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'I gotta take a knee like I'm Colin': Brands like Sprite and IBM are wading into politically charged advertising with the help of digital publishers

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Sprite Attn: ad

  • Attn: has made ads for IBM, Freeform, and Everytown for Gun Safety in recent weeks ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.
  • Some of the ads are branded with Attn:'s logo but the publisher is also experimenting with white-labeled content for brands like Sprite.
  • Taking a stand can backfire for brands (think Pepsi and Starbucks) but Attn: says that its advocacy background can help brands find the right messaging.


Sprite's newest ad campaign is less of a commercial than it is a public service announcement to vote.

The campaign is called "Get vocal" and encourages consumers to record and upload a video of themselves freestyling about an issue they care about. Clips are then pulled into a microsite and distributed through social media. Some of the user-uploaded videos wade into some heavy political territory.

"Police killing all my people, so I gotta take a knee like I’m Colin," raps Izze the Producer.

In another uploaded video from rapper J. Latelle, the clip starts by saying, "We got a president who always lies to us."

It's the kind of work that a few years ago may have been deemed too risky for brands to weigh in on. But as more brands increasingly wade into political-oriented issues, Sprite and others are hoping to connect with younger consumers.

Behind the scenes of the campaign is digital publisher Attn:, which has used its roots in civic engagement and massive audience of young consumers to crank out a handful of voting and cause-related campaigns for brands leading up to Tuesday's elections.

Read more: Here's how startup Attn: averages a whopping 3.8 million views per video on Facebook

"Being apolitical or non-issue driven is no longer an option with millennial and Gen Z consumers," Attn: CEO Matthew Segal told Business Insider. "Brands now know that they need to take a position or stand for something — or at the very least stand for civic engagement in the year 2018."

Brands are pushing people to the polls

A number of brands have dived into hot-button issues over the past few years, some of which have been more successful (like Nike and Patagonia) than others (like Starbucks and Pepsi).

colin kaepernick nike billboard san francisco union square 4

Ahead of the midterms, a coalition of 150 companies have poured money into encouraging consumers to vote and tweaking their policies to allow employees time off to vote.

Brands are trying to make sense of what they should say

Attn: created the microsite for Sprite's campaign and stitched together some of the clips into videos that are being distributed on the brand's social channels. Fashion-geared social media platform VFiles sourced some of the talent for Sprite's campaign.

Attn: is also promoting Sprite’s campaign with videos that are posted on Attn:’s Facebook page.

In addition to Sprite, Attn: has also worked with IBM, Freeform, and Everytown for Gun Safety on voting-related campaigns over the past few months.

Similar to its editorial content, the branded content aims to break down complex issues into easy-to-understand videos. Before co-founding Attn:, Segal ran the voter empowerment organization Ourtime.org.

For IBM, Attn: created a two-minute Facebook clip titled "Why your vote may be at risk this November" to explain misinformation and voting schemes.

And for FreeForm, the two media companies created a series of PSAs with talent from both companies that are airing on TV and social media. The PSAs focus on a stat the the average voter waited in line for 11 minutes to vote during the 2016 presidential election and compares the amount of time that people spend scrolling through Instagram.

Attn: is making white-labeled content for brands

Both the FreeForm and IBM campaigns use Attn:'s audience for distribution.

But the Sprite campaign is a bit different. Attn:'s logo isn't splashed on the videos, nor is it distributed across the publisher's network of social platforms. Instead, it's an example of white-label work that the publisher is taking on for brands that's based around insights instead of relying on its audience.

"A lot of our partners obviously want our audience and distribution, but I think where we have a lot of value to add that can certainly rival some ad agencies so to speak," Segal said. "I think brands not only know that we know how to produce spots for social media but also know that we have a finger on the pulse on how young people feel and how to best make these topics digestible."

Taryn Crouthers, head of brand partnerships at Attn:, said that about half of the company's work with brands on corporate social responsibility campaigns come from brainstorming together as opposed to issuing requests for proposals.

"Brands are coming to Attn: because they value the fact that we understand how to talk and speak about these complex issues in a way that's both entertaining but also informative," she said.

Attn: is also paying to make its own voting-themed editorial content, including videos with former President Barack Obama and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

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Kenan Thompson says Pete Davidson 'definitely missed the mark' on his controversial joke about a congressional candidate who lost his eye fighting in Afghanistan

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  • On the "Today" show Monday morning, Kenan Thompson was asked about a joke his "Saturday Night Live" castmate Pete Davidson made over the weekend that has been receiving a lot of backlash.
  • On Saturday, Davidson mocked the appearance of Texas Congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, who lost an eye during a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
  • Weighing in on the controversy, Thompson said he thought Davidson "definitely missed the mark" with the joke.

Kenan Thompson refused to defend a controversial joke his "Saturday Night Live" castmate Pete Davidson made over the weekend.

Davidson stirred up controversy during a segment on Weekend Update on Saturday, when he made fun of the appearance of Texas Congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, who lost an eye during a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Davidson commented that he looked like "a hit man in a porno movie." When the joke didn't land, he laughed it off, saying "I'm sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever."

The joke made headlines over the weekend, with many calling for Davidson to apologize to Crenshaw.dan crenshaw

Read more: Pete Davidson addresses his breakup with Ariana Grande on 'SNL': 'It's nobody's business'

So when his castmate Thompson appeared on the "Today" show Monday morning, to promote a new film, he was asked to weigh in on the scandal.

"He definitely missed the mark," Thompson said, adding that it was an "unfortunate outcome."

As the son of a Vietnam war veteran, Thompson said, "I personally wouldn't ever necessarily go there."

But he said it's difficult for stand-up comedians to make jokes about serious subjects.

"They're the ones that help us laugh through the most awful things in the first place, so they're always fishing in weird places," he said.

'Getting dumped by your pop star girlfriend is no excuse for lashing out at a decorated war hero'

The backlash came from both sides. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, was among those who called Davidson out for the joke, saying it was "absolutely appalling."

"No one should ever mock a Veteran for the wounds they received while defending our great nation, regardless of political party or what you think of their politics. Pete Davidson owes Dan Crenshaw an apology," Duckworth tweeted on Monday.

The National Republican Congressional Committee said Davidson should "immediately" apologize to Crenshaw and to all veterans in a statement Sunday morning, because "they're not laughing."

"Getting dumped by your pop star girlfriend is no excuse for lashing out at a decorated war hero who lost his eye serving his country," NRCC spokesman Jack Pandol said.

Despite the public outcry over the joke, Crenshaw told TMZ on Sunday that he doesn't think that Davidson owes him an apology.

"I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies every time someone misspeaks," Crenshaw said.

He also tweeted: "Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended. That being said, I hope @nbcsnl recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes."

In addition to mocking politicians, Davidson also took the time to insult his own appearance. Watch the full "SNL" clip below:

SEE ALSO: Ariana Grande revealed the name of her new album, and it's a phrase she used to diss Pete Davidson

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Netflix's 'The Haunting of Hill House' director went into detail on how they pulled off episode 6

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haunting of hill house

  • "The Haunting of Hill House" director Mike Flanagan explained in a Twitter thread on Sunday how episode six, "Two Storms," and its multiple long takes, were pulled off.
  • Flanagan said the initial plan was to shoot the episode last to give the cast and crew more time to prepare, but it was moved up due to budget issues. 
  • He also revealed that his wife, Kate Siegel, who played Theo on the show, found out she was pregnant the night before filming a big segment of the episode.

Netflix already released a behind-the-scenes video on its new horror series, "The Haunting of Hill House," that takes a look at the show's standout sixth episode, "Two Storms." But fans have been clamoring for more information on the five long takes that make up the episode, the longest being 17 minutes.

Director Mike Flanagan detailed how the episode was pulled off in a lengthy Twitter thread on Sunday and said the episode was "part of the very first pitch for the show."

Flanagan said most of the camera choreography was included in the script, which made it tough to read.

The sets for the haunted Hill House and Shirley's funeral home were built with episode six in mind. According to Flanagan, "They were built on adjacent stages, and had to accommodate a hallway that would physically connect them so that Hugh could walk directly from the funeral home to Hill House in shot 1."

