In a bold move sure to provide cover fire for other streaming companies and technology-media-telecom enterprises, Spotify said Monday that it's laying off 17% of its 9,241-head workforce.

The Stockholm-based subscription music streaming supplier is giving the more than 1,500 affected workers five months of severance, as well as continued healthcare coverage over that span. 

But still, the depth of the cuts, coming after two previous smaller rounds of bloodletting, and right before the Christmas holiday, seems a bit shocking. And the context adds to the intrigue: Spotify reported 11% revenue growth for the third quarter, not to mention the addition of 23 million subscribers. 

But alas, 19-year-old Spotify is still losing money. 

And we can't think of any other layoff round in TMT this year that's been bigger. 

In a memo sent to staff Monday morning announcing the cuts, Spotify Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Ek indicated that aggressive expansion by the company during the pandemic, when interest rates were much lower, has resulted in an unwieldy business structure in the here-and-now with the cost of carrying debt much higher. 

“Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact,” Ek wrote. 

He added, “As we’ve grown, we’ve moved too far away from this core principle of resourcefulness."

Shares of Spotify, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, were up more than 8% Monday morning. 

Spotify and Roku said they are bringing video ads to the Spotify app on the Roku platform.

The Spotify app has been available on Roku devices for more than a decade. 

Roku will be offering Spotify video inventory as part of the Roku Audience Network and it will be available as part of Spotify’s Video Everywhere ad offering.

Spotify's Video Takeover ad experience, which reaches users streaming music across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices, will soon include CTV devices, beginning with the Roku platform. In the future, more video ad products, such as video podcast ads, will be added to this offering.

Also Read: Roku Touts Ways To Reach Its Streaming Consumers

For Spotify, the arrangement increases the ability for brands to reach Spotify users with more impactful messages.

“As a longtime leader in the streaming space, we’ve had a front-row seat to audiences choosing streaming to enjoy content and advertisers following suit to reach them,“ Spotify global head of advertising & business platform Lee Brown said. “It’s long been our goal to make Spotify available to anyone on any device and this partnership with Roku answers the call from advertisers who want even more ways to reach our users. Both our brands have been at the forefront of the streaming revolution and together we’re continuing to invest in more opportunities for advertisers to connect with our immersed users.”

Spotify is also in the process of launching a Spotify CTV Partner Network.

“As longtime partners, we’re excited to launch Spotify’s TV streaming video ads that will reach both of our streamers on platform and drive measurable campaign impact for brands,” said Alison Levin, VP, ad revenue and marketing solutions at Roku. “Roku and Spotify are uniquely positioned to make the largest screen in the home work harder for brands. We are thrilled to partner with Spotify on this at launch.”

Late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver have teamed up on a podcast called “Strike Force Five,” which debuts on Spotify August 30. All proceeds from the podcast go to staffers of the late-night shows, who are not working due to the writers’ strike. 

Spotify says, “Strike Force Five welcomes you to a conversation between five rival colleagues for an inside look at late-night television.” It describes how the five hosts decided in the spring to meet weekly, via Zoom, and discuss the Hollywood strikes and what they mean for late-night TV. “What ensued was a series of hilarious and compelling conversations,” Spotify said. 

The series will run for at least 12 episodes, with each host serving in the revolving moderator role. 

Colbert hosts The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Fallon hosts The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on NBC. Kimmel hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC and Seth Meyers hosts Late Night with Seth Meyers on NBC. Oliver hosts Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO. 

Podcast sponsors are Mint Mobile and Diageo (Aviation American Gin, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, Casamigos and Ketel One Vodka). 

“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to watch a football team with five quarterbacks on the field at once?” Spotify wondered. “Introducing Strike Force Five!”

Hulu will examine topical and provocative issues through the eyes of today’s hip-hop artists in RapCaviar Presents, a new documentary series premiering March 30.

