When Beyoncé dropped a surprise music video for her new song "Formation," the internet went nuts. But the video's message makes the song much more than a catchy beat. Watch the full video here.
Story and editing by Alana Yzola
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Thank the TV gods for Samantha Bee's new TBS show.
"Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" debuted on Monday night, and the former "Daily Show" correspondent immediately brought a new life force to the late-night landscape.
With lightning quickness, confidence, and hilarity, she broke down the election leading into the New Hampshire primaries.
Bee opened up with a scathing analysis of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton's recent head-t0-head in New Hampshire — he with his tales of the average American and calm demeanor and she with her inability to hide her contempt for the senator's ability to make her look like a one-percenter. One of the most hilarious moments was when Bee called out Clinton's statement that she never saw herself running for president.
"Oh, f--k off," Bee said incredulously, followed by a devilish impression of the candidate.
Bee then moved on to the Republican field, which she referred to as "a banquet of all-you-can-eat crazy." She spoke of Iowa winner Ted Cruz and how he's widely detested in Washington, DC. She referred to his problem as having "stage-four cancer of the personality," but stood up for his wife, Heidi Cruz, who in an interview was asked about how hated her husband is as she smiled uncomfortably.
"Now look, I dislike Ted Cruz just as much as the next everyone, but that's no reason to be rude to Ted's loving wife and possible hostage," Bee joked.
Bee also looked to last Saturday night's Republican debate and took shots at the candidates' inability to even walk in according to plan.
"That was the first domino in a cascade of fail," she said.
And she introduced what will be the first of many "Elected Paperweight of the Month" segments. This first one focused on Kansas state senator Mitch Holmes, who created a dress code for the state capitol that only included women. Bee went on to point out several other pieces of legislation from Holmes, which included anti-abortion legislation and honors to Boy Scouts, clergymen, and a college basketball team.
"Basically a legislative career spent controlling women and celebrating the groups that exclude them," she summed up.
That was followed by a somber segment featuring beleaguered Republican candidate Jeb Bush at a rally (and that's being gracious) of some 200 supporters in New Hampshire, while Donald Trump held one with many more nearby. The Bush supporters who went on-camera for "Full Frontal" shared his low-key energy level and described him as "shy" and "meek." (These are his supporters!) They blamed the media for giving Trump's sound bites way too much airtime. It was all punctuated by one young supporter who was asked what kind of drink represented Bush.
"Milk. Milk is just a normal thing that wouldn't be fantastic if you could choose any drink, but it's a solid drink to have," he said. Not very rousing, is it?
With F-bombs, abortion references, and cocaine imagery, Bee lives up to the show's TVMA rating. She's speaking truth and cracking jokes for thinking adults. This is TV for those of us who aren't blinded by our voting pledges among the limited choices for candidates. Those of us who can see the politics in the politics. In all, it was a triumphant debut for Bee — and viewers should look forward to her hilarious insights week after week. It's a better election year already.
Watch some clips from the premiere below (warning: some strong language):
SEE ALSO: Here's why Samantha Bee didn't want Jon Stewart's hosting job on 'The Daily Show'
SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert throws his own debate with dueling Donald Trumps
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NOW WATCH: Donald Trump's creative defense of vulgar insult: 'I was doing everybody a favor'
Everyone loves Netflix.
The service has taken over the world because it lets you binge on your favorite shows and movies to your hearts content. And you can watch whenever you want, wherever you want.
But even though the standard Netflix experience is good, it doesn't mean you can't improve it with few tricks.
From apps that turn Netflix into a trivia battle to add-ons that make it much easier to find your next show, here are 16 Netflix hacks that will help you get the most out of your subscription.
Netflix splits movies and TV shows into incredibly specific micro-categories.
All are tagged with a number — for example, "Epics" is category No. 52858. And once you have that code, to get a comprehensive list all you do is type it into your address bar after the word "genre," like this: http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/52858.
If you want a list of the codes for different genres, head to this website. Alternatively, check out this site, which provides the ability to search through them, though there are not as many categories.
