Author: Heath Andrews

It was almost a year and a half ago when we first reported on the news that Microsoft was seeking to acquire the gaming juggernaut that is Activision Blizzard. Microsoft had previously purchased “Elder Scrolls” and “Fallout” developer Bethesda, as well as its parent company, ZeniMax. Adding Activision Blizzard and their portfolio of “Diablo,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” would give Microsoft a lot of clout; perhaps too much according to some governments. While both the UK and US have halted progression of the buyout, there has been one large hurdle crossed in the EU. In a ruling from EU regulators,…

Food poisoning is one of those awful events that range from being a mild inconvenience, to outright fatal. Many among us have had the misfortune of ingesting something that was undercooked, cross-contaminated, or just plain not right; that’s why watching out for recall notices is so important. The importance of safe ingredients is even more important when working with them raw, such as in a dish like a sushi roll. As a group of diners in Montana found out, a certain “special roll” was unique for all the wrong reasons. On April 17th, 2023, Dave’s Sushi n Bozeman, Montana served…

It’s not everyday you see one of the major broadcast networks on American television change ownership and undergo a massive identity crisis. Last year The CW had a Thursday Bloodbath of show cancellations. One year later, and here we are again with a number of cancellations that help show where the changing network is heading. Ever since The CW had its majority stake bought out by Nexstar Media Group, a lot of things have changed with the hope of making the network profitable. The original plan for the channel (that was equally owned by Paramount and Warner Bros. Pictures) was…

It has been a wild ride for Twitter over the last year. In April of 2022, Elon Musk entered into an agreement to purchase the company. He tried to back out of the deal, and got threatened with a lawsuit for doing so. He eventually became the CEO of the social media company, making changes that were largely hated. He then merged it with X Corp, as well as firing something like 80% of the entire staff. There’s a lot of other things too, including a Twitter poll he posted in December 2022, asking if he should step down as…

The streaming landscape has been a tumultuous one as we near the end of the first half of 2023. Many big media companies have been hit with layoffs. Paramount just shuttered MTV News in its entirety. Concerns of revenue and profitability are running high at Disney as well, which is one of the reasons why Bob Iger is back to run the show. Iger has had a lot to say about how things should run, and when it comes to streaming, he’s announced some plans regarding Disney+ and Hulu. Disney has three major streaming platforms that it runs in the…

No one in this world is perfect but it’s highly likely Dolly Parton may represent the very best of us in terms of talent, compassion, and love. The country music icon was in the news throughout 2022 for a number of reasons, one of which was her nomination (and induction) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dolly originally asked to be recused from the ballot because she never recorded any rock and/or roll. But it was too late to remove her and she got in with the class of 2022. One year later and in order to live…

The last couple years have been a tough time to be in the news industry. It’s not generally a good sign when you go from reporting the news, to BEING the news. That’s precisely what’s been happening though as we recently reported that BuzzFeed News would be shutting down, despite being a Pulitzer Prize winning outlet. Now it appears that an even bigger entity, Vice, could soon be exploring the possibility of bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer. Vice Media is bigger than you might realize if you’re just familiar with their online presence. Originating as a Canadian magazine…

It’s official, television and film writers are going on strike. Due to economic instability, lack of job security, the rise of AI writing, and increasing demand for written content, screenwriters have been pushed to the brink. The Writer’s Guild of America East and West have been attempting to negotiate terms with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Those talks have not met with an acceptable compromise, meaning that effective 12:01 AM, May 2nd, writers are officially on strike. The last time this happened was in 2007. Of the many issues at stake at the time, one of them…

He was one of the most distinctive voices in music, and his voice is sadly now laid to rest. We are sad to report the passing of Canadian singer-songwriter, Gordon Lightfoot. The 84 year-old troubadour was known for a string of hits in the 1970’s that reached beyond his native Canada and into the United States. Among those hits was the chart topper “Sundown” from 1974 and other top 10 entries, “Carefree Highway” and “If You Could Read My Mind.” He will probably forever be best known though for his memorable 1976 epic, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The…

In 1996, “Beast Wars: Transformers” debuted in syndication as a tie-in to the new Transformer’s toy line. Across three seasons (and the two season follow-up of “Beast Machines) audiences were treated to the battles between the Maximals and Predacons. Led by Optimus Primal who could transform into a gorilla and Megatron who could transform into a T-rex respectively, the series became known as one of the best written animated programs of its era. Now these successors to the Autobots and Maximals are coming to the big screen in “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.” The year is 1994 and bad things…