HBO Max unveils the official trailer and poster for The Big Shot with Bethenny – The Max Original series premieres Thursday, April 29.
The Big Shot with Bethenny follows “the next generation of business moguls” competing for a chance to partner with Skinnygirl founder and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel.
The first seven minutes of Mortal Kombat is available – Watch the first seven minutes of Mortal Kombat. The fighting movie opens this weekend in theaters and on HBO Max.
Vogue Greece unveils its unretouched issue featuring Regina King – “For the first time in the history of Greek fashion magazines, none of the photographs in any of the editorials in the issue have been edited, sending out a powerful message of self-confidence and acceptance.” [Conde Nast]
Disney Announces New Plastic-Free Packaging for Classic Dolls – Line of classic dolls will come in new plastic-free packaging available on shopDisney.com, Walt Disney World Resort, and Disney stores in North America, and coming soon to Disneyland Resort. The plastic-free packaging is made of sustainably sourced paper that is 100% recyclable, and it’s easy to open.
A year after releasing its comprehensive dataset on coronavirus cases in the U.S., The New York Times has also made its dataset on cases in U.S. correctional facilities publicly available. [NYT]
Netflix finished Q1 2021 with 208 million paid memberships, up 14% year over year – However, it was below their guidance forecast of 210 million paid memberships.
The company believes paid membership growth slowed due to “the big Covid-19 pull forward in 2020 and a lighter content slate in the first half of this year, due to Covid-19 production delways.”
Furthermore, the company continues “to anticipate a strong second half with the return of new seasons” of some of their biggest hits and a promising film lineup.
ESPN led the industry in Sports Emmy Award nominations, earning 54 for 2020, as announced Tuesday by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) – It was the eighth straight year ESPN led all network groups and the 20th time in the last 21 years. The 42nd Annual Sports Emmy Awards will be live-streamed at Watch.TheEmmys.TV and The Emmy apps on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET.
Google redesigns Meet – Starting next month, when viewing and sharing content with any group of people, you’ll have more space to see the content and others’ video feeds through Google Meet’s refreshed new look and improved ability to pin and unpin content.
You can also minimize your own video feed from view if you don’t want to watch yourself talking.
Other new features include Data Saver to save on data costs on mobile, new backgrounds and a low-light mode. [Google]
Apple Original Films announce multiple Sundance Award winner “CODA” to premiere in theaters and on Apple TV+ on Friday, Aug. 13 – Written and directed by Siân Heder (“Tallulah,” “Little America”), “CODA” was presented in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and went on to be honored with an unprecedented four awards at the festival: the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, the Directing Award, the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize.
Los Angeles Times Launches Spring Audio Slate with ‘The Times’ Daily News Podcast – The Los Angeles Times is kicking off its spring podcast lineup with the launch of “The Times: Daily news from the L.A. Times,” a free weekday podcast that will bring listeners news and original reporting with a West Coast outlook. Hosted by Times Columnist Gustavo Arellano, “The Times” trailer debuted today and daily episodes will be available on all podcast platforms beginning May 3. The newspaper’s audio division will also launch a second season of the acclaimed interview-style podcast “Asian Enough” and a new true-crime podcast, “The Trials of Frank Carson,” from Times Staff Writer Christopher Goffard, the host behind the hit podcasts “Dirty John” and “Detective Trapp.” [LA Times]
Roku Unveils “Roku Originals” Brand – The content from the Quibi acquisition in January will be re-branded as “Roku Originals” and will be launched on The Roku Channel. “Roku Originals” will also be the brand name for future original programming for The Roku Channel, the home of free, ad-supported entertainment on the Roku platform, for viewers in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. Additional details on the launch of Roku Originals will be shared in May.
Younger Americans don’t check their mail – Many Americans are still opening snail mail advertisements, but age conditions how likely they are to do so.
Just 40% Americans age 18 to 34 say they have opened or looked at ads they receive in the mail in the past day or week. At 22%, they are the most likely of any age group to say they “never” look at mailed ads.
This makes younger Americans the exception, not the norm. A majority across all other age groups are likely to have looked at ads received in the mail at least weekly. The older Americans are, the more likely they are to be regularly checking out the ads they receive. [Ipsos]
