News Brief
Quick stories from the technology, journalism and media industries, updated daily.
DirecTV named presenting sponsor of military basketball tournament
DirecTV is the presenting sponsor of the Military Basketball Association's annual playoffs and championship tournament that starts this weekend.
Eight new channels added to Sling Freestream
The new streams include three from FilmRise and several Spanish-language channels.
LG adds four new channels on free streaming service
LG has integrated four new linear content channels into its free, ad-supported streaming service.
Charter increases community investment to $9 million
The investment is part of the Spectrum Digital Education Program, which supports local non-profit organizations.
Free TV Telly won’t bombard users with ads, exec says
Telly has a goal of shipping a half million smart TV sets by the end of the year, something one executive said will not be a problem.
T-Mobile offering free MLB.TV to customers through July
T-Mobile is giving customers another opportunity to sign up for its free MLB.TV package.
Dish’s Sling Freestream adds six new channels
The new free streams include two channels from FilmRise, and adds to Sling Freestream's growing list of over 340 linear content channels.
YouTube begins blocking viewers with ad-block plugins
YouTube has started testing a version of its website that is incompatible with ad-blocking plugins, a move that could help improve ad revenue.
Paramount lays off more staff, closes MTV News division
The layoffs come as Paramount eases off traditional cable networks with an eye toward streaming as its future.
FBI raids home of ex-Daily Beast editor Timothy Burke
A law enforcement source confirmed the former Deadspin video editor is the target of a criminal investigation, but declined to provide specific information.
New York TV anchor John Roland dies
John Roland, one of New York City's most-recognizable television news anchors, died over the weekend.
David Owens to oversee mobile products at Charter
A former Sprint executive is joining Charter Communications to service as its senior vice president of mobile products