Chinese Streamer iQiyi Enjoys ‘Miraculous’ Fourth Quarter Surge in Subscribers and Profitability

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor Continuing its global territorial expansion, Netflix picked up and is now streaming Greek TV series “Maestro in Blue,” its first-ever exclusive worldwide distribution deal for a Greek scripted series. Created for Greek broadcaster Mega TV by multihyphenate Christoforos Papakaliatis, “Maestro” was launched on the platform internationally on March 17 and this week hit the global top 10 of the most-watched shows on Netflix. “Maestro” debuted on Greek linear TV last October. Season 1, consisting of nine episodes, premiered on Netflix in Greece and Cyprus in December before expanding to audiences around the world.

Ben Croll For writers of hardboiled fiction, the private eye could act as a conduit, an unmoored guide moving freely across social ranks and situations. For director Nima Javidi – whose new series “The Actor” is the first Iranian production to premiere in competition at Series Mania – the thespian might play a similar role. “Shakespeare said that all the world’s a stage,” Javidi tells Variety. “And that all the men and women are merely players, assuming different roles depending on their situations and what they want to achieve. I thought it was fascinating [to put performers in those private detective roles and have them], overcome obstacles, solve problems, and save themselves and others from difficulties by using their acting abilities.”

SPOILER ALERT: The series includes details about new Netflix series The Night Agent, based on the bestselling novel by Matthew Quirk.

EXCLUSIVE: The most critically acclaimed John Wick of all-time, Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4, is seeing the franchise’s best Thursday previews of all-time at around $8M per industry estimates tonight.

Ed Sheeran has released a music video for ‘Eyes Closed’, the lead single off his upcoming album, ‘-‘.Today (March 24), the singer unveiled the single and its accompanying music video, in which he struggles with love and loss after the tragic passing of two of his closest friends Jamal Edwards and Australian cricketer Shane Warne.While ‘Eyes Closed’ is a pop-leaning cut, it’s really a harrowing track about “losing someone, feeling like every time you go out and you expect to just bump into them, and everything just reminds you of them and the things you did together,” Sheeran explained via a press statement.“You sorta have to take yourself out of reality sometimes to numb the pain of loss, but certain things just bring you right back into it.”Watch the music video for Ed Sheeran’s ‘Eyes Closed’ below.In the video, Sheeran is followed around by a big, fluffy blue creature that only he can see. Speaking on the themes of the video, the singer said: “When I was thinking of concepts for the ‘Eyes Closed’ music video, I wanted to make a video inspired by movies like Harvey, where the main character has an imaginary friend who’s a giant rabbit that no one can see.

Linkin Park have released ‘Fighting Myself’, a previously unheard outtake that was recorded for the band’s ‘Meteora’ album in 2003.Out today (March 24), the track marks the second ‘Meteora’ outtake to be released following ‘Lost’ in February. Both tracks – and more to come – will feature on the upcoming 20th anniversary edition of the band’s ‘Meteora’ package, available from April 7 onwards.‘Fighting Myself’ is composed of vocal stems from the band’s late vocalist Chester Bennington and rap verses from Mike Shinoda.

Cube of Fortune.A graduate student and barista had an interesting flex to show off at a bizarre request from “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak.“Take something out of your pocket,” Nathan Benson from Plano, Texas, was told by Sajak.The accounting student nonchalantly pulled a jumbled Rubik’s Cube out of his jacket pocket and started solving the colorful square while continuing his conversation with Sajak.An eager Sajak asked Benson what the record was for the fast-solving of the cube, to which the barista says, “Like three and a half seconds,” revealing that he’s much slower at solving the Rubik’s cube with his eyes opened.“I’m really good at solving it blindfolded, and I actually have a Texas state record for solving it blindfolded,” Benson humbly bragged to the host.Before Sajak could ask another question, the contestant solved the puzzle.Benson solved the brain game live on air in about 15 seconds and proudly held up the speed feat for the audience to notice.After solving his pocket puzzle, Benson went to unscramble the remaining puzzles in the game and was crowned victor of the episode — winning nearly $30K.Benson was then sent to the bonus round, where he could not solve the puzzle after selecting the four letters “DBCO.”The puzzle ended up being “Qualified Judge” — and to Benson’s credit, he did guess the word “judge.”Sajak, 76, who’s been hosting “Wheel of Fortune” since 1981, gave fans of the game show pause on two different occasions earlier this week.On Tuesday, the host put contestant Fred Jackson in a playful chokehold after he completed a perfect game.Before Jackson took home $75,800 in total from the game and bonus round and was grappled by Sajak, he did mention to the host that he’s a professional wrestler

Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe got a ton of support from their famous friends at the premiere of their new Netflix series, Unstable!

Charna Flam “God of War” dominated at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards, scoring more than half of the awards. The hit game collected a total of 14 prizes, including audio of the year, music of the year, best original song and best original soundtrack album. On Wednesday night, the Game Audio Network Guild announced the 26 winners of their 21st annual ceremony celebrating the music, dialogue and sound design of this year’s greatest games. The event returned in person after the pandemic, at Moscone Center in San Francisco during the Game Developers Conference. “We are excited to be back in person at GDC for the first time since 2019; community is one of the founding principles of the organization, and there’s nothing quite like gathering together, in person to celebrate and recognize achievements by fellow members of the game audio community,” expressed Brian Schmidt, G.A.N.G president.

Vivienne Kelly “Neighbours” will start filming again at Nunawading Studios in Melbourne on April 17. The new season will then launch in the second half of 2023 on Network 10 in Australia. Seven days after each episode airs on free-to-air television, they will be available on subscription streaming service Prime Video. The announcement was made on stage during the final show of “Neighbours – The Celebration Tour” by returning cast Alan Fletcher, Jackie Woodburne, Stefan Denis, Ryan Moloney, Annie Jones and April Rose Pengilly. “It’s a hive of activity at the studio. We’re busy writing the next chapter of “Neighbours”, bringing to life again the show’s much-loved characters as well as new residents,” said the show’s executive producer, Jason Herbison.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Multi-territory Asian streaming platform Viu is to deliver a Thai version of hit drama series “Reborn Rich.” The 16-episode Korean drama was produced by Korea’s JTBC Studios and Viu, aired on JTBC in Korea between November and December 2022 and was branded as a Viu Original in the 16-territoires in which it operates. Its story sees a long-term employee of a large family-run conglomerate falsely accused of embezzlement. After he is shot on an overseas business trip, he finds himself in the body of the family’s grandson and decides to use his new identity as a means by which to take revenge on the family and the corporation.

East Kilbride Thistle boss Aaron Connolly says a testing friendly with Petershill over the weekend provided plenty of positives for his side ahead of Saturday’s visit from Kello Rovers.

Ryan Fulton is three appearances short of 100 for Hamilton Accies, and hopes one of those comes in Sunday’s SPFL Trust Trophy final against Raith Rovers.

Scotland coach John Carver reckons Celtic hero Callum McGregor is a classy controller.

Mats Enquist knows football would be a poor sport without fans.

Wishaw signed defender Cammy Lawson from Lanark last week – and he helped the club earn their first clean sheet since October on his debut.

Glee actress Lea Michele has asked fans to send “love and strength” to her after her son was hospitalised. The 36-year-old announced she would be taking a break from her Broadway show, Funny Girl, to be with two-year-old Ever as he battles a “scary health issue”. Michele welcomed her son with husband Zandy Reich and occasionally shares snaps of him with fans on social media.

From Vanity Fair:Benny, who is alternately lounging with friends and studying for a math test, prefers drawing on his iPad and non-ball sports like surfing and skiing (the athletic pressure of being Brady’s son led to bullying in Boston after one particular baseball game). It's really unfortunate to hear that Benjamin is getting bullied.

It won't be long before we're in the midst of the transfer window once again and it looks set to be another expensive one for Manchester United.

