• From the Ashes: Saudi film inspired by true events set to premiere on Netflix

    Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - "From the Ashes," a Saudi film inspired by true events, is poised to debut on Netflix on January 18, 2024. The film intricately unfolds within the confines of an all-girls' school, where a seemingly routine day takes a harrowing turn when a fire erupts in the...
  • Does Anghami and OSN+ collab make financial sense?

    A first of its kind in the region, the combination will offer consumers digital services of the best and latest in premium movies, TV shows, music, podcasts.
  • Disney to buy stake in Hulu

    It will acquire Comcast's US$8.6 billion stake in Hulu.
  • Stocks slide as investors worry over Middle East crisis

    London, United Kingdom - European and US stock markets fell Thursday as investors worried over rising US Treasury yields and the Israel-Hamas crisis potentially growing into a wider conflict in the Middle East. Wall Street opened higher after falling the previous day, but slid into loss during morning trading, while Europe's...
  • Netflix subscriber base swells with ads and password crackdown

    Netflix shares leapt more than 12 percent to $43.31 in after-market trades on the Nasdaq exchange. The streaming service said in an earnings report that its nascent ad-supported offering was gaining traction, with the number of users increasing nearly 70 percent over the quarter.
  • European telecom firms urge EU to make tech, streaming giants pay

    Telecoms giants say that they need more money to maintain and update the infrastructure to meet Europe's voracious data needs, and that it would be fairer if firms like Netflix contributed towards the cost. But tech behemoths say telecoms companies already get money from customers, while digital rights activists fear...
  • Disney streaming service sees subscribers fall again

    Disney+ finished the quarter with 146.1 million subscribers, compared with just shy of 158 million in the first three months of this year, the group said. All but a sliver of the loss in Disney+ subscribers took place in India, where the entertainment titan early this year lost rights to...
  • Netflix adds 6m subscribers

    The spike in numbers comes after password crackdown.
  • Netflix widens password-sharing crackdown worldwide

    As growth at Netflix cooled last year, the Silicon Valley-based streaming giant set out to nudge people watching for free with shared passwords to begin paying for the service without alienating subscribers. The launch of an ad-subsidized offering around the same time as a crackdown on password sharing is no...
  • Netflix ad-supported plan has nearly 5m users

    As growth at Netflix cooled last year, the Silicon Valley-based streaming company focused on creating a lower priced subscription tier with advertising. Netflix in April said that its total number of subscribers hit a record high 232.5 million.
  • Disney Plus stems financial loss but sheds subscribers for second straight quarter

    Analysts had foreseen an increase in subscribers for the period, but a hike in prices sent customers turning away from the platform that streams Marvel, Star Wars and Disney content across the globe. The contraction of the Disney Plus subscriber portfolio was mainly due to an 8 percent drop in...
  • Cleopatra had white skin, Hellenistic features, Egypt to Netflix

    Cairo, Egypt - Egypt's antiquities ministry insisted on Thursday that Cleopatra had "white skin and Hellenistic characteristics" in an ongoing row over a Netflix drama-documentary depicting the famed beauty of antiquity as black. "Queen Cleopatra", produced by Jada Pinkett Smith and starring Adele James, is due for release on the streaming...
  • Netflix to invest $2.5 bn in South Korean content

    Netflix, which spent more than 1 trillion won ($750 million) developing Korean content from 2015 to 2021, had previously said it would be expanding its South Korean show output, without giving details of spending plans. South Korea has cemented its status as a global cultural powerhouse in recent years, thanks in...
  • Netflix reports mixed earnings as password crackdown coming

    The streaming television giant reported a quarterly profit of $1.3 billion, in line with expectations, but said it had delayed a broad crackdown on sharing of account passwords "to improve the experience for members." As growth at Netflix cooled last year, the Silicon Valley based streaming company focused on creating...
  • France bars public employees from using TikTok on work phones