The six-part documentary series follows deep-rooted issues including mental health, women’s sexuality, social media criticism and the criminalization of rap that affect hip-hop artists, their fans and society at large, according to Hulu.

Artists and personalities slated to appear in the series — which is based on a Spotify RapCaviar playlist launched in 2015 — include Tyler, The Creator, City Girls, Polo G, Roddy Ricch and Coi Leray, Hulu said.

Also: Disney Investor Expectations of a Hulu Sale Have 'Run Too Far Too Fast,' Wells Fargo Says

RapCaviar Presents is executive produced by Karam Gill, Steve Rivo, Carl Chery, Liz Gateley, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman. ■ 

The average American home consumes entertainment -- streaming video, music, podcasts, etc. -- from nearly 13 different sources, and among those, music streaming giant Spotify is listed as being "most essential."

This is according to Hub Entertainment Research's seminal "Battle Royale" study, which surveyed 3,014 U.S. consumers ages 16-74.

Among those polled, 75% ranked Spotify as a "must have" service vs. "nice to have." 

YouTube was listed as "must have" by 69% of respondents, while Netflix ranked third at 68% and was the only subscription video service ranked in Hub's top seven. 

Among all U.S. homes, 6.2 of the 12.5 entertainment services used, on average, were ranked as "must have." 

The number of sources -- and must have sources -- was higher for consumers age 35 and younger, as well as households with kids. 

Notably, among consumers polled who subscribe to Amazon Prime and use only Prime Video as an Amazon entertainment source, only 45% listed Amazon overall as a "must have" entertainment source. 

But indicating the churn-busting benefits of service bundling, that number shoots up to 64% when Amazon's music and gaming services are also included. 

Google has informed makers of apps residing in its Google Play Store that they’ll no longer be able to circumvent its payment system in order to avoid the 30% revenue-sharing policy on in-app purchases. 

In a blog posted Monday by Sameer Samat, VP of product management for Google, the technology giant said it is giving app makers one year, to September 30, 2021, to comply. 

Currently, Netflix, Spotify and a number of other streaming companies re-direct aspiring users who download their app from Google Play to actually sign up for their service directly from their respective websites. 

“We’ve always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase,” Samat wrote. “To be clear, this policy is only applicable to less than 3% of developers with apps on Google Play. We only collect a service fee if the developer charges users to download their app or they sell in-app digital items, and we think that is fair. Not only does this approach allow us to continuously reinvest in the platform, this business model aligns our success directly with the success of developers.”

Also read: Apple Gets United Coalition Pushback on $15 Billion App Store Biz

Google’s pushback comes as entertainment companies push back on revenue-sharing policies in app stores. Last month, Epic Games sued both Apple and Google, claiming their respective in-app purchase policies violate anti-trust laws. 

Last week, Epic, Spotify and a number of other digital brands announced a new non-profit group intended to further advance this resistance, the Coalition of App Store Fairness. 

Providing a statement to the New York Times, Sarah Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for App Fairness, said the group looks forward to “engaging with Google” to ensure that any changes fit with its principles and are “in the best interest of app developers.”

A group of digital companies, a list highlighted by Spotify, Epic Games and Tile, has united to push back against the policies of the Apple App Store. 

The Coalition for App Fairness is a new non-profit org dedicated to curtailing what its members see as Apple’s abusive behavior toward both content creator/distributors and consumers. 

The group claims that Apple makes $15 billion a year charging 30% commissions on in-app purchases, a rate that it says is outrageously high relative to the maximum of 5% charged by payment services. 

Also read: Apple and Google App Store Hegemony Challenged by 'Fortnite' Maker Epic Games

On its website, the coalition says it’s pushing back in three areas:

App Store Policies: “Apple uses its control of the iOS operating system to favor itself by controlling the products and features that are available to consumers,” the group said. “The company requires equipment manufacturers to limit options, forces developers to sell through its App Store, and even steals ideas from competitors.

