By Peter Cohen Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced Monday the general availability of its second region in India. The new Hyderabad region, located in the state of Telangana, is called ap-south-2 and has launched with three Availability Zones. Regions represent the highest level of AWS’s global infrastructure. Regions are separate geographical areas where Amazon has located data centers. Availability Zones, or AZs, are logical groupings of data centers located close to one another. AWS customers can deploy apps to multiple AZs to achieve higher levels of redundancy and reliability. “Availability...

By Andy Fry Leading music video network Vevo is partnering with free global streaming platform, Plex, to launch a slate of streaming channels featuring 24/7 linear programming of premium music videos. The partnership will bring Vevo content to users in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Mexico. “Vevo’s music video expertise and past decade of success has positioned us well to strike linear programming deals with leading streaming platforms,” said Rob Christensen, senior vice president, global advanced TV, Vevo. “This partnership furthers our mission...

By Peter Cohen                     Ericsson announced Tuesday a ten-year investment initiative in the UK focused on 6G research and development. The company said it will invest tens of millions of British pounds in research areas including network resilience and security, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive networks and network efficiency. Ericsson plans to hire 20 dedicated researchers to aid in the efforts, the company said, along with “additional PhD students who will work alongside leading academics, CSPs and industry partners” to further the company’s 6G research projects in the country. While much of...

By Andy Fry From February, Sky is launching a 24-hour ad-free Sky Kids channel which it says will be “packed with a standout slate of Sky Originals and franchise favourites”. The UK service will put the PayTV provider in competition with BBC channel Cbeebies. Aimed at 1-7 year-olds, the channel will be available at no extra cost for Sky TV customers with Sky Kids and NOW Entertainment Members. Franchise favourites on offer include Trolls: TrollsTopia, Clifford The Big Red Dog and Morph, while originals include Fearne Cotton’s scripted show My...

By Stuart Thomson Cloud-based SaaS for broadcast and connected TV provider Amagi has acquired Streamwise, an early stage data aggregation and reporting platform for content distributors. Streamwise specializes in automating and standardising data collection across streaming platforms. Amagi said that the acquisition will help it enhance its data solutions capabilities with comprehensive, more streamlined reporting and dashboards. Amagi holds the belief that the proliferation of FAST channels means that data and insights on content and ad performance will become the key differentiator for content creators, leading many of them to...

By Andy Fry & Mark Layton Streaming platform Disney+ has unveiled its first ever Nordic Original production, a six-part drama called To Cook a Bear. The series is based on the successful novel of the same name by award-winning Swedish author Mikael Niemi. To Cook a Bear takes place in 1852 in the north of Sweden. It centres on the death of a local shepherd girl, initially thought to have been killed by a bear. When a second girl is found dead, however, it seems something more sinister is taking...