You know how three-year-olds can be so untrustworthy, always scamming this that or the other person to get what they want (no naps, cookies, and continuous cartoons)? Walt Disney World is stepping up to combat fraud-by-toddler with a new rule requiring all kids ages three and up to get their fingerprints scanned upon entry. [More]
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Disney World Shutting Down Main Street Electrical Parade, Shipping It West
By 8.11.16
Fans of Disney World’s Main Street Electrical Parade will have to head to California to see it come October, after the park announced that the nightly event is shutting down and moving to Disneyland. [More]
Disney Confirms ESPN Streaming Service Without ESPN
By 8.10.16
A month ago, we told you about rumors that ESPN would be offering a new, standalone streaming service but that it wouldn’t include access to the flagship ESPN pay-TV channel. Now ESPN’s parent company Disney has confirmed that such a project is in the works, and that it may use the ESPN name but won’t look like the ESPN you know. [More]
Report: Disney To Buy Part Of MLB.tv
By 7.1.16
Baseball is already brought to you by Disney, if it’s a game on ESPN. But now Disney wants to bring you all the baseball… at least if you stream it online. [More]
10 Chinese Companies You Should Probably Know About
By 6.27.16
Many of the most common household brand names in America are not American companies, and that’s been true for decades. When it comes to technological innovation especially — from cars to phones and every appliance in between — we’ve become used to huge numbers of goods coming from countries in Asia. [More]
Disney Not Happy About Snow White, Captain America Seen At Chinese Theme Park
By 5.31.16
Competition is great: when there are more options for something, consumers usually come out ahead. That applies to entertainment theme parks as much as to anything else: if there are more places to go, crowds will be mitigated, prices will be competitive, and amenities will probably improve. But “competing” doesn’t actually mean “duplicating the other guy’s stuff and displaying it at my place instead.” At least, it’s not supposed to. [More]
Verizon & ESPN Settle Lawsuit Over FiOS “Skinny Bundles”
By 5.10.16
More than a year after Disney-owned ESPN sued Verizon FiOS for not including the expensive sports network in the core channels of its so-called “skinny bundles” — and three months after Verizon brought ESPN back into the fold (while also reducing the number of skinny bundle options available to FiOS subscribers), the two companies have made nice and settled their lawsuit. [More]
Selfie Stick Shuts Down Disneyland Roller Coaster For An Hour
By 5.3.16
Is a selfie stick convenient? Sure, it works great for snapping self-portraits and means you don’t have to ask strangers to take your picture. But it sure as heck isn’t a good thing to use on a roller coaster while it’s in motion. Yeah, we’re looking at you, person who whipped out one of the gadgets on a ride at Disneyland. [More]
Hulu’s Live-TV Streaming Service Would Compete With Co-Owner Comcast
By 5.2.16
The Hulu streaming video service is co-owned by Disney (ABC), Fox, and Comcast (NBC), and — not surprisingly — it has a record of playing nice with its broadcast TV overlords. But a possible pivot into the live-TV streaming market would put Hulu in competition with Comcast. [More]
Nine States Expand Probe Into On-Call Scheduling, 15 More Retailers In The Hot Seat
By 4.13.16
With the help of seven other states and the District of Columbia, New York is expanding the probe into on-call scheduling in the retail world, sending letters to 15 more retailers asking them about their use of the practice. [More]
Sling TV Finally Adding Live Network TV, Multi-Stream Support. Is It Worth It?
By 4.13.16
Since Dish’s Sling TV streaming service launched in 2015, there were two regularly repeated gripes from cord-cutters: That Sling didn’t provide online access to any of the major broadcast networks and that you were forced to only using Sling on a single device at any given time. Sling is now taking steps to address both of these issues, but will they be enough to offer a true cable replacement? [More]
Georgia Governor Vetoes Controversial “Religious Liberty” Bill
By 3.28.16
Amid pressure from civil rights groups and private industry, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has vetoed a controversial piece of legislation that would have allowed religious groups and individuals to deny services to same-sex couples and for faith-based employers to not hire someone based on their sexual orientation. [More]
In Midst Of Disney Lawsuit, Verizon Creates FiOS “Custom TV” Package That Includes ESPN
By 2.19.16
ESPN is easily the most expensive single channel in any basic cable lineup, accounting for around $5 of the average cable bill just on its own. Cable companies are also contractually barred from putting the all-sports network on any sort of premium tier, which is why it was big news last year when Verizon FiOS announced a new “Custom TV” pricing model that made ESPN completely optional for everyone. That’s also why ESPN’s parent company Disney sued Verizon, alleging breach of contract. Now, Verizon has revised Custom TV to include ESPN and other sports channels for customers who want them. [More]
Verizon FiOS May Be Shoving ESPN Back Into Its “Skinny” Bundles
By 1.22.16
Not even a year after Verizon FiOS began offering so-called “skinny” pay-TV bundles that don’t include the pricey ESPN in the required core package — and in the midst of a lawsuit filed by ESPN’s parent company Disney, alleging that Verizon is violating its contract by doing so — the telecom titan is now hinting that it’s the end times for this dream world where consumers weren’t forced to pay so much for a channel they care so little about. [More]
Would You Ditch ESPN To Shave $8/Month Off Your Cable Bill?
By 1.14.16
ESPN is, by far, the most expensive single channel on most cable customers’ basic cable bill, responsible for more than $5/month, with some industry analysts putting an approximately $8/month price tag on ESPN and ESPN 2 together. While it’s long been considered a basic cable must-have, millions of Americans have been dropping their pay-TV packages altogether, and recent surveys show that ESPN wouldn’t be a part of many folks’ ideal a la carte cable menu, meaning not everyone has a desperate need for ESPN. So, could cable companies hold on to their customers by lowering rates in exchange for saying goodbye to the 24-hour sports channel? [More]
Monopoly Games Omit Star Wars’ Lead Female, Relocate Des Moines To Ohio
By 1.5.16
It’s not a good week for Hasbro’s long-running (and apparently inexhaustible) Monopoly franchise. First, the company has to explain why its new Star Wars-themed game leaves out the new film’s female lead character, and now comes news that Hasbro has decided that Iowa’s capital city is actually located hundreds of miles away in Ohio. [More]
Costumes, Toys, And Soup Add Up: Star Wars Stuff May Be Worth More Than $9B To Disney
By 12.14.15
Hey, have you heard of this little movie coming out on Friday? It’s a Star Wars installment. Barely anyone is talking about it and there’s no advertising or merchandise, so it might be easy to… [More]
Disney Decides To Be Evil Again, Re-Sends Copyright Takedown For Star Wars Figure Pic
By 12.11.15
This morning, it seemed like Disney had realized that sending copyright takedown notices for legally obtained and posted photos of Star Wars action figures was maybe not a good idea. But the Dark Side apparently has Mickey in its grips, as Disney continues to send takedown notices for copyright claims the company had already retracted. [More]
