Disney+ activates in UK & WarnerMedia and HBO Max announce Warner Max

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3-7 Feb: Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Max announce Warner Max

WarnerMedia has launched a new film label that that will serve as the feature production arm of forthcoming streamer HBO Max, Variety has reported.

The film label, titled Warner Max, aims to produce between eight to 10 mid-budget movies per year.

The first Warner Max titles will premiere on the service in 2020.

Read more: Warner Bros and HBO Max launch feature production lab
Read more: HBO Max: Too late to the streaming party?

BBC to launch 20 new podcasts

The BBC is planning to launch 20 new radio shows on BBC Sounds, Radio Today has reported.

The broadcaster’s production arm has enlisted Fearne Cotton, 1Xtra’s Dotty and Sideman, plus comedians Matt Lucas and James Acaster to host programmes.

BBC Sounds is also launching four brand new music mixes including 1Xtra R&B Chill from Nadia Jae and Radio 1’s Movie Mixtapes from Ali Plumb.

Read more: Interview: Lisa Opie, BBC Studios

Disney activates Disney+ in the UK

Disney has activated its new streaming service Disney+ for existing subscribers ahead of its official March launch Television Business International has reported.

Users attempting to access the Disney app in the UK were previously confronted by a message telling them that “Disney+ is unavailable in your location”, however, the service is now fully usable on mobile devices.

The service is set to officially launch in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland on March 24 at £5.99/€6.99 per month.

Read more: Disney+ European launch date brought forward
Read more: Disney bets big on the streaming revolution

Netflix adopts AV1 codec for Android users

TVB Europe reported that Netflix has started to employ the AV1 codec to stream content to Android users.

Android users who have enabled the ‘Save Data’ feature on their phones can expect to see a “select” amount of titles on the app thanks to the codec.

Netflix said its “goal is to roll out AV1 on all of our platforms.”

In numbers

$11 billion

The staggering figure Amazon reported its annual advertising expense to have soared to within the last year, gaining the eCommerce retailer the title of ‘biggest advertiser on Earth’.

$15 billion

The annual revenue YouTube revealed the platform brings in. Google’s parent company Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai shared the company’s earnings in its quarterly earnings report.