US OTT News
- March 2024: Zee Entertainment announced the launch of 18 South Asian channels on YouTube TV and Asia TV USA, specifically catering to a diverse US audience. This partnership will cater to the South Asian population in the United States, especially to regional language speakers such as Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, and other regional languages.
- December 2023: OSN Media and Warner Bros. Discovery announced a partnership to enhance entertainment offerings on OSNtv from January 1, 2024. This alliance added Cartoon Network, Fatafeat, and Animal Planet OSN’s lineup, which catered to diverse audiences by providing personalized content.
Related Media and Entertainment Industry News
- July 2024: Evolution Malta Holding Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Evolution AB (publ), signed an agreement to acquire Galaxy Gaming Inc. This move aligns with Evolution's strategy to become the world's premier provider of casino games, delivering top-tier gaming content to its clientele. By acquiring Galaxy Gaming, Evolution strengthens its foothold in the US market and bolsters its status as a dominant licensor of proprietary table games within the online gaming sector.
- May 2024: ASUS revealed plans to unveil its ROG Ally X handheld gaming console on June 2. Similar to its predecessor, the ROG Ally, the new X edition will run on the Windows 11 platform and be driven by the AMD Z1 Extreme chipset. In addition, ASUS has stated that the console will feature a 7-inch LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate and will be available in a sleek black finish.
- April 2024: Sony is renewing BRAVIA as a brand for watching movies to enrich the ultimate home cinema experience. With the expansion of streaming services, watching movies in the comfort of the home has gained in popularity. Sony’s wide variety of products, such as digital cinema cameras, professional monitors, and professional headphones, have been widely utilized by film production professionals, allowing the company to deeply understand the cinema industry and the intentions of filmmakers and content creators. New BRAVIA further enhances the sense of reality of cinematic content and delivers outstanding picture and sound quality at home so that people can enjoy films with much of the same magic of the big screen.
- February 2024: Walmart, the US-based retail giant, announced its acquisition of smart TV manufacturer Vizio for a whopping USD 2.3 billion. Historically, Walmart has been a significant retailer of Vizio TVs. With this acquisition, Walmart aims to leverage "a profitable advertising business that is rapidly scaling via Vizio SmartCast OS," as stated by the company.
- May 2024 - FathomVerse, launched mobile game on both the App Store and Google Play, seeks to spark a passion for ocean exploration. Featuring captivating visuals, interactive gameplay, and a foundation in science, FathomVerse makes the wonders of ocean discovery accessible to anyone with a smartphone or tablet. The game's development was a collaborative endeavor, bringing together Katija and MBARI software engineers, &ranj Serious Games a Netherlands-based studio renowned for leveraging games to foster positive behavioral changes and Internet of Elephants, a Kenyan nature tech firm committed to enhancing the connection between people and wildlife.
- November 2023 - The MIT Game Lab utilized serious play to immerse students in examining and evaluating the societal implications of games. Renowned for its lively open houses, public events, and research initiatives, the lab's primary goal was to foster a discerning mindset towards game design. Students were prompted to dissect the underlying values of the games they enjoyed, equipping them for more conscientious design endeavors.
- October 2023 - TÜV AUSTRIA Group recently expanded its digital learning offerings by acquiring CCS Digital Education, based in Greece and Ireland. This led to the creation of the "Digital Learning Solutions" unit within TÜV AUSTRIA Hellas, aimed at enhancing vocational training and adopting new technologies.
- March 2024: Zee Entertainment announced the launch of 18 South Asian channels on YouTube TV and Asia TV USA, specifically catering to a diverse US audience. This partnership will cater to the South Asian population in the United States, especially to regional language speakers such as Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, and other regional languages.
- December 2023: OSN Media and Warner Bros. Discovery announced a partnership to enhance entertainment offerings on OSNtv from January 1, 2024. This alliance added Cartoon Network, Fatafeat, and Animal Planet OSN’s lineup, which catered to diverse audiences by providing personalized content.
- September 2024: The Cvent declared its acquisition of Splash, a company specializing in event marketing technology. Splash offers a user-friendly platform that enables marketers to develop consistent, quantifiable, and repeatable event programs that enhance pipeline and sales. More than 500 prominent organizations, including over 60 Fortune 1000 companies, depend on Splash for their event marketing requirements.
- March 2024: Wharton Global Youth hosted five Virtual Events to announce the 2024 Investment Competition Finalists. During these events, hosted in the Wharton Academic Virtual Environment (WAVE) room by Wharton Global Youth senior executive director Eli Lesser, observers witnessed primary macro-competition metrics, from stories of team performance and strategic structure to deeply collaborative decision-making.
- November 2023: Musti Group, a pet store chain in the Nordics, announced the launch of 'Adoption Live.' This initiative claimed to be the globe's inaugural, fully live-streamed outdoor campaign, targeting Finland's issue of cat abandonment. Annually, Finland grapples with over 20,000 abandoned cats. The innovative campaign leveraged billboards across the nation, offering viewers a real-time glimpse into animal shelters. The aim was to connect pets with their new forever homes.
