The 11th Hour Dispatch — Thursday, June 21, 2018
BINGE WATCH
Viacom has launched MTV Studios, an arm that will produce spinoffs of ’90s MTV originals for streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon. The first three series getting the reboot treatment are Daria, Aeon Flux, and The Real World. Daria & Jodie, the Daria spinoff, will follow Daria and her best friend Jodie Landon. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Inside Amy Schumer alum Grace Edwards will write the series. The previously animated Aeon Flux will be revived as a live-action dystopian future series executive produced by Jeff Davis of Teen Wolf and Gale Ann Hurd of The Walking Dead. Lastly, The Real World will remain pretty much the same, but will be staged in “the current social and political environment,” which is just how I like my trash reality shows. There are likely to be a few more series from MTV Studios if this works out. MTV president Chris McCarthy noted that the studio plans to produce animation, “pure music long-form,” and programming surrounding the “teen and high school space” for streaming services in the future. Viacom CEO Bob Bakish also told The Information and their incredible paywall that it will also be producing a Nickelodeon-branded series for Netflix, so this seems to be a trend Viacom is considering expanding to its other companies too.
YOUNG MONEY
Match Group, the owner of Tinder, OKCupid, and the O.G. dating site Match.com, has purchased a controlling stake in the dating app Hinge. With this deal, the group will acquire 51% of Hinge with the option to purchase the rest of its shares over the next year. If you’re not familiar, Hinge, the fifth-highest grossing dating app, features an “anti-Tinder” feel that nixes swiping and prompts users to build out personalized profiles with three answers to questions about themselves, thanks to a 2016 redesign. The app’s user base has quadrupled since. This isn’t the first time Match has interacted with Hinge, though. It first invested in the company in September 2017 and also joined its board. Match Group closed the day up 1.58% at $43.69.
BIG BUSINESS
It’s the last of Facebook’s properties to do so, but Instagram has officially reached 1 billion active users. It joins Facebook itself and WhatsApp, as well as Google Chrome and YouTube to hit that benchmark. That’s a pretty considerable jump from the 800 million in last reported in September 2017. That, on top of the fact that eMarketer estimates the social platform will pull in $5.48 billion in U.S. ad revenue alone this year (a 70% increase from 2017), could be a major factor in the success of the app’s latest launch, IGTV. If you missed that story, maybe you should read 11th Hour more often…
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
A Phillies fan was rushed to the emergency room last night after being pelted by a flying hot dog. Those nitrates will getcha.
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