YouTube demystifies the Shorts algorithm, views and answers other creator questions

YouTube this week put out a new video meant to address creators’ questions over its short-form video platform, YouTube Shorts. The questions it answered ranged from how the algorithm for Shorts differs from long-form YouTube to what counts as a view as well as those that addressed other best

Google TV adds 25 more free channels, NFL Sunday Ticket integration

Google TV is once again expanding its free live TV lineup. In April, the company announced the Google TV service was growing to include over 800 live TV channels, including those from Tubi, Plex, Haystack and others. Today, the company says it’s adding 25 more free channels to the lineup, whi

Spotify introduces new podcaster tools, including customized pages, analytics and other controls

Following Apple’s announcement of podcast creator tools for subscriptions on Monday, Spotify today also introduced its own latest developments in terms of features aimed at podcasters. Included among the changes are customization tools for podcast show pages, new impression analytics, tools t

ElevenLabs’ voice-generating tools launch out of beta

"">ElevenLabs, the viral AI-powered platform for creating synthetic voices, today launched its platform out of beta with support for more than 30 languages. Using a new AI model developed in-house, ElevenLabs says that its tools are now capable of automatically identifying languages, including Korea

Amazon launches a Fire TV Channels app with 400+ free ad-supported TV channels

Amazon announced Monday the launch of its new Fire TV Channels app, giving Fire TV customers access to over 400 free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, including ABC News, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, MLB, Martha Stewart and more. Alongside the app launch, the company also announced new content providers,

Apple Podcasts gain new creator tools, including Subscription Analytics and Linkfire integration

Apple announced today several new updates to its podcast creator tools, including, most notably, the addition of Subscription Analytics within Apple Podcasts Connect — the dashboard where podcasters track how their listeners engage with their shows. In addition, Apple says it’s expandin

Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, is stepping down

Charles Martinet, the voice actor who has portrayed Mario since 1991, is stepping down, Nintendo announced Monday morning. Besides voicing the world’s most famous plumber, the 67-year-old Martinet also portrayed Luigi, Wario, Waluigi and the baby versions of these characters in more than 100

Nailing subscriptions in India

W elcome to the technewss Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It's inspired by the daily technewss+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Today I’m looking at subscriptions in India from two angles: the consumer market and B2B

How to cancel Disney+ and avoid the price hike

Many subscribers are fed up with Disney+ and its price hikes. The streaming service announced last week that it will increase the price of its ad-free plan on October 12, raising the tier by about 20% from $10.99 to $13.99 per month. The ad-free option cost $7.99/month a year ago; however, it went

Netflix inks deal with Ambani’s Jio to expand India presence

Netflix has inked a “first-of-its-kind” deal with Jio Platforms, India’s largest telecom operator, to bundle the streaming service with the carrier’s two pay-as-you-go plans as the American giant pushes to expand its subscriber base in the key Asian market. A mobile-only Net

NFL Sunday Ticket gets student plans, flexible billing, live chat and more

YouTube is bringing Sunday Ticket subscribers six new updates ahead of the NFL season, including student plans, monthly payment plans, live chat/polls, real-time NFL highlights in YouTube Shorts, multiview and the “Key Plays” feature, which tracks the most important plays in the game. The stude

Netflix's 'Scott Pilgrim Takes Off' anime debuts teaser trailer and premiere date

Netflix released the official teaser trailer for the highly anticipated anime series “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off,” based on the popular “Scott Pilgrim” comic book series. “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” premieres all eight episodes on November 17. For those unaware of the nearly

Linear TV viewing sinks below 50% as streaming soars to new heights

In a first for linear TV viewing, cable and broadcast usage fell below 50% in terms of total share among U.S. viewers, according to Nielsen's July 2023 report. Cable viewing dropped below 30% for the first time at 29.6%, down 12.5% year-over-year. Broadcast usage decreased to 20%, down 5.4% YoY

YouTube Music is adding a TikTok-style ‘Samples’ short-form video feed

YouTube Music is launching a new TikTok-style short-form personalized video feed called “Samples,” the company announced on Monday. Each clip in the feed offers a glimpse into the artist, music video and feel of a song recommended to you. As with TikTok and other copycat short-form vide