    Paris, France - France on Friday banned public-sector employees from downloading "recreational applications" on their work phones, the public services ministry said, with a ministerial source adding that Chinese-owned TikTok would be among them. Following bans of TikTok in other European countries, "the government has decided from now on to ban...
  • Netflix soars to 230 mn subscribers, co-founder steps down

    Netflix became a publicly traded company in early 2002 at an opening price of $15 a share. Shares in the streaming television service were up nearly 7 percent to $337.31 in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures. The Netflix board has been discussing succession planning for many...
  • Prince Harry’s memoir goes on sale, after months of publicity

    Some British stores stayed open late for the midnight release of the biggest royal book since Harry's mother Princess Diana collaborated with Andrew Morton for "Diana: Her True Story" in 1992.
  • How film and TV can help the climate change battle

    Analysing a database of 37,453 film and TV scripts from 2016 to 2020, researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) found that just 1,046 -- 2.8 percent -- included any keywords related to climate, and only 0.6 percent mentioned "climate change" specifically. A similar British study by Albert, a...
  • Netflix, Nat Geo films shift attention to ‘forgotten’ Afghan stories

    National Geographic's "Retrograde" follows an Afghan general who tried in vain to hold back the Taliban advance in summer 2021, while Netflix's "In Her Hands" tells the story of the country's youngest female mayor, who had to flee as the Talib took over.
  • Google’s money churning ad engine sputters in rough economy

    Worsening the financial situation for Alphabet is the fact that Google tends not to aggressively promote advertising on its platform with tactics such as trying to convince businesses that online marketing is a smart move during tough economic times, said independent tech analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.
  • Netflix subscriber base grows after chilly start to year

    The company said it ended the third quarter with slightly more than 223 million subscribers worldwide, up some 2.4 million, after seeing subscriber ranks ebb during the first half of the year.
  • Netflix to debut subscription with ads

    After having shunned advertising since it started its streaming service, Netflix acquiesced as competition in the market intensifies and as consumers recoil from soaring inflation. The ad-discounted tier, a first for Netflix, will roll out in Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Spain and the...
  • Deeply divisive Monroe biopic ‘Blonde’ hits Netflix

    While there is almost universal praise for the visceral lead performance by Ana de Armas, critics cannot agree whether the nearly three-hour film is an artistic tour de force
  • Netflix and Disney+ to launch ad-supported subscription

    Netflix and Disney+ will launch an ad-supported subscription in the coming weeks thus biting into the revenue of traditional television channels as the streaming services look toward continued expansion. Netflix, after having long-shunned the notion of advertising on its platform, this year accelerated work on just such an offering.
  • TV series ‘The Crown’ brings mourners closer to royals

    First aired in 2016, it charts the queen's journey from nervous 25-year-old neophyte to national institution as she guided the world's most famous monarchy through decades of scandals and upheaval.
  • The melting fortunes of OSN

    A once market leader that everyone looked up to, OSN is now a paler version of its former glory. It is struggling to keep up with the competition from Netflix, Shahid, and Disney Plus.
  • Brutal Marilyn Monroe biopic shocks Venice

    Based on the semi-fictional book by Joyce Carol Oates, the film is a non-stop swirl of artistic flourishes that pulls no punches in depicting maternal violence, rape, and a particularly shocking interaction with president John F Kennedy.
  • Egypt to set up framework to regulate streaming platform content

    Egypt is to establish a licensing framework for digital entertainment platforms like Netflix that will require them to conform to the majority-Muslim country's "social values," the regulatory body said. The announcement late Wednesday comes just days after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours asked Netflix to drop content that conflicted...
  • Gulf states warn Netflix over content that ‘contradicts’ societal values

    Riyadh--Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf countries on Tuesday accused streaming giant Netflix of broadcasting content that "contradicts Islamic and societal values" and threatened legal action if it was not removed. A statement issued jointly by the Saudi media regulator and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, headquartered in Riyadh, did not...
  • S Korean Netflix hit ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ sparks autism debate

    The endearing "Extraordinary Attorney Woo", featuring a neurodivergent attorney, has been Netflix's most-watched non-English show for over a month, following a path blazed by fellow Korean smash "Squid Game". Even K-pop sensation BTS are fans of the global hit, with band members posting a video performing the signature greeting between...
  • Netflix in the soup for Mexican drug ‘queen’ show