Here are the shortcuts you should be familiar with:
F = full screen
M = mute
Up arrow = volume up
Down arrow = volume down
Spacebar = play/pause
Shift + Left Arrow = rewind
Shift + Right Arrow = fast-forward
ESC = exit full screen
Showgoers is a Chrome extension that syncs up your watching with a friend or a significant other.
The extension creates a unique link for your viewing session, which you can send to as many friends as you want. Once you’ve done that, you just click “Begin sync” and off you go.
Once you are synced, anyone with the link can press play and start watching at the same place. And when one person pauses or rewinds, it does the same for everyone who is watching.
You can install Showgoers for Google Chrome here.
Viacom shares are getting smoked on Tuesday, falling by as much as 14% in morning trading after the company reported earnings results.
The earnings Tuesday also came with a strong defense of the company from CEO Philippe Dauman.
Here's a snippet of Dauman's commentary, via Rich Greenfield at BTIG:
Our outlook and the facts have been distorted and obscured by the naysayers, self-interested critics and publicity seekers. You will not be distracted or deterred as we build for the bright future ahead of us."
These comments most likely remind media investors of what Disney CEO Bob Iger said in August when he opened the company's earnings call with a lengthy defense of ESPN.
The broadest media concern today, as it was then, is a mounting decline in cable subscriptions, which would most likely harm both ESPN and Viacom's suite of cable channels. Disney is set to report earnings after the market close Tuesday.
In its most recent quarter, Viacom reported a 3% decline in revenue from its media networks. The company, whose channels include Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, reported a 6% drop in revenue to $3.15 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.13.
Sales in the filmed entertainment division also fell by 15% as the company put out fewer releases, according to Reuters.
"2015 was a challenging year operationally as we redesigned ourselves and adapted to significant industry disruption," Dauman said in the earnings statement. "Our first fiscal quarter of 2016 reflected these challenges."
Investors have also had to contend with concerns around the company and its leadership structure. Last week, Sumner Redstone stepped down as executive chairman and was replaced by Dauman, after pressure from the investment adviser SpringOwl and Redstone's daughter Shari.
Shari, however, did not support Dauman's elevation to the chairman role at Viacom.
Dauman is one of seven trustees, including Shari and her son, who will take over nearly 80% of the voting shares at CBS and Viacom after Redstone dies.
This chart shows the drop in the stock Tuesday. Shares are down about 47% over the past 12 months.
SEE ALSO: Viacom just dropped more details on how its advertising sales deal with Snapchat will work
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NOW WATCH: Why women cheat — and what their husbands can do to prevent it
The Tanners (and Kimmy) are almost back.
Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Andrea Barber stopped by "Ellen" today to talk about reuniting for the upcoming "Full House" spin-off, and they showed the trailer for Netflix's "Fuller House."
The trailer shows Stephanie (Sweetin) and Kimmy (Barber) moving in with DJ (Bure) at the old Tanner house after she is widowed.
Featuring the classic lines "have mercy," "how rude," and "cut it out," the trailer mixes the new dynamic with some nostalgia.
Kimmy is also still the same weird and excitable best friend.
The show's first teaser dropped in December and a second was released in January.
"Fuller House" hits Netflix February 26.
Watch the trailer below (starts around 2:25):
SEE ALSO: 16 Netflix hacks that will take your binge-watching to the next level
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NOW WATCH: Hollywood's new power couple were both nominated for Oscars
There are only two days until Kanye West debuts his newest album in a live concert that will be streamed in theaters around the world, and he still hasn't released the official title yet. But he now has a new offer on the table.
After changing the name two different times— from "So Help Me God" to "SWISH" to "Waves" — West has settled on something with the initials TLOP, according to a tweet he sent out today.
