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PHILADELPHIA: Cable giant Comcast has begun a beta test of a new streaming service that will offer its internet customers access to a number of live channels, on-demand offerings and a cloud DVR for $15 a month. Stream will be …

ENGLEWOOD: The number of 8K TV sets shipped worldwide will approach 1 million by 2019, IHS predicts, up from about 2,700 this year. The planned use of 8K technology in Japan for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo should spur …

LOS ANGELES: Eli Shibley has joined IM Global Television to serve as president of international distribution and co-productions at the independent studio. The appointment marks the launch of a TV-distribution arm at IM Global Television, which is a division of …

NEW YORK: Of all the new shows that premiered around the world in June, a comedy special featuring Kev Adams on France's M6 generated the most social-media buzz with around 130,000 tweets, according to The WIT. Kev Adams: Voilà, voilà sits …

LOS ANGELES/PAWTUCKET: A new online Transformers series, targeting teens and adults, is in the works following an alliance between Hasbro and Machinima. Few details have been released about the new brand extension, which will skew older than Hasbro's existing Transformers …

NEW YORK: World Screen is staffing up its editorial division with the appointment of Sara Alessi as associate editor. At World Screen, Alessi will contribute to all of the group’s English-language publications, in print and online. Alessi joins World Screen …

NEW YORK: About 40 percent of TV viewers in the U.S. are "Digital Enthusiasts" who subscribe to three or more online video services plus cable TV, GfK MRI says in a new report. Of this new category of Digital Enthusiasts, …

MUNICH/LOS ANGELES: ProSiebenSat.1 Group has taken majority control of Collective Digital Studio (CDS) and is combining it with its Studio71 business to create a global multichannel network (MCN). The German media group picked up a stake in the U.S. MCN …

BEVERLY HILLS: Netflix is launching its original film initiative with Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation, premiering on October 16 worldwide in all territories where the service is available. Beasts of No Nation, starring Golden Globe winner Idris Elba (Mandela: …

LONDON: New research into multi-channel networks (MCNs) by Ampere Analysis reveals that more than 75 percent of the MCNs acquired in the last three years were bought by traditional media groups. The firm's analysis of MCN investments spanning the last …