James Hale

• UTA Signs Recode Cofounder Kara Swisher
• Quibi Sees 300,000 Day 1 Downloads—Just 7.5% Of Disney+’s Debut Audience (Report)

  Quibi may be off to an inauspicious start.

  
• Indie Spotlight: YouTube Fantasy Series ‘Ren: The Girl With The Mark’ Has 8 Million Views And Big-Screen Aspirations

  If you’re thirsty for more Witcher, there’s good news and bad news. Bad news is that season two of the popular series has, like most productions around the world, been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Good news is there’s a fantasy web series on YouTube that shares some of The Witcher’s most engaging ingredients: a dynamic lady lead, a grumpy gent with a soft spot for said lady lead, heaps of worldbuilding, and a terse, time’s-running-out plot.

  
• Amazon Makes Grab For Gaming With Development Of Stadia Competitor, PC Titles ‘Crucible’ And ‘New World’

  Amazon is about to git gud at games.

  
• All Creators In The YouTube Partner Program Can Now Monetize Content About COVID-19
• Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber Takes The YouTube Stage, Will Stream Free Musicals Every Friday
• YouTube Kids App Sees More Usage Than All Major Video Platforms’—Including YouTube (Report)
• YouTube To Launch TikTok Competitor ‘Shorts’ Later This Year (Report)
• TikTok Strikes Short-Term Licensing Deals With Sony, Warner, Universal (Report)
• As More People Shelter At Home, Podcasts See 15% Drop In U.S.-Based Listeners (Report)
• John Krasinski Launches ‘Some Good News’ YouTube Channel, Gaining 330K Subscribers Overnight
• Night Media Hires Fullscreen Exec Michael Gordon To Open L.A. Office, Expand Client Roster (Exclusive)