Coronavirus
AMC Theatres Delays Reopening Until July 30th
With new coronavirus cases spiking across the US, AMC Theatres is pushing back its reopening date by two weeks to July 30th. The move follows the recent postponements of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Disney’s live-action Mulan remake, both of which are slated to be the first new tentpole titles to screen in theaters. Tenet was recently moved back to July 31st, while Mulan was postponed until August 21st. As of now, AMC expects to open most of its 600 theaters across the country by July 31st. There will of course be numerous safety protocols in place, including limited theater capacities, contactless ticketing, and limited vending options. At one point, AMC had planned on not requiring guests to wear face masks, citing a desire to avoid “a political controversy.” However, following public o...
2020 MTV VMAs to Take Place in NYC with “Limited or No Audience” Due to Coronavirus
Despite the country’s recent surge in coronavirus cases, the 2020 MTV VMAs is officially a go. Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York made the announcement on Monday, revealing that this year’s ceremony will take place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on August 30th. The news came during a larger press conference regarding Phase III of NYC’s reopening process, which begins July 6th and includes eased restrictions on things like indoor dining. Social distancing will still be required during this phase, and as such, the 2020 VMAs will include “limited or no audience” allowed in the Barclays arena. Under normal circumstances, the multi-purpose venue can seat up to 19,000 people for concert events. Last year’s VMAs happened at a packed Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It was highlighted by mem...
Chase Rice Isn’t Apologizing for His Coronavirus Concert
Country singer Chase Rice drew the ire of the music industry and potentially put hundreds of his fans at risk when he played a packed concert in East Tennessee on Saturday. Nearly 1,000 people were in attendance, standing shoulder to shoulder, with not a face mask to be seen. Rice encouraged the audience to sing along, and even marveled at the size of the crowd in a post-show Instagram video. Understandably, many of his fellow musicians were angered by images and video from the concert, worrying that it could exacerbate the spread of coronavirus and delay their own return to touring (which is a chief source of income for many artists). “The people in this audience, along with the presenters of this show, are assuring that conscientious musicians won’t be able to work their jobs for a while...
FAAN to deploy robots in airports
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters As the country gears up to restart commercial flights, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is set to deploy robots in its airports all over the country. It was gathered that the robots would be used for passenger facilitation processes including profiling, check-ins, temperature checks as well as detection of security threats including dangerous goods and arms. Confirming the development, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Henrietta Yakubu told newsmen over the phone that the test run of the robots was done at the Lagos Airport on Saturday. “It’s a demo that is going on in Lagos. It’s been demonstrated. If it works fine, it will be adopted,” she said. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority today conducted a simulation flight ahead of the reopenin...
The Bachelorette Returns to Capture All the Quarantine Horniness
Isolation can be lonely, but the