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Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Tata Sky Binge Strengthens OTT Play with the Addition of Voot Select and Voot Kids

Tata Sky Binge strengthens OTT play with the addition of Voot Select and Voot Kids

The aggregator service gives a single sign-in access to 8 premium apps - Disney+ Hotstar Premium, Zee5, SunNxt, Hungama Play, Eros Now, ShemarooMe and now Voot Select and Voot Kids

Strengthening its content catalogue to meet the growing entertainment requirements across age groups, Tata Sky Binge – Tata Sky’s OTT aggregator service has partnered with Viacom18 Digital Ventures to bring onboard their premium content streaming service Voot Select, and kids-focussed Voot Kids - featuring Nickelodeon content - for its growing subscriber base.

This partnership will add India’s top TV shows from Viacom18 and Voot Originals, along with the most-loved cartoon characters from Indian and International shows, to Tata Sky Binge. Bringing the benefits of catch-up and premium OTT content on television, Tata Sky Binge already offers a host of entertainment options from India’s top OTT platforms, such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar Premium, Zee5, SunNxt, Hungama Play, Eros Now and ShemarooMe.

The addition of Voot Select and Voot Kids to the existing vast offering of content on Tata Sky Binge will enable Binge users to access path breaking originals, exclusive international content, cult blockbuster movies in multiple languages and a versatile collection of thousands of videos, e-books, quizzes and audio stories for children with an aim to aid holistic development of their mental, emotional and social faculties.. The partnership will reconceptualize the way content is consumed on television in the age of connected devices and will help cater to a wide set of underserved audiences, giving a fillip to consumer satisfaction quotient.

Commenting on the partnership, Pallavi Puri, Chief Commercial and Content Officer, Tata Sky, said, “Keeping customer requirements at the forefront, we have continued to expand the library for Tata Sky Binge with OTT apps that offer the most popular and relatable content for the entire family. In the current environment when children are facing a dearth of entertainment options, adding Voot Kids will enhance the entertainment experience for kids with a balanced library of fun and learning content. Further, with Voot Select, we will open the doors to Viacom18’s exciting library of movies and top Indian TV shows – all available 24 hours before TV.”

Commenting on the partnership, Gourav Rakshit, COO at Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said, “At Voot, we believe in building a versatile and immersive digital ecosystem that will add value to our users with path-breaking and diverse content experiences. With an increase in demand for content consumption, be it entertainment through Voot Select or fun learning through Voot Kids, this promising collaboration with Tata Sky Binge will help us cater and reach out to a larger audience base. We are delighted to partner with a like-minded brand who resonates with our ideologies and will help us make content viewing an enriching and engaging experience for all our viewers.”

With Voot Select, Tata Sky Binge users can access host of exciting content, including many Voot Originals like Asur, Marzi, Raiker Case, Illegal, etc. Blockbuster movies and on demand content of popular shows from Colors (Hindi), MTV, Nickelodeon, Colors Kannada, Colors Marathi, Colors Bangla, Colors Super and Colors Gujarati will also be featured on the platform. Added to the list are renowned international shows, such as Shark Tank S11, Why Women Kill, The Good Wife, The Affair and The Twilight Zone among others.

At a time when kids are compelled to stay indoors and there has been an increased demand for content to keep them safely engaged at home, the partnership with Voot Kids – India’s only app for kids that provides an amalgamation of learning and entertainment content – will provide the perfect destination for kids on Tata Sky Binge. It offers thousands of hours of popular Indian and international shows, with 200+ cartoons – including favourites like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Pokemon, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Motu Patlu, Dora the Explorer and Ben 10 – 150+ audio stories, 500+ eBooks and 5000+ educational quizzes.

Tata Sky subscribers can access the library of premium OTT apps on Tata Sky Binge via the Amazon Fire TV Stick – Tata Sky Edition for just Rs. 299/-per month. New and existing Tata Sky customers can avail a Tata Sky Binge+ connection at an offer price of Rs. 3999/- which includes 6 months subscription to the Tata Sky Binge platform. Tata Sky Binge customers on the FireTV stick or the Android Box also get access to last 7 days of missed shows (based on linear entitlement) and 3 months of Amazon Prime subscription at no extra cost.

More Nick: Nickelodeon India Brings the Playground Home for Kids with #HomeOkPlease Campaign!

Source: BestMediaInfo; H/T: AnimationXpress.

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Nick Cannon Is NOT Suing ViacomCBS Over 'Wild 'N Out'

Despite the swirling rumors, Nick Cannon is not suing ViacomCBS over his MTV show Wild 'N Out, which was previously reported by The Shade Room. A spokesperson for Cannon told Newsweek that there is no truth to the rumors and they cannot attribute any comment to the news.

Nick Cannon attends the Premiere Of Netflix's "Sextuplets" at ArcLight Hollywood on August 07, 2019 in Hollywood, California. Credit: LEON BENNETT/WIREIMAGE/GETTY

The Shade Room reported on August 12 that the television personality was prepared to file a lawsuit against ViacomCBS for $1.5 billion over his sketch comedy and improv game show. Cannon created the show and serves as its host, and executive producer.

Cannon was reportedly taking legal action after his contract was terminated after he made anti-semitic remarks during an episode of his podcast, Cannon's Class. According to The Blast, the $1.5 billion in damages Cannon allegedly sought was the estimated value of Wild 'N Out.

On July 14, Cannon was dropped from ViacomCBS after calling Black people "true Hebrews."

"You can't be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people," Cannon said during a June episode of his podcast, which included former Public Enemy member Professor Griff. In a 1989 interview, Griff blamed Jewish people for "the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe."

