Comcast Sets Xfinity Mobile Wireless Launch via Verizon’s Network, Promising Big Savings

Comcast outlined details of its Verizon-powered and Wi-Fi-boosted mobile phone service Thursday — claiming it’s going to shake up the wireless industry by offering substantially lower pricing than other carriers. The service — set to launch by mid-2017 across its footprint — will be sold as a bundle with Comcast’s other Xfinity services. At a minimum... Read more » Todd Spangler

CBS News Boosts CBSN Streaming Outlet With New Shows On Air and Online

CBS News aficionados may soon have a more difficult task ahead of them: differentiating between the news unit’s most venerable TV programs and the CBS News content they stream via CBSN, its video-streaming hub. This summer, the CBS broadcast network is expected to air a limited-run primetime series  put together by producers and correspondents at... Read more » Brian Steinberg

Smurfs Free Bubble-Shooter Mobile Game Pops Up Ahead of ‘Lost Village’ Movie Premiere

A slew of Smurfs is about to swarm over smartphones in a new game — designed in part to drive fans into theaters to see the little blue beings’ new movie this weekend. Sony has launched “Smurfs Bubble Story,” a free bubble-shooter mobile game for kids and Smurfs fans of all ages who care to admit... Read more » Todd Spangler

MipTV: Beta Film Locks New European Deals for Sky Italia’s “1993”

Beta Film has secured a raft of European deals for Sky Italia’s political drama “1993,” it announced Thursday. A follow-up to Sky Italia’s 2015 hit “1992” about the lives of six people intertwined with the rapidly changing political landscape of Italy, “1993” will air in Italy in May. The new series has seen key sales... Read more » Robert Mitchell

MipTV: Endemol Shine Closes Raft of Deals on “Guerrilla”

Endemol Shine International has closed a raft of deals on upcoming drama “Guerrilla” at MipTV, the company announced Thursday. The British drama, created by Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave” writer John Ridley, has secured new deals covering Australia, Spain, Central and Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, as well as home entertainment rights in the... Read more » Robert Mitchell

Do Young Generation Awards Contenders Hail a Hong Kong New Wave?

Young filmmakers are poised to steal the show at the Hong Kong Film Awards. At the ceremony this weekend they go head to head with some of the city’s biggest names for many of the top awards, suggesting the possibility of a long-awaited second wave of Hong Kong cinema. All eyes are on films such... Read more » Patrick Frater

‘Cocote,’ ’A Night of Calypso,’ ‘Aquarius,’ Win Big at IFF Panama

PANAMA CITY — “Cocote,” by Dominican Republic director Nelson Carlo dos Santos and Panama music documentary “Una Noche de Calypso,” from Argentine director Fernando Munoz topped the 3rd Primera Mirada, announced as its joint winners during the closing ceremony of IFF Panama, that wrapped Wednesday. Each film will receive a $7,500 award – a 50/50... Read more » John Hopewell