Amazon Reportedly In Talks To Buy Minority Stake In ESPN From Disney

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Recently we learned that Disney was open to selling part of ESPN to a potential partner if the deal was right. This comes from a June interview with CNBC, where Disney CEO Bob Iger said he was open to partnering with other companies to make a new ESPN streaming service work including selling part of ESPN.

This comes as ESPN is working on launching a direct-to-consumer streaming service. This new service would let subscribers watch live ESPN without the need for cable TV.

Since that interview, reports have been flying about who Disney is talking to. Major sports leagues, including the NFL, and rivals like Comcast have all been suggested as potential ESPN Partners. Now, The Information is reporting that Amazon and Disney are in early talks to partner on ESPN’s streaming partnership.

According to the report, Amazon is in talks to possibly offer an ESPN streaming service, likely through its Amazon Channels service. This deal could also see Amazon take a minority stake in ESPN. Amazon has a lot to offer Disney with its ability to stream live events, and a customer base that Disney could use to promote ESPN’s new streaming service.

Amazon is not the only company Disney is reportedly talking to. A few weeks ago, the New York Post reported that Disney has been in talks with media companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Verizon, and T-Mobile, to name a few. The goal is reportedly to take advantage of their technology to help expand the reach of ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service.

Last week The Information reported that Verizon and Disney have started talks about a possible partnership with Verizon and ESPN. Verizon could be a great partner for its technology and a possible bundle deal similar to the Disney+ bundle Verizon recently offered to its wireless subscribers.

Disney owns 80% of ESPN, and the rest is owned by Hearst. Disney would likely want to keep as much ownership as possible, but if the right partner comes along it may be open to selling part of the storied sports network.

Here Are Some Did You Know Facts About

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The professional wrestling fraternity was saddened to learn about the demise of the former WWE World Champion Bray Wyatt at the age of 36. He has long been dealing with an undisclosed illness but nobody expected his condition to have deteriorated, this much.

Earlier this month, Fightful Select reported that the illness Wyatt was dealing with was indeed life-threatening. The source also noted how Wyatt contracted COVID-19 earlier this year which exacerbated heart issues for him.

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Bray Wyatt as WWE Champion in 2017 (image courtesy YouTube)

Bray Wyatt as WWE Champion in 2017 (image courtesy YouTube)

Positive progress towards his pro-wrestling return was noted in recent months but he ultimately suffered a heart attack to pass away. As we mourn the death of one of the most entertaining WWE Superstars of the modern era, here are some lesser-known facts about him:

- Real name Windham Rotunda, Bray Wyatt comes from an enriched family with a tremendous history in pro wrestling. He is the son of former WWE wrestler Mike Rotunda who oversaw the company's non-televised house shows for years until the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two of Mike's brothers, Barry Klinton Windham and Kendall Windham were also wrestlers as they followed in the footsteps of their father, Blackjack Mulligan. Even Bray's own brother, Taylor Rotunda was an ex WWE Star best known as Bo Dallas.

- Bray Wyatt returned to WWE last year at Extreme Rules 2022 with an Uncle Howdy character tagged alongside him. This persona was supposed to be played by his brother Bo but WWE never got the opportunity to reveal the identity.

- In real life, both Bray Wyatt and his brother have been attached to either active or former WWE personalities. While Bo is dating active WWE Superstar Liv Morgan, Wyatt has been married to former WWE in-ring announcer JoJo.

Morgan and Bo reportedly run a farm together and they entered a relationship for their love of farming in the first place. As for JoJo, she took a break from the WWE to focus on her personal life with Bray.

- Following his October 2022 return, Bray Wyatt only competed once on WWE TV which was at the Royal Rumble earlier this year, where he defeated LA Knight in a first-time-ever Pitch Black Match presented by Mountain Dew.

WWE arranging a sponsored match for a particular superstar is an example of how Wyatt was over with the WWE Universe. If the WWEShop.com sale is to go by then he was the second-highest merchandise mover.