The 30% “App Tax” on creators and consumers: "For most purchases made within the App Store, Apple takes 30% of the purchase price. No other transaction fee in any industry comes close. This app tax cuts deeply into consumer purchasing power and developer revenue. This app tax is especially unfair when it is imposed on apps that compete directly with those sold by Apple, driving up their prices and putting them at a distinct competitive advantage.

Consumer freedom: If consumers want to use a modern mobile device, Apple levies a tax that no one can avoid. No competition, no options, no recourse. The Apple App Store policies are prisons that consumers are required to pay for and that developers cannot escape.

The founding members also include: Basecam Blix, Blockchain, Deezer, the European Publishers Council, Match, News Media Europe, Prepear, ProtonMail and SkyDemon.

Apple, which went to court with Epic Games last month to defend its app store policies, sees things differently. It views its App Store as much more of a payment service, also hosting apps and marketing them. 

Comcast said it has launched Spotify on its Xfinity X1 and Flex platforms, enabling customers of those services to access the streaming music service.

Subscribers to Comcast's Xfinity-branded pay TV services can say “Spotify” into their voice remotes to access Spotify Free of Spotify Premium. The streaming music service also will began rolling out to X1 platform customers on June 22 and will be available throughout the footprint in the coming days.

According to Comcast, streaming music consumption has had double-digit growth this year and the increase in working from home -- associated with the stay at home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- is showing that more customers are streaming on their TVs.

“Xfinity customers love the broad range of content available on Xfinity, all easily discoverable with the award winning Xfinity Voice Remote,” said Comcast Cable SVP video and entertainment Rebecca Heap in a press release. “Music streaming on Xfinity X1 and Flex is at an all-time high and we’re pleased our customers will now be able to enjoy Spotify’s Free and Premium tiers and extensive library of on demand music, curated playlists and podcasts right on the TV alongside the growing catalog of entertainment already available on these platforms, adding even more great value to their Xfinity service.”

Spotify joins other streaming music services like Pandora, Amazon Music, Radio.com, iHeartRadio, XITE, NPR One, Music Choice, Stingray Music and Baeble, that are already available on Flex and X1.

Comcast said it has launched Spotify on its Xfinity and Flex platforms, enabling customers of those services to access the streaming music service.

Xfinity Flex customers can say “Spotify” into their voice remotes to access Spotify Free of Spotify Premium. The streaming music service also will began rolling out to X1 platform customers on June 22 and will be available throughout the footprint in the coming days.

According to Comcast, streaming music consumption has had double-digit growth this year and the increase in working from home -- associated with the stay at home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- is showing that more customers are streaming on their TVs.

“Xfinity customers love the broad range of content available on Xfinity, all easily discoverable with the award winning Xfinity Voice Remote,” said Comcast Cable SVP video and entertainment Rebecca Heap in a press release. “Music streaming on Xfinity X1 and Flex is at an all-time high and we’re pleased our customers will now be able to enjoy Spotify’s Free and Premium tiers and extensive library of on demand music, curated playlists and podcasts right on the TV alongside the growing catalog of entertainment already available on these platforms, adding even more great value to their Xfinity service.”

Spotify joins other streaming music services like Pandora, Amazon Music, Radio.com, iHeartRadio, XITE, NPR One, Music Choice, Stingray Music and Baeble, that are already available on Flex and X1.

Fox News has signed a deal with audio streaming service Spotify.

Fox News podcasts, more than 20 of them, and three syndicated talk radio shows--The Brian Kilmeade Show, FOX Across America with Jimmy Failla and The Guy Benson Show--distributed on Spotify's global streaming platform and to its over 250 million monthly users.

Fox News Tuesday (May 5) also launched two new podcasts, The Proud American Podcast and The Trey Gowdy Podcast, the latter featuring the former South Carolina Republican congressman. That will be followed a week later by a third new podcast, FOX Top 5.

The Fox News Podcast division is now among the top 20 podcast networks in the country, according to the company.

Fox News has signed a deal with audio streaming service Spotify.

Fox News podcasts, more than 20 of them, and three syndicated talk radio shows--The Brian Kilmeade Show, FOX Across America with Jimmy Failla and The Guy Benson Show--distributed on Spotify's global streaming platform and to its over 250 million monthly users.

Fox News Tuesday (May 5) also launched two new podcasts, The Proud American Podcast and The Trey Gowdy Podcast, the latter featuring the former South Carolina Republican congressman. That will be followed a week later by a third new podcast, FOX Top 5.

The Fox News Podcast division is now among the top 20 podcast networks in the country, according to the company.

Walt Disney Co. investors heartened by the 10 million users the entertainment conglomerate signed on to its streaming service Disney+ in its first hours won’t ever see that level of growth again, according to Sanford Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger.

In a research note Friday, Juenger wrote that he believes Disney+ subscriber additions have peaked, comparing them to similar stages in the evolution of other streaming video giants Netflix and music service Spotify.

Disney+, fueled in part by free offerings of the service to customers of distributors like Verizon Communications, signed up 10 million users in its first hours of existence on Nov. 12, and ended December with about 26.5 million users. Since then the growth of the service has slacked off a bit -- Disney said most recently that Disney+ had about 28.6 million users as of the beginning of February -- but is still on a path to reach 40 million users in its first year.

“Among the many aspects that make the launch so fascinating and unusual, is the fact that Disney+ has probably already achieved its peak absolute net adds, in the first quarter of its existence,” Juenger wrote. “In other words, there will probably never be another year where Disney+ (or, in fact, the entire suite of Disney OTT services) adds as many subs as it did in the first year (or, frankly, in its first quarter).”

That is different from Netflix and Spotify, which according to Jeunger took about 9 years for growth to level off. And it is for that reason that the analyst believes that applying a Netflix-like multiple to Disney stock is a mistake.

Investors have puzzled over why Disney stock has underperformed the S&P 500 Index since the Disney+ launch (it is down 5% while the S&P has risen 9% in that time frame). But Juenger pointed to the rise in Disney stock prior to its November launch -- particular after its April investor meeting where Disney unveiled its price-point for the streaming service. Disney added about $50 billion in market capitalization on two days -- the day after its April Investor Day and the day after the Disney+ November launch. That works out to about 3 times Juenger’s 2020 revenue estimate for Disney.

But other investors have wondered why, given the accelerated growth of the Disney + service, why the stock doesn’t warrant Netflix-like multiples.

In his note, Juenger estimated that by 2028 Disney+ will reach the same level of subscribers as Netflix and Spotify did in their ninth year -- about 140 million. But he added that while Netflix especially warranted high revenue multiples because of the runway in front of it being the basic inventor of SVOD, such is not the case for Disney+. He estimated that Year 9 subscribers as a multiple of Year 2 subscribers would work out to be 6.5 times for Netflix, 25 times for Spotify and 2.5 times for Disney+.

“The market has applied (much) higher revenue multiples to Netflix and Spotify, early in their development, because the market (rightly) expected so much more growth ahead of them,” Juenger wrote. “Even today, the market expects Netflix and Spotify net sub adds to stay roughly flat, in absolute, before eventually fading into a gradual decline. That's not true, in our strong view, for Disney+.”

That doesn’t mean that Disney+’s rapid subscriber growth is a bad thing. Instead, it is more of an example of the growing maturity of the streaming market and the strength of the Disney brand. Unlike Netflix and Spotify in their early days, consumers did not need to be educated on what Disney is, or what streaming video means.

“Hence, if you like SVOD and you like Disney – why wouldn't you be expected to sign up, immediately?” Juenger wrote. “On the flip side, however, it also begs the other question – why would it not be true that pretty much any consumer who is a strong candidate for this product, would sign up right away? Said in the extreme, maybe everybody who should ever be expected to sign up for Disney+, will do so almost immediately. Of course we don't believe the case is that extreme.” 

