Ultra High-Fidelity Listening Events for The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’ Taking Place Today

Today, Dolby Laboratories and Universal Music Group will present special listening events for The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” remixed in Dolby Atmos at Abbey Road Studios in London, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary album. The listening events will take place today — Thursday, June 1 — at select cinemas... Read more » Jem Aswad

‘A Monster Calls’ Snags Seven Platino Awards Nominations

Television networks from across Latin America and Spain have again signed on to broadcast the 4th Annual Platino Ibero-American Film Awards. The premier Ibero-American entertainment awards show takes place in Madrid on July 22 and will be aired by TNT in Latin America along with nearly 20 other local networks including Mexico’s Televisa, Telefe in... Read more » John Hopewell

Israel, Proud of Its Hometown Gal, Shrugs Off Lebanon’s Ban on ‘Wonder Woman’

TEL AVIV – The joke going around Israel these days is that “only Gal will bring peace.” Gal, of course, is Israeli supermodel-turned-actress Gal Gadot, star of Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman.” But even Wonder Woman couldn’t broker a truce in next-door Lebanon, which banned the film Wednesday just hours before its premiere because of pressure... Read more » Henry Chu

Video Group Iflix to Launch in Sub-Saharan Africa

Iflix, the Asia-based streaming video group, is to begin operations in sub-Saharan Africa. It is opening facilities in South Africa and plans to roll out services in the second and third quarters of this year in Nigeria, Ghana Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The outfit began operations in 2015 in Malaysia and has now rolled out... Read more » Patrick Frater

WPP Buys into Asian Content Platform 88rising

Leading global advertising agency WPP has made a strategic investment in 88rising, a U.S.-based producer of digital content catering to the Asian millennial market. Headed by Jaseon Ma and founded in 2015, 88rising is based in New York and Los Angeles, with plans to open another in Shanghai. The company is also increasingly involved in... Read more » Patrick Frater

Fox Launches Showtime in Asian Territories

It’s Showtime in Asia as CBS and Fox join forces to bring the U.S. brand to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. CBS has recently been licensing the Showtime brand internationally, with Sky in the U.K., Canal+ in France, and Movistar in Spain among those carrying the U.S. premium cable network’s content and branding within... Read more » Stewart Clarke

A+E Buys Out NBCUniversal From Its German Channels

A+E is continuing to take control of its channels businesses, this time buying out NBCUniversal in Germany. The deal means that A+E will wholly own the A&E and History networks in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg, which were previously run with the international arm of NBCU. The news was announced days after A+E sealed a... Read more » Stewart Clarke