@studio /final verses /new album title T.L.O.P. pic.twitter.com/yXKbFl9w6W
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 9, 2016
That's the new album anybody who can figure out the title gets tickets to Season 3 and free Yeezys
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 9, 2016SEE ALSO: Beyoncé's 'Formation' is the most important music video of 2016
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NOW WATCH: A 21-year-old who looks exactly like Taylor Swift shut down the people who body-shamed her
As we draw closer to the 2016 Academy Awards on February 28, it’s time to dive into the numbers and check out which of the best picture winners are the biggest money-makers of all time at the box office over their lifetime.
There are some obvious ones here, but thanks to inflation, there are a few titles that may surprise you — including a not-so-little film from the 1930s.
Here are the top 15.
Note: All box-office figures provided by Box Office Mojo.
SEE ALSO: 14 stars who have been snubbed at the Oscars — and absolutely deserve to get one
Millennials don’t watch TV news as much as their older counterparts, but no video news platform has rushed in and claimed the throne.
Facebook has come the closest, and has built itself into a huge source of both video and news content — but these two facets are often separate, with video shying away from "breaking" events.
One startup, however, thinks it has cracked the code for getting young people hooked on video news.
Watchup founder Adriano Farano tells Business Insider that the key is the rise of streaming devices like Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV, as well as the proliferation of smart TVs.
Watchup began in 2012 as a mobile-first startup that was going to become the video news hub on your phone. The startup aimed to be the “Pandora for news,” letting you create personalized newscasts that pulled video clips from various partners, with user input helping refine the stations based on taste. Watchup built up partnerships with 160 outlets like CNN, CBS, Fox News, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Fusion, and Vox.
The app put together an impressive array of content — especially considering it was (and still is) totally free.
Farano says influential investors like Tribune Media, Turner Broadcasting, and Microsoft helped them land these content deals, some of which were secured by letting partners sell ads before newscasts.
But the big challenge proved to be pulling people away from Facebook, which was working to turn itself into the go-to media hub, especially for news.
But in 2014, Watchup saw a big change that opened up a new way for them to reach millennials: streaming devices. On streaming boxes like Apple TV, Watchup was no longer competing with Facebook and its bite-sized video content, or YouTube aggregator apps, which don’t function. They just needed to get the Netflix generation back into video news.
“It’s not true that young people aren’t interested in news,” Farano says. “They don’t like how clunky and fluffy the traditional TV news model is. They want content catered to them.” Facebook did that on mobile, but Farano wants Watchup to be the one to do it for streaming TV, for the cord-cutters who don't want to watch cable.
“A year ago, less than 10% was OTT [over-the-top streaming like Fire TV], but now more than 50% is. And that’s not even including Apple TV,” he continues, which launched last month. The company's next project is making a Watchup app for Google's Chromecast.
Here is a chart that shows Watchup's growth in OTT as a percentage of total usage:
Farano says he remembers the first time he fell in love with video news. “It was when I was nine years old and watched the Berlin Wall fall,” he says. The next day he went to his strict Italian Catholic school and started a newspaper, paying his writers in pizza. He says the paper did pretty well until a teacher caught him and threatened to expel him.
But that didn’t exactly deter him, and he started multiple publications in Europe before going to Stanford as a Knight Journalism Fellow in 2010. That’s when Silicon Valley got ahold of him.
He’s spent the last five years trying to make video news as relevant for today’s young people as it was for him.
Late last year, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was asked if his company would ever consider a live evening newscast. “You don’t want to invest in things that are dying,” he replied.
With the rise of streaming boxes, Farano thinks he can bridge the gap between Netflix lovers and the lean-back evening newscast.
SEE ALSO: The 28 original Netflix shows and movies we know will be released in 2016
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NOW WATCH: How to see if someone is mooching off your Netflix account
Right now, every late-night show on television is hosted by a man — except for one.
Samantha Bee is shaking up the late-night world with her own weekly show, "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," which premiered Monday on TBS.
A 12-year veteran of "The Daily Show," Bee's ready to take her well-honed comedy skills into the spotlight. She's tackling topical material in a way that'll remind many longtime "Daily Show" fans of Jon Stewart's heyday on Comedy Central.
Keep reading to learn more about how Bee went from a Canadian sketch-comedy troupe to a big name in late night.
SEE ALSO: Samantha Bee's brand-new late-night TV show is a gift to this absurd election year
Source: NPR
Brie Larson is the frontrunner to win the Best Actress Oscar for "Room." At an Academy Award press conference, she was asked what she'll be wearing to the big show.
"That's what you want to ask?" Larson asked the reporter. She then said that she wasn't sure yet, but had a great reason why.
Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Ben Nigh
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Ashley Graham, 28, is about to make history, as she will be the first-ever curvy model to appear in the pages of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue. Her reaction was priceless.
Story by Aly Weisman and editing by Adam Banicki
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Hugh Hefner's 24-year-old son, Cooper, stopped by Business Insider for an exclusive interview during which he talked candidly about his displeasure with Playboy's leadership. He does not agree with the recent decision to eliminate pictures of fully nude women from the magazine, nor the decision to put the Playboy Mansionon the market for $200 million.
Once a regular attendee at the company's board meetings, Cooper has seen his working relationship with the brand diminish since what he describes as a "difference in vision" between he and the company's CEO, Scott Flanders.
Cooper is chief creative officer of Hop, a content-focused media brand geared toward millennials.
Playboy Enterprises declined to comment for this story.
Produced by Graham Flanagan
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Winning the best-picture Oscar at the Academy Awards doesn't just say that a movie is regarded by Hollywood as the top achievement in the medium for the year; it cements a movie with past winners that have gone on to become classics such as "The Godfather," "Lawrence of Arabia," and "On the Waterfront."
But the Academy voters don't always get it right. Tucked away in the 89 years of Oscar ceremonies are best-picture winners that quickly vanish from the zeitgeist, never to be heard from again. That's often because they weren't as good as originally thought.
Here we look back on the 10 most disappointing best-picture winners and choose the nominees that should have won:
SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 12 greatest movies to win the best picture Oscar
Based on the Jules Verne novel, this film used all of Hollywood's resources (a $6 million budget in the 1950s was far from cheap) to create a sprawling look at the world, but the story of a super-rich English gentleman Phileas Fogg (David Niven) who attempts to win his wager to navigate the globe is silly and far from memorable.
Cecil B. DeMille's final directing effort still holds strong today. With its all-star cast, particularly the incredible performance by Charlton Heston as Moses (he didn't even get an Oscar nomination for the role), and its remarkable effects for that era, it's a movie that should have been recognized with the top prize.
The late 1970s and early 1980s were when the melodrama was at its zenith in movie theaters, and "Ordinary People" came around at the perfect time. The film didn't just win best picture — it also achieved best director for Robert Redford and best actor for Timothy Hutton. Granted, the film has explosive performances in it, but there needs to be more than great acting to win best picture.
Amazon and Netflix are both finding success at producing their original content, but the way they go about it is totally different.
For one, Amazon does pilot episodes. Netflix is strongly against them.
A pilot is a single episode meant to test the viability of a series, and has been a staple in network TV for years. Amazon is taking that approach forward into the digital world.
Speaking at the Upfront Summit in Los Angeles, Amazon's SVP of Business Development, Jeff Blackburn, argued his company's approach gives them insight into what may be a viral hit.
The company has now released seven seasons of pilot episodes and developed award-winning shows like "Transparent" and "Mozart in the Jungle" from them. By posting each pilot for Prime customers to review, Amazon's piloting model has been described as both democratic and inventive. As one critic put it, Amazon embodies the "indie" model of filmmaking while Netflix is the big picture studio.
"We put them up in front of prime customers and we let them watch and comment," Blackburn said. "We get incredible data. We can look at that and make better decisions."
Not only does Amazon produce pilots, but it sources them from everywhere. Its Amazon Studios division has an open-door submission policy, meaning anyone can submit a script for a series, not just those with Hollywood connections.
