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CBS News is coming to Apple TV as a free app
If you're a cord cutter who owns an Apple TV and is on the hunt for live news coverage, then you're in luck. CBS News has launched an updated app for the streaming device that will provide 24-hour news programming. It also curates video playlists and news stories for users based on previously watched videos.
Twitter will livestream the Democratic and Republican conventions
Twitter isn't limiting its livestreaming to major sporting events. The social network has revealed that it will stream both the Democratic and Republican national conventions, which respectively start on July 25th and July 18th. The coverage (technically provided by CBSN) will be available through both the web and Twitter's official mobile apps, and won't require an account to start watching.
Netflix will stream CW shows a week after their season finale
Last month, rumors began circulating that those CW shows that were streaming on Hulu would make it to Netflix a lot faster. Well, those reports were accurate as the streaming service and the CBS and Warner Brothers network made the deal official today. Starting with the upcoming 2016-2017 broadcast season, the decidedly comic-heavy slate of Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and more will debut on Netflix as complete seasons eight days after the show's finale airs. And yes, the just-aired seasons that wrapped up recently will be available as well.
CBS and Paramount release 'Star Trek' fan film guidelines
While Paramount and CBS's lawsuit against Axanar Productions is still ongoing, the two studios have finally produced a set of guidelines meant to govern fan-made Star Trek productions in the future. While the guidelines might be a good start, and a sign that studios could be warming up to community input, they are still extremely limiting.
CBS names an exec to develop shows for its streaming service
Like it or not, CBS will be creating more series for its year-old streaming service. CEO Les Moonves promised the addition of "three to four original series per year," starting with a new Star Trek show and a spinoff of The Good Wife. To keep things running smoothly, CBS has moved Julie McNamara from drama development at CBS Television -- where she was already overseeing the two original All Access series -- to a newly created position: Executive Vice President, Original Content, CBS All Access.
Paramount and CBS are still suing the 'Star Trek' fan film
Although J.J. Abrams and Star Trek: Beyond director Justin Lin lobbied hard for the movie studio to drop their lawsuit against the crowdfunded Star Trek fan flick Axanar, Paramount is apparently ready to engage their lawyers once again. As the Hollywood Reporter notes, Paramount and CBS have told a California federal judge that their legal action against the makers of Axanar is still pending despite earlier statements indicating the two groups were close to reaching a settlement and guidelines for future fan films.
Paramount will end its lawsuit against 'Star Trek' fan film
Lawyers from Paramount/CBS have been pursuing the makers of a crowdfunded Star Trek fan film, Axanar, for months, but according to JJ Abrams, they're finally going to back off. Abrams made the announcement at an event last night on the studio's movie lot where the studio dedicated a street to the memory of Leonard Nimoy, premiered the second trailer(which you can watch below) for Star Trek: Beyond, showed about 15 minutes of footage from the movie, and announced plans to screen the flick on an outdoor IMAX screen at Comic-Con.
CBS All Access' second show is a 'The Good Wife' spinoff
At CBS' Upfronts presentation it had some news about its All Access subscription streaming service to reveal. Beyond the flash of a new logo and a brief teaser trailer for the Bryan Fuller-produced Star Trek show that will try to lure subscribers in January, it also revealed its second exclusive show will be a spinoff of the recently-concluded The Good Wife. The new show will arrive in the spring of 2017 featuring actresses Christine Baranski and Cush Jumbo reprising characters from the original.
Paramount says 'Star Trek' fan film's Klingon violates copyright
Ever since CBS and Paramount Pictures sued the makers of the Star Trek fan film Axanar, fans have been wondering: what alleged copyright violations were so onerous that lawyers had to get involved? Unfortunately, the studios are more than happy to explain. They've filed a modified complaint that details what they believe the crowdfunded project is doing to run afoul of copyright law... and some of the claims aren't going to rub enthusiasts the right way. For one thing, it believes that speaking Klingon is a violation -- yes, just shouting "qapla'" could get you in trouble. There have been concerns that Paramount might crack down on Klingon use before, but this is the first time it's taking action.
PlayStation Vue TV streaming is now available across the US
Sony is launching PlayStation Vue nationwide across the US, shaking off the "passion project" image that's haunted the service since its inception. If you live outside Vue's existing seven markets, however, you'll notice that channel availability and pricing is now a little different. Sony is pushing into the rest of the country with three smaller bundles called Access Slim, Core Slim and Elite Sim, the cheapest of which offers around 55 TV channels for $29.99 per month. That's slightly less than the regular Access tier, with the difference being that you'll only get on-demand content from ABC, FOX and NBC. There's no live viewing for these networks.
A lot of people watched the Grammys on CBS All Access
Last night's Grammy awards not only saw Taylor Swift verbally subtweet Kanye West during her acceptance speech for Album of the Year, but also a record number of folks watching music's grand gala via the CBS All Access app. The streaming application saw a 247 percent increase in time spent watching and an upswing of 192 percent more unique users compared to last year's show -- both are apparently double digit increases since 2015. On top of all that, CBS says that yesterday was its single biggest sign-up day for All Access' premium streaming service. Of course, the network didn't release hard numbers so it's anyone's guess regarding what those increases actually amount to.
CBS exec: no recent talks with Apple about a TV service
Since Apple itself doesn't have much to say about its long-rumored TV service, we're forced to look for signals elsewhere. In comments revealed just before CBS announced its earnings today, exec Les Moonves once again filled in the gap. Following previous comments that he believes the service is on hold, Moonves told CNN Money that "we haven't had recent conversations with them." That could mean any potential debut is even further off than we thought, although it doesn't seem to be hurting CBS any. CBS reported (PDF) its highest ever revenue for the fourth quarter, while claiming revenue from retransmission agreements is over $1 billion now, and will be at $2 billion by 2020. According to the exec, "something like 40 percent" of revenue his company is getting, didn't exist five years ago.
New 'Star Trek' has a showrunner from the final frontier
Star Trek fans have had a tumultuous last few months. But it seems that amid the recent ups and downs (a fan film getting shut down by CBS and Paramount most definitely qualifies as the latter), news of the upcoming streaming exclusive finding a showrunner with Trek in his blood should ideally register as a win. Whether you count yourself among the Rodenberry faithful or are just a TV addict, the name should ring a bell: Bryan Fuller. He wrote for Deep Space Nine and Voyager in addition to working outside of the final frontier where he's been a scribe and executive producer on the criminally short-lived Hannibal.
The CW network might get its own streaming service
As streaming deals with Netflix and Hulu are nearing their end, CBS and Time Warner are considering a new online service for their jointly-owned CW network, Bloomberg reports. It sounds like they're considering something similar to CBS All Access, the network's online service that includes a live TV feed and archive of past shows. There's no word on pricing yet, but sources say CBS and Time Warner are considering listing it between $2 and $4 a month (CBS All Access costs $6 a month).
'Star Trek' owners sue to stop a crowdfunded fan film
If there's one thing that CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures are good at, it's showing how much contempt they have for Star Trek fans. The co-owners of the sci-fi property have shoved a proud middle finger at the creators of a fan-made film, demanding that the project be shut down. Axanar, unlike other revival efforts, was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than a million dollars across Indiegogo and Kickstarter. It was pitched as the first fan film to hire professionals who'd worked on the show behind the camera, hence the need for serious financial backing.
Watch Apple show off its design studio and spaceship campus (update)
For years, most people have only known about Apple's secret design studio through anecdotes. There's talk of extreme security, loads of specialized manufacturing gear and other stories that make it sound more like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory than a real-world place. However, a lot of that mystery is about to disappear. CBS' 60 Minutes is airing a tour of Apple at 7:30PM Eastern that, on top of an interview with CEO Tim Cook, includes a rare peek at Apple's design wing. You unsurprisingly won't see future products (as hinted by the black cloth above), but there are promises of a talk with design chief Jony Ive about the process behind making all those iPhones, Macs and Watches.
CBS exec says Apple's streaming TV plans are 'on hold'
The other half of the rollout for the new Apple TV has always been a rumored streaming TV service. It wasn't present for the device's launch, and now CBS CEO Les Moonves (who has previously been good for a quote or two on Apple's TV plans) says the project is on ice. Speaking at the Business Insider Ignition conference in New York the exec claimed "They've had conversations on it, and I think they pressed the hold button." According to Bloomberg a source said Apple has suspended its plans, and will go ahead with the Apple TV as a platform for content available via the App Store.
CBS' streaming video service comes to Amazon's Fire TV
Your Fire TV (or Fire TV Stick) just became much more useful as a cord-cutting device... at least, if you watch a lot of CBS shows. The TV network has launched an Amazon-native app for its All Access service, giving your Fire TV the same mix of live and on-demand viewing that CBS is offering on rival set-top boxes. You're still paying $6 per month and don't get any hardware-specific features, but look at it this way: you'll definitely be ready when the new Star Trek series begins streaming in a couple of years.
I'm not paying CBS to watch 'Star Trek' online
Yesterday I got the best birthday present a lifelong Trekkie could hope for: Star Trek is coming back to television -- kinda, sorta. It's been over a decade since Star Trek ended TV production and, while fans have had two successful films to enjoy (or despise), corporate infighting between CBS and Viacom has kept the franchise from its rightful home on the small screen. However, it looks like the two companies have hugged it out with the news that a new Star Trek series will return to "television" in early 2017. And while this would normally be cause for celebration among Trekkies, the announcement doesn't come without a few caveats in terms of who's making it and how it's being distributed: The show will be produced by the team in charge of the recent films, and it will only be available via CBS' subscription streaming service, CBS All Access. It's a bit of a no-win situation (a Kobayashi Maru scenario, if you will) for die-hard fans who wanted to see Star Trek back on television. Star Trek may be back, but it comes at a cost: both figurative and literal.
'Star Trek' (kinda) returns to TV in January 2017
CBS has announced that it's going to make a brand new Star Trek TV series that'll begin airing in January 2017. The corporation has shoved a big pile of money in the face of Star Trek and Into Darkness co-writer Alex Kurtzman to be in charge of this new series. If you're eagerly soldering your TV's remote to make sure it can never be switched away from your local CBS affiliate, we'd suggest holding off for just a second. That's because only the first episode or two will air on broadcast TV, with the rest of the series becoming an exclusive for CBS' homegrown online subscription service, All Access.