streaming

First, there was the battle of Babyface versus Teddy Riley last month. But now R&B fans will get to see two queens get in the ring, when Erykah Badu belts it out against Jill Scott in Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s “Verzuz” battle series on Instagram Live on Saturday. Yes, the mother of all neo-soul showdowns …

The world might be on pause for now but the streaming wars continue. With people stuck inside in the wake of the global pandemic, more people than ever are watching TV. Netflix reported a record 16 million new subscribers, while Disney+ added 50 million subscribers in its first five months. HBO Max hopes to grab …

Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is under attack from billionaire Paul Singer, whose activist hedge fund has accused his mobile-streaming startup Quibi of patent infringement and theft of trade secrets. Singer’s fund Elliott Management, which manages more than $40 billion in assets, has made a “substantial” investment in rival interactive-video company Eko to fund its litigation …

The Oscars and streaming have reached a detente. For one year and one year only, streaming-only films can be nominated for the 2021 Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week. How generous of our Hollywood overlords. Their saintly flip-flop is, like everything else, caused by the unprecedented disruptions of …

A battle is brewing between movie theaters and Universal Pictures over its decision to release “Trolls World Tour” directly to home video-streaming services during the coronavirus lockdown. Both AMC Entertainment and Regal Cinemas, the nation’s top two theater owners, are threatening to boycott Universal Pictures’ films from its screens after Jeff Shell, chief executive of …

Music streaming giant Spotify added another 6 million paying customers in the first quarter but lowered its revenue forecast as ad sales got hit by the economic fallout of the pandemic. The global health crisis began to slam Spotify’s business in late February, the Stockholm-based company said Wednesday, with steeper declines in hard-hit markets such …

We’ve all used our weeks-long coronavirus quarantines for a variety of pursuits: family bonding, meditation, counting down the days until we’re no longer in this God-forsaken quarantine. But as our list of confinement activities starts to dwindle, perhaps we can get inspired by the movies. Nobody does productive loneliness quite like film characters, whether it’s …

The 2021 Oscars are finally going with flow — of streaming movies. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, streaming-only films will be eligible for the Academy Awards for the first time. And for one year only. “The academy firmly believes there is no greater way …

Universal Pictures’ bet to release kids movie “Trolls World Tour”  directly to video-streaming services during the coronavirus lockdown has spurred a surprise windfall — and it could be bad news for movie theaters, according to a report. Last month, in the days before the nation’s movie theaters were closing down, executives at Universal Pictures parent …

Bored at home? Starting tonight, you can be Bard at home instead. The Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, will begin streaming a selection of its stage productions of William Shakespeare’s plays online for free, starting with “King Lear.” The shows are gorgeously filmed, comparable to “The Met: Live in HD” or “National Theatre Live.” And …