Applications
Amazon.com expands content licensing deal with NBCUniversal
MUMBAI: Online retail major Amazon.com has announced an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution that will bring programmes to Prime Instant Video.
Prime Instant Video offers more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes for Prime members to stream on Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, among other connected TVs and devices – all at no additional cost.
Prime members will have exclusive unlimited subscription streaming access to prior seasons of the following NBCUniversal shows:
NBC‘s dark fantasy drama ‘Grimm‘, based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales
USA Network‘s legal drama ‘Suits‘ and serialised spy thriller ‘Covert Affairs‘
NBC‘s new psychological thriller ‘Hannibal‘, based on the novels by Thomas Harris and produced by Gaumont International Television, available later this year
Syfy‘s new futuristic sci-fi and drama series ‘Defiance‘ will be available early next year
In addition, the announcement will add several shows to Prime Instant Video including ‘Smash‘, as well as Syfy drama series ‘Alphas‘, ‘Eureka‘ and ‘Warehouse 13‘. Also available are children‘s programmes including ‘Curious George‘ and ‘Land Before Time‘, which will both be available in Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, the content service that brings together books, games, apps, movies and TV shows.
Amazon director of digital video content acquisition Brad Beale said, “We listen carefully to our customers to find out which TV shows and movies they find the most entertaining. Our expanded agreement with NBCUniversal gives Prime members access to even more exclusive content that they can stream instantly, at no additional cost. Compelling shows like ‘Covert Affairs‘, ‘Defiance‘, ‘Grimm‘, ‘Hannibal‘ and ‘Suits‘ are big wins for our customers and we look forward to adding more titles soon.”
NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution president Frances Manfredi said, “We‘re excited to expand our relationship with Amazon by adding great NBCUniversal content to Prime Instant Video. With Amazon, we‘re giving our established viewers a chance to catch-up on what they missed while simultaneously reaching and engaging new audiences who may not have seen these great series on their premiering networks.”
Applications
Canva acquires animation and AI startups Cavalry and MangoAI
The deals strengthen Canva’s push into enterprise and AI-led design workflows
AUSTRALIA: Global visual communication platform Canva has stepped up its acquisition drive, buying UK-based 2D animation platform Cavalry and US-based AI startup MangoAI to deepen its AI-powered creative stack.
Cavalry, whose tools are used by brands including Amazon, Meta, Google and Netflix, will strengthen Canva’s motion design capabilities. The deal builds on Canva’s 2024 acquisition of Affinity, which has crossed four million downloads since launch. With Cavalry, Canva now counts seven Europe-based acquisitions, underscoring its global expansion strategy.
MangoAI, an early-stage startup focused on video advertising optimisation, will integrate its reinforcement learning systems into Canva AI. The move aims to enable brands to generate personalised marketing content in real time, cutting production cycles while improving campaign performance. MangoAI co-founder Vinith Misra will join Canva as reinforcement learning lead in its research lab.
Canva co-founder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht said the acquisitions reflect the company’s ambition to make professional-grade creative tools more accessible without sidelining human creativity. The goal, he said, is to bring everything from vector to motion design into a single, integrated suite.
The company now reports 265 million active users, including 31 million paid subscribers, and $4 billion in annualised revenue, up 36 per cent year on year. The latest buys further position Canva against rivals such as Adobe and Apple’s Creator Studio as it pushes deeper into enterprise workflows.
Canva head of pro design marketing Liam Fisher, said AI is intended to act as a creative assistant rather than a replacement, reinforcing the primacy of craft and individual design judgement.
