NBCUniversal, following a potentially younger viewing audience wherever it goes, has placed a $200 million bet on the fast-growing BuzzFeed.
The announcement from the division of cable giant Comcast Corp. on Tuesday comes not even a week after it made an identical investment in Vox Media, which runs the food blog Eater, SB Nation and Re/code.
Traditional broadcasters have scrambled to pick up viewers, especially millennials, as habits are reshaped by new technology that allows people to watch what they want, when the want to watch it.
Netflix, the front-runner in on-demand viewing, added 3.3 million worldwide subscribers during its last quarter, ending the period with 65.6 million customers. About 900,000 of the additional subscribers were signed up in the U.S., where Netflix now has 42.3 million customers.
HBO and Showtime are now offering streaming services for a stand-alone monthly charge, free of a traditional cable package.
Cable and satellite services have created stripped down packages seeking to lure millennials and others who want more control over what they pay for.
NBCUniversal said that it wants to begin collaborating on editorial content with its new partners. The deal could allow BuzzFeed to expand its reach.
BuzzFeed has more than 200 million monthly unique visitors and has 1.5 billion monthly video views, NBCUniversal said Tuesday.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More