Being the franchise player of the WWE, Roman Reigns usually covers the top spot while Wyatt overtook him on quite a few occasions with the invention of The Fiend and those puppets from Firefly Funhouse.

The original Wyatt Family gimmick was so popular among the fans that The White/Black Sheep mask sold like hot cake almost a decade ago. Even during his latest return, he moved tons of merch with Uncle Howdy before illness sidelined him.

- Bray Wyatt was one of those very few top WWE Superstars who never had the chance to successfully defend the WWE Championship in a singles capacity. He won the prestigious belt back at Elimination Chamber 2017 PLE.

Just when people thought that WWE was about to give Wyatt his deserved push, Wyatt lost the momentums by dropping the belt to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 33. Things went worse for him with the follow-up House of Horrors rematch that ended up being a debacle.

Overall, Bray Wyatt is a three-time world champion in the WWE. After 2017, he won the Universal Championship in 2019 as The Fiend only to be victimized by Goldberg. Then in 2020, he regained the title for just seven days before Roman Reigns took it.

Amazon's Bestseller I'm Glad My Mom Died By Jeanette McCurdy (PDF)

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I'm Glad My Mom Died is a memoir by American writer, director and former actress Jennette McCurdy based on her one-woman show of the same name. The book is about her career as a child actress and her difficult relationship with her abusive mother who died in 2013. It is McCurdy's first book and was published on August 9, 2022, by Simon & Schuster.

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SpongeBob SquarePants Pitch Bible (PDF)

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SpongeBob SquarePants, commonly known as the SpongeBob Bible, is the pitch bible for SpongeBob SquarePants . It contains many concepts originally made for the show, but a lot were not included.

The pitch bible is laid out as scientific discoveries from a team of deep sea divers. The research is dedicated to a diver who lost their life due to ocean pressure. The pitch bible starts off detailing the main character, Sponge Boy. It describes his character, how he's different, and his appeal to children. It then shows various drawings of the important buildings and their attributes, with a description of background characters interspersed. After which, A drawing made by Stephen Hillenburg shows a couple on a beach. The woman says "Dave, lets take a moment to talk about the Secondary Characters." It then describes Squidward, Patrick, and Sandy, in that order. A drawing of a tiki saying "other characters is then also seen," followed by drawings and descriptions on Mr. Crabs, Pearl, Plankton, Barnacle Bill, and Mermaid Man. It then describes in further detail, aimed towards executives, of the appeal of Sponge Boy to kids. A comic-style of Sponge Boy is then shown, followed by a Hawaiian background with the text "story ideas for a pilot." Another drawing of Sponge Boy is seen, followed by early plot descriptions and drawings of "Jellyfishing" and "Reef Blower." Another Hawaiian background is shown, now with the text "more story ideas." Then follows plot descriptions for "Mussel Beach," "Squeaky Boots," "Bubblestand," and "Employee of the Month." A drawing of Patrick is shown, followed by more shorter and unnamed story ideas. Another page describing the appeal of Sponge Boy, titled "Why 'SpongeBoy'?" is shown, followed by an image and description of the show pitcher, Stephen Hillenburg. Finally, four drawings depicting various settings in Bikini Bottom are shown, which marks the end of the pitch bible.

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BBC Studios And MultiChoice Strengthen Long-Standing Partnership By Expanding Reach Of BBC Channels On DStv In South Africa

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• BBC UKTV expands its potential audience by a further 2.7 million homes by joining DStv Compact.

• BBC Lifestyle joins DStv family for the first time

• The DStv catch-up window for BBC owned content on BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, BBC UKTV and CBeebies will increase from 30 days to 60 days

BBC Studios’ multi-genre channel, BBC UKTV, will expand to DStv’s Compact package and Lifestyle channel, BBC Lifestyle, will join DStv Family from 1st September 2023. BBC Studios’ will also extend the DStv catch-up window on BBC owned content across channel portfolio from 30 days to 60 days from September, providing DStv audiences further access to the best of British content.

