All stories by Todd Spangler on BroadwayStars

Friday, June 3, 2022

Inside the New Batman Interactive Attraction Set to Open at New York City’s Spyscape (EXCLUSIVE) by Todd Spangler

On Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, right next to a Chik-fil-A, is Spyscape — a two-floor, futuristic-looking museum/interactive experience space that gives spycraft lovers a close-up l…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:01AM
Wednesday, April 6, 2022

TikTok Is Funding Its First Musical, From Creative Lead Behind ‘Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical’ by Todd Spangler

Musical theater has become a thing on TikTok. This Sunday, for example, “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” became the first project that originated on TikTok to win a Grammy. Now the po…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:16PM
Thursday, March 24, 2022

Sebastian Maniscalco Becomes First Stand-Up Comedian to Gift NFTs to Showgoers by Todd Spangler

Top stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco surprised fans at his shows in the New York area by giving away free commemorative NFTs to all ticketholders — the first comedian to launch such …

SOURCE: Variety at 10:42AM
Friday, July 9, 2021

Disney Streaming Division Hires Ex-Netflix Exec Ajay Arora to Lead Commerce, Experimentation Team by Todd Spangler

Disney Streaming Services tapped Ajay Arora, previously Netflix’s director of product innovation for growth, as senior VP of product, commerce and experimentation. In the new role, Arora w…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:32AM
Thursday, June 24, 2021

Spotify Podcast Exec Lauren Jarvis Exits to Join Book Subscription Startup Literati (EXCLUSIVE) by Todd Spangler

Lauren Jarvis, formerly Spotify’s head of content partnerships for North America, has joined subscription book club startup Literati as chief business officer. At Spotify, Jarvis managed t…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:58PM

BuzzFeed Valued at $1.5 Billion in SPAC Deal to Go Public, Will Acquire Complex Networks for $300 Million by Todd Spangler

BuzzFeed is going public in a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which will give the digital media company an implied valuation of $1.5 billion once the pact closes, the…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:58PM
Friday, May 14, 2021

Disney Plus Decelerates: Investors Assess the Streamer’s Road Ahead by Todd Spangler

For Disney Plus, maybe getting the first 100 million subscribers was the easy part. Shares of Disney were down 2.6% in midday trading Friday, after the media company missed revenue estimates…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:18PM
Thursday, May 13, 2021

Disney Plus Hits 103.6 Million Subscribers, as Rapid Growth Cools by Todd Spangler

The jets kept firing for Disney Plus, which reached 103.6 million subscribers worldwide as of April 3, the company reported — although the growth was not as torrid as Wall Street hoped. Th…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:45PM
Wednesday, May 12, 2021

YouTube to Dole Out $100 Million to Creators of YouTube Shorts Videos by Todd Spangler

The latest gold rush in digital video? Short, shareable video clips — like those popularized by Vine half a decade ago, before Twitter shut down the Vine app. YouTube, the world’s bigges…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:10AM
Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Netflix Launches ‘Play Something’ Shuffle Feature Worldwide by Todd Spangler

Netflix has a new way to try to get customers binge-watching in a hurry: The company is launching “Play Something,” which picks a TV show or movie based on what its algorithms think you …

SOURCE: Variety at 07:05PM
Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Netflix Password-Sharing Crackdown Won’t Feel Heavy Handed, Co-CEO Says by Todd Spangler

Netflix wants people to pay their fair share to access its streaming service. But Reed Hastings promises that any crackdown on illicit password-sharing that the company decides to launch acr…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:30AM
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Netflix Falls Short of Q1 Subscriber Targets as COVID-Driven Growth Slows by Todd Spangler

Netflix’s subscriber growth cooled in the first quarter of 2021 after record pandemic-fueled gains last year: The streamer added about 2 million fewer customers than it previously expected…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:56PM
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

GoFundMe Teams With Director Bao Nguyen for ‘#StopAsianHate​ Together’ Film With Olivia Munn, Ken Jeong and More by Todd Spangler

In the wake of escalating violence against Asians in the U.S., crowdfunding site GoFundMe collaborated with independent film director Bao Nguyen to produce a short film that shines a light o…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:24AM
Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Cameo Raises $100 Million From Investors Including Amazon, Google, UTA by Todd Spangler

Cameo, the startup that lets users buy video shout-outs from celebrities, has banked $100 million in Series C funding — which the company says gives it a “unicorn” valuation of just ov…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:52AM
Monday, March 29, 2021

Why ViacomCBS Stock Has Fallen 55% in One Week by Todd Spangler

It’s been a breathtaking week for ViacomCBS investors. Shares of the media conglomerate slipped another 6.7% in regular trading Monday — and the company’s market value has now been cho…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:20PM
Tuesday, March 23, 2021

ViacomCBS Shares Sink 9% After $3 Billion Stock Sale Announcement by Todd Spangler