"When we are the same people they want to be. That's our birthright," Cannon added.

The media personality had been working with ViacomCBS for over 20 years under the Nickelodeon and MTV brands of the media company.

"While we support ongoing education and dialogue in the fight against bigotry, we are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him," a statement from ViacomCBS read on July 14.

The day before Cannon was fired from the media conglomerate, he took to Facebook to explain himself. "Anyone who knows me knows that I have no hate in my heart nor malice intentions," Cannon wrote at the time. "I do not condone hate speech nor the spread of hateful rhetoric. We are living in a time when it is more important than ever to promote unity and understanding."

Although Cannon shared another Facebook post where he apologized for his remarks on July 15, he demanded for the complete ownership of Wild 'N Out, along with complete ownership for the MTV show.

"As for Viacom, who is now on the wrong side of history, I will continue to pray for you," Cannon wrote. "I don't blame any individual, I blame the oppressive and racist infrastructure. Systemic racism is what this world was built on and was the subject in which I was attempting to highlight in the recent clips that have been circulating from my podcast. If I have furthered the hate speech, I wholeheartedly apologize."

"But now I am the one making demands," he continued. "I demand full ownership of my billion dollar Wild 'N Out brand that I created, and they will continue to misuse and destroy without my leadership! I demand that the hate and back door bullying cease and while we are at it, now that the truth is out, I demand the Apology!"

Newsweek did not receive comment from ViacomCBS at the time of publication.

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Revisit 'Nickellennium', Nickelodeon's Global Youth & The Future Documentary

Revisit Nickellennium, a Y2K documentary featuring kids with no idea how bad it was about to get.

On New Year’s Day, 2000, there was plenty of reason to feel hope for the future. We’d just managed to evade a global computer glitch that was meant to cause, at worst, nuclear devastation and, at best, our toasters to fly off the counter and right into our faces. If even the dreaded Y2K bug could be overcome, then, well, the new millennium seemed like a time of infinite possibility—a time where technology would help usher in an era of cross-cultural exchange, better-informed global citizens, and life-enhancing new inventions.

We don’t need to get into each and every way the last 20 years have betrayed these kind of hopes, but we can recapture the optimistic mood of the new millennium with Nickellennium, a 24-hour documentary aired by Nickelodeon in the U.S. and U.K. on New Year’s Day, 2000.

Watch through the entire condensed five-hour version or skip around to find a few highlights of what these kids around the world thought might happen in the future. A lot of them are pretty exciting visions of how things will go. There’s a lot of talk about cool technology they imagine existing or how the problems of the year 2000 will be fully solved in the decades to come.

There are examples, of course, of youthful cynicism, too. Some kids describe how everyone in 2050 will be “sad and gloomy” because of the horrible pollution and a child Nostradamus or two predict how computers will take away jobs and damage our sense of human connection. Largely, though, the children think things in general are going to get better.

It’s important to hang onto some good things throughout all of this. Around an hour and 40 minutes into the documentary, a nine year-old Romanian boy says that his wish is to live on an island with a lot of cats by 2040, taking breaks to go visit discos playing metal music. While we don’t have the cat xerox machine he imagines, we do still have cats and metal in 2020. As well as computers that bring us both of these things whilst we continue to lose our sense of human connection.

More Nick: Nickelodeon to Bring 'Rugrats' Back for the Next Generation of Kids!

Original source: The A.V. Club.

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‘SpongeBob’ Voice Actors Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke React to SpongeBob’s Sexuality Following Viral Tweet Celebrating Pride Month

Back in June, Nickelodeon took to social media to celebrate Pride Month by sharing photos of LGBTQ+ characters from some of its most popular series.

In the post that blew up social media, the network shared three photos featuring transgender actor Michael D. Cohen from Henry Danger, Avatar Korra, from The Legend of Korra, who is bisexual, and the beloved SpongeBob SquarePants.

Many Twitter users felt it was confirmation that SpongeBob is part of the queer community, prompting the hashtag #SpongeBobIsGay to start trending.

ET Canada’s Carlos Bustamante caught up with Tom Kenny And Bill Fagerbakke, stars of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run, this week to chat about how they feel about representing the LGBTQ+ community with the iconic character.

“Cartoon characters are always broad strokes, you never know. Bugs Bunny is just Bugs Bunny. Daffy Duck, whatever, SpongeBob’s the same, but I do think from the very beginning SpongeBob and Patrick, it’s really been about being who they are,” Kenny shares.

The 58-year-old voice actor continues: “It’s just okay, this is who I am, this is where I’m at, so deal with it. I’m nice to people, so I think people have always responded to that aspect of them, that they let their freak flag fly and don’t even think about it.”

Adding, “I think it’s really powerful for people. They don’t even think of it in those terms, I don’t think when you’re a kid watching, in those terms. But if you like SpongeBob and his friends, it’s kind of an inclusive vibe that they give off.”

Meanwhile, Fagerbakke says, “I think it comes down to the honesty of the characters, and the honesty of the relationships. It’s all founded, and I think my fellow cast members bring so much to the show and that resonates.”

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run will open in theatres across Canada on August 14. In the U.S., the movie will debut debut digitally via premium video on demand in early 2021 and then move exclusively to CBS All Access. For fans outside North America, the movie will debut on Netflix (including in Canada).

More Nick: CBS All Access to Premiere 'Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years' During Early 2021!

Originally published: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at 21:24 BST.

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What Did You Think of the New 'The Casagrandes' Episode 'Guess Who's Shopping for Dinner?'? | Nickelodeon Fan Poll

What did you think of the brand new The Casagrandes episode "Guess Who's Shopping for Dinner?" Vote in the poll and sound off in the comments below!