REED HASTINGS

The curtain is finally coming down on Netflix’s once-iconic DVD-by-mail service, a quarter century after the birth of a concept that obliterated Blockbuster video stores while providing a springboard into video streaming that has transformed entertainment.

The curtain is finally coming down on Netflix’s once-iconic DVD-by-mail service, a quarter century after the birth of a concept that obliterated Blockbuster video stores while providing a springboard into video streaming that has transformed entertainment.

Netflix began the year with another burst in subscriber growth that eclipsed analysts’ projections for the third consecutive quarter.

Netflix’s subscriber growth is surging again.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” held the box-office crown for the fourth straight weekend with $17.6 million.

For most of its eight-year history, Razom for Ukraine, a U.S.-based charity run by Ukrainian and Ukrainian American volunteers, has raised about $150,000 a year to help promote a free and prosperous Ukraine.

Netflix has picked Microsoft to help deliver the commercials in a cheaper version of its video streaming service expected to launch later this year with a pledge to minimize the intrusions into personal privacy that often accompany digital ads.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency says Russia has so far turned over the bodies of 210 Ukrainian fighters killed in the battle for Mariupol.

Streaming service Netflix is dealing with a sharp drop in subscribers by considering changes to its service that it has long resisted.

Netflix has hired veteran video game executive Mike Verdu, signaling the video streaming service is poised to expand into another fertile field of entertainment.

One of the nation's most prestigious historically Black colleges got a major publicity boost recently when it announced two high-profile faculty hires.

Bezos is one of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2020, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropys annual rankings. “There has been change building among private donors.”All told, the 50 biggest donors contributed $24.7 billion in 2020, compared with $15.8 billion in 2019. The $1 billion-plus of giving by each of the top five on the Philanthropy 50 matches last year’s record. No more than three donors gave $1 billion or more in any of the previous years. Colleges and universities received $2.2 billion from Philanthropy 50 donors in 2020.

(Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – Even before “The Dissident” made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, director Bryan Fogel had a sense that his explosive Jamal Khashoggi documentary was going to be a tough sell. The audience at Sundance included Hillary Clinton, Alec Baldwin and Reed Hastings, the Netflix chief executive. In 2019, Netflix removed an episode of Hasan Minhaj’s “Patriot Act” that condemned the cover-up of Khashoggi's murder after a Saudi complaint. Mohammed denied Saudi Arabia was behind the murder, then eventually granted it was carried out by agents of the Saudi government. “Ultimately, those risk assessments took the place of whether or not their couple hundred million subscribers would like to see this film,” Fogel says.

FILE - In this June 2, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti arrives to appeal to Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)LOS ANGELES – After a scrappy debate that Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey believed lifted her campaign and was a “disaster” for her opponent, she got a text message from the LA mayor with unwelcome news: He was switching his endorsement to her challenger. A little more than half is for Gascon, the vast majority from a handful of well-heeled backers supporting justice reforms. Gascon has gained support from protests over the death of George Floyd at the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. Lacey said Gascon is pandering to supporters and that when he was San Francisco DA he never prosecuted a police killing case.

The backlash to the French independent film “Mignonnes,” or “Cuties,” started before it had even been released because of a poster that went viral for its provocative depiction of its young female actors. At the heart of the backlash is the idea that “Cuties” is dangerously and irresponsibly sexualizing pre-teen girls, which, ironically, is what the movie itself is criticizing too. She becomes fascinated with a clique of rebellious girls at her middle school who choreograph dance routines and wear crop tops and heels. Netflix acquired “Cuties” out of the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year where it was favorably reviewed and won an award for its direction. “Our girls see that the more a woman is overly sexualized on social media, the more she is successful.

NEW YORK Netflix added a flood of new subscribers amid the coronavirus pandemic and also offered clues to a possible successor for founding CEO Reed Hastings, who on Thursday named the company's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, as co-CEO. This change makes formal what was already informal that Ted and I share the leadership of Netflix, said Hastings in a statement. The company picked up 10.1 million worldwide subscribers during the April-June period, more than triple what it usually adds in that period. The increase announced Thursday with Netflixs second-quarter earnings eclipsed the gain of 8.3 million subscribers projected among analysts polled by FactSet. Netflix ended June with 193 million worldwide subscribers, including 70 million in the U.S. and Canada, its largest geographic market.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, announced they are giving $120 million to support scholarships at historically black colleges and universities. The donation, the largest of its kind, will be split among Morehouse College, Spelman College and the United Negro College Fund, and will be enough for both universities to support 200 students each over the next decade. Hastings and Lomax, along with Morehouse College President David A. Thomas and Spelman College President Mary Schmidt Campbell, spoke with "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King about the record-setting gift. The wonderful thing about this gift is Patty and Reed did not want the gift named after them. RELATED CONTENT:Jennifer Aniston Donates Nearly $1 Million to Racial Justice CharitiesBTS Donates $1 Million to Black Lives Matter Amid ProtestsMichael Jordan Donating $100 Million to Social Justice Organizations

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, are donating $120 million toward student scholarships at historically black colleges and universities. The couple is giving $40 million to each of three institutions: the United Negro College Fund, Spelman College and Morehouse College. The organizations said it is the largest individual gift in support of student scholarships at HBCUs. He launched a $100 million education fund in 2016, beginning with money toward college scholarships for black and Latino students. YouTube, meanwhile, pledged $100 million to help black artists and other creators.

The CEO of Netflix says he will donate $120 million to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), calling the gift "an investment in America's future." "We hope this additional $120 million donation will help more black students follow their dreams." They called on others to also support these institutions to help "reverse generations of inequity in our country." He urged people to watch a TED Talk from Dr. Phil Goff, who "works police departments to help public safety be more equitable and less deadly," according to TED Talks. Earlier this week, Netflix said it will donate $5 million "to organizations dedicated to creating opportunities for black creators, black youth and black-owned businesses, including Ghetto Film School, Black Public Media and Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp," Variety reported.