ViacomCBS stock dropped nearly 9.1% Tuesday, as investors exited positions on news that the media conglomerate will sell up to $3.45 billion in stock as part of funding streaming content. Th…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:43PM

ViacomCBS to Sell $3 Billion in Stock to Fuel Spending on Streaming Content by Todd Spangler

ViacomCBS is readying itself to write some bigger checks for content flowing to Paramount Plus and its other streaming properties. The company, which bowed the Paramount Plus streaming servi…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:40AM
Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Facebook to Launch Self-Publishing Platform for Writers, Journalists to Monetize Content by Todd Spangler

Facebook says it wants to “empower” independent writers and journalists by letting them make money from their work. The social giant on Tuesday confirmed plans to launch a new platform f…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:47PM
Friday, March 12, 2021

Netflix Password-Sharing Crackdown Could Boost Subscriber Count: Analyst by Todd Spangler

Netflix’s new test to verify subscription credentials of users — and convert password freeloaders into paying customers — could help the global streamer grow its subscriber count, acco…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:54PM
Thursday, March 11, 2021

Netflix Is Testing Log-In Warnings to Curb Unauthorized Password Sharing by Todd Spangler

Netflix may be finally getting serious about cracking down on password sharing. The streaming giant in the past week launched a new test that displays a warning to some users that says, “I…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:34PM
Monday, March 1, 2021

Roku to Acquire Nielsen’s Addressable TV Advertising Business by Todd Spangler

Roku will add a fat stack of ad tech to its streaming platform under a deal to buy Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business, putting Roku in position to offer a fully addressable adve…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:11PM
Thursday, February 25, 2021

Twitter Previews ‘Super Follows,’ Which Will Let Users Charge for Exclusive Content by Todd Spangler

Ahead of its analyst day presentation, Twitter outlined an ambitious plan to double annual revenue by 2023. Most of that will continue to come from advertising — but the social network als…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:18PM
Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Audible Slates Broadway Video’s Scripted Comedy Podcasts Starring Keke Palmer, Pete Davidson, Bowen Yang (EXCLUSIVE) by Todd Spangler

Audible is punching up its scripted comedy podcast lineup with two new shows from Broadway Video: “Hit Job,” a high-concept workplace comedy starring Keke Palmer and “Saturday Night Li…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:56PM
Friday, February 12, 2021

Disney Plus Pops to 95 Million Paid Subscribers by Todd Spangler

Disney Plus had the wind at its back to close out 2020: The streaming service notched 94.9 million customers worldwide as of Jan. 2, 2021, the company announced. That’s up more than 8 mill…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:11AM
Thursday, February 11, 2021

Podcast-Clip Startup Podz Taps Katie Couric, Paris Hilton, Mara Schiavocampo as Investors and Advisers by Todd Spangler

Podz, a startup whose app auto-generates highlight clips of podcasts to create what it touts as the industry’s first “audio newsfeed,” has enlisted a trio of female investors and advis…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:06AM
Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Tegna Buys Locked On Podcast Network, Startup Focused on Pro and College Sports Teams by Todd Spangler

Tegna wants a bigger piece of the podcast action: The TV station group announced the acquisition of Locked On Podcast Network, which produces some 160 daily shows for teams across the U.S.�…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:40PM
Thursday, January 21, 2021

Poet Amanda Gorman Goes From Inauguration Star to Internet Sensation by Todd Spangler

President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris ostensibly were the main attractions on Inauguration Day. But Amanda Gorman stole the show with her reading of uplifting poem “The Hill We Climb,�…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:01PM
Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Disney Streaming CFO Vanna Krantz Joins MasterClass as Finance Chief by Todd Spangler

Celebrity-driven online learning platform MasterClass hired Vanna Krantz, most recently chief financial officer of Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, as CFO. At Disney, Krantz built and led the fina…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:00AM
Thursday, December 31, 2020

Ticketmaster Will Pay $10 Million Fine to Settle Federal Charges It Hacked Rival’s System by Todd Spangler

Ticketmaster agreed to pay a $10 million criminal fine to avoid prosecution over charges that it illegally accessed systems of a startup rival to steal proprietary info in an attempt to “c…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:17AM
Saturday, May 18, 2019

TodayTix Banks $73 Million to Boost Theater and Arts Ticketing App by Todd Spangler

TodayTix, a Broadway-born mobile ticketing start-up, is looking to expand into a bigger global media and transaction enterprise with a capital infusion of $73 million led by private-equity f…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:15AM
Sunday, May 5, 2019

YouTube Now Has 2 Billion Monthly Users, Who Watch 250 Million Hours on TV Screens Daily by Todd Spangler

Has YouTube become the new center of gravity for primetime? That’s the narrative it wants Madison Avenue to believe — especially as it relates to coveted younger demos. The Google-owned …

SOURCE: Variety at 09:52AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards