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FuboTV accuses Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. of antitrust practices over joint streaming service
FuboTV has filed filed an antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery after they announced launching a joint sports streaming service.
Fox Sports will offer World Cup pre-game shows on Twitter for every match
Fox Sports will stream FIFA World Cup pre-game shows and in-match previews on Twitter.
Fox Sports will stream every match of the 2022 World Cup
Fox Sports has confirmed it will stream every 2022 World Cup match live.
Grimes, Will.i.am and Alanis Morrissette will judge an avatar singing TV show
Grimes, Alanis Morrissette and Will.i.am are poised to judge a 'world's first' avatar singing competition show.
Fox, 'Rick & Morty' creator plan a blockchain and NFT-enabled animated series
Dan Harmon's new animated series for Fox, 'Krapopolis' is the first one to be 'curated entirely on the blockchain.'
Fox's Tubi is the latest free streaming service to explore original shows
Fox's Tubi service may soon dip into original content to draw you in — including movies and TV shows.
See an unreleased 'The Simpsons' game that never made it to Dreamcast
The title offers a fantastic glimpse into The Simpsons' living room, complete with giant lumbering Homer.
YouTube TV loses regional Fox sports channels
Starting on October 1st, YouTube TV will no longer have access to Fox regional sports channels owned by Sinclair. If you’ll recall, the Google-owned streaming TV service first announced that it would no longer carry Fox Regional Sports Networks back in February, because it was “unable to reach an agreement” with the broadcaster. The two companies were able to arrange an extension that would give subscribers continued access to the channels while hashing out the terms of the deal.
'The Simpsons' aspect ratio problem will get fixed (again) on May 28th
Next week Disney+ will start streaming old episodes of 'The Simpsons' in their original 4:3 format
Fox Sports will air a 'Madden NFL 20' tournament on March 29th
Fox Sports' NASCAR esports race was a success, and it's betting that it can repeat that achievement with football. FS1 is planning to air its first ever Fox Esports Madden NFL Invitational on March 29th at 7PM Eastern. The two-hour event will pit players (remotely, of course) against each other in a single-elimination, three-round Madden NFL 20 tournament. There are only eight players, but they include a mix of analysts and pros such as Derwin James (above), Matt Leinart and Michael Vick.
NASCAR's virtual race was the most-watched esports TV show to date
NASCAR and Fox Sports might have started airing virtual races out of pandemic-induced necessity, but it appears their efforts paid off. Fox has revealed that the inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on March 22nd drew 903,000 viewers on FS1, making it the highest-rated esports TV program to date. It was also the most-watched broadcast on FS1 since mass sports event cancellations on March 12th and the most-watched sports broadcast on cable that Sunday, although those last two feats weren't too difficult given the dearth of live sports.
NASCAR is replacing canceled races with esports featuring pro drivers
Sports leagues and broadcasters are scrambling to fill the void now that many live competitions are cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for NASCAR and Fox Sports that means venturing into relatively uncharted territory. They've announced an inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series that will replace canceled NASCAR races with "simulation-style" esports competitions. These will involve top-tier competitors, too -- you can expect Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin among other racers and luminaries from various NASCAR series.
Fox buys ad-supported streaming service Tubi for $440 million
Fox has reached an agreement to purchase Tubi TV for $440 million in cash, according to The Hollywood Reporter and The Wall Street Journal. And to help pay for the acquisition, the company has chosen to sell its 5 percent stake in the Roku streaming platform. The media giant says that by selling its stake in Roku, it's "essentially exchanging a passively held minority investment for full ownership and control of a leadership position in the free ad-supported streaming market."
YouTube TV to drop Fox regional sports channels following Sinclair dispute
If you subscribe to YouTube TV to get live sports without a pricey cable or league package, you might be in for a disappointment. YouTube TV is dropping Fox Regional Sports Networks (including the New York City-oriented YES Network) on February 29th after it was "unable to reach an agreement" with Sinclair to continue carrying the channels. While the company didn't say just what the points of contention were when asked by Engadget, it pointed to its attempt to balance the climbing costs of sports broadcasting with its desire to deliver a good value to subscribers. You can read its full on-the-record statement below.
Disney+ has already netted 28.6 million subscribers
Disney's start on direct-to-customer streaming came out of the gate with the bang, as the company reported it had 26.5 million paid subscribers for Disney+ (PDF) by the end of 2019. ESPN+ grew to 6.6 million subscribers from 1.4 million last year, while Hulu has 30 million customers total, with 3.2 million of them signing up for live TV services. On a call with investors, CEO Bob Iger reported that Disney+ is still growing, and is up to 28.6 million customers worldwide as of Monday. Iger also announced that Disney+ will launch in India via the company's HotStar service and said Hulu could launch internationally in 2021. On the call with investors, Iger specified that season two of The Mandalorian will debut in October, as well as shows the MCU shows it featured in Super Bowl ads. Falcon and the Winter Soldier will launch in August, and Wandavision arrives in December. He also said that the Star Wars show will run beyond two seasons, with a possibility of "infusing it with more characters and taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series." Executives said they don't expect the next "significant" domestic growth to happen until those series launch. According to the CEO, people weren't just watching the viral series, with over 65 percent of viewers watching ten other things on the platform. Interestingly, he also said that the current priority of Star War is TV as opposed to theatrical releases.
Roku and Fox cut a deal in time for Super Bowl LIV streaming
A few days ago, Roku sent out an email to customers informing them that Fox standalone apps would go away after January 31st due to an expiring distribution agreement. That might make it a little harder and more complicated to watch the Super Bowl via streaming this weekend, and certainly more difficult to watch the 4K stream Fox will distribute via its apps. But tonight Roku informed Engadget that they have reached an agreement.According to a Fox spokesperson, "We are pleased to have reached a successful agreement with Roku. Fox's leading suite of apps will continue to be available on the Roku platform." So that means as long as you're able to load up the apps and login with cable or other TV credentials, the Fox Now and Fox Sports apps will work just as well as the NFL and other streaming options on Roku.
You can still watch the Super Bowl for free on Roku (updated)
Last night, Fox apps were pulled from Roku, which left users who were planning to watch Super Bowl LIV via those apps scrambling. While Fox and Roku work out their differences, the NFL says there is nothing to worry about. The league will stream the game via its free Roku app, NFL spokesman Alex Riethmiller told Fast Company.
Fox apps are abruptly disappearing from Roku before the Super Bowl
If you're planning on watching Super Bowl LIV using a streaming app, then you might not be able to use Roku hardware. While the platform has had a number of Fox apps available for years, their distribution agreement is set to expire after tomorrow, ahead of the big game. Roku is sending out emails to customers informing them that the standalone Fox apps won't be available this weekend to watch and suggesting alternatives. If they can't work out some kind of extension (the Fox Now and Fox Sports apps have already been delisted from the Roku Channel Store) then the simplest workaround may be using another streaming service on your Roku device. Apps like YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV or Sling TV can all work in a pinch, assuming they have your local Fox affiliate. If you'd like to see the game in (upscaled from 1080p) 4K, then Fubo TV will deliver it that way, and it has a seven day free trial. If you'd rather swap out for different hardware, then Amazon's Fire TV 4K stick is ready to stream the 4K and HDR mastered feed of the game on Sunday, and it's on sale right now for $35 (if it won't ship to your area in time from Amazon, Best Buy and Target also have it for the same price). Usually the carriage disputes I've covered involve cable operators, with threats to send antennas out and scrolling ads. Now even that has gone to the next level as streaming platforms are the new landscape, with acquisitions and competition making things stranger every day. Apps can appear and disappear in a blink -- but hopefully this gets worked out so no one has to make backup plans at all. Update: While Roku said that it will be "forced" to remove Fox's apps as of the 31st if a distribution agreement or extension isn't reached, Fox has a different view of things. A "Fox Corporation Spokesperson" called the notification a "poorly timed negotiating ploy," and claimed the company would prefer to see the apps remain available. What will happen after tomorrow? We'll have to wait and see. Update (1/31, 11 PM ET): And....with about one hour to go before January ended, Fox and Roku announced they have reached an agreement so you can go ahead and stream via whichever app you want. The Fox apps will be available on Roku. Fox spokesperson: Roku's threat to delete FOX apps from its customers' devices is a naked effort to use its customers as pawns. To be clear, FOX has not asked Roku to remove our apps, and we would prefer Roku continue to make them available without interruption. Roku's tactics are a poorly timed negotiating ploy, fabricating a crisis with no thought for the alarm it generated among its own customers. Even if Roku unilaterally decides to remove FOX apps, savvy Roku customers know Super Bowl LIV on FOX will be ubiquitously available through streaming providers, FOX apps on the biggest streaming platforms and our website. Only Roku can pull apps from its customers' devices, and we would urge them to stop the intimidation tactics and reconsider the merits of irritating their best customers in pursuit of Roku's own interests.
'Free Guy' trailer shows a video game NPC without chains
Fox has posted the first trailer for the video game action-comedy Free Guy, and it appears ready to answer a lingering question: what if the trivial non-player characters in your favorite shooter realized they were in a game? The clip shows actor, producer and new wireless magnate Ryan Reynolds as a blissfully oblivious NPC who fulfills his background role in a Grand Theft Auto-style game until he questions his purpose and, naturally, becomes a hero that saves his virtual world.
Disney+ will fix its 'Simpsons' widescreen problem in 2020
As soon as Disney+ launched, fans of The Simpsons noticed a big problem. In a repeat of an issue that occurred when FXX started playing old episodes a few years ago, someone made the decision to crop and zoom older 4x3 aspect ratio episodes to fill out an HD widescreen frame. It was eventually corrected, and it turns out that new owner Disney will also fix things up -- eventually. In a statement, a Disney spokesperson said that "in early 2020" it will offer a toggle for the first 19 seasons of episodes so people can choose to view them in their original format -- important for many visual gags that extend to the top or bottom of the frame -- or widescreen-adjusted. Disney: We presented "The Simpsons" in 16:9 aspect ratio at launch in order to guarantee visual quality and consistency across all 30 seasons. Over time, Disney+ will roll out new features and additional viewing options. As part of this, in early 2020, Disney+ will make the first 19 seasons (and some episodes from Season 20) of "The Simpsons" available in their original 4:3 aspect ratio, giving subscribers a choice of how they prefer to view the popular series.
