Amazon is making a portion of its children’s programming available for free as the world battles against the Coronavirus pandemic. The company announced that 40 family and kids’ shows will be available for all Amazon customers, regardless or whether they have a Prime subscription. Series available include Arthur, Peppa Pig, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom […]
Pay TV operators around the world have launched a range of free windows to audiences who have been placed into lockdown. In Russia, pay TV operator NTV+ has de-encrypted its TV channels, movies and shows on satellite and OTT platforms throughout the country until the end of April. Non-subscribers will have access to 190 TV […]
Disney+ lands in countries across Europe – excluding France – today amid a pandemic that very few saw coming. Analysts at TBI sibling Omdia take an in-depth look at the streamer’s launch offer, including the range of shows available, its comparable cost across territories, how it will reach consumers, and the impact of Coronavirus on […]
The Banff World Media Festival has been cancelled, joining a long list of TV markets and events to have been hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. The annual festival had been scheduled to take place between 14-17 June in Banff, Canada, but officials said that after “heeding public direction given by the World Health Organization, the […]
Streamers are facing unprecedented demand as locked-down households look for entertainment – to the extent that bandwidth is being rationed and the launch of Disney+ in France has been delayed. TBI speaks to Maria Rua Aguete, exec director at analyst giant Omdia, who breaks down who’s doing what and what it might mean longer term. […]
Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos has said its content pipeline should remain unaffected “over the next few months” and has revealed how the world’s biggest streamer is dealing with Coronavirus – including introducing virtual reading rooms. Sarandos said that because the streamer worked “pretty far ahead” on series and normally drops all episodes at once, […]
UK broadcaster ITV is planning to reduce its programme budget by at least £100m ($115m) as the global entertainment industry continues to reel from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. In a trading update released today, ITV said it had made the cuts having “reviewed our programming spend in light of the weaker advertising environment.” […]
ProgramBuyer unveils free MIPTV service Screening service ProgramBuyer is launching a new, free feature for content sellers unable to meet with buyers at the cancelled MIPTV, which had been due to take place next week. Launching on 30 March, the new ‘MIP Releases’ feature on the ProgramBuyer portal allows distributors to showcase all of the […]
Apple launches Oprah Talks Covid-19 Oprah Winfrey has launched an Apple TV+ show exploring the Coronavirus pandemic, with Idris Elba the programme’s first guest. Oprah Talks Covid-19 launched over the weekend and featured the veteran talkshow host, who has an existing deal with the streamer, interviewing Elba and his wife who are in quarantine after […]
The roll-out of Disney+ has been delayed across France in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, following a request from the country’s government concerned about the increasing strain on broadband services. The much-anticipated service had been due to launch in France on 24 March, in line with numerous other European countries including Ireland, the UK, […]