Showtime has canceled “The L-Word: Generation Q,” TheWrap has confirmed.The series, a sequel to Showtime’s 2004-2009 series “The L-Word,” premiered in 2019 and wrapped up its third season in January. The network hasn’t commented publicly on the cancelation, but an individual with knowledge of the matter tells TheWrap that Showtime is in early development on a possible reboot of the original series, which has a working title of “The L-Word: New York.”“Generation Q” followed the intermingled lives of Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals), Alice Pieszecki, Shane McCutcheon (Katherine Moennig), Dani Núñez (Arienne Mandi), Micah Lee (Leo Sheng), Finley (Jacqueline Toboni), Sophie Suarez (Rosanny Zayas), Gigi Ghorbani (Sepideh Moafi), Angie Porter-Kennard (Jordan Hull) and Tess (Clayton) as they experience love, heartbreak, sex, setbacks and success in Los Angeles.

Idris Elba is hitting the beach!

HYBE, home to K-pop superstars BTS, is set to sell off its entire stake in SM Entertainment.Today (March 24), HYBE announced that it would accept a tender offer by South Korean internet giant Kakao and sell its 15.8 per cent stake in K-pop agency SM Entertainment, as reported by Reuters.HYBE’s share of SM Entertainment is worth about ₩564billion (roughly US$437million), based on Kakao’s March 7 tender offer to buy up to 35 per cent of SM Entertainment for ₩150,000 per share.According to Reuters, the planned sale of SM Entertainment shares by HYBE would net the K-pop giant a profit of around US$87 million, which is roughly 25 per cent higher than the price the company originally paid for the shares.Following the announcement, shares of both Kakao and SM Entertainment companies went up about half a per cent, as of 1:30pm KST.

A Place in the Sun host Danni Menzies hit back at an online troll who criticised her appearance on Instagram.

Rob Lowe and his son, John Owen Lowe, are co-starring in the new Netflix comedy, and the celebrated TV star couldn't be more excited by the opportunity.Rob walked the red carpet at the premiere of his new comedy series in Los Angeles on Thursday, where he was joined by both his sons — John and Matthew Lowe — as well as his wife, Sheryl, making the event a fun family affair.ET's Matt Cohen spoke with Rob on the red carpet, and he admitted the whole thing was wonderfully «surreal.»«I mean, this is a dream come true, to be able to work with my son. To have him create something with Victor and I like this,» Rob said, referring to fellow executive producer Victor Fresco. «And the way it's being received? That's the thing! It was fun to do, we love it, but you never know [how it's going to go over], and the reaction has been more than I ever could of hoped.»In the show, Rob plays an eccentric genius and leader of a bio-tech research company, while John plays his socially awkward son who comes to work for his father at the facility.«It's a really fun part,» Rob said of playing a odd-ball tech exec. «I mean, it better be, I came up with it myself.

Almost Famous director Cameron Crowe is reportedly working on his next film, which will focus on Joni Mitchell.Per a report from Above The Line, Crowe has spent the last two years developing the film with Mitchell herself. Sources close to the director claim the film will not be a standard biopic or a documentary, and will instead be more akin to an autobiography, given Crowe’s longstanding relationship with Mitchell.The film – which has yet to receive a title, release date or cast – will be Crowe’s first project since the 2016 comedy series Roadies.Joni Mitchell has since seemingly confirmed Above The Line‘s report by sharing an article from Empire about the film onto her website.

Eiza González loved getting to know her castmates in ‘Extrapolation,’ which is now streaming on Apple TV+. Per IMDb, the Mexican actress stars in 5 episodes, including episode 7, titled “The Going Away Party.” In a recent interview, she shared what she loved most about shooting the episode with Tobey Maguire, Forest Whitaker, and Marion Cottilard. The star-studded limited series revolves around climate change and shares “unanticipated stories” of how it “will affect love, faith, work, and family on a personal and human scale.”Gonazalez’s episode is set in San Francisco in 2068.

Jennifer Lawrence is super casual for a day out in New York City on Thursday afternoon (March 23).

Here are your Friday morning Manchester United headlines.

