is dramatically changing its Audience Score methodology for movies: The site’s standard user rating will now reflect only moviegoers who can prove they’ve bought a ticket to see it in a theater.It’s another troll-fighting move by Rotten Tomatoes, designed to curb coordinated “review bombs” aimed at pushing down the Audience Score for films that certain bad-faith actors dislike. In February, and changed the “Want to See” rating from a percentage score (which had been subject to tampering by trolls) to show the raw number of Rotten Tomato moviegoers who said they intend to see the movie.But...…is dramatically changing its Audience Score methodology for movies: The site’s standard user rating will now reflect only moviegoers who can prove they’ve bought a ticket to see it in a theater.It’s another troll-fighting move by Rotten Tomatoes, designed to curb coordinated “review bombs” aimed at pushing down the Audience Score for films that certain bad-faith actors dislike. In February, and changed the “Want to See” rating from a percentage score (which had been subject to tampering by trolls) to show the raw number of Rotten Tomato moviegoers who said they intend to see the movie.But...WW…

Ecommerce giant announces succession plan after delivering blowout Q4 2020 resultsannounced that founder will step down as CEO in the third quarter of 2021, moving into a new role as executive chair., currently CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), will become Amazon.com’s CEO at that time. The ecommerce giant made the announcement alongside blowout fourth-quarter 2020 , its biggest-ever quarter of revenue — a staggering $125.6 billion — and net income, with $7.2 billion.In prepared remarks, Bezos said it was an “optimal time” for the CEO transition, because Amazon is “at its most inventive...…Ecommerce giant announces succession plan after delivering blowout Q4 2020 resultsannounced that founder will step down as CEO in the third quarter of 2021, moving into a new role as executive chair., currently CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), will become Amazon.com’s CEO at that time. The ecommerce giant made the announcement alongside blowout fourth-quarter 2020 , its biggest-ever quarter of revenue — a staggering $125.6 billion — and net income, with $7.2 billion.In prepared remarks, Bezos said it was an “optimal time” for the CEO transition, because Amazon is “at its most inventive...WW…

Warner Bros. teams with Nifty's to launch 100,000 unique 'Matrix'-inspired avatarsWill “Matrix” fans take the NFT pill?Warner Bros. is launching the sale of 100,000 nonfungible tokens () of “Matrix”-inspired avatars later this month. The studio is pairing the hype over NFTs with the upcoming release of “,” aiming to gin up excitement for the long-awaited fourth movie in the popular sci-fi franchise — and also potentially landing a $5 million windfall over the sale of the digital-collectible NFTs.It’s a natural tie-up that will put fans in the virtual world of “The Matrix,” through what the...…Warner Bros. teams with Nifty's to launch 100,000 unique 'Matrix'-inspired avatarsWill “Matrix” fans take the NFT pill?Warner Bros. is launching the sale of 100,000 nonfungible tokens () of “Matrix”-inspired avatars later this month. The studio is pairing the hype over NFTs with the upcoming release of “,” aiming to gin up excitement for the long-awaited fourth movie in the popular sci-fi franchise — and also potentially landing a $5 million windfall over the sale of the digital-collectible NFTs.It’s a natural tie-up that will put fans in the virtual world of “The Matrix,” through what the...WW…

dropped plans to ban pornography from its service, less than a week after the U.K. content-creator subscription site had citing the need to comply with policies of banking partners.On Wednesday, the company said it “secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community,” suggesting that it has new agreements with banks to pay OnlyFans’ content creators, including those who share sexually explicit material.“Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard. We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1...…dropped plans to ban pornography from its service, less than a week after the U.K. content-creator subscription site had citing the need to comply with policies of banking partners.On Wednesday, the company said it “secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community,” suggesting that it has new agreements with banks to pay OnlyFans’ content creators, including those who share sexually explicit material.“Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard. We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1...WW…

had a big night at the , bringing home a total of seven total trophies — leading all studios — although the streamer failed to grab the prize in the best picture category and came up empty in the acting categories.Netflix had come into Sunday night with 36 nominations, far more than any other studio.The company’s wins at the 93rd Academy Awards included two Oscars for David Fincher’s “Mank,” the most-nominated film this year with 10 nods, for cinematography (for Erik Messerschmidt) and production design (for Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale).“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” adapted from the...…had a big night at the , bringing home a total of seven total trophies — leading all studios — although the streamer failed to grab the prize in the best picture category and came up empty in the acting categories.Netflix had come into Sunday night with 36 nominations, far more than any other studio.The company’s wins at the 93rd Academy Awards included two Oscars for David Fincher’s “Mank,” the most-nominated film this year with 10 nods, for cinematography (for Erik Messerschmidt) and production design (for Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale).“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” adapted from the...WW…

