13-17 Jan: Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

Bundesliga and AWS to revolutionise football viewing experience
Germany football league Bundesliga has enlisted Amazon Web Services to provide the technology behind the delivery of live broadcast of football matches, Rapid TV News has reported. 

Currently broadcasting in over 200 countries, the Bundesliga is teaming up with AWS to use artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics, and storage services to deliver real-time statistics and gameplay predictions.

AWS will also help to build the league new cloud-based services to automate processes for increased operational efficiency.

Steve McQueen says BAFTAs ’need to change’
Acclaimed director Steve McQueen has said that the BAFTAs are at risk of losing credibility if they continue to ignore diversity. According to The Hollywood Reporter, McQueen’s comments came in response to the controversy surrounding the lack of Black, Asian and female talent in the nominations for the 2020 BAFTA Awards.

McQueen said it is “crazy” that films being made to critical acclaim such as Queen & Slim are being snubbed by voters.

Disney+ launch amasses near $100m revenue
In the first 60 days after its launch, Disney’s November release of its new streaming service Disney+ has proved a success, according to new data from a Sensor Tower report. 

Disney+ topped 31 million downloads in Q4, more than double second-place TikTok, and has been downloaded nearly 41 million times across the App Store and Google Play. The unprecedented launch has performed the best out of other similar SVOD launches in terms of user spend, so far it has generated an estimated $97.2 million in user spending.

Football OTT Fanatiz secures $10m funding
Sports streaming service Fanatiz has successfully completed its first round of funding to the tune of $10 million USD, SportsPro has reported. The service, which launched in 2016, offers subscribers live and on-demand content from international sports broadcasters including BeIN.

The service is currently prominent in the US and Latin American market. The new investment will support the platform’s global expansion.

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