Gisele Bundchen, the 42-year-old Brazilian supermodel, recently opened up about her 13-year-old son Benjamin's experiences with bullying in Boston for not wanting to follow in his father Tom Brady's footsteps on the football field. While her stepson Jack, whose mother is Bridget Moynahan, has already begun quarterbacking for his high school football team, Gisele told Vanity Fair that Benjamin prefers "non-ball" sports, such as surfing, jujitsu, and skiing, as well as drawing on his iPad.WATCH: Gisele Bundchen shows off insane abs while partying with friendsGisele expressed concern about the immense athletic pressure placed on a child who is the offspring of one of the greatest NFL players of all time. She mentioned a specific incident of bullying that took place after one of Benjamin's baseball games, though she did not elaborate on the details. MORE: Gisele Bündchen is totally unrecognizable in whimsical dress following Tom Brady splitTom Brady has previously spoken about how his firstborn, Jack, "loves sports" while Benjamin "likes different things."Tom, in a 2019 Men's Health interview, shared that he had initially assumed Benjamin would be like Jack, wanting to play football at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.  Tom Brady has revealed Benjamin "likes different things"But he had to accept that his younger son was simply not interested.

Jimin‘s debut album is officially out!

Here’s to 45 more! At least!!!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Multi-territory Asian streaming service Viu has publicly disclosed key performance metrics for the first time and said that it was cash flow positive on an annual basis in 2022. The company, which operates in 16 Asian and Middle East markets and is seen as a rare success story in regional streaming, counts Hong Kong conglomerate PCCW as its principal shareholder, which also unveiled its own profits and loss figures for the 2022 calendar year. Viu which operates both ad-supported and paying tiers, said that it had 66.4 monthly active users in 2022, an increase of 13% year-on-year. Paying subscribers increased by 45% to 12.2 million over the same period.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japan’s online video market slowed in the fourth quarter of 2022, but ad-supported streamer TVer surged forward to overtake Prime Video as the most watched platform, according to a new report. The “Japan Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics” report by consultancy Media Partners Asia shows SVOD subscriptions slowing to their slowest pace since 2015. From an average of 6-9 million per year between 2018 and 2021, they fell to just 3.1 million in 2022. Premium video viewership grew 8% quarter on quarter to reach 31 billion minutes in the fourth quarter, with SVOD at 55% share; AVOD at 34% and freemium at 11%.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Profits at Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce and media conglomerate, more than doubled in the three months to December 2022 to reach $6.63 billion (RMB45.7 billion), on revenues that increased by 2% to $35.9 billion (RMB248 billion). The figures, which constitute the third quarter of Alibaba’s current financial year to end March 2023, represent a significant rebound after two difficult quarters. Alibaba’s aggregate net profits between April and December are still down by 32% at just $6.32 billion, compared with the equivalent nine-month period in 2021. The group portrayed the results as “solid [..] despite softer demand, supply chain and logistics disruptions due to impact of changes in COVID-19 measures,” and said that China’s improving macro-economic outlook will help it recover further.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Growth of premium video services in Southeast Asia accelerated in the second half of 2022, to reach 48.4 million paid subscriptions, according to a new report. But the same analysis sees growth slowing and costs accelerating. The latest report from Media Partners Asia, “SEA Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics” shows 48.4 million paid online video subscriptions at the end of 2022 in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The full year saw 11.8 million net new customers, with 7.3 million of that total coming in the second half, including 4.6 million in the fourth quarter. Indonesia accounted for half of the increase.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas, Harry Greenwood and Thomas M Wright join the cast of book-to-film crime drama film “Sleeping Dogs,” which shoots in Australia from next month. They join the previously announced Russell Crowe in the cast. The film is a book-to-film adaptation of E.O. Chirovici’s critically acclaimed novel, “The Book of Mirrors,” with a screenplay by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage (“Assassins Creed,” “Exodus: Gods and Kings”). The film also marks Cooper’s feature directorial debut. In the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment, Crowe’s character, a former homicide detective, is tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past – the grisly murder of a college professor (Csokas). Fighting to regain his memory, the detective enlists his former partner to help him revive the investigation. They encounter a magnetic and mysterious woman (Gillan), a tangle of contradictions and secrets and a horrific reality that changes the detective’s world view in the blink of an eye.