BBC Studios’ multi-genre channel, BBC UKTV (DStv channel 134), launched in December 2023 and has proven to be a channel of choice with subscribers to the DStv Family, Access and EasyView packages with its audience share increasing by 79% in its second quarter since launch. BBC UKTV will now also be available in DStv’s Compact package, providing around 8 million families in South Africa access to a variety of entertainment, natural history series, soaps, and children’s shows from BBC Studios’ award-winning catalogue. Shows coming to the channel in September include Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators, Father Brown Season 3 and Earth's Great Seasons Season 1.

Home to a variety of premium local and entertainment programming, including The Great South African Bake Off Season 4, Listing Jozi and Jamie Oliver Cooking for Less, BBC Lifestyle (channel 174) will be available on DStv Family subscribers for the first time since launch in 2015 in addition to its place in the DStv Compact package. DStv Family subscribers can look forward to Come Dine With Me South Africa Season 9 and Britain’s Most Expensive House Season 2.

BBC Studios’ suite of channels will continue to offer DStv audiences premium programming, now with an increased catch-up window for BBC owned content on DStv catch-up across BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, BBC UKTV and CBeebies, from 30 days to 60 days. Shows include Death in Paradise, Green Planet, The Great British Bake-Off, Hey Duggee and many more.

Pierre Cloete, the Commercial Director at BBC Studios in Africa says “We have a long-standing relationship with Multichoice and are proud of our six incredible BBC channels on the DStv platform. Each channel offers something for everyone with broad genre, trusted quality and international and local talent. I’m so excited to showcase our commitment to going further, broadening the reach of BBC Lifestyle and BBC UKTV and increasing the catch-up window for BBC owned content across our portfolio. This will give even more people in South Africa access to the very best BBC content and I can’t wait for new audiences to find their new favourite shows.”

Arran Tindall, Chief Commercial Officer, EVP, EMEA Key Markets says “We are proud to extend the reach of our portfolio. Adding BBC Lifestyle to Family and BBC UKTV to Compact enables us to reach wider audiences utilizing the richness of the BBC’s content, providing more DStv subscribers access to award-winning shows.”

“We continue to strengthen our content offering, therefore, we are excited about broadening the content scope for our customers,” says Georginah Machiridza, Executive Head of General Entertainment Channels at MultiChoice Group.

Afrikaans Voice Actors For Winter Son On eExtra

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Anton Schmidt as Mazhar

Bradley Oliver as Bora

Insey Cele as Nadide

Stephren Saayman as Burak

Vinette Ebrahim as Fatma

Raynad Slabbert as Efe/Mete

Sue Pyler as Seda

Eloise Cupido as Seda's mom

Dawid Minnaar as Resat

Roderick Jahfta as Yakup

Mortimer Williams as Ismail

Warren Hannelie as Sumru

Liane Heyl as Leyla

Zetske Van Pletzen as Nisan

Dirk Stoltz as Kadim 

Source: Insidus Plus, Die Afrikaans Voice Page

Peach Greek: First Episode To Fan Made Remake To Ed Edd'n Eddy Is Now On YouTube

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Peach Creek is a fan-made adult web series, focusing on the final year of high school for the characters from Ed, Edd n Eddy. Designed as both a love letter and direct continuation of the show, Peach Creek is by fans, for fans.

Set in their final year of High School, life has changed so much for the Eds and the rest of the gang. Lives change and intermingle, people grow. The Eds come to realize that not everyone who you grow up with will be there in the future. Ed deals with his past and present; Edd begins to open up his boundaries; and Eddy has to come to terms with who he is.

Episode 1 is titled The Rug Pull which follows the Eds as they hang out in the van, Edd's life is monotonous.