Flanagan said the set had hiding places for the crew and equipment for when the long takes took place and there wasn't a place to cut the scene. He added that he wanted to shoot the episode last to give the crew and cast more time to prepare, but that didn't happen. 

"Budget issues resulted in the studio moving the episode up to the beginning of our third production block, and rapidly accelerating our prep time," Flanagan explained. "Production was shut down, rehearsals for ep 6 began March 6th, 2018. We rehearsed daily with our second team stand-ins, who performed the entire episode as actors as we learned the camera, lighting, and acting choreography. They were HEROES and made the whole thing possible."

Flanagan said the studio also initially wanted to cut the storms from the episode to avoid paying for additional lights for lightning effects, and because water would sometimes flood the sets.

"This first segment involved hiding the younger actors playing the Crain children around the corner in the viewing room, so they could run in and replace their adult counterparts during a 360-degree move around Tim Hutton," Flanagan continued. "The adults sprinted back into place a moment later."

Flanagan said there was concern that the tight schedule would put pressure on the child actors, but it "proved to be a non-issue, as they knew their lines cold (and even the adults' lines)."

To conclude the thread, Flanagan said he and his wife Kate Siegel, who plays Theo on the show, learned she was pregnant with their second child the night before filming segment three. 

"Made me really nervous every time I saw her fall down," Flanagan said. "Added a special layer of nerves to the stress of the ep."

To see the entire thread, click here.

SEE ALSO: 'Venom' gives Sony an edge over Disney in its fight to keep Spider-Man, according to industry experts

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AT&T wants to cut down the size of its digital TV package, and there's a 'prime target' on the chopping block

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jersey shore MTV

  • Distributors like AT&T and Hulu have started talking about improving the margins of their digital TV packages by cutting channels out of the bundle.
  • UBS analysts think Viacom is a "prime target" to have its channels dropped from DirecTV Now.
  • While UBS sees near-term pain for Viacom, the analysts were positive about the company's overall turnaround efforts.

When both AT&T and Hulu started talking about cutting down the size of their digital TV packages to get better margins last month, people in the industry started asking: "What channels are on the chopping block?"

In a new report distributed Monday, UBS analysts pointed out one media company that should be worried about AT&T’s cost-cutting rhetoric: Viacom.

On its recent earnings call, AT&T brass said the telecom giant was reevaluating the programming lineup on its DirecTV Now service. UBS predicted that this means AT&T will launch a higher-priced digital TV package and then reposition DirecTV Now as a "skinnier bundle."

UBS said if this happens, Viacom channels like MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central will likely be cut from DirecTV Now (which currently has about 2 million subscribers) and remain only on the new, higher-priced service.

"We see Viacom as a prime target of this re-tiering given the renewal, a lack of 'must have' content, low viewership relative to affiliate revenues, and lack of carriage on other vMVPDs [digital TV packages]," UBS wrote. "An unfavorable deal for Viacom could have long-tailed negative impacts."

At a basic level, UBS thinks Viacom will be hampered by two factors in negotiating with AT&T. First, relative to how much pay-TV subscribers actually watch Viacom channels, it charges high per-subscriber fees to distributors like AT&T.

Here is a chart from UBS that shows this, particularly in relation to Discovery, a media company also oriented around unscripted TV shows (as opposed to sports, which has a different value calculation):

viacom

Second, since many other digital TV packages — YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, and PlayStation Vue — already do not carry Viacom channels, it's unlikely DirecTV Now subscribers will flee to other bundles if Viacom gets dropped.

These two factors mean that Viacom will not be in a good negotiating position with AT&T.

So what does UBS expect the damage to be?

It's now expecting total affiliate revenue of $3.74 billion in 2020, down from $3.92 billion in 2017, a decline of $178 million. 

This isn’t a death sentence for Viacom

Though Viacom may be in for some near-term pain as the traditional pay-TV ecosystem continues to decline, UBS isn’t suggesting Viacom is in a death spiral. In fact, UBS said it remained positive about overall turnaround efforts at Viacom.

"Viacom has made significant progress on its turnaround efforts, including returning Paramount to profitability (expected in FY19), expanding its advanced advertising business and accelerating growth in live events and TV production," UBS wrote. "While we expect the company to continue to execute on these priorities, the vast majority of Viacom's earnings still come from the traditional pay-TV ecosystem. We expect Viacom to revise guidance for US advertising growth in FY19 due to worsening ratings headwinds."

Fundamentally, Viacom is stuck between its past as a cable network and a potentially bright future as a supplier of TV and movie content to emerging streaming platforms.

In June, MTV launched MTV Studios to make shows for streaming platforms, and the company announced last month that new seasons of "The Real World" would appear on Facebook Watch. Paramount will also make a sequel to Netflix’s smash hit "To All the Boys I've Loved Before."

Viacom has irons in the fire and a deep catalog of intellectual property that it can use to create new shows and movies, or reboot old ones (hello, new "Jersey Shore"). But it's tough math when you are fighting against the secular decline of cable and satellite-TV packages.

That’s one reason why UBS still sees a merger with CBS as the “most likely outcome” for the company.

"A deal would provide Viacom with more negotiating leverage with distributors while giving CBS more content to feed it growing [direct-to-consumer] platforms," UBS wrote. It could hold its own in the present ecosystem while preparing for the future one.

Viacom declined to comment.

If you have any information about Viacom, DirecTV Now, or vMVPDs in general, contact the author at nmcalone@businessinsider.com.

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Fans of the legendary 'Diablo' game franchise are furious about a new game in the series: 'Is this an out of season April Fools joke?' (ATVI)

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Diablo Immortal designer Chris Burger

"Is this an out of season April Fools joke?" was probably the last question that representatives from Blizzard Entertainment expected to hear at their company's annual fan event, BlizzCon 2018. 

But that's exactly the question they got from a fan during a question-and-answer session over the weekend about the new "Diablo" game, "Diablo Immortal," a free-to-play game coming to smartphones.  

Lead designer Wyatt Cheng laughed it off as the massive crowd of attendees loudly applauded the question — a physical manifestation of the frustration many "Diablo" fans expressed over the new game. 

Online, the reaction was far worse.

"Has Diablo Immortal killed your hope for the future of Diablo?" reads one popular thread on the "Diablo" Reddit forum

And the backlash may have spooked Wall Street, too: For those keeping score at home, shares in Activision Blizzard were down almost 7% in trading on Monday. 

What in the world is going on? It's complicated.

SEE ALSO: The makers of 'Warcraft' and 'Diablo' are planning to make 'Diablo 3' work across competing consoles: 'It's a question of when, not if'

Things started out politely enough:

"Hello BlizzCon!" Wyatt Cheng said last Friday. He was speaking to a massive crowd of attendees at BlizzCon 2018, the annual fan event held by Blizzard Entertainment in Anaheim, California. 

The room for the keynote was packed, and fans were there specifically for announcements. A new "Overwatch" hero, perhaps? Maybe — finally— the long-anticipated announcement of "Diablo 4"?

It wasn't to be. Cheng was indeed there to announce a new game in the "Diablo" franchise...it just wasn't the one that fans wanted.

"We love Diablo!" Cheng enthusiastically shouted at attendees. "We love the way 'Diablo' has brought millions of players around the world together to slay demons." That's when Cheng started to reveal the new game.

"Our modern world is an increasingly connected one," he said. "Our mobile devices keep us closer than ever to our friends, family, and loved ones. So we knew that we wanted to use mobile devices as the platform for a new 'Diablo' game — because nothing brings together the family like slaying demons!"

It was with this subtle distinction that Cheng announced "Diablo Immortal," a smartphone-only entry in the "Diablo" franchise. "We are making a full-fledged action-RPG you can play everywhere with everyone," he said. The game looks and plays similarly to traditional "Diablo" games, except it's tailored for smartphones' touch controls and smaller screen.

The announcement was met with applause — not roaring applause, necessarily, but applause nonetheless. That enthusiasm didn't last long.



From polite enthusiasm to outrage in just one night:

By Saturday, less than 24 hours later, the attitude toward "Diablo Immortal' at BlizzCon 2018 changed.

Fans were taking to the internet to decry the game — a mobile-only entry in a beloved PC gaming series — as the beginning of the end of the franchise. People turned the "Diablo" subreddit into a litany of grievances. Twitter is still awash with aggrieved fans, days later, as is the subreddit.

