios, laying off “several hundreds” of employees, according to a memo obtained by technewss. The Information broke the news of the layoffs. Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of the

News aggregator app SmartNews had a tough 2023, beginning with widespread layoffs in January and wrapping up with a leadership change that saw co-founder Kaisei Hamamoto assume the role of CEO after the abrupt departure of former CEO Ken Suzuki last month. More alarming, as the landscape continues

"speakable-summary" style="text-align: left;">The once popular third-party podcast app Castro had seemingly shut down this weekend, after earlier saying that it was “actively seeking a new home” for its product. The announcement had followed rumors that the company would soon be closing

The new year marks the nerdiest holiday you maybe didn’t know about: Public Domain Day. But this year’s celebration is extra special. After years of legal battles, “Steamboat Willie,” a 1928 Walt Disney short featuring Mickey Mouse, is now public domain. No, that doesn’

A new class action lawsuit filed this week in the U.S. District Court in D.C. accuses Google and parent company Alphabet of anticompetitive behavior in violation of U.S. antitrust law, the Sherman Act, and others, on behalf of news publishers. The case, filed by Arkansas-based publisher Helena Worl