Maker Studios, owned by Walt Disney Co. acquired Tempe, AZ.- based Instafluence startup that helps match marketers with individuals who have built large followings on various social media applications. That allows Maker to sell advertisers onto other platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and Vine.

Hulu extended its online streaming deal with South Park for three more years (it now runs until 2019), to the tune of $192 million reports the Hollywood Reporter. Comedy Central also renewed it for five years.

Without hearings or a City Council vote or any publicity, Chicago has imposed a 9% tax on cloud-based businesses, which would include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and more. That will raise $12 million a year, but it's also raised the ire of Chicagoans and tech businesses based there that are also affected.

Paramount Pictures says it will release some of its upcoming titles in an unconventional way: the studio intends to release two films —including the latest entry in the "Paranormal Activity" franchise — on video-on-demand platforms just weeks after their theatrical debuts, going against a long standing routine of a three-month wait period.

Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 Group is buying a YouTube video network named Collective Digital Studio. “ProSieben, which already owned 20 percent of Collective, is combining it with Studio71, its own Web video unit, and calling the combined company Collective Studio71,” Re/code reports. “ProSieben says it will put $83 million into the new venture, at a post-money valuation of $240 million, and will own 75 percent of the new company.” 

From MoviePilot.com: "..There is the bigger issue of constant playback errors. In the short time I've been using the service I've encountered a rather annoying repeating issue where the playback will suddenly be arrested and an Error message will cross the screen demanding a reload of the page." Also: "Unlike normal Hulu and other streaming services, this one seems to think that after watching just one episode of a show that you want to switch to something else."

The FCC says Aug. 21 is the cutoff date to file initial comments for its latest report on the state of video competition. One of the key video competition decisions  is defining linear online video providers (OVDs) as MVPDs when it comes to access to vertically integrated programming and TV station signals.

Just in time for the elections. The Website says it will issue refunds to those who paid $99.95 subscriptions. 

For Hulu, living room viewing accounts for more than 58% of content streams -- up from 44% in the first quarter of 2014. “The rise has been fairly rapid -- by the third quarter of last year, watching Hulu via living room devices was already at 50 percent,” TechCrunch reports. “By working with comScore, Hulu found that its over-the-top streams average 1.4 viewers per stream, but on some devices and for certain shows, co-viewing is higher – up to 2.x at times.” 

Spending on TV advertising in the UK will surge 9% this year to £4.2bn, according to forecasts by GroupM, WPP’s media investment division. That runs contrary to the belief that demand for TV ad spots is being undermined by the rise of digital media companies.