All stories by Todd Spangler on BroadwayStars

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Richard Chamberlain, TV’s Dr. Kildare, ‘Shogun,’ ‘Thorn Birds’ Star, Dies at 90 by Todd Spangler

Handsome leading man Richard Chamberlain, who came to prominence in the 1960s medical series “Dr. Kildare” and then became king of the miniseries with such ratings blockbusters as “Sho…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:31PM
Thursday, March 20, 2025

Disney Shareholders Overwhelmingly Reject Proposal to Sever Ties With LGBTQ Rights Group at Annual Meeting by Todd Spangler

Disney investors on Thursday voted down a proposal that the entertainment giant cease its participation in a prominent LGBTQ rights organization’s equality ratings program. The proposal �…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:31PM
Wednesday, February 26, 2025

YouTube Says It Now Has More Than 1 Billion Monthly Viewers of Podcast Content by Todd Spangler

Podcasts started as an audio-only phenomenon. But now YouTube — the world’s biggest video platform — might be the biggest platform for podcasts. According to the Google-owned video gia…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:37PM
Tuesday, February 11, 2025

YouTube Viewing on TV Now Surpasses Mobile, Desktop in U.S. by Todd Spangler

As YouTube marks its 20th anniversary this year, CEO Neal Mohan is positioning the video platform as a core player in the media and entertainment ecosystem — and the culture at large. Moha…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:09PM
Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Disney Earnings Boosted by ‘Moana 2,’ Disney+ Loses 700,000 Subscribers as Streaming Business Swings to Another Profit by Todd Spangler

Animated blockbuster “Moana 2” put wind into Disney’s sales for the last three months of 2024. The sequel’s strong showing at the box office, along with another profitable quarter fo…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:26PM
Thursday, January 30, 2025

Disney Hires YouTube, Meta Veteran Andre Rohe to Lead Product Engineering for Entertainment Division and ESPN by Todd Spangler

Andre Rohe, who previously held senior engineering roles at Meta, YouTube and Google, has been hired to lead a newly created consolidated product engineering team in the Disney Entertainment…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:43PM
Thursday, December 26, 2024

‘Wicked’ Gets Digital Release Date, With Three Hours of Bonus Content Including Singalong Version by Todd Spangler

Smash-hit musical movie “Wicked” is flying into homes this New Year’s Eve — with a load of deleted scenes, commentary and other extras. Following its theatrical run, the Universal Pi…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:08AM
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Disneyland Workers Seeking to Form Union for 1,700 Character Performers With Actors’ Equity by Todd Spangler

Mickey Mouse, kickin’ ass for the working class? Employees who work in Disneyland’s Characters and Parades departments announced they are unionizing with Actors’ Equity Association. Ac…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:00PM
Friday, September 9, 2022

Audible Sets Four New Comedy Podcasts From Broadway Video, Renews ‘Hot White Heist’ Starring Bowen Yang for Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE) by Todd Spangler

Audible has ordered four more comedy podcasts from “Saturday Night Live” producer Broadway Video and has renewed its LGBTQ action-comedy “Hot White Heist” — with an all-queer cast …

SOURCE: Variety at 07:00AM
Monday, June 13, 2022

Funko Buys Mondo, High-End Pop Culture Collectibles Vendor, From Alamo Drafthouse (EXCLUSIVE) by Todd Spangler

Funko is popping cult-fave pop-culture brand Mondo into its merch mix. Under a deal with indie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse, Funko acquired Mondo, which creates and sells vinyl records and…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:15AM
Friday, June 3, 2022

Inside the New Batman Interactive Attraction Set to Open at New York City’s Spyscape (EXCLUSIVE) by Todd Spangler

On Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, right next to a Chik-fil-A, is Spyscape — a two-floor, futuristic-looking museum/interactive experience space that gives spycraft lovers a close-up l…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:01AM
Wednesday, April 6, 2022

TikTok Is Funding Its First Musical, From Creative Lead Behind ‘Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical’ by Todd Spangler

Musical theater has become a thing on TikTok. This Sunday, for example, “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” became the first project that originated on TikTok to win a Grammy. Now the po…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:16PM
Thursday, March 24, 2022

Sebastian Maniscalco Becomes First Stand-Up Comedian to Gift NFTs to Showgoers by Todd Spangler

Top stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco surprised fans at his shows in the New York area by giving away free commemorative NFTs to all ticketholders — the first comedian to launch such …

SOURCE: Variety at 10:42AM
Friday, July 9, 2021

Disney Streaming Division Hires Ex-Netflix Exec Ajay Arora to Lead Commerce, Experimentation Team by Todd Spangler

Disney Streaming Services tapped Ajay Arora, previously Netflix’s director of product innovation for growth, as senior VP of product, commerce and experimentation. In the new role, Arora w…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:32AM
Thursday, June 24, 2021

Spotify Podcast Exec Lauren Jarvis Exits to Join Book Subscription Startup Literati (EXCLUSIVE) by Todd Spangler

Lauren Jarvis, formerly Spotify’s head of content partnerships for North America, has joined subscription book club startup Literati as chief business officer. At Spotify, Jarvis managed t…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:58PM

BuzzFeed Valued at $1.5 Billion in SPAC Deal to Go Public, Will Acquire Complex Networks for $300 Million by Todd Spangler

BuzzFeed is going public in a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which will give the digital media company an implied valuation of $1.5 billion once the pact closes, the…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:58PM
Friday, May 14, 2021

Disney Plus Decelerates: Investors Assess the Streamer’s Road Ahead by Todd Spangler

For Disney Plus, maybe getting the first 100 million subscribers was the easy part. Shares of Disney were down 2.6% in midday trading Friday, after the media company missed revenue estimates…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:18PM
Thursday, May 13, 2021

Disney Plus Hits 103.6 Million Subscribers, as Rapid Growth Cools by Todd Spangler

The jets kept firing for Disney Plus, which reached 103.6 million subscribers worldwide as of April 3, the company reported — although the growth was not as torrid as Wall Street hoped. Th…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:45PM
Wednesday, May 12, 2021

YouTube to Dole Out $100 Million to Creators of YouTube Shorts Videos by Todd Spangler

The latest gold rush in digital video? Short, shareable video clips — like those popularized by Vine half a decade ago, before Twitter shut down the Vine app. YouTube, the world’s bigges…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:10AM
Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Netflix Launches ‘Play Something’ Shuffle Feature Worldwide by Todd Spangler

Netflix has a new way to try to get customers binge-watching in a hurry: The company is launching “Play Something,” which picks a TV show or movie based on what its algorithms think you …

SOURCE: Variety at 07:05PM
Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Netflix Password-Sharing Crackdown Won’t Feel Heavy Handed, Co-CEO Says by Todd Spangler

Netflix wants people to pay their fair share to access its streaming service. But Reed Hastings promises that any crackdown on illicit password-sharing that the company decides to launch acr…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:30AM
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Netflix Falls Short of Q1 Subscriber Targets as COVID-Driven Growth Slows by Todd Spangler

Netflix’s subscriber growth cooled in the first quarter of 2021 after record pandemic-fueled gains last year: The streamer added about 2 million fewer customers than it previously expected…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:56PM
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

GoFundMe Teams With Director Bao Nguyen for ‘#StopAsianHate​ Together’ Film With Olivia Munn, Ken Jeong and More by Todd Spangler

In the wake of escalating violence against Asians in the U.S., crowdfunding site GoFundMe collaborated with independent film director Bao Nguyen to produce a short film that shines a light o…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:24AM
Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Cameo Raises $100 Million From Investors Including Amazon, Google, UTA by Todd Spangler

Cameo, the startup that lets users buy video shout-outs from celebrities, has banked $100 million in Series C funding — which the company says gives it a “unicorn” valuation of just ov…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:52AM
Monday, March 29, 2021

Why ViacomCBS Stock Has Fallen 55% in One Week by Todd Spangler

It’s been a breathtaking week for ViacomCBS investors. Shares of the media conglomerate slipped another 6.7% in regular trading Monday — and the company’s market value has now been cho…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:20PM
Tuesday, March 23, 2021

ViacomCBS Shares Sink 9% After $3 Billion Stock Sale Announcement by Todd Spangler

ViacomCBS stock dropped nearly 9.1% Tuesday, as investors exited positions on news that the media conglomerate will sell up to $3.45 billion in stock as part of funding streaming content. Th…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:43PM

ViacomCBS to Sell $3 Billion in Stock to Fuel Spending on Streaming Content by Todd Spangler

ViacomCBS is readying itself to write some bigger checks for content flowing to Paramount Plus and its other streaming properties. The company, which bowed the Paramount Plus streaming servi…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:40AM
Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Facebook to Launch Self-Publishing Platform for Writers, Journalists to Monetize Content by Todd Spangler

Facebook says it wants to “empower” independent writers and journalists by letting them make money from their work. The social giant on Tuesday confirmed plans to launch a new platform f…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:47PM
Friday, March 12, 2021

Netflix Password-Sharing Crackdown Could Boost Subscriber Count: Analyst by Todd Spangler

Netflix’s new test to verify subscription credentials of users — and convert password freeloaders into paying customers — could help the global streamer grow its subscriber count, acco…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:54PM
Thursday, March 11, 2021

Netflix Is Testing Log-In Warnings to Curb Unauthorized Password Sharing by Todd Spangler

Netflix may be finally getting serious about cracking down on password sharing. The streaming giant in the past week launched a new test that displays a warning to some users that says, “I…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:34PM
Monday, March 1, 2021

Roku to Acquire Nielsen’s Addressable TV Advertising Business by Todd Spangler

Roku will add a fat stack of ad tech to its streaming platform under a deal to buy Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business, putting Roku in position to offer a fully addressable adve…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:11PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre