business
iHeartMedia Strikes Multiyear Deal With NBA for 20 Podcasts
iHeartMedia has reached a multiyear podcast deal with the NBA that will result in more than 20 podcasts over the next four years, the audio giant said on Wednesday. The podcast deal comes three months after iHeartMedia announced it was creating a podcast network for the NFL as part of a multiyear, exclusive partnership. The NBA’s podcasts, which will be co-produced by iHeartRadio and the NBA, will include a mix of content from the NBA’s archives, player commentary, league news and insider analyses. The first show is expected to premiere this fall, iHeartMedia said. It’s not immediately clear which athletes will participate in the podcasts. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a datin...
Simon Cowell’s ‘The X Factor’ Canceled In U.K. After 17 Years
The X Factor, Simon Cowell’s ratings juggernaut that first aired in the U.K. in 2004 and has given rise to some of the biggest pop acts of the 2000s, has been canceled by British network ITV. The broadcaster has confirmed that there are “no current plans” for another season of the show in the U.K. following rumors in the British media that Cowell himself was axing his most famous reality creation after 17 years. The X Factor — which helped lead to the formation of boy band One Direction and girl group Little Mix, and made Cowell a household name around the world — last aired in Britain in 2018. The show, in which contestants are mentored by judges that over the years have included Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Nicole Sherzinger as they aim to win the public vote, was produced by Fremant...
Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft Post Combined Profits of More Than $50B
Apple’s first iPhone model capable of connecting to ultrafast 5G wireless networks continued to power major increases in quarterly revenue and profits for tech’s most valuable company. With iPhone sales posting double-digit growth over the previous year for the third consecutive quarter, Apple’s profit and revenue for the April-June period easily exceeded analyst estimates. The Cupertino, California, company earned $21.7 billion, or $1.30 per share, nearly doubling profits earned during the same period last year. Revenue surged 36% to $81.4 billion. But in a Tuesday conference call with analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook lamented that the steadily spreading delta variant of the coronavirus is casting doubt on how the rest of the year will unfold. “The road to recovery will be a winding one,” Coo...
Banijay France Acquires Music TV Specialist DMLS TV
With the acquisition, Banijay now controls 11 production labels across the French TV landscape, including Adventure Line Productions, Endemol France, H2O Productions Shine Fiction, and Marathon Studio. The group’s shows range from hit reality formats Survivor and Fort Boyard to high-end drama series Versailles, to daily talk show Touche Pas à Mon Poste hosted by Cyril Hanouna. “As we continue to widen our offering in France and cement our stronghold in the market, DMLS TV is the perfect addition,” said François de Brugada in a statement. “Aligned in our commitment to high-quality, unscripted hits, Anne and Mathieu further bolster our entertainment and music catalog and I’ve no doubt their titles have the capacity to travel the group worldwide.” In a joint statement, Marcassus and Vergne sa...
Ed Sheeran and Dave Battle For U.K. Singles Chart Crown
The competition is Dave, who makes an almighty splash on the chart blast with three entries inside the Top 5. The London rapper’s collaboration with Stormzy, “Clash,” lifts 8-2 and is on track for a new peak. Close behind is “Verdansk” at No. 3, and “In The Fire” starts at No. 4, potentially taking the homegrown hip-hop artist’s career total of Top 10 songs into double figures (10). The Dave takeover follows the release of his new album, We’re All Alone In This Together. Also shaping for a Top 20 debut is Anne-Marie and Little Mix’s new collaboration, “Kiss My (Uh Oh).” Lifted from Anne-Marie’s latest album Therapy, “Kiss My (Uh Oh)” is at No. 14 on the First Look survey. Finally, Lil Nas X and fellow U.S. rapper Jack Harlow’s new release “Industry Baby” opens at No. 16 on the chart ...
KSI, Ed Sheeran Rule U.K. Charts
All Over The Place goes one better than KSI’s 2020 debut Dissimulation, which peaked at No. 2. Also arriving in the Top 10 this week is Pop Smoke latest posthumous album Faith (Republic Records), new at No. 3. The late rapper has the highest new entry on this singles chart this week with Faith track “Deameanor” featuring Dua Lipa, new at No. 14. Meanwhile, John Mayer’s eighth studio record Sob Rock (Columbia)arrives at No. 4. It’s Mayer’s third U.K. Top 10. Foo Fighters’ have a 14th Top 40 album with Hail Satin (Columbia), their Record Store Day release recorded under their disco alter-ego, Dee Gees. It’s new at No. 17. Over on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, Ed Sheeran enters a fourth week at No. 1 “Bad Habits” (Asylum). Sheeran’s latest hit puts up another impressive ta...
Pharrell Williams, Rick Rubin & More of the Most Awarded Producers of the 2000s
Williams won multiple Grammys in all three of these years. He also took the 2003 award for best pop vocal album for co-producing Justin Timberlake’s solo debut Justified; the 2013 award for album of the year for co-producing Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories (and two other awards for its breakout hit “Get Lucky”); and the 2018 award for best pop vocal album for co-producing Ariana Grande’s Sweetener. Rick Rubin and Greg Kurstin are runners-up, with two wins each for producer of the year, non-classical since 2000. Rubin won the 2006 and 2008 awards. Kurstin won the 2016 and 2017 awards. Kurstin was the first producer to win back-to-back awards in this category since Babyface won three years running — 1995-97. Remarkably, Rubin produced or co-produced three of the 2006 album of ...
Tones And I Flies to No. 1 In Australia With ‘Welcome To The Madhouse’
Welcome To The Madhouse features the previously released songs “Fly Away” and “Cloudy Day,” which this week lifts to a new peak, up 44-31. “Dance Monkey” appeared on Tones’ debut 2019 EP, The Kids Are Coming, which peaked at No. 3 on the national survey. “Wow wow wow! Thank you so much Australia for your ongoing love and support, I am blown away,” comments Tones on her latest chart feat. “I can’t bloody believe it, I will not be quitting any time soon. Haha.” In a busy week for new releases, John Mayer’s Sob Rock (Columbia/Sony) starts at No. 3, for the U.S. blues-rocker’s seventh ARIA Top Ten, while Pop Smoke’s second posthumous album Faith (Universal) opens at No. 4. Faith is the followup to Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, which shot to No. 1 in July 2020. Also making an impact on...
LeBron James Said To Be the First Active NBA Player To Earn $1 Billion USD
LeBron James, a Los Angeles Lakers player, businessman and now movie actor, is the first active NBA player to earn $1 billion USD, according to Sportico. According to Sportico‘s sports valuation reporter Kurt Badenhausen, the 36-year-old’s career earnings, which include salaries and endorsements, currently total just over $1 billion USD. Badenhausen says that James is the “first athlete in a U.S. team sport to hit $1 billion USD, with $330 million USD in playing salary and $700 million USD off the court.” Badenhausen adds that James’ off the court earnings include “current endorsement partners AT&T, Beats, Blaze Pizza, GMC, Nike, PepsiCo, Rimowa and Walmart,” and most recently, a Fortnite skin through an endorsement with Epic Games. Badenhausen clarified that there is a “big difference...
Tencent Makes $1.3 Billion USD Bid to Acquire ‘Forza’ and ‘Hitman’ Studio Sumo Group
Chinese tech and gaming giant Tencent has now made a $1.3 billion USD bid to acquire Sumo Group. The British company was founded in England back in 2003 and has since expanded to own more than 10 studios, boasting an inventory of games including Forza Motorsport 7, Hitman 2, Team Sonic Racing, Crackdown 3 and Little Big Planet 3. The pending acquisition forms part of Tencent’s continuous expansion into the gaming industry through acquisitions and purchasing stakes in other developers. The Chinese firm currently owns 100 percent of League of Legends developer Riot Games, 40 percent of Fortnite‘s Epic Games, 23 percent in Dontnod, and five percent each in Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft and Paradox. As of now, no deal has been finalized yet, with Sumo Group sa...
These 4 Motown Stars Received Kennedy Center Honors Before Label Founder Berry Gordy
Gordy, 91, founded Motown Records in 1959. Four of his biggest stars received the honor before he did. Take a look: Stevie Wonder: Wonder was just 49 when he got the honor in 1999. That makes him one of the youngest Kennedy Center Honorees in history, along with LL Cool J (2017) and Midori (2021), who were also 49 when they were honored in 2017 and 2021, respectively, and the creators of Hamilton: An American Musical, who were even younger when they received a special Kennedy Center Honor in 2018. Wonder is the only artist in Grammy history to win album of the year with three consecutive studio albums: Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness’ First Finale (1974) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976). Wonder has amassed 25 Grammys and also won an Oscar for “I Just Called to Say I...
KSI’s ‘All Over The Place’ Races to U.K. Chart Lead
KSI will hope to go one better than the performance of his debut album Dissimulation, which peaked at No. 2 in 2020. Also new to the chart blast is John Mayer with Sob Rock (Columbia), his eighth studio album. It’s at No. 3 on the midweek chart, and should give Mayer his third U.K. Top 10. Just one place behind is Pop Smoke’s second posthumous LP, Faith (Republic Records), new at No. 4 midweek. Meanwhile, Hail Satin (Columbia), the Record Store Day release from Foo Fighters, as the disco alter-ego Dee Gees, is tracking for a No. 7 bow. If it holds it momentum, it’ll mark the Foos’ 12th Top 10 album. Over on the Official Singles Chart Update, Ed Sheeran stays on track for a fourth week at No. 1 with “Bad Habits” (Asylum), ahead of the fast-rising “Heartbreak Anthem” by Galantis, ...