The House has made it unanimous, passing the Music Modernization Act without a naysayer among them, following the Senate's passage of the bill unanimously last week.

It now goes to the President's desk for his signature.

The bill creates a framework for better compensation of artists for digital plays of their music and makes it easier for music rights organizations to collect those fees from distributors of streamed music as they do from traditional plays on TV and radio.

Related: Federal Appeals Court Upholds Fractional Licensing

The House had already passed a version of the bill back in April, but had to revote it because of changes in the Senate version.

The legislation has been billed as the most significant change in music licensing laws in decades and has drawn praise from a chorus of stakeholders.

"The bill will result in the most significant improvement of music copyright law in more than a generation, making it easier for creators across the music industry to earn a fair living through their creativity," said Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid.

It incorporates a trio of bills. The base Modernization Act creates a single licensing entity for reproduction rights for digital uses, like those of Spotify, Pandora, Google, Apple and Amazon. It also randomly assigns judges to preside over ASCAP and BMI rate-setting cases, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The package also includes The CLASSICS (Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society) Act, which compensates artists for pre-1972 recordings that had previously not been eligible for digital royalties.

Then there was the AMP (Allocation for Music Producer) Act, which allows for direct payment of royalties to music producers and engineers.

"This critical legislation will benefit songwriters, legacy recording artists, producers, digital streaming services, and music listeners," said National Association of Broadcasters president Gordon Smith. "The MMA is the culmination of a years-long process to find consensus solutions to music licensing problems...."

"We are particularly supportive of a provision in this legislation that ensures an enhanced congressional review of any DOJ changes to the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees. These decrees are essential to a functioning music marketplace, and any action to terminate them will now be preceded by appropriate Congressional oversight to protect the interests of songwriters, licensees, and consumers of music."

“Much has changed in the music industry in the digital age, with online streaming driving increased revenues for creators and copyright owners alike," said Digital Music Association CEO Chris Harrison. "A modern industry requires a modern solution. The MMA finally brings our music licensing laws into the 21st century and ensures greater transparency and efficiency for the entire music ecosystem."

"Creators opened my eyes to the inequities in American copyright law during my first year in Washington,": said Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), one of the legislators who introduced the original version of the bill. "Since then, I have been listening to and working with creators across the nation to make our laws work in the 21st century for the entire music ecosystem. The Music Modernization Act began with a commitment to fairness and found champions in both houses and across the aisle... It has been an honor to work alongside songwriters, publishers, digital streamers, broadcasters, artists and fellow lawmakers to make the music licensing landscape fairer and freer for everyone who’s ever loved a song."

“We’re pleased to see this updated bill pass the House," said Public Knowledge policy counsel Meredith Rose. 

"While the copyright terms in the revised bill aren’t perfect, they are vastly improved from the House’s original version, and avoid locking away pre-1972 sound recordings for many more decades than necessary. Furthermore, the bill now guarantees that old sound recordings will clearly and fully enter the public domain after the expiration of this new federal right.

Hulu has added a mix of new streaming platforms to its repertoire while also moving ahead with a new bundled offering with Spotify, the subscription music streaming service.  

On the device front, Hulu said its SVOD and live TV service is now supported on all 2017, 2018 and select 2016 LG Electronics webOS-powered TVs, as well as all 2018 Samsung TVs running Tizen, and two additional Roku devices – the Roku Streaming Stick (3500) and Roku 2 (4210X).  

Hulu’s new interface and live TV service is also supported on Apple TV (4th gen.), Amazon Fire TV devices, Roku devices, Xbox One, iOS and Android mobile devices, Nintendo Switch and Chromecast.  

Hulu’s mass market bundle with Spotify Premium runs $12.99 per month (with Hulu’s SVOD plan with limited commercials).  

To help prime the pump, existing Spotify Premium subs can get a 99 cent promotional offer to try Hulu’s limited commercial plan for three months.  