Take one of its hit children's shows, "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street." The screenwriter, David Anaxagoras, was living in his parents' house and working as a preschool teacher when he submitted the script to Amazon. Now he's a creator, writer, and co-executive producer of a show and has his own IMDB page.
That's compared to Netflix, which doesn't believe in the pilot model at all and will either buy or commission a series from start to finish.
It's a model that Netflix fiercely defends. In September, the streaming competitor released its own study arguing that the pilot is ineffective. In its research, viewers get hooked several episodes in and not just after the first.
"Given the precious nature of primetime slots on traditional TV, a series pilot is arguably the most important point in the life of the show," Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos is quoted as saying in the release. "However, in our research of more than 20 shows across 16 markets, we found that no one was ever hooked on the pilot. This gives us confidence that giving our members all episodes at once is more aligned with how fans are made."
The quote from Sarandos was a not-so-subtle jab at Amazon, but Amazon seems pleased so far with its original content strategy.
"I’m not saying Netflix strategy's is wrong, it’s just different. And we like our way," Blackburn added.
SEE ALSO: Why I'm choosing a hotel over Airbnb for my next business trip
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NOW WATCH: Amazon pulls controversial Nazi-themed 'Man in the High Castle' ads from New York subways
Disney reported its best quarterly earnings ever on Tuesday, driven by the success of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
The operating income in its studio entertainment segment surged 86% to $1 billion dollars.
However, earnings from cable networks, which had been the focus of investors due to struggles at ESPN, declined 5%.
In after-hours trading Tuesday, shares of the company were down as much as 5%, and were down 3% pre-market on Wednesday.
The company posted $1.63 in adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the first fiscal quarter. Revenue grew 14% to $15.2 billion.
Analysts had expected adjusted EPS of $1.45 and revenues of $14.73, according to Bloomberg.
Disney shares have fallen 9% over the last 12 months. They dropped sharply last August as investors got more concerned that the decline in cable subscriptions was hurting Disney's media business.
Disney's operating income from cable networks fell 5% to $1.2 billion, as ESPN continued to lose subscribers. The company said the drop was due to higher programming costs for NFL and college football games, even though advertising and affiliate revenues increased.
During the earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said Disney was talking to distribution partners about light packages that would take advantage of shifting consumer trends.
The new year celebrations helped boost revenues at Disney's parks and resorts, which rose 9% to $4.3 billion compared to the same quarter in the prior year. The company added that higher labor costs and new services for guests increased costs in this segment.
This chart shows the after-hours drop:
SEE ALSO: Viacom crashed
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Republican Senator Ted Cruz's latest attack ad features a Donald Trump action figure and a trio of three young boys trashing the real estate mogul.
Produced by Emma Fierberg
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Pricey Sonos speakers can finally play songs streamed through Apple Music.
Sonos announced on Tuesday that Apple Music is now available on Sonos systems worldwide. Sonos players will be able to stream the entire Apple Music catalog as well as other key features like Radio and Beats 1.
Sonos is a high-end system of wireless speakers that requires that music played on them be queued up through its own software. Users won't be able to stream music to a Sonos speaker through the Apple Music app, only through Sonos' own app.
Sonos is by far the most popular wireless audio system used by the 100 largest custom electronics installers. While Sonos has long offered a list of streaming services including Spotify and Tidal, it previously did not support Apple Music.
Sonos has been testing Apple Music integration as part of an open beta for weeks with Apple's blessing, allowing customers with both a Sonos system and an Apple Music subscription to try the integration and hunt bugs before its official release.
“The feedback from Apple Music members on Sonos during the beta period has been great,” Apple internet software and services boss Eddy Cue said in a statement.
Federico Viticci posted a review of the Sonos integration on Macstories based on his experience with the beta:
Overall, Apple Music integration is good news for users who own a Sonos system. The Sonos app is okay and streaming from Apple Music works well, as does search. But if you want the full Apple Music experience, you'll still have to use the Music app on your iPhone and iPad.
