Live sports event streamer FITE will add an exclusive Metallica concert to its pay-per-view offering of event producer Triller's Nov. 27 Triad Combat event, one of many perks the PPV event aggregator hopes to score from its new parent company.

The event from Triller -- which purchased FITE this past April -- will debut the company's Triad Combat franchise, in which participants fight under boxing and MMA rules within a triangular ring. The legendary rock band will perform several songs as part of the main Triad Combat event, as well as play an exclusive concert featured only on FITE, according to FITE COO Mike Weber. The event retails at a suggested PPV price of $19.99. 

“You have some boxers and MMA fighters involved as part of the Triad Combat event -- and Triller is marketing the heck out of the event -- so we’ll see how it goes,” Weber said. “Metallica is a major hook to bring people in to see something that they’ve never seen before.”

Weber added that Triller brings additional resources to the FITE TV brand, which offers as many as 20 PPV events a week from around the world. In addition to the new Triad Combat franchise, Triller produces PPV boxing events such as last year’s Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. exhibition fight as well as high-profile events such as the VERZUZ franchise, which pits music performers against each other in a battle format.

“While we’ve been a successful company, Triller brings deeper resources to us which will help us on some projects that we’re working on,” Weber said, although he would not provide specific details. ■

Developments this week at BuzzFeed, Vice and Spotify underscore the velocity of over-the-top activity and the race to reach young viewers. In the context of Comcast's rationale this month that millennial viewers were tuned to the Olympics via NBC's digital platforms, this week's flurry of OTT programming movement sets the stage for intense competition between new and old media as well as among the corporations that back them.

To be sure, this week's activities were largely structural and conceptual, not surprising for a languid summer week. But collectively, they are a reminder that OTT providers are aggressively going after audiences that cable and other multichannel platforms are losing.

BuzzFeed's plan to reorganize itself into Entertainment and News departments also demonstrates that new media companies are learning lessons from their predecessors. BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti compared the split to Ted Turner's creation of TBS and CNN.

“Back in the day, all the big incumbents would criticize CNN and TBS and make fun of them, saying they were never going to make it and that they weren’t legitimate,” Peretti told Vanity Fair. "Ted Turner didn’t care what anyone thought, and he built a news and entertainment empire side by side.”

In his memo to staff explaining the restructuring, Peretti said the company cannot organize "around a format or technology."  He said that going forward, the BuzzFeed ventures should "take full advantage of many formats and technologies."

"Having a single 'video department' in 2016 makes about as much sense as having a 'mobile department,'" Peretti said. "As digital video becomes ubiquitous, every major initiative at BuzzFeed around the world will find an expression as video, just like everything we do works on mobile and social platforms."

Under the new structure, the newly created BuzzFeed Entertainment group, headed by current BuzzFeed Motion Pictures president Ze Frank, will include video, lists, quizzes and micro-content. BuzzFeed News, under editor-in-chief Ben Smith, will handle global news, health and video news.

NBCUniversal invested $200 million into BuzzFeed last year, a reminder that old media recognizes where its viewers are heading.

At Vice, the signs of change are more speculative, fueled in part by some raucous remarks this week by CEO Shane Smith and a Wall Street Journal report that The Walt Disney Co. may acquire the 82 percent of Vice that it doesn’t already own. Disney pumped $200 million into Vice last December.

Prior to delivering the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday (Aug. 24), Smith told reporters that it makes sense to sell Vice while it is at “the peak of media valuations.” But he added that Disney has not yet made an offer. The WSJ report put Vice's current valuation at nearly $4.5 billion. Smith suggested that Vice could be worth $50 billion in three or four years.

“If you look at the brands like Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars that have [sold] to Disney, they have all gotten bigger,” Shane was quoted as saying in the WSJ.

On a more mundane level, Spotify -- known for its music dominance -- last week fulfilled its May promise to move into the video realm with original programming. Its first documentary series, Metallica: The Early Years, debuted last weekend. Chapter One (about 8 minutes long) includes exclusive interviews with the band plus archival footage. It was available on YouTube; the next three Metallica segments are available only on the mobile version of Spotify’s app.

Spotify's Landmark series of video music stories will continue with a series on the Beach Boys’s iconic Pet Sounds album.

HBO will telecast a live concert to honor military veterans on Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11).

The inaugural Concert For Valor concert, hosted by HBO and coffee company Starbucks, will honor the courage and sacrifice of America’s veterans and their families, the network said. The concert, which will take place on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and will look to raise awareness for veterans service organizations, will feature performances from such stars as Eminem, Jamie Foxx, Dave Grohl, Metallica, John Oliver, Rihanna (pictured), Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band, as well as special appearances by Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.

HBO will open its feed to affiliates to allow non-HBO subscribers to view the special, said network officials.

“We are honored to play a small role to help raise awareness and support for our service men and women,” said  HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler in a statement. “Their immeasurable sacrifice deserves our nation’s gratitude. This event will not only celebrate their service, but help remind Americans of the many challenges they face on and off the battlefield. We are delighted to join with Starbucks in our mutual effort to pay tribute to our veterans and those currently serving in the military.”