All stories by Todd Spangler on BroadwayStars

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Disney to Acquire 33% Stake in MLB Advanced Media for $3.5 Billion (Report) by Todd Spangler

Disney has struck a deal with Major League Baseball to acquire a one-third stake in the league’s MLB Advanced Media technology arm for about $3.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. Under the…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:31PM[SHARE]

Disney Bows Social-Like App to Feed Kids Bite-Size, Nontoxic Content by Todd Spangler

Disney has created a secure sandbox for preteens to get a taste of social media " without the risk that they’ll run into something age-inappropriate, scary or offensive. More important…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:34PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Musical.ly's Live.ly App Nears 500,000 Downloads, Already Has First Live-Streamed Hit Show by Todd Spangler

Live.ly, the live-streaming app from Musical.ly that officially launched four days ago, has zoomed to the top of Apple’s free apps chart " with almost 500,000 downloads so far " and…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:54AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 24, 2016

Scott Rudin Joins Board of Barry Diller's Expedia by Todd Spangler

Producer Scott Rudin has been elected to the board of Expedia, the online travel-booking company headed by chairman Barry Diller. Expedia disclosed Rudin’s appointment to the board eff…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:46PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 23, 2016

Time Warner Cable, Charter Routinely Overcharged Customers and Failed to Issue Refunds, Senate Report Finds by Todd Spangler

A U.S. Senate investigation into pay-TV billing practices found that Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications " which completed their $67 billion merger in May " have regularly overbille…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:13PM[SHARE]

Aaron Sorkin to Teach Online Course on Screenwriting by Todd Spangler

For $90, Aaron Sorkin will share his tricks of the screenwriting trade. Sorkin, scribe of such films such as “A Few Good Men,” “Steve Jobs” and “The Social Netw…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:43AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 10, 2016

DanceOn Changes Name to 'Izo' to Expand Music Scope by Todd Spangler

DanceOn, the YouTube network focused on dance culture, has adopted a new name " Izo " as the company looks to stretch its legs more broadly into music content. "We really needed to create an…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:38AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 3, 2016

TheAudience Taps Mike Dodge as CEO, Debbie Menin as EVP Partnerships by Todd Spangler

TheAudience, a social-media and digital content marketing agency focused on connecting brands with cultural influencers, has hired Mike Dodge as CEO and Debbie Menin as executive VP of strat…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:07PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 29, 2016

Hulu Orders 'The Handmaid's Tale' Series Starring Elisabeth Moss from MGM TV by Todd Spangler

Hulu announced a straight-to-series order for “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a drama from from MGM Television starring Elisabeth Moss. The series, based on the novel of the same na…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:53PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 9, 2015

YouTube, Awesomeness Films Announce First Movie: 'Dance Camp' by Todd Spangler

YouTube and Awesomeness Films have announced “Dance Camp,” a music-and-dance teen drama, as the first feature-length film under their co-production deal. The movie, produced by J…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:35PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 21, 2015

ESPN Plugs Content Into StubHub Ticketing Apps by Todd Spangler

ESPN cut a content-distribution deal with event-ticketing site StubHub, part of a bigger initiative by the eBay-owned subsidiary to turn itself into a bigger destination for sports fans. …

SOURCE: Variety at 12:24PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 26, 2015

Twitter Launches Periscope Live-Streaming Video App by Todd Spangler

Twitter has launched live-streaming video app Periscope, developed by the startup it bought earlier in 2015 for a reported $100 million, upping the battle with overnight mobile-app str…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:59AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Is Pre-Release Piracy a Threat to 'Annie's' Box Office? by Todd Spangler

The cyber-attackers who broke down Sony Pictures' digital doors stole five movies and uploaded them to piracy sites " a move that could cost the studio millions of dollars in lost box office…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:00PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 5, 2014

NBC's 'Peter Pan Live' Flies High on Social Media: 106.9 Million Twitter Views by Todd Spangler

NBC’s broadcast of “Peter Pan Live” Thursday drew a huge social-media following — well above the Peacock’s “Sound of Music” broadcast last year and …

SOURCE: Variety at 03:19PM[SHARE]
Monday, October 6, 2014

Kids Love Apple's iPad More Than Disney, Nickelodeon, YouTube: Survey by Todd Spangler

Move over, Elsa. Apple’s iPad is the No. 1 brand among children 6-12, beating out Disney, Nickelodeon, YouTube, Netflix, Toys ‘R’ Us, McDonald’s, and multiple snack-f…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:33PM[SHARE]
Monday, September 1, 2014

Discovery Digital Networks Head Jim Louderback Resigns by Todd Spangler

Jim Louderback, g.m. of Discovery Digital Networks, is leaving the company two years after the cable programmer bought web-video startup Revision3, where he had been CEO. Louderback annou…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:13PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Time Warner Cable Suffers Nationwide Internet, Video-on-Demand Outage by Todd Spangler

Time Warner Cable’s broadband and video-on-demand services were knocked offline for more than two hours Wednesday, with the cable company saying most services were restored by 6 a.m. E…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:52AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Twitch Shuts Down Justin.tv Live-Streaming Video Site by Todd Spangler

Twitch, the videogame-streaming service that Google is in the process of acquiring for $1 billion, has pulled the plug on Justin.tv. Justin.tv, a website designed for users to "lifecas…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:31PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 30, 2014

Netflix Drops All 'Rocky' Movies from Streaming on July 1 by Todd Spangler

Yo, Adrian! The entire “Rocky” film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa is scheduled to expire from Netflix’s streaming service as of July 1, 2014, accord…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:18PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 17, 2014

YouTube to Block Music Videos from Labels That Don't Sign On for Subscription Service by Todd Spangler

YouTube is playing hardball with music companies: The Internet video service this week will begin removing videos from indie labels that have refused to agree to the terms for its music-subs…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:22AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 8, 2014

Endemol Beyond USA Hires Ex-Disney Exec David B. Williams as Content and Tech Strategist (Exclusive) by Todd Spangler

Endemol Beyond USA, the digital multichannel network unit of global TV production firm Endemol, hired former Disney executive and entrepreneur David B. Williams as chief content …

SOURCE: Variety at 03:58PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Broadway's 'If/Then' Starring Idina Menzel Inks Social-Promo Pact with Mashable by Todd Spangler

Producers of Tony-nominated musical “If/Then” starring Idina Menzel are working with Mashable on a digital-marketing campaign, which the parties tout as the first such collaborat…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:19PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 25, 2014

'Mrs. Doubtfire' Was Most-Aired Movie on Basic Cable in 2013 by Todd Spangler

Cable TV loves Robin Williams in old-lady drag. 20th Century Fox's "Mrs. Doubtfire" was the most-aired pic on basic cable in 2013. The 1993 comedy was played 66 times across five networks, a…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:54AM[SHARE]
Friday, March 28, 2014

Last Call: Moviefone's Phone Numbers Go Dead March 31 by Todd Spangler

Mr. Moviefone is about to get disconnected. AOL’s Moviefone dial-in lines will no longer be available after next Monday, March 31, according to a recording on the service. The phone nu…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:27PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 24, 2014

After Disney's Maker Buy, More Deals In Store for Multichannel Networks by Todd Spangler

With Disney’s blockbuster $500 million-plus deal to buy Maker Studios, look for dealmaking activity in the online multichannel network space to continue apace. MCNs are “now top-…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:30PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 6, 2014

Disney Interactive Lays Off 700 Employees by Todd Spangler

Disney Interactive is eliminating 700 jobs, about 26% of its total workforce, as the Mouse House’s games and Internet division struggles to achieve profitability. The cuts were expecte…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:52PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Disney Digital Marketer T.J. Marchetti Joins AwesomenessTV as CMO by Todd Spangler

AwesomenessTV, DreamWorks Animation’s digital division, has hired Walt Disney Studios marketing exec T.J. Marchetti as chief marketing officer. Marchetti will be in charge of all Aweso…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:52PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 3, 2014

NBCUniversal Opens $17 Mil Technology Center in New Jersey, Seeking Industry Collaboration by Todd Spangler

NBCUniversal is trying to transplant some Silicon Valley culture to the East Coast. The media company Monday announced the launch of the 63,000-sq.-ft. NBCU Technology Center in Englewood Cl…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:01AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 31, 2014

Endemol North America Hires Jacob Shwirtz to Lead Social Media for Internet Video Push by Todd Spangler

Jacob Shwirtz, formerly head of social TV at Viacom’s MTV Networks, will join Endemol North America as chief social media officer for its Internet-video division, Endemol Beyond USA…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:29PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 21, 2014

AMC Patron Wearing Google Glass Questioned by Feds at Ohio Theater by Todd Spangler

A man who was wearing a Google Glass device during a showing of “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” last Saturday at an AMC Theatres location in Columbus, Ohio, was questioned by agents …

SOURCE: Variety at 04:58PM[SHARE]
Monday, January 13, 2014

NBCU Wants to Mash Up the News with Stake in Startup NowThis News by Todd Spangler

NBCUniversal’s news division has made a minority investment in NowThis News, styled as a next-generation mobile-social video news provider, in a bid to better reach millennials and oth…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:20AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off