    Sandra Avila Beltran has filed a claim with Mexico's intellectual property agency alleging that the character Teresa Mendoza in "La Reina del Sur" (Queen of the South) is inspired by her own story.
  • Amazon to unveil its $1bn bet with ‘Lord of the Rings’ prequel launch

    It is hard to imagine what the great director would have made of Amazon's $1 billion gamble on "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," a 50-hour television series based on the dry historical footnotes published at the end of book three. The show, out Friday globally on...
  • Disney+ subscribers surge as Netflix stumbles

    The number of people subscribing to Disney+ topped 152 million, up some 31 percent from the same period a year earlier, the entertainment giant said in an earnings report. Disney's bottom line was also boosted by rising revenue from its theme parks, which showed signs of recovering from stifled attendance...
  • Netflix subscriber base thins as competition heats up

    Netflix reported losing subscribers for the second quarter in a row Tuesday as the streaming giant battles fierce competition and viewer belt-tightening, but the company assured investors of better days ahead.
  • Netflix partners with Microsoft to offer cheaper streaming plan

    The ad-supported subscription will be in addition to the three options already available, the cheapest being $10 per month in the United States.
  • Tinder Swindler opens doors for justice, says Pernilla

    The star of the documentary drama, Pernilla Sjoholm, said that they have received support from the people. She said that they are still fighting for justice for the victims of the fraud.
  • Netflix lays off 150 employees

    The growth of streaming service has slowed down in recent past.
  • TINDER SWINDLER: When women fight back

    Four years after being scammed by a conman, and three months after Netflix made the 'most-watched documentary' out of their experience, Pernilla Sjöholm and Cecilie Fjellhøy will speak in Dubai of their refusal to fade away in silence.
  • Could movie theaters help stave Netflix decline?

    With box offices bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic, and Netflix stock plummeting after its first loss of subscribers in a decade, John Fithian, head of the US movie theater industry's trade body, predicts movie theaters could even help the streaming giant adapt to an uncertain future.
  • Will Smith slaps Chris Rock, shadowing CODA triumph at Oscars

    Seeking to reassert its relevance, the Academy Awards gala was packed with big musical performances and three wisecracking female hosts — but will enter the history books for the shocking Will Smith-Chris Rock altercation, which changed the mood of the night before the final prizes were announced.
  • Turkey’s Jews see glimpse of past in Netflix series

    A groundbreaking Netflix series set among Turkey's Jews has been an unexpected hit there, challenging taboos and enthralling audiences with its glimpse into a long-overlooked community.
  • Tens of thousands march in climate protests across France

    "When are we going to talk about it?" read a sign at demonstration in France where thousands came out to urge politician to work on climate crisis issues.
  • Hollywood actor jailed for $650m scam

    Zachary Horwitz has swindled millions in a huge Hollywood Ponzi scheme to finance a lavish lifestyle of yachts, jets and fast cars.
  • Disney+ shines amid streaming TV competition

    Disney saw streaming subscriptions pick up pace as pandemic restrictions ease, while Netflix saw them slow.
  • Netflix subscriber growth slows

    The company saw 221.8 million subscribers in 2021.
  • Beyonce, Jay-Z, Grande, and Billie Eilish shortlisted for Oscar

    Iran's Asghar Farhad is among a select group of auteurs to have won multiple foreign film Oscars previously again makes the cut with morality drama "A Hero."
  • Netflix subscribers numbers jump

    Streaming giant's profit grew 16 percent to $7.5 billion
  • Netflix, UNESCO team up for Africa talent hunt

    The streaming giant is trying to establish itself in the continent through investments in young talent.
  • Netflix buys first video game studio

    The company has bought the California-based Night School Studio
  • Netflix eyes Emmys with ‘The Crown’

    Since the online platform launched in 2007, leading streamer has never won for best drama at the small-screen version of the Oscars