SEE ALSO: Why it's so important for Apple Music to support Sonos
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NOW WATCH: Animated map reveals the 550,000 miles of cable hidden under the ocean that power the internet
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The 88th annual Academy Awards are less than a month away.
If you're hoping to catch up with some of the big Oscar contenders before the ceremony, you can head to the movie theater to catch some that are showing, like Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Revenant."
Or you could stay home. Luckily, some of the other nominees are available — or will soon be available — on streaming services.
Here are all of the Oscar nominees you can stream, rent, or buy online before the Oscars on February 28:
SEE ALSO: The 15 most successful Oscar best picture winners, ranked
Nominated: Best picture, best director, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best original screenplay, and best film editing.
Rent/buy: iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Video, YouTube
Nominated: Best picture, best director, best sound editing, best sound mixing, best production design, best cinematography, best makeup and hairstyling, best costume design, best film editing, and best visual effects
Stream: HBO
Rent/buy: Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Video, YouTube
Nominated: Best picture, best actor, best adapted screenplay, best sound editing, best sound mixing, best production design, and best visual effects
Rent/buy: Amazon video, Google Play, iTunes, YouTube
HBO Now, the company's streaming service that lets you get HBO without cable, will whiff on analyst predictions, according to the New York Post.
HBO Now launched in April, and was heralded as a way to reach people who love "Game of Thrones" but didn't love paying $100 a month for cable. The streaming service lets you pay $15 per month to get HBO a la carte.
But the service might not yet have found as big an audience as analysts predicted, the Post reports.
Time Warner is expected to announce HBO Now subscriber numbers for the first time with Wednesday's fourth-quarter earnings, and Wall Street expects the number to be between one and two million. But the Post says inside sources peg the number at 800,000 to one million, barely touching the bottom of that range.
For context, Netflix says it has around 75 million subscribers (as of January), and Hulu has previously reported 9 million subscribers (as of last April).
HBO Now is a big part of the company's bid to become "ecosystem agnostic," as CEO Richard Plepler puts it. That means that HBO will live wherever you are: your computer, phone, tablet, smart TV, Apple TV, Roku, and so on. But it won't be tied to a cable subscription.
The thesis for this is that HBO's brand is being weighed down by bloated cable packages. This is why its hit show, “Game of Thrones,” has been the most pirated show in the world for four straight years — or so the thinking goes.
There have been recent signs that HBO is trying to pump up HBO Now. Early this month, the company released its new series, “Animals,” one day early on both HBO Now and HBO Go (HBO’s other streaming app that is tied to a cable subscription). And though HBO said it has no immediate plans to shift the bulk of its catalog away from a traditional TV release, this shows that apps are a priority.
Slow subscriber growth on HBO Now could be a reason for that.
SEE ALSO: The Pirate Bay now lets you stream movies like Netflix
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NOW WATCH: All the new Netflix shows you’ll be binge-watching this year
The comedy site Funny or Die has released its most ambitious project yet, a 50-minute "movie of the week" spoof adaptation of Donald Trump's book "The Art of the Deal," starring Johnny Depp as the business tycoon before his aspirations to become president.
Depp is pretty much unrecognizable as Trump, as he's decked out in the usual Trump business suits, a paler shade of skin, and he's bloated with the trademark hair. And Depp also has the Trump voice down.
The movie starts with Ron Howard introducing it as an adaptation of Trump's best-selling book that Trump directed and starred in but has never seen the light of day. But Howard found a VHS copy of it at a yard sale and, after wrestling it from an old lady, he's brought it to light.
The movie has a bunch of cameos — including Alfred Molina, Patton Oswalt, Henry Winkler, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Lloyd, Alf, and even "Room" star Jacob Tremblay — and a slew of '80s references.
Sit back and enjoy (and check out some pics of Depp as Trump below):
You can watch the full movie over at Funny or Die.
SEE ALSO: The 15 most successful Oscar best picture winners, ranked
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NOW WATCH: Margot Robbie’s crazed Harley Quinn steals the show in the new ‘Suicide Squad’ trailer
