Peter Morris, a former exec at Imax and Funny or Die, is joining online upstart Barstool Sports to lead partnerships, distribution and business affairs. In the new role, Morris will be charged with expanding audiences for the Chernin Group-backed company’s podcasts, video and branded content. Morris was most recently…

EXCLUSIVE: After an 18-month effort to make headway in the saturated streaming video marketplace, Fullscreen Media is shutting down its subscription video on demand service next year. The demise of its $6-per-month SVOD service follows a decision in September to trim about 3% of Fullscreen’s total staff of about 750…

Sensing an opportunity in what it calls an “underserved” sports wagering and fantasy marketplace worth upwards of $170 billion overall, the Chernin Group has formed a sports analysis and media company called The Action Network. The network encompasses the separate units Sports Insights, FantasyLabs and SportsAction. Ch…

Fullscreen Media dismissed three percent of its staff today, part of a revamp to allegedly focus on original programming for its subscription video service. No headcount was provided, although reports indicated the company had about 750 employees before today’s culling. Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos, a co-creator…

Fullscreen, the big YouTube multi-channel network and talent-management group, has bought Austin-based online pioneer Rooster Teeth, home of the hugely popular online video series Red Vs. Blue  and other titles predating even the rise of YouTube, the companies announced this morning. Terms were not disclosed in the…

Otter Media has named former airline and telecomm executive Virasb Vahidi as CEO, and just-departed YouTube executive Tom Pickett to head a new group under Vahidi running niche online-video channels CrunchyRoll, KDrama and Creativebug. Otter is the joint venture, announced earlier this year, between The Chernin Group…

The deal giving The Chernin Group a majority stake in Crunchyroll is a hedged bet on the future of anime — a genre that has a broad fan base but a mixed record for generating profits. Peter Chernin says that he intends to “continue to grow the anime vertical” online. But he adds that his company also will “launch new…

Hulu has received binding bids from DirecTV, a partnership of AT&T and the Chernin Group and the team of Guggenheim Digital Media and KKR, The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. At the same time, Bloomberg is reporting that Time Warner Cable offered to acquire a stake in the company…

Online video company Fullscreen has closed a round of Series A funding led by the Chernin Group, Comcast Ventures and WPP Digital, the company announced today. The size of the investment was not disclosed, but it’s believed to be in the “8-figure range”, according to the Los Angeles Times. Fullscreen said it will use…