’s multibillion-dollar content spending continues paying off: The lion’s share of U.S. consumers say the streamer has the best original programming, according to a new Morgan Stanley survey.Netflix remains the most frequently cited as offering the best original programming — with 38% of survey respondents picking it as No. 1, per the Wall Street analyst firm’s 2021 streaming survey. That’s roughly in line with Morgan Stanley’s .On the 2021 survey, 12% of respondents said offers the best original programming, followed by , Hulu and which each scored 6%-7% of total responses.According to the...…’s multibillion-dollar content spending continues paying off: The lion’s share of U.S. consumers say the streamer has the best original programming, according to a new Morgan Stanley survey.Netflix remains the most frequently cited as offering the best original programming — with 38% of survey respondents picking it as No. 1, per the Wall Street analyst firm’s 2021 streaming survey. That’s roughly in line with Morgan Stanley’s .On the 2021 survey, 12% of respondents said offers the best original programming, followed by , Hulu and which each scored 6%-7% of total responses.According to the...WW…

One week before was to start as editor-in-chief of Condé Nast’s , she has agreed to “part ways” with the company over racist tweets she had posted as a teenager a decade ago.Condé Nast announced the appointment of McCammond, formerly a political reporter at Axios, to the EIC spot at the all-digital Teen Vogue brand on March 5. Soon afterward, since-deleted Twitter posts came to light in which she used derogatory stereotypes about Asians and homophobic language. McCammond had deleted the offensive tweets two years ago but screenshots of the tweets were recirculated after news of her Teen...…One week before was to start as editor-in-chief of Condé Nast’s , she has agreed to “part ways” with the company over racist tweets she had posted as a teenager a decade ago.Condé Nast announced the appointment of McCammond, formerly a political reporter at Axios, to the EIC spot at the all-digital Teen Vogue brand on March 5. Soon afterward, since-deleted Twitter posts came to light in which she used derogatory stereotypes about Asians and homophobic language. McCammond had deleted the offensive tweets two years ago but screenshots of the tweets were recirculated after news of her Teen...WW…

Video game trade group ESA hopes to return event to Los Angeles in 2022After because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade group that runs the video-game convention confirmed there will be one in 2021 — although it will be online-only.The Entertainment Software Association () announced plans for a “reimagined” all-virtual 2021, set to take place June 12-15, 2021, featuring news and game reveals. The ESA said it will team up with media partners globally “to help amplify and make this content available to everyone for free.”ESA said it has “early commitments” for participation from Nintendo,...…Video game trade group ESA hopes to return event to Los Angeles in 2022After because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade group that runs the video-game convention confirmed there will be one in 2021 — although it will be online-only.The Entertainment Software Association () announced plans for a “reimagined” all-virtual 2021, set to take place June 12-15, 2021, featuring news and game reveals. The ESA said it will team up with media partners globally “to help amplify and make this content available to everyone for free.”ESA said it has “early commitments” for participation from Nintendo,...WW…

More than a dozen books penned by hopped onto ’s best-sellers ranking after the company that oversees the estate of the iconic children’s author said it decided toAs of Tuesday afternoon, 13 of the top 20 best-selling books listed on Amazon in the U.S. were by Dr. Seuss.Among those were four of the books that Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it will stop publishing and licensing: “If I Ran the Zoo” (No. 6), “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” (No. 12), “On Beyond Zebra!” (No. 19) and “Scrambled Eggs Super!” (No. 14). The surge in sales reflected a desire by fans to get copies of the...…More than a dozen books penned by hopped onto ’s best-sellers ranking after the company that oversees the estate of the iconic children’s author said it decided toAs of Tuesday afternoon, 13 of the top 20 best-selling books listed on Amazon in the U.S. were by Dr. Seuss.Among those were four of the books that Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it will stop publishing and licensing: “If I Ran the Zoo” (No. 6), “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” (No. 12), “On Beyond Zebra!” (No. 19) and “Scrambled Eggs Super!” (No. 14). The surge in sales reflected a desire by fans to get copies of the...WW…

UPDATED: Shares of fell more than 20% Thursday, after the publication of an article in which several women alleged that they had “violent and humiliating” sexual encounters with , president of . Penn National, which operates casinos, racetracks and online sports betting, owns a significant equity stake in Barstool.The drop in Penn National’s stock price also came after the company missed Q3 earnings expectations. Revenue climbed 34%, to $1.51 billion, but net profit dropped 65% to $86.1 million (52 cents per share), well below Wall Street average forecasts of EPS of 85 cents. The...…UPDATED: Shares of fell more than 20% Thursday, after the publication of an article in which several women alleged that they had “violent and humiliating” sexual encounters with , president of . Penn National, which operates casinos, racetracks and online sports betting, owns a significant equity stake in Barstool.The drop in Penn National’s stock price also came after the company missed Q3 earnings expectations. Revenue climbed 34%, to $1.51 billion, but net profit dropped 65% to $86.1 million (52 cents per share), well below Wall Street average forecasts of EPS of 85 cents. The...WW…