That mass market deal follows an earlier bundle that Hulu and Spotify made available to students starting last fall.  

“Based on the outstanding performance of the Spotify and Hulu student package, it’s clear that consumers love to combine their music and television experiences together,” Tim Connolly, SVP, and head of distribution and partnerships at Hulu, said in a statement. “Hulu and Spotify are brands that are defining how fans connect with entertainment in the future, and we are excited to expand our partnership to bring this combined package to all existing and new Spotify Premium subscribers.”

"Our student launch with Hulu was incredibly well received and we are excited to extend our reach by bringing Hulu to more of our Premium members in the US,” added Alex Norstrom, chief premium business officer at Spotify. “Hulu's TV content is highly acclaimed, and with this exclusive Spotify offer we are bundling two top media platforms for an unbeatable price. This is just one example of how we can add value to our premium members day after day." 

Mike Berkley has been named chief product officer of MoviePass, a movie-theater subscription service that works with about 91% of the nation’s theaters.

In his new role, Berkley will head up product strategy and vision for the MoviePass service as it seeks to build its subscriber base and expand its tech integrations with more exhibitors and partners.

Berkley most recently was SVP of product management at Viacom, focused on new digital products and apps for networks such as Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET and Paramount Network. He is also late of Spotify and Comcast, and was founder and CEO of a social video start-up called SplashCast, and an e-learning startup, QMIND.

"MoviePass is one of the most exciting companies to emerge in the entertainment industry in recent years,” Berkley said in a statement. “Just as Netflix has ushered in a renaissance for TV, MoviePass is on the path to do the same for theatrical movies."

MoviePass has a limited time offer going for $7.95 per month (billed for $105.35 for the full year) to first-time subscribers. Those subs can see up to one standard 2D film per calendar day.

MoviePass is a majority-owned subsidiary of Helios and Matheson Analytics.

In a move that signals bigger video-facing ambitions, Spotify this week announced it has acquired MightyTV, a startup that has developed a content recommendation system.

As a result, Brian Adams, founder and CEO of MightyTV, is joining Spotify as VP of technology, where he’ll focus on advertising and marketing technology platforms. Spotify reasoned that Adams’s expertise in programmatic advertising and personalized recommendations will help Spotify further develop its own ad products and its marketing technology platform.

“The content recommendation system MightyTV has built is incredibly aligned with how we think about advertising technology and marketing personalization,” Jason Richman, VP of product at Spotify, said in a statement. “Brian and his team will help us continue to innovate on free monetization and extend our leadership position in programmatic audio.”

RELATED: Starz Connects With Spotify

Spotify launched programmatic audio advertising on a global basis last year, with partners such as AppNexus, Rubicon Project and The Trade Desk, that lets advertisers target audiences by age, gender, genres and playlists.

Adams also founded Admeld, a publisher monetization platform that was created in 2007 and sold to Google in 2011. He ran the DoubleClick Publisher Platform at Google before starting up MightyTV in 2015.

Spotify said the MightyTV team will be based in Spotify’s New York City, Toronto and Stockholm offices.

After the deal was announced, MightyTV noted on its web site that its app will no longer be updated or available, but that the company is “excited about the road ahead.”

Spotify didn’t disclose the financial terms of the acquisition. MightyTV had raised over $4 million, according to CrunchBase.

Though Spotify’s business centers on subscription and free, ad-based music services, the company should be viewed through the lens of a “platform” that can support multiple media types, according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield.

“Platforms have direct relationships with consumers, put the consumer first as they built their businesses and continuously utilize robust amounts of data to improve/adjust their strategy,” Greenfield wrote in a recent blog post (registration required) about why Spotify should make for an attractive acquisition target for media companies. “Stop thinking about Spotify as a music service and start thinking about it as a media platform that simply started with music, but has the potential to be so much more.”

Spotify started to delve deeper into the video world in 2015 when it announced an expansion into video, initially by offering clips and other short-form video from partners such as ESPN, ABC, NBC and Turner.

