Edinburgh TV Festival to go digital

The Edinburgh TV festival has been moved online for 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The television industry event was due to take place in Scotland in August but will now be staged as a digital alternative.

It will still include the annual MacTaggart lecture on the state of the industry and sessions with the channel controllers, as well as a string of other events and sessions.

Short-form streaming service Quibi launches

The eagerly anticipated mobile-first streaming app Quibi officially launched in the US on Monday, BBC News reported.

Despite concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, the app launched as planned.

Quibi’s unique selling point is that its original content shows are 10 minutes or shorter, whilst movies are broken into segments. Launch titles include Dummy - the first scripted show to go into production on the platform.

Fox Sports receives three-month extension for Mexico divestment

The Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) has given Disney and 21st Century Fox a three-month extension to divest the Fox Sports channels in Mexico, Telecompaper reported.

The extension was granted due to the global economic slowdown that has happened as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The regulator has given the two companies until August 3 to sell the channels. The sale was a requirement of the $71 billion (€62.2m) merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox, which closed in March 2019.

Google and Twitter reverse coronavirus ad ban

Google and Twitter have announced that they are reversing the decision to ban ads referencing the coronavirus, Campaign reported.

The companies informed clients that they will allow advertising containing references to the coronavirus under certain use cases.

The broad bans had blocked corporate social responsibility, political, and consumer advertisers from running messages about the virus in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation.

NBCUniversal delays launch of NBC Sky World News

NBCUniversal has put the expected release of its news service NBC Sky World News on hold, Variety reported.

The service, initially planned for launch this summer, has stopped all launch plans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The company cited staff working remotely and lockdown measures as reasons to make the decision to delay.

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