"Hey @Blizzard_Ent and @BlizzardCS I know you don't care, but today I uninstalled @PlayOverwatch @PlayHearthstone @Diablo and I cancelled my @Warcraft subscription. I stopped supporting @EA years ago when they killed franchises and now I will say good bye to you as well," one Twitter user wrote on Monday.

Cheng and his coworkers at Blizzard were clearly aware of this backlash, as Cheng opened Saturday afternoon's question-and-answer session for "Diablo Immortal" with a reassurance that several other "Diablo" projects are currently in the works at Blizzard.

Attendees cheered this announcement, but ultimately the reassurance wasn't enough.



"Do you guys not have phones?"

Though several different people asked questions about the smartphone focus of "Diablo Immortal" during the Q&A, it was one particular straw that seemingly broke the camel's back.

The camel in this situation is Wyatt Cheng, and it was a seemingly banal question about "Diablo Immortal" that got to him. Will the game ever come to other platforms, or is it smartphone exclusive? It was this that resulted in Cheng asking a question of attendees: "Do you guys not have phones?"

That didn't go over so well. He rhetorically asked attendees as much in a moment of mild frustration, and he accidentally became a meme.

The question was asked in jest, but it served as a perfect embodiment of the contention between Blizzard's announcement and its community: In Blizzard's eyes, "Diablo Immortal" is one of several new games in the "Diablo" franchise; In the community's eyes, "Diablo Immortal" is another move toward turning "Diablo" into a series focused on profit over gameplay.

More specifically, it's seen by the community — many of which have been playing the "Diablo" franchise for decades — as a step away from the franchise's past as a PC game, and a step toward the profit-focused world of mobile game design. Though Blizzard hasn't said as much explicitly, the "Diablo" mobile game appears to be free-to-play: a model of game pricing that's notorious for optimizing profit over gameplay.

Worse still, Blizzard seemingly doesn't understand why fans are upset.

"Do you guys not have phones?" posits that people are only upset because "Diablo" is getting a new game on mobile. Of course "Diablo" fans have smartphones. That's not really the point.



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Amazon's got its eyes set on yet another market — and one high-flying upstart should be worried (AMZN, ROKU)

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Jeff Bezos

  • In the broader streaming-video market, Amazon is emerging as the chief rival to Roku.
  • The two companies have emerged as the leading makers of digital video players, and the leading third-party providers of smart-TV software platforms.
  • Advertising has emerged as an important business for both companies, and Amazon is reportedly developing its an ad-supported video service that could rival the Roku Channel.
  • The threat from Amazon could crimp Roku's growth prospects, Morgan Stanley said in a new report.

You can add another company to the list of those whose business is being threatened by Amazon: Roku.

Those two companies are now the two leading players in the broadly defined streaming-television market, Morgan Stanley research analysts Benjamin Swinburne and Brian Nowak said in a report released Monday. Amazon is gaining steam in the industry, and its growth threatens to crimp Roku's own, they said.

"Amazon is directly in competition with Roku," Swinburne and Nowak said in the report. They continued: "Amazon has seen meaningful share gains ... and is likely catching up to Roku."

That's likely to strike some fear into the hearts of investors and possibly Roku's management. Amazon, after all, is a notoriously cutthroat competitor, especially in its core retail business, where it's already helped kill off a slew of formerly prominent rivals.

Swinburne, who covers Roku for Morgan Stanley, is concerned enough about the threat from Amazon and other companies that he has an "equal weight" rating — essentially a "hold" — on Roku's stock and a target price of $50, which is nearly $7 a share below where it's currently trading.

Amazon and Roku are increasingly butting heads

Roku CEO Anthony Wood at the company's IPO in 2017In looking at Amazon's budding rivalry with Roku, Swinburne and Nowak take a broad view of the streaming-television market.

It includes digital-media players such as Roku's Ultra; software platforms such as Amazon's Fire OS that underlie those devices and certain smart TVs and distribute apps and channels to them; and video services such as the Roku channel that are distributed over those devices and others.

Companies in the market generate revenue by selling devices, licensing their operating systems to other manufacturers, offering subscriptions to their video services or those they distribute, and selling advertising on the video channels they own or distribute.

Both Roku and Amazon compete in the three major portions of the streaming video market, as do Apple, Comcast, Google, and others. But in the device area, Roku and Amazon are increasingly the dominant players, according to Morgan Stanley's research. While Roku's first-place share has stayed steady, Amazon has steadily grabbed share from Google and smaller players.

Market share of installed base of digital media players, according to Morgan Stanley

The platform battle is more of a mixed bag. But Roku has established itself as a leading player in smart TVs, primarily by licensing its software to TCL, which has become one of the leading brands in North America.

Amazon has been setting itself up as the primary alternative to Roku, at least among manufacturers that don't have their own television operating system and app store. Earlier this year, Amazon signed a deal to have its Fire TV software installed on Insignia TVs, the house brand at Best Buy.

Advertising has become key to Roku's business

But the biggest area of competition could be in the content area.

The fastest-growing part of Roku's business of late has been in advertising sales. The company sells advertisements on the main screens of the user interface of its software platform, but also sells video ads that run on its Roku Channel and on some of the channels it offers in its app store.

Read this: A gold mine is buried 'under the weeds' at Amazon — here's why it could take the company beyond the $1 trillion mark

Roku has been so successful selling ads, that its "platform" business segment — which largely consists of advertising sales — is now bringing in more revenue than sales of its devices.

But there again, Roku could face some stiff competition from Amazon. Like Roku, Amazon has become a distributor of streaming channels. Like Roku, advertising happens to be the fastest-growing piece of its business. And it reportedly has in the works an ad-supported channel that would be built around its IMDB service that would be essentially Amazon's version of the Roku Channel.

The as with any advertising-based business, Roku's has grown by offering marketers a large and growing audience and persuading that audience to spend more time with its services. The danger with for Roku is that rivals, particularly Amazon, might slow the growth of its advertising business, whether by stealing market share from its devices and software or by diverting the attention of Roku users to alternate video services.

"Competition by the likes of Amazon and others is real and intensifying," Swinburne and Nowak said in the report.

Roku's shares closed regular trading on Monday off $1.04, or about 2%, to $56.85. Amazon's ended the day down $37.73, or 2%, to $1,627.80.

Now read:

SEE ALSO: Amazon has quietly taken a big and fast-growing stake in a $7 trillion market

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'Fortnite: Battle Royale' will add jersey outfits for all 32 NFL teams this week

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Fortnite NFL

"Fortnite: Battle Royale" is getting a rather surprising crossover with the NFL: Kersey outfits for all 32 NFL teams — and a special "Fortnite" team, too — will be added to the game on November 9th.

Both male and female characters will be able to select the outfit from the team of their choosing, with a number between 1 and 99. It's unclear if players will be able to choose from between a team's home or away jersey.

"Fortnite" is no stranger to unusual crossovers: Last year the game had a special "Avengers: Infinity War" event that let players don the infinity gauntlet and play as Thanos, the movie's villain. 

SEE ALSO: Fortnite 'Avengers' mashup: What it's like playing as Thanos in 'Infinity War'

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Microsoft's answer to Twitch is giving streamers a clear path to earning money with their channel

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Skills_ _Beach_Ball[2]

  • Mixer is Microsoft's livestreaming platform, offering an alternative to Twitch and YouTube.
  • Mixer recently started rolling out a series of new upgrades to the platform titled Season 2, giving streamers new ways to generate fan engagement and revenue.
  • Season 2 improvements to Mixer will continue into 2019, focusing on creator support, viewer progression, and interactive features.

Mixer, a Microsoft-owned livestreaming website, is in a battle with Amazon's Twitch to win the hearts and wallets of game streamers.

With its recently introduced pack of new features, Mixer is trying to position itself as the best venue for viewers to support their favorite streamers and for streamers to thrive financially. The update, which Mixer is calling "Season 2," is focused on promoting more ways to interact on the platform and more ways for streamers to get revenue.

Livestreaming has had an undeniable impact on the way that people, and video game fans specifically, interact with their entertainment and build community. By engaging directly with their audience, popular streamers have been able to establish their own communities on platforms like Mixer, Twitch, and YouTube, without constantly relying on specific games. But to be successful, rather than just popular, streamers have to find ways to monetize their audience.

 

Read more:Twitch raises incentives for creators

Video game streamers are primarily dependent on monthly subscribers and donations for revenue, due to inconsistent returns from advertisements during their broadcasts. In April 2017, Twitch, the most popular livestreaming platform for video games, introduced a virtual currency called Bits, giving players an official way to donate to multiple streams in smaller increments. Every Bit donated is equal to one cent earned for the streamer; Twitch charges $7 for 500 Bits, meaning they earn roughly $2 for every $5 donated to different streamers in Bits.

 

Twitch Bits

Only Twitch partners and affiliates, streamers with a proven track record, are eligible to receive income from subscriptions and bit donations. On YouTube, any creator with a Google AdSense account can be eligible for ad revenue, and some gaming channels now have access to a subscription option. Mixer Season 2 is offering streamers a more direct path to monetization with a more elaborate currency system and better incentives for viewers who want to support the creators.

Here's how Mixer's 2 currencies will work

With the launch of Season 2, Mixer plans to use two separate virtual currencies that allow viewers to support their favorite streams in different ways. Users on Mixer can passively earn one currency, called "Sparks", by watching streams or streaming themselves. Sparks can be spent to trigger special chat interactions, called skills, which include animated stickers, GIFs, simple games, and other effects that appear over the Mixer stream overlay. The effects are considerably more involved and intentionally more interactive than the emotes offered by Twitch.

Skills Tray Stickers

Spending sparks while watching will help boost the creator's channel, and streamers become eligible for a payout after reaching certain spark milestones. The second currency, Mixer "Embers", has not been released yet, but will only be available for cash purchase. Embers will be able to trigger exclusive skills and can be used to tip streamers directly.

Sparks Payout

Whether it's Sparks, Embers or Bits, the point of the currency is to encourage viewers to support what they're watching. As season 2 continues Mixer plans to provide added incentive for spending sparks with a progression system for viewers. Spending more sparks with the same streamer will give the viewer access to more unique skills and channel-specific perks.

Behind the scenes, Mixer will also be implementing automatic bitrate switching for a smoother viewing experience from mobile devices or less stable internet connections. Creators will also have greater control over their stream feed with the implementation of the RTMP standard used by Twitch and YouTube and the adoption of Mixer's FTL streaming protocol on more devices.

The Mixer development team plans to release Embers and the viewer progression system in the coming weeks while solidifying the other Season 2 improvements. Sparks and skill abilities are already live on the platform and creators are able to use their new tools to set clear goals for their stream. Visit Mixer to learn more about Season 2 and try out Microsoft's streaming platform for yourself.

SEE ALSO: Twitch raises incentives for creators

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The creators of Pokémon Go have totally revamped their original game — and it's perfect for Pokémon masters looking for a new challenge

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ingress prime niantic

  • Before there was Pokémon Go, there was Ingress — the original map-based augmented reality game, originally introduced in 2013. 
  • Now, developer Niantic has relaunched the game with Ingress Prime, bringing revamped graphics, sound, tutorials, story, and pretty much everything else. 
  • Ingress Prime is way more complex than Pokémon Go. But for Pokémon trainers who are on their way to catching them all, it could be a welcome level of new challenge.
  • Niantic itself sees Ingress as a platform for experimenting with its own real-world gaming technologies, as it works to build better augmented reality tools.

Before Pokémon Go turned the entire world into a Pokémon scavenger hunt in 2016, there was Ingress — the original map-based augmented reality smartphone game that was also created by game developer Niantic.

Ingress first launched in 2013, back when Niantic was still a subsidiary of Google. It never attained the mainstream success of its Pokémon-flavored successor, but Ingress had, and continues to have, legions of dedicated players all around the globe. For a taste, here's my friend Laura Michet's account of her experience falling down the Ingress rabbit hole circa 2014. Even now, Niantic hosts Ingress events, called Anomolies, that draw players from all over the world.

“Everything that we put into Pokemon Go, everything we’re putting into [Niantic's forthcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite], came from insights we got from Ingress," Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a meeting with reporters last week. 

Now, Ingress is back, baby, with Ingress Prime, a revamped and relaunched version of the game with new graphics, new sound effects, a new storyline, and various and sundry other improvements. It's functionally the same game as before, but revitalized to bring it up to modern standards. Indeed, if you already have Ingress installed, Ingress Prime comes as a normal app update to the base game. 

Here's the trailer:

Niantic was nice enough to hook me up with early access to Ingress Prime, before it started rolling out to players on Monday. In truth, I haven't had much time to play: My home is in kind of a dead zone for Niantic's brand of real-world location tracking, which made it tricky to play over the weekend. 

Read more:The creator of Pokémon Go bought an LA-based gaming studio as its acquisition spree continues

What is clear, however, is that Ingress Prime is way more intense than Pokémon Go — and it could be the perfect challenge for any Pokémon player who's already "caught them all." 

How Ingress works

ingress prime nianticThe basic components of Ingress should be familiar to any "Pokémon Go" player. You walk around the real world, finding points of interest — public art, historical landmarks, or other notable sites — and claiming them for your team. The two games are built on the same database of interesting locations, so there's a ton of overlap. 

But where Pokémon Go has Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms, Ingress has Portals. Same idea, but...this is where it gets complicated. 

Whenever you're near a Portal, you can hack it to gain resources, like Resonators and XMP Bursters. Resonators help you claim a Portal for your team, while XMP Bursters are your main weapon for taking down those guarded by the opposition. 

Still with me? Okay, so: You can link two or more Portals together, strengthening them and making them harder to take down. But for the link to work, there can't be any Portals claimed by the enemy in the way. This means that linking is easy at short distances, but harder over long range. 

But if your team manages to make a triangle by linking three Portals, it gets to claim the entire area for its own, thusly winning major points over the other team, in a process called "fielding." This means that Ingress players — who, by the way, take it incredibly seriously — get into real turf wars, trying to claim entire cities, counties, and sometimes states for their own.

Even the story is complicated. It involves a clash between the two teams: The Enlightened, who want to use the power of the Portals to benefit mankind, and the Resistance, who want to close the Portals to protect humanity. As part of the Ingress Prime relaunch, the story, too, has gotten something of a reboot. A new web series from Niantic introduces the major characters, while an Ingress anime will soon come to Netflix, featuring new music by Alt-J. 

The story can be affected by player choice. Those Anomoly events come with their own story developments, and however each team performs, that has some kind of bearing on what happens next in the struggle between the Resistance and the Enlightened. 

It's kind of a lot. As an Ingress newbie, it's all kind of overwhelming. But as an active Pokémon Go player since day one, I do have to admit, I'm intrigued by the apparent depth of Ingress Prime's story, and its more competitive aspects.

The bigger picture

In the grand scheme, the launch of Ingress Prime comes at a pivotal moment for Niantic.

Pokémon Go may no longer be the global phenomenon it once was, but it's still a very popular smartphone game in its own right. And there's no reason to believe that Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, the next big Niantic game due out later this year, won't be popular, too.

At the same time, though, Niantic is trying to reposition itself, not as a gaming company, but as the creator of tools and software to build augmented reality games and apps powered by the technology pioneered in its hit titles. Niantic has promised to detail more of its plans in that regard later this year. ingress map niantic

"Our vision of AR is that the world is the computer, the world is the interface," Hanke told reporters. 

That's why Ingress is important, said Niniane Wang, Niantic's senior engineer. As Niantic builds out its "Real World Platform," Ingress is the company's first and best platform for trying out new things. After all, unlike its other titles, Niantic owns the rights to Ingress lock, stock, and barrel, freeing it up to play around without restriction.

To that end, a later update to Ingress Prime will include an augmented reality mode that projects a map of the area over the real world, as a way to play with the combination of those technologies.

“Since we own this IP, we can be more innovative and experimental," Wang said. 

SEE ALSO: There are over 70 playable characters in 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' — here they all are

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Ted Cruz and Jim Carrey are trading barbs on the eve of Election Day

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  • Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and comedian Jim Carrey traded barbs at each other on Twitter, one night before Election Day on Tuesday.
  • Carrey, who supports Cruz's Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, likened Cruz to a vampire in an art piece.
  • "Hollywood liberals all in for Beto," Cruz replied to Carrey in a tweet. "But (self-described socialist) Jim Carrey made a mistake here: Vampires are dead, and everyone knows the dead vote Democrat...."

