FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has a history of voting against raising the standard level of what constitutes high-speed broadband service. Now he’s publicly dismissed 4K video streaming as a figment of the future, so far off it won’t be adopted for many years. Could O’Rielly be correct in his dim forecast about the foreseeable future of Ultra HD? Short answer: no.
The arguments against media technology adoption revolve around the availability of content and devices. However, neither seems to be presently lacking. More and more consumer electronics manufacturers are phasing out HD televisions in lieu of new 4K models, while the likes of Netflix and Amazon offer 4K streaming of movies and television shows.
Meanwhile, we review the latest accolades handed out by the Writers Guild and the Berlin Film Festival as we gear up for next week’s Oscar ceremony by making a few haphazard predictions of our own.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including why Disney is dumping a YouTube star, the New York Times is ditching one of its longtime theatre critics and the reason Playboy magazine is going all in on nudity.

Lincoln In the Bardo VR Experience
https://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/100000004919906/lincoln-in-the-bardo.html
comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of February 19, 2017
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-february-19-2017-300409916.html
Brad Grey Expected to Exit Paramount Pictures in an Overhaul of the Struggling Studio
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-brad-grey-paramount-exit-20170217-story.html
WGA Awards: ‘Moonlight,’ ‘Arrival’ Win Big at Politically Charged Ceremony
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2017-wga-winners-full-list-966482
Hollywood Chooses Protests Over Parties as the Stars Get Ready for Oscars Activism
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/19/hollywood-rallies-trump-ban-oscar-week-asghar-farhadi-the-salesman
Berlin: Hungarian Love Story ‘On Body and Soul’ Wins Golden Bear Award
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hungarian-drama-body-soul-wins-berlin-film-festival-977564
Jack Ma’s Alibaba Pictures Warns of $140M Loss in 2016
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jack-mas-alibaba-pictures-warns-140m-loss-2016-977626
How Old-Fashioned TV Still Drives the Music Industry
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/arts/grammys-television-gaga-beyonce.html
Direct Action by L.A. Kauffman – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2016/02/08/direct-action/
The Kingdom of Happiness by Aimee Groth – BookFilter