Starz and Spotify have forged a deal enables the new Starz app to integrate access to soundtracks and individual songs from original series and movies via Spotify's streaming music service.

In addition to integrating the music from select movies and shows, the app will also make curated TV and movie recommendations from Starz based on Spotify music selections.

RELATED: Starz Launches OTT Subscription App

Starz said app subscribers can access songs and soundtracks from original shows and series like Power, Ash vs Evil Dead, Da Vinci’s Demons, The White Queen, Spartacus, and Outlander, as well as movies offered on Starz such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Annie and Disney’s Inside Out.

Spotify Premium users will be able to login and listen to full tracks while consumers who use Spotify’s free offering can listen to 30-second track previews. All users can also save and follow Spotify playlists from within the Starz app, the companies said.

“Starz is thrilled to share plans to soon integrate Spotify’s industry-leading streaming audio capabilities into the STARZ app,” Jeffrey Hirsch, COO of  Starz, said in statement. “Spotify integration will complement and fortify the STARZ app’s appeal for distributors and consumers alike.”

Starz launched its new app, which unifies support for its authenticated TV Everywhere offering and the programmer’s new standalone OTT subscription service, in April.

Google Fiber has joined a growing number of distributors for HBO Now, the premium programmer’s direct-to-consumer OTT service that went live in April 2015, and is also integrating access to Spotify. 

Those OTT services are available to Google Fiber customers as add-ons to their current subscriptions, including Fiber 1000, Fiber 100 as well as Internet/pay TV combos, Google Fiber said. For customers who partake, those services will appear on their monthly bills.

Earlier today, HBO announced that its OTT offering would be coming to PlayStation 3 and PS4 consoles ahead of the October 2 premiere of Westworld.

Last month, Home Box Office chairman and CEO Richard Plepler said HBO Now had its strongest quarter yet, but didn’t reveal any new sub numbers. HBO Now ended 2015 with about 800,000 subs, and Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner Inc.’s CEO, said in March that the sub figure was approaching 1 million.

Others with HBO Now distribution pacts include PlayStation Vue, Frontier, Service  Electric Cablevision, Altice (Cablevision Systems), Apple, and Verizon, among others.

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.

Ken Parks has left Spotify to become executive chairman of Pluto TV, an over-the-top service that delivers a curated lineup of more than 100 linear-style channels.

In addition to serving as chairman of the Pluto TV board, Parks will also head up Pluto TV’s content, distribution and monetization efforts along with other key business initiatives aimed at accelerating the convergence of the TV and online video industries.

Parks was chief content officer at digital music company Spotify, which recently expanded into short-form video and now has more than 20 million paid subs and 75 million total users. Parks, who joined Spotify in 2007, was its first U.S. employee and will remain a “special advisor” to Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek.

Parks, who has been serving as an advisor to Pluto TV since 2014, will be based in New York, where he’ll open an east coast office. Pluto TV is headquartered in Los Angeles.

“The addition of a world class executive like Ken Parks to Pluto TV is a transformative moment for our company,” Tom Ryan, co-founder and CEO of Pluto TV, said in a statement. “Ken’s experience in building a successful global entertainment service will be invaluable to us as we capitalize on our strong momentum to rapidly grow Pluto TV.

“I believe Pluto TV has an enormous opportunity to define the future of television and online video,” Parks added. “As an advisor since 2014, I’ve had a front row seat to the rapid growth the company has achieved so far and I’m thrilled to join the team full-time. The timing is perfect for Pluto TV to reach massive global scale and become one of the premier consumer video platforms in the world.”

Pluto TV currently supports several platforms, including Web browsers, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Android TV devices, Google Chromecast and Apple TV (via AirPlay), and iOS and Android mobile devices.

Founded in 2013, Pluto TV landed a $13 million A round last November led by U.S. Venture Partners, with participation from United Talent Agency and existing investors Sky, Chicago Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, and Luminari Capital.