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and comedian-actor Jim Carrey traded barbs on Twitter, one night before Election Day on Tuesday.

Carrey, who supports Cruz's Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, took a jab at the Republican incumbent by likening him to a quintessential undead creature.

"Go Beto! Go Democrats! Vote like there's no tomorrow," Carrey said in a tweet on Sunday. "Let's make this Tuesday like the end of every great vampire movie. Pull back the curtains and let the sunshine turn all those bloodsuckers to dust."

Carrey also included artwork depicting O'Rourke pulling back a curtain to let sunlight into a room, while Cruz begins to burn from the sun's rays:

Cruz bit back with a caricature of Hollywood celebrities and echoed a conservative dog-whistle that baselessly suggests Democratic candidates receive fraudulent votes from deceased constituents.

"Hollywood liberals all in for Beto," Cruz replied in a tweet. "But (self-described socialist) Jim Carrey made a mistake here: Vampires are dead, and everyone knows the dead vote Democrat...."

Carrey, who has created political art depicting Trump in an unflattering light, fired back with another tweet — this time, making light of Cruz's complicated relationship with President Donald Trump. The two Republicans appeared to cast aside their differences in recent weeks, a stark departure from their rivalry during the 2016 presidential Election.

"Wow...sorry I rattled your chain, @TedCruz," Carrey said in a tweet on Monday. "I thought you would have more important things to do two days before an election — like sucking up to the guy who called your wife ugly and accused your dad of murder. But I get it! It's hard to say no when Trump grabs ya by the p---y!"

Hollywood stars and music artists have been increasingly vocal about their political views since Trump's election, and have urged people to vote in the November 6 midterm elections. Carrey has not been shy about his embrace of Democratic socialism and has become a popular target of conservative strategists.

The race for Texas' Senate seat hit fever pitch after early voting began in late October. Despite lagging in several polls, O'Rourke's campaign received $38 million last quarter — more than the $18 million Trump took in, and more than triple the $12 million Cruz raised.

SEE ALSO: Beto O'Rourke says he may have gone 'a step too far' for calling Ted Cruz 'Lyin' Ted'

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NOW WATCH: Trump once won a lawsuit against the NFL — but the result was an embarrassment

Here are the 16 biggest video games launching this holiday, from an all-new ‘Fallout’ to the hotly-anticipated ‘Red Dead Redemption 2'

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Red Dead Redemption 2

Can you smell it in the air? That potent stench of gun smoke and manure is a sure sign that you've been playing too much "Red Dead Redemption 2." We're waist deep in blockbuster video game season, folks.

Huge new entries from already massively popular franchises are the standouts this year, and "Red Dead Redemption 2" (seen above) is the heaviest heavy of them all. The long-awaited sequel to Rockstar Games' brilliant original "Red Dead Redemption" is a kind of like "Grand Theft Auto" meets "The Magnificent Seven" — a fitting game from the folks behind the "Grand Theft Auto" series. 

But this fall isn't all cowboys and train robberies.

super smash bros ultimate

Below, we've put together the 16 biggest games of the biggest game release season of the year:

SEE ALSO: A $100 mini version of the original PlayStation is on the way with 20 games packed in — here are the games included

1. "Madden NFL 19"

New year, new "Madden" game. 2018 is no different, and the latest entry in the football simulation series is available to buy now.

A handful of changes are being made this time around, like every year, but let's be honest: You're not buying "Madden" because of changes. Is anyone? "Madden NFL 19" is simply the latest iteration of a formula that's been working for over 25 years, which is exactly what it's supposed to be.

Release Date: August 10

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC



2. "Marvel's Spider-Man"

The new "Spider-Man" game — a PlayStation 4 exclusive game — features a massive New York City that you can swing around, with plenty of enemies to pummel along the way. It's focused on re-creating the Spider-Man experience as closely as possible.

This is the classic Peter Parker/Spider-Man you already know and love.

"Our Spider-Man features a 23-year-old Peter Parker who has become a masterful Spider-Man," the game's creative director, Bryan Intihar, said of the game. "While he may be more experienced, Peter and Spider-Man's worlds continue to collide as he tries to juggle them."

Read our review of "Spider-Man" right here.

Release Date: September 7

Platforms: PlayStation 4



3. "NBA 2K19"

For the 2oth anniversary of the NBA 2K series, newly minted Los Angeles Laker LeBron James is gracing the cover.

As per usual, "NBA 2K19" is a gorgeous basketball simulation — the basketball equivalent of "Madden" for football. It sets the standard for sim basketball games. Also like "Madden," it doesn't change too much from year to year. The focus is on updating the game to be a strong reflection of the current NBA, and it consistently delivers on that. Expect "NBA 2K19" to continue that tradition.

Read more about "NBA 2K19" right here.

Release Date: September 11

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

What you need to know in advertising today

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NBC is pulling an ad it aired over the weekend from its networks following a backlash.

The 30-second ad, approved by President Donald Trump, aired during the "Sunday Night Football" game between the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers.

Facebook and Fox News have also pulled the ad. "Upon further review, Fox News pulled the ad yesterday and it will not appear on either Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network," Marianne Gambelli, the president of Fox's ad sales, said in a statement to Business Insider.

CNN previously deemed the ad too racist to air, issuing a statement on Twitter on Saturday: "CNN has made it abundantly clear in its editorial coverage that this ad is racist. When presented with an opportunity to be paid to take a version of this ad, we declined. Those are the facts."

The primetime ad attempted to draw a connection between Luis Bracamontes, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was convicted of killing two Sacramento deputies in 2014, and the so-called migrant caravan now traveling up through Mexico toward the US border. There is no known connection.

Click hereto read more about the controversial political ad.

In other news:

'I gotta take a knee like I'm Colin': Brands like Sprite and IBM are wading into politically charged advertising with the help of digital publisher Attn:. Some of the ads have the company's logo, but the publisher is also experimenting with white-label content for brands like Sprite.

Ivanka Trump wins 16 Chinese trademarks despite shutting down her business.The trademarks were filed for everything from umbrellas to sausages.

Amazon's got its eyes set on yet another market — and one high-flying upstart should be worried. In the broader streaming-video market, Amazon is emerging as the chief rival to Roku.

A startup backed by Marc Benioff raised a bunch of new money to bring branded websites back from the dead.Brandcast has raised $18 million in Series A funding to build out technology that lets marketers build and edit websites quickly.

Venture-capital investment in advertising technology and marketing-technology startups will plunge in 2019, according to a report from Forrester Research covered by the Wall Street Journal.Forrester predicts a 75% drop in venture-capital funding to these startups in 2019, to $1.8 billion from $7.2 billion this year.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Valedictorians rarely become rich and famous — here's why the average millionaire's college GPA is 2.9

Fox News' Harris Faulkner is the only black woman in cable news with a daily show: 'It's a tremendous amount of responsibility'

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  • Fox News Channel anchor Harris Faulkner is the only African-American woman that hosts a daily news show on one of the three major cable news networks. 
  • She has made headlines for her comments both defending President Trump and criticizing him. 
  • We went behind the scenes of Faulkner's show "Outnumbered Overtime," which airs Monday through Friday on Fox News at 1:00 PM ET. 
  • Faulkner will join the network's special live coverage of the 2018 midterm elections on Tuesday, November 6th beginning at 6:00 PM ET. 

Following is a transcript of the video.

Director: They're back in five, four, three...

Harris Faulkner: We'll go "Outnumbered Overtime" now. I'm Harris Faulkner. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo...

Narrator: Harris Faulkner is the host of "Outnumbered Overtime" on Fox News Channel.

Faulkner: Great to see you, Congressman. You know, the big question today...

Narrator: The show airs Monday through Friday at 1:00 PM Eastern. Faulkner is the only African-American woman that hosts a daily show for one of the three major cable news networks. On MSNBC and CNN, there are daily shows hosted by African-American men, with Craig Melvin and Don Lemon, respectively. But on those networks, African-American women only host broadcasts that air on the weekends.

