Netflix v HBO: Streaming site chief exec says rivalry will be like the “Yankees and the Red Sox” April 20, 2015 Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings has a simple message to HBO as the cable TV giant steps into the online streaming market: bring it on. The American billionaire who also sits on the board of Facebook founded Netflix in 1997 originally as a rental-by-post DVD service before moulding it into the dominant player in the [...]
Liberty Global’s Telenet snaps up Belgian telecoms firm Base from KPN in €1bn deal April 20, 2015 Liberty Global has snapped up a Belgian rival for €1.3bn (£938.5m). The US cable owner's Belgian subsidiary Telenet will buy Base, Belgium's third-largest mobile operator, to expand its mobile and fixed line business in the country. The all-cash buyout will end a deal for network capacity with the country's second largest mobile network Mobistar, but [...]
Furious 7 becomes highest grossing Universal film of all time with $1.15bn box office April 19, 2015 Furious 7 has lived up to its name after a roaring box office performance made it the seventh highest grossing film in cinematic history. Released less than a month ago, the action franchise seventh instalment has raced to a $1.15bn international box office making it Universal's highest-ever grossing film. The film starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne "The [...]
All Nippon Airways unveil Star Wars jet as Japanese airliner adds to Pokemon planes April 17, 2015 It might not take you to a galaxy far, far away or zoom you into hyperspace like the Millennium Falcon, but All Nippon Airways' Star Wars jet will nevertheless excite your inner geek more than anything else in the skies. As part of a five-year Star Wars project, the Japanese carrier will deck one of its brand-new Boeing [...]
eSports firm Gfinity teams up with Rupert Murdoch’s News UK April 17, 2015 Rupert Murdoch's News UK has recognised the booming appeal of eSports by agreeing a two-year commercial partnership with professional video gaming firm Gfinity. Aim-listed Gfinity has a rapidly expanding online user base in excess of 300,000 and boasts of the UK's first eSports-dedicated arena which hosts weekly professional competitions of games such as Fifa '15, Counter-Strike: [...]
Netflix share price soars after membership passes 60m April 16, 2015 Netflix's share price soared by 13 per cent in early trading in New York on Wednesday after the company announced it had surpassed 60m global users. The video streaming website's seemingly unstoppable growth was enough for investors to ignore earnings per share of 38 cents that came in much lower than the expected 63 cents [...]
Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice trailer released but it’s only teasing another teaser April 16, 2015 The first Batman v Superman movie trailer is here. Time for film and comic book fans around the world to get excited. Except, there's not really that much to get excited about. A 20 second clip released by the film's director Zack Snyder on Twitter is more of a teaser trailer for a teaser trailer [...]
Rise of Spotify positive for Taylor Swift and music industy as a whole April 14, 2015 The global music industry suffered a drop in sales in 2014, despite strong growth in digital sales and in particular the streaming market. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) annual report into the digital music industry paints a familiar tale record companies and artists struggling to transition to an increasingly digital-dominated world. [...]
Game of Thrones torrent leak won’t stop HBO profiting off fantasy phenomenon April 13, 2015 The majority of "Game of Thrones" fans in the UK are gearing up for the return of their favourite fantasy programme to TV screens tonight, but thousands will have already seen the first episodes of the series’ fifth season following a massive leak. The first four episodes have been illegally downloaded well over a million [...]
Daredevil: Netflix’s Marvel adaptation receives rave reviews following Friday’s release April 11, 2015 Just like the binge-watchers who gorge on its endless trove of TV shows, Netflix never stops. Fresh off the back of phenomenally popular shows such as the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul and season three of House of Cards, Netflix has teamed up with comic book studio Marvel for the first time to bring a [...]