- August 2024 - Jio unveiled its indigenous operating system, Jio TvOS, for the Jio Set-top Box. This advanced system boasts Ultra HD 4K video playback, Dolby Vision HDR, and Dolby Atmos surround sound. Furthermore, it seamlessly integrates the Hello Jio voice assistant, now powered by AI for improved natural language comprehension, enabling users to launch and access third-party applications, including Netflix, effortlessly.
- March 2024 - M7 Deutschland and German network operator Wilhelm. Tel renewed and expanded their long-standing partnership. The new multi-year agreement grants Wilhelm. Tel distribution rights for a comprehensive range of premium TV channels for its cable customers. This partnership now includes IPTV content rights for M7 pay-TV packages, featuring interactive capabilities such as instant restart, live pause, time-shifted viewing, and seven-day catch-up. The multiscreen option allows customers to watch channels on smartphones or tablets. In addition, the agreement includes a network PVR-based cloud solution for TV recordings.
- July 2024: 7amdaan.io, a Bahrain-based company, forged a strategic partnership with Wilyer MENA and Du-Du Ads. Their collective goal is to transform advertising spaces in the MENAT region, which includes Turkey, amid the DOOH industry's rapid evolution. With a combined portfolio boasting over 5,000 advertising screens, this collaboration emerges as a dominant player in the DOOH market. The newly established entity does not just aim to consolidate its current assets but is also poised to aggressively broaden its reach, with plans to notably boost the screen count across the region.
- January 2024: Eskimi, with a presence in Turkey, introduces the 'Disable Made For Advertising' Feature. Eskimi's introduction of an ON/OFF feature for MFA underscores the platform's dedication to providing advertisers with a personalized, streamlined, and data-centric experience. In an arena where control, efficiency, and adaptability are paramount, Eskimi is reshaping industry benchmarks.
- July 2023 - Table Trac, Inc., the provider of CasinoTrac, a comprehensive casino information and management system that automates and monitors casino operations, announced a Joint Venture with Centennial Gaming Systems aimed at offering unattended loyalty card re-printing and enrollment services.
- February 2023 - Playtech, the world's foremost gambling technology company, forged a new partnership in the realm of retail sports betting. They have teamed up with Gold Rush Gaming, an affiliate of Gold Rush Amusements LLC based in Illinois. As part of this collaboration, Playtech will provide Gold Rush with its proprietary sports betting kiosk software and management systems for distribution throughout Ohio. The American Gaming Association (AGA) anticipates that sports betting in the United States will surge to an unprecedented USD 16 billion, setting a new record.
- August 2023: The Grammy-winning pop sensation Taylor Swift, fresh from unveiling the next chapter of her economy-boosting Eras Tour, made an exciting announcement. She revealed that the tour will be hitting North American theaters as a movie starting in October 2023. The esteemed theatre chain, AMC, has secured the rights to showcase this cinematic spectacle. Given the resounding success of the concert tour, expectations are high that the movie will enjoy a prosperous run in theaters, thereby significantly bolstering the revenue of AMC.
- May 2023: IMAX and Kinepolis proudly unveiled the expansion of their longstanding partnership. This expansion includes the addition of approximately eight new IMAX installations spanning both Europe and North America. The agreement encompasses four brand-new locations across Europe, including Belgium, France, and Spain, as well as the very first IMAX system in Luxembourg. Furthermore, it introduces a fresh IMAX destination in Ontario and Michigan, along with two state-of-the-art IMAX systems in Ontario.
- June 2024: Nokia achieved a milestone by conducting the world's first live immersive voice and audio call over a cellular network. This groundbreaking feat utilizes the new Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) codec technology, set to be a cornerstone of the forthcoming 5G Advanced standard. Unlike traditional monophonic smartphone calls, the IVAS codec offers consumers a real-time, spatial sound experience. This enhancement elevates the richness and quality of the call and introduces a three-dimensional sound dimension, making interactions feel more lifelike and engaging. Such advancements promise a plethora of benefits for both personal and professional communication. Furthermore, this immersive communications technology is poised to elevate XR and metaverse interactions.
- December 2023: Samsung and Google collaborated to form a new audio technology, IAMF, which aims to rival Dolby ATMOS. This 3D audio technology seeks to elevate the audio handling capabilities of home systems. IAMF specializes in virtual sound processing across both horizontal and vertical planes. Additionally, it leverages AI for real-time media analysis and tuning, enhancing the overall sound output. A feature of IAMF is its customizability, a capability currently absent in Dolby ATMOS. Furthermore, Samsung aims to synchronize audio data with its home systems, matching the hardware's sound signature for a richer, more immersive audio experience.