Faulkner: When Fox committed to giving me an hour of television, I said, "Oh my gosh I'm gonna be like," and I looked for those faces. I'm curious when I look across the dial Monday through Friday, you know, where are the other female black anchors? It's a tremendous amount of responsibility.

Narrator: Faulkner joined the network in 2005. She became cohost of the midday show "Outnumbered" in 2014, and she got her own show three years later with "Outnumbered Overtime."

Faulkner: This is the first edition of "Outnumbered Overtime."

Narrator: The show's first episode aired the day after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Faulkner: Of course, we're gonna cover this story moment by moment.

Jay Soroko: Harris does breaking news better than just about anybody in the business. She understands the stories, she knows how to help the audience understand what's really important and what we need to learn and where we need to go with the story.

Faulkner: How's it going? My day starts with the rose gold folder. We start out pretty early on an editorial call in the morning, and then we build this blueprint of the show, and now I'm ready to rock and roll.

Narrator: Faulkner's career didn't begin at Fox News.

Faulkner: I want to draw your attention to these big, four-foot deep — they would have been in the ground. This is cement.

Narrator: She worked her way up the local news food chain as a reporter and anchor.

Faulkner: Getting into network television was tougher than I thought it was gonna be.

Welcome back to "A Current Affair."

Narrator: Her first national job was hosting the syndicated news magazine show "A Current Affair," and she gained notoriety for her coverage of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

Sean Hannity: With details is Harris Faulkner, the reporter for "A Current Affair." Harris thanks for being with us.

Faulkner: That was my entree into Fox News Channel. I was on as a guest correspondent with Sean Hannity. The show got canceled, they wanted to keep me, and boom. Here I am at Fox News Channel doing some cut-ins at night, news updates, so that's, that was my entree here.

Congressman, thanks for sticking for the breaking news.

It's fabulously fun for me personally as a journalist because it's in real time, things are unfolding.

Narrator: While Faulkner's "Outnumbered Overtime" show is news-driven, the show she cohosts, "Outnumbered," encourages opinion. And in 2017, one of hers made headlines. After the deadly violence in Charlottesville, President Trump was criticized for his initial statement.

President Trump: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides.

Narrator: After intense blowback, Trump made another statement two days later.

Trump: Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.

Narrator: And this is how Faulkner responded.

Faulkner: I would say this about the president's critics as a whole. If nothing will quiet them, then they don't have America in their sights. They don't care about us. They don't care about Americans, and shame on them.

Narrator: Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple described Faulkner's comments as "pro-Trump shilling." In June of 2018, President Trump posted a tweet promoting Faulkner's book about growing up as a military brat. Faulkner responded with a tweet thanking the president that has been pinned to her profile ever since.

Graham Flanagan: I have a few examples of things that you've said or tweeted that might conflict with what many people's perception might be of what an African-American woman might say or tweet, and I just want to ask you a few examples of these.

Faulkner: By the way, those probably happen all the time because we're not all alike. I don't speak for all black people, and I hope that others don't speak for me. We're all different, we all come with our own points of view. To get a presidential tweet from the Commander-in-Chief about a military book that you've written is pretty awesome. And it wouldn't matter where that person's politics would be, it's the President of the United States. But that's not because I'm black that people give me negative feedback because the president tweeted about my book. They do it because they think that it's all about politics.

Narrator: Recently, Faulkner has called out the president. She had strong words for President Trump when he cast doubt on the death toll of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Faulkner: No, it cheapens us as a country. To have that be the conversation right now. I think one of the complicating factors when you talk about death and loss and all of that, is that it becomes about the numbers and not about the people. I don't understand politically why anybody would even wade into that, whether it's the president or anybody else. Let's let the science figure that out.

His hats say "Make America great again." And I look at how that doesn't fit the comments that you're saying about Puerto Rico. It makes it sound like we're not quite where we need to be, and it does cheapen us, and when the things don't match up, I call it.

Now, this is the part where we go upstairs.

Flanagan: Do you like working at Fox News?

Faulkner: I love it. If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here. I hope that people look at me and think that I'm good at my job. I also encourage myself on a daily basis to do my job in such a way that it would encourage others to hire people who look like me. So I challenge other networks to see the value of a different perspective on things. I consider it a calling and a blessing that I get to do it. And I love doing it here.

Flanagan: I think you love this.

Faulkner: Oh my gosh, are you kidding? Am I boring you with details? I'm like a walking C-SPAN.

Flanagan: You're having fun.

Faulkner: I am! If you need a commercial break, you tell me.

Flanagan: No, I'm —

Faulkner: Okay!

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MoviePass competitor Sinemia has a new cheaper 'weekday-only' plan starting at $3.99 per month

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As movie-ticket subscription service MoviePass continues to stumble, its competitor Sinemia has announced a new cheaper plan for customers who don't mind only going to the movies on weekdays.

On Tuesday, Sinemia introduced a "weekday-only" plan for Monday through Thursday to encourage "attendance on days where most movie theaters have many empty seats" at a lower price than its other plans.

The discounted weekday plans are:

  • $3.99 per month (instead of $4.99 standard price) - One ticket to any movie per month.
  • $8.99 per month (instead of $10.99 standard price) - Three tickets to any movie per month.
  • $9.99 per month (instead of $12.99 standard price)- Two tickets to any movie per month including 3D, 4D and IMAX formats.
  • $14.99 per month (instead of $17.99 standard price) - Three tickets to any movie per month including 3D, 4D, IMAX formats.
  • $23.99 per month (instead of $29.99 standard price) - One ticket to any movie per day (aka unlimited) 2D movie tickets

MoviePass has been struggling to sustain itself. Months after it began transitioning users to a new 3-movies-a-month plan, it's still limiting movies and showtimes that subscribers can see, and its parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, recently postponed a critical shareholders vote on another reverse-stock split.

Meanwhile, Sinemia has emerged as an alternative to MoviePass for moviegoers who don't want to be limited in the movies they can see (like MoviePass), or to a particular theater chain (like with AMC Stubs A-List).

SEE ALSO: 'Venom' gives Sony an edge over Disney in its fight to keep 'Spider-Man,' according to industry experts

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The top 5 TV shows to watch on Netflix and other streaming services this week

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Halloween is over, but horror shows like Netflix's reimagining of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," and "The Haunting of Hill House," are still the talk of the internet.

Every week, Parrot Analytics provides Business Insider with a list of the five most "in-demand" TV shows on streaming services. (The data is based on "demand expressions," the globally standardized TV demand measurement unit from Parrot Analytics. Audience demand reflects the desire, engagement, and viewership weighted by importance, so a stream or download is a higher expression of demand than a "like" or comment on social media.)

This week's most in-demand shows include "Sabrina," which saw a huge increase in expressions from last week; "Stranger Things," which people are still eagerly waiting for the next season of; and a new entry, "Castlevania," which replaced "Big Mouth" on the list.

Below are this week's five most popular shows on Netflix and other streaming services:

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'The Haunting of Hill House' director went into detail on how they pulled off episode 6

5. "Castlevania" (Netflix)

Average demand expressions:  28,274,670 

Description: "A vampire hunter fights to save a besieged city from an army of otherworldly beasts controlled by Dracula himself."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 100%

What critics said: "Instead of another eight episodes of high-octane animated hyperviolence, the vast majority of 'Castlevania' season 2 is melancholic, atmospheric, character-driven tale." — James Whitbrook, i09

Season 2 premiered on Netflix October 26.



4. "The Haunting of Hill House" (Netflix)

Average demand expressions:  35,437,912

Description: "Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 1): 92%

What critics said: "'The Haunting of Hill House' is superlative in many regards. It’s a masterful, restrained work of horror fiction." — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic

Season 1 premiered on Netflix October 12.



3. "Stranger Things" (Netflix)

Average demand expressions:  42,302,994

Description: "When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 94%

What critics said: "For the most part, Season 2 acts with more of a purpose and a vision that feels like it truly belongs to its creators, the Duffer Brothers." — Phil Owen, The Wrap

Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix; season 3 drops in 2019.



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5 years after launch, we compared the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One — and it's a harder decision than ever

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Five years ago, in 2013, Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One were on the verge of launch.

Now, in 2018, the two consoles have come into their own — and they're more distinct from each other than ever before.

They're also more affordable than ever before. But which to buy?

The answer isn't so clear.

SEE ALSO: Here are the 16 biggest video games launching this holiday, from an all-new ‘Fallout’ to the hotly-anticipated ‘Red Dead Redemption 2'

1. Price.

The Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 cost approximately the same amount of money: The base level for each is $250 to $300 in North America.

The ranges in price come from bundle offerings, in which the consoles come with various games or extra controllers or services at a discount that still raise the overall cost. You're also likely to find sales that put the prices below $250.

That's all before we start talking about the more powerful, more expensive versions of the consoles: the $400 PlayStation 4 Pro and the $500 Xbox One X.

If you're looking for the best-looking games running on the most powerful console hardware, then you're looking at buying one of these step-up versions of the PS4 and the Xbox One. Both do everything the normal PS4 and Xbox One consoles do but have the added benefit of making games look ever better than usual.

In the case of the Xbox One X, games are able to natively run with 4K/HDR visuals; the PlayStation 4 Pro offers a similar visual boost, though a slightly less impressive one. If you just bought a super-high-end 4K/HDR television and want to see what it can do, the Xbox One X is your best option when it comes to gaming.

In general, though, for the average buyer, the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are evenly matched when it comes to price.



2. Games.

This is where things start to divide pretty sharply: Sony's PlayStation 4 simply has more games you can only play on the PlayStation 4.

From the "Uncharted" series to "The Last of Us," "Bloodborne," "Spider-Man" and "God of War," Sony has a far richer lineup of exclusive games on the PlayStation 4. Coming heavies like "Death Stranding" loom large on the horizon. And major third-party games like "Call of Duty," "Assassin's Creed," "Madden," and "FIFA" all show up on the PlayStation 4 as well as the Xbox One.

It has been Microsoft's biggest problem with the Xbox One in recent years: Not enough great games that can be played on only the Xbox One. There's "Halo" and "Forza," and the occasional new exclusive like "Sea of Thieves" and "State of Decay 2," but nothing of the scale that Sony's PS4 has.

For many, understandably, the game-library comparison is enough to tip the scale in favor of Sony's PlayStation 4. But look deeper and you'll find the competition is more complicated.



3. Services.

Sony and Microsoft offer nearly identical services, which serve as a means of accessing online multiplayer gaming as well as offering "free" games (as long as you remain a paying subscriber).

In Sony's case, the service is PlayStation Network; in Microsoft's case, it's Xbox Live. They cost about the same amount of money ($60 a year) and offer access to online gaming on their respective platforms. Both dole out a handful of free games to paying subscribers every month, yours to play as long as you continue to subscribe.

PlayStation Network and Xbox Live are industry-standard services at this point. What makes each console stand out in the services department is its Netflix-like gaming services: PlayStation Now and Xbox Game Pass.

With PlayStation Now, users can play more than 650 playable PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 games on a PlayStation 4 or a PC. The games are running elsewhere — you just start playing — though some are able to be downloaded to the PS4 for local play. It costs $20 a month, or $100 a year.

With Game Pass, users can download and play more than 100 original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games on the Xbox One. It costs $10 a month. Better yet: Any games Microsoft publishes show up on Game Pass at launch, including the next major "Halo" and "Forza" games. It's one of the best deals available in gaming for this alone.

Xbox Game Pass is a strong argument for owning an Xbox One and offers a glimpse into the future of video game consoles. Instead of dropping $60 a game, for $10 a month you have access to a massive library that includes new, major games. That's huge.



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'The Girl in the Spider's Web' director explains how 'The Crown' convinced him Claire Foy should be his lead, and why he hopes some people will leave the movie 'pissed'

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  • "The Girl in the Spider's Web" director Fede Alvarez talked to Business Insider about why he decided to take over the franchise after David Fincher walked away following "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."
  • He explained why he recast the role of Lisbeth Salander with Claire Foy. It was previously played by Rooney Mara.
  • Alvarez, who previously made the "Evil Dead" remake and the box office hit "Don't Breathe," also touched on why he thinks he's a failure if everyone likes his movies.

 

On paper, it seems almost like career suicide to take over a franchise that was once overseen by an auteur like David Fincher. But in a short time, Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez has proven he’s never looked to play it safe. 

You only have to go back to his feature debut to see that. In 2013, he remade one of the most iconic horror movies of all time, Sam Rami’s “Evil Dead,” and didn’t get kicked out of town for doing it.

Now following his 2016 hit horror, “Don’t Breathe,” he returns to the pressure of taking on a well-known property. With Fincher walking away from making a sequel to his 2011 thriller “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” — the first American adaptation of the popular Millennium book series from the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson — Sony has enlisted Alvarez to give the franchise a reboot. “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” (opening in theaters Friday) skips to the fourth book in the franchise and replaces Fincher’s moody dark thriller vibe for an action suspense story and a new lead. Claire Foy, known best for her Emmy-winning performance as Queen Elizabeth II on Netflix’s “The Crown,” takes over playing the franchise star Lisbeth Salander from Rooney Mara, who played the role in Fincher’s movie.

In “Spider’s Web” Foy still plays Salander as a computer-hacking renegade who avenges abused women, but unlike “Dragon Tattoo,” she's now the center of the story with journalist Mikael Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig in the Fincher movie, though he didn’t come back for this one either) in the background. And this time, the stakes are higher, as Salander must retrieve a program that can access the world’s nuclear codes before her evil twin sister, Camilla (Sylvia Hoeks), gets it.

Business Insider talked to Alvarez about making a soft reboot for a franchise that barely got off the ground, why he never met with Rooney Mara to see if she wanted to continue playing the Salander role, and the reason he’ll feel like a failure if everyone likes the movie.


Jason Guerrasio: What fascinated you about the project when it came to you?

Fede Alvarez: It was the character of Lisbeth Salander above all things. Obviously, it's a very special character. It's one that when I saw it for the first time, probably the first Swedish movie, you fall in love right away. She confronts you with all your prejudice in a way because when you see her you never expect to really encounter the character you will eventually in the story. It's someone that's as three dimensional as they get. That's one part and I think the other part is it wasn't the second book or third book, it wasn't a continuation of the last American movie. It was the fourth book by a different author (David Lagercrantz took over the series following the death of Larsson) and it's been eight years since the last movie. It was the right moment to say I can just do whatever I want to do with it and I can make it my own film. 

the girl in the spiders web sonyGuerrasio: So when they came to you they said they wanted to focus on the fourth book? That's how it was pitched to you?

Alvarez: Yeah. If they'd said they wanted to make the second book, I would have said no. No way. I would never have even tried to continue Fincher's story with my eye because we make different movies. I make pulpier movies. If someone wants a very dark classic thriller then they should go and rewatch his movie. 

Guerrasio: In regards to Lisbeth, what were you walking into? Was Rooney still going to be involved?

Alvarez: Sony deferred to me, in a way. If I remember correctly, if they brought back Rooney they would basically bring back the whole cast. If you bring one you bring back the whole universe. And casting is a big part of the director's job and I never make a movie where I don't write it. I write all my films. So with that approach I also have to cast the movie. I cannot take someone else's cast. It would be wrong for me to just use actors that are someone else's vision of the characters. In some franchises it's totally necessary but for this I didn't believe it was. 

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Guerrasio: That all being said, Rooney commented in the past that she was still interested in playing the character, did you talk to her and get a sense if you two could work together?

Alvarez: No. I never had that conversation. I think she would not have done it without Fincher. That's my feeling.

Guerrasio: Tell me how you came to casting Claire as your Lisbeth.

Alvarez: Normally the process is to start auditioning people. Have them come in for readings. At least that's how I do it. To really open it up to anybody. Even looking at the young actors who just landed in Hollywood. And I think we did some of that in the beginning of this. But then I saw Claire in "The Crown" and I felt right away that this is the actor to play this role. 

Guerrasio: That's interesting, even her playing the Queen of England, all prim and proper, you could see that she could play Lisbeth Slander?

Alvarez: Yeah. Because a director should not look at the superficial. You don't look at the clothes or how they speak or move. You look beyond that, you have to. And what I saw is this is someone that is really trying to keep feelings to her own and trying to be secretive of how she really feels because as the Queen she's not allowed often to express how she really feels. I felt the person to play Lisbeth Slander, a character that doesn't open up and doesn't share feelings, you need an actor who has a technique and has a craft that is so good that you're able to have a window into her soul. 

the girl in the spiders web 3Guerrasio: I will be honest, the casting of Mikael was very strange for me. I would assume you would want a known actor for that part. Can you explain why you went with lesser-known Swedish actor Sverrir Gudnason for the role?

Alvarez: In the first movies, both the American and Swedish, although Lisbeth Salander is the most interesting character in them she's not the lead, the lead is Mikael Blomkvist. He's your way in, he's the character you love and know and understand everything. Lisbeth is a muse, is someone that he's following. But those movies are not about her. So for such a feminist icon as Lisbeth I felt like we cannot do that to her again, this has to be her movie. She has to be in the front. Do we need Mikael in the movie? Yes. You can't adapt a Millennium book without him, but I wanted to make sure he would not overshadow her. And that's when you write off any big star. The star would not just take that screen attention but the star will usually demand more screen time and perhaps even ask to change the story so he's more present in the movie. And that's not what I wanted. I wanted Mikael Blomkvist to be what many female co-leads have been for too long, the damsel in distress. I wanted him to be that. He's the one stuck with the kid in the end while she goes out and saves the world. [laughs]

Guerrasio: A conscious decision, but did you have to sell that to Sony?

Alvarez: Not really. No. I've been lucky that all the movies I've made I managed to make them with total independence and creative freedom. I just work with studios and producers that trust me and my decisions and support what I do. I don't go to those other Hollywood movies that you are just hired to do your part and it's more studio control. I don't do that. I've never done those and I'm going to keep trying to avoid those. 

the girl in the spiders web 4Guerrasio: This is not the first soft reboot you've done. You also directed the 2013 “Evil Dead.” Did you take anything from that experience and put it into making “The Girl in the Spider's Web”?

Alvarez: With “Evil Dead,” people loved it or hated it and that's something I do with my movies. I never try to please the whole theater. If I do I think I've failed, that I played it too safe. I always expect some portion of the theater to walk out pissed. Either feeling offended or the movie did something that rubbed them the wrong way. I always look for that. What I learned from that was if I'm faithful to the spirit of the material then eventually it would be okay. The perception of “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” at the moment because of the comparisons, you always start on the wrong foot. That's what it was for “Evil Dead.” You start on the wrong foot because of people's expectations. I feel if my heart is in the right place people will eventually appreciate it. 

Guerrasio: Did the aura of Fincher hang over you at all while making this? Meaning, you didn't write something a certain way or shoot something a certain way because you felt Fincher would do it that way.

Alvarez: No. Now, he is an executive producer on this film, but I have never met him or had any conversation with him. That's unfortunate, because I'm a big fan of his work. But no. Directors tend to have a singular vision of how things should be, at least I am. I feel there's only one way to do it and I try to capture that. So there's really no time to think like that. I knew that the tone would be so different and the style and plot that I didn't have to worry about that. So even if a shot is similar accidentally, or even on purpose a shot looks like a Fincher shot, hey, that's a good problem to have. [laughs] He's a master of the craft. But in the context of the movie, it's not a Fincher movie. 

SEE ALSO: Disney is reportedly developing a Marvel TV series that raises questions about Captain America's fate in "Avengers 4"

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Video game addiction has sparked a culture war in China — and it’s having huge repercussions for the world's biggest video game maker

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Tencent mobile video games

  • Tencent, the world's largest video game publisher, will implement age restrictions for all of its titles in China in 2019.
  • Player identities will be verified using China's national citizen database and gamers under the age of 18 will have their playtime limited to one or two hours per day.
  • Tencent is also testing facial identification software in two cities to assist with player verification.
  • The mandatory verification and time limits arrive as Chinese officials consider new regulations to combat video game addiction.

Chinese video game publisher Tencent plans to implement age restrictions for all of its games in China in 2019 and will continue to use the country's national citizen database to verify player identities.

The new policy aims to limit playing time for children, as Chinese officials continue to express concerns about video game addiction. Tencent is the world's largest video game publisher and China is the world's largest video game market, generating more than $34 billion in annual revenue, according to NewZoo.

The rising popularity of video games has created a cultural clash in the country, with critics arguing that gaming is an unproductive and potentially addictive hobby for Chinese youth. Since last year, regulators have slowly restricted the approval of new games and prevented publishers from monetizing titles that are already popular.

Read more:China is cracking down on new video games entering the country and it's costing publishing giants billions in profit

In a response to criticism and government recommendations, Tencent began age-restricting playtime for its most popular game, "Honour of Kings," last year. Players under the age of 18 were limited to playing just two hours a day, while those under the age of 12 were limited to one hour a day. On Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, the company announced it will soon expand the policy to its top 10 most popular mobile games, and more PC and mobile titles will get the same treatment next year.

Tencent recently announced that all players will need to verify their identity using their Real Name Identity System (RNIS) to play "Honour of Kings." According to research firm Niko Partners, each player's name and age is checked against the national citizen database maintained by China's Ministry of Public Security. In September, Tencent also began testing facial recognition software with thousands of randomly selected users living in Beijing and Shenzhen.

While the verification system and age-limits are meant to address the potential negative impact of video games on children, it raises new questions about player privacy. "Honour of Kings" alone has more than 200 million players, and Tencent is documenting identifying information for every one of them to verify with the Chinese government.

As it stands, gamers playing Tencent games outside of China aren't subject to the same strict verification process.

SEE ALSO: China is cracking down on new video games entering the country and it's costing publishing giants billions in profit

SEE ALSO: China's Tencent to introduce real name registration for hit game

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All the TV shows that have been canceled in 2018

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iron fist

As the year flies by, the list of canceled TV shows piles up.

While there's been somewhat of a quiet period since May, some networks have cut shows throughout the summer and fall.

TNT recently canceled "Good Behavior," a drama that starred Michelle Dockery, and NBC canceled "Reverie" after one season. 

Other recent cancelations come from Netflix. Netflix recently canceled "Iron Fist" after two seasons, and announced that "Orange is the New Black" will end with its upcoming seventh season. Netflix also canceled the excellent satire series "American Vandal" after two seasons. 

ABC canceled the previously renewed "Roseanne" revival in late May, after Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. However, ABC debuted a spin-off called "The Conners" without Barr.

In other notable cancellations, USA's critically acclaimed "Mr. Robot" will end with its upcoming fourth season, and CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" is ending after 12 seasons. 

We'll update this list as more are announced.

Here are all the shows that have been canceled this year, including those from networks and Netflix:

SEE ALSO: The worst TV show of every year since 2000, according to critics

Amazon



"Jean-Claude Van Johnson" — Amazon, one season



"I Love Dick" — Amazon, one season



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All the TV shows that have been canceled recently

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orange is the new black

A slew of TV shows were canceled in 2017, and the list of shows canceled in 2018 has grown rapidly since May as networks decide their schedules of new and returning shows, and figure out what they're doing in 2019.

The most recent cancelations come from TNT, which canceled "Good Behavior" after two seasons, and NBC's "Reverie," which is over after one season. 

Despite slightly better reception for its second season that dropped in September, Netflix has canceled "Iron Fist" after two seasons, a show that wasn't a hit with critics. Days later, Netflix canceled Marvel's "Luke Cage," leaving many wondering why these seemingly successful superhero shows are getting the axe. And the week after that it, canceled satire series "American Vandal."

So far in 2018, networks have canceled fan favorites like "The Last Man on Earth" and "Quantico." Fox also canceled its quirky cop comedy "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," but NBC picked it up for another season less than two days later.

ABC also canceled the previously renewed "Roseanne" revival, after Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. However, ABC announced a spin-off called "The Conners" without Barr that premiered in October.

In 2018, the streaming giants are canceling more shows than ever as well, with many getting cut on Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix

So if you're wondering why a show you love hasn't returned in 2018, it might have been canceled. (You can also use this list to see what shows are not returning in the fall or in 2019.)

Here are all the shows that were canceled in 2017 and 2018, including those from networks and streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon:

SEE ALSO: All the confirmed original shows coming to Netflix in 2018

Canceled in 2018:



"The Mayor" — ABC, one season



"Chance" — Hulu, two seasons



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