Afrikaans Voice Actors For Verbode Liefde

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Elma Potgieter as Ülfet

Mari Molefe as Suhandan

Alicia Van Emmenis as Saniye

Natasja Jobs as Fitnat

Saanli Jooste as Nevicihan

Marijke Coetze as Döne

Karin Retief as Azimet

David Johnson as Adil

Charl Van Heyningen as Abbas

Andre Retief as Rüstem Kuloglu

Claudia Jones as Culsum

Danielle Retief as Meliha Kuloglu

Rowlen Van Gericke as Serhat 

Source: Insidus Plus, Die Afrikaans Voice Page

Cartoon Network Launches Fin-Tastic Shark-Themed Quizzes And Activities On Popular Roblox Game

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Cartoon Network is celebrating Discovery Channel's Shark Week on its popular Roblox experience for kids, Cartoon Network Game On!, with shark-themed quizzes and activities. For the first time ever, fans can immerse themselves in Cartoon Network's fully experiential world and interact with sharks. The new in-game shark-themed features will help drive awareness by allowing kids to learn facts about sharks and the importance of their conservation and protection in a fun and engaging way.

 

An immersive experience that transports kids to a realm outside the bounds of reality, Cartoon Network Game On! allows players to experience the virtual world of hit Cartoon Network series - and now, for Shark Week, kids can play games to level up and unlock awesome shark-themed avatar skins and accessories. Like never before, Roblox players can also engage in a shark-specific quiz and answer fun questions in an attempt to unlock shark-specific goodies. 

Additionally, players can adopt "pet" sharks by taking a personality test and getting matched with a shark based on their quiz answers. With multiple selfie spots around Cartoon Network Game On! kids can capture images of their avatar in scenes with characters and take a photo with sharks against an underwater backdrop. Players can also immerse themselves in the ultimate shark experience with shark-themed park rides on the main island.

The experience also incorporates Cartoon Network's award-winning initiative, Cartoon Network Climate Champions, allowing users to interact with characters and help complete challenges on Roblox –to help the Cartoon Network Game On! environment. Specific shark-related Climate Champions challenges will be available in the game to help reinforce the importance of sharks and shark conservation and teach kids shark-related facts. 

Monika Oomen, VP, Brand, Communications and Digital Content Strategy, Kids EMEA, said: 

"We are constantly working to develop new and exciting experiences for kids with real added value on a platform they love. Shark Week is such an important annual event for us, as it gives us the opportunity to showcase these fascinating creatures. We are thrilled to now introduce Shark Week to the young audience on Roblox as well in a uniquely Cartoon Network and kid-relevant way."

Cartoon Network Game On! was launched in December 2022, bringing the network's beloved shows to a broader kids' audience on a popular kid-centred gaming platform. With rip-roaring rides and manic minigames, the fully experiential world is THE place for all things Cartoon Network on Roblox! Accurately reflecting the locations and worlds iconic to five fan favourite shows, Cartoon Network Game On! brings children a whole new way to experience the worlds of Craig of the Creek, Teen Titans Go!, We Bare Bears, Ben 10, and The Amazing World of Gumball. Featuring zip wires, slides, fun rides, and much more, Cartoon Network Game On! gives kids a chance to bond with their favourite Cartoon Network characters, play games, and explore five awe-inspiring islands. It allows players to explore the Creek, hang out in Titans Tower, take a trip to Elmore Junior High School with Gumball, and adventure to fantastical worlds with the Baby Bears or transform into Ben 10's aliens. The experience receives over 2 million monthly visits and a total of 16.2 million visits since launch. Award-winning Cartoon Network Game On! won the 2023 Broadcast Digital Award for Best Digital Support for a Strand, Channel or Genre.

Cartoon Network has demonstrated time after time its ability to know its audience while growing its reach in the metaverse through hit games on Roblox. The network first launched Ben 10 Super Hero Time in 2020, which still ranks as one of Roblox's top branded experiences. The game has averaged an impressive 8 million visits per month and reached over 320 million visits on Roblox. Steering new audiences to the best in kids' animation, Ben 10 Super Hero Time has also inspired kids to discover the colourful, wild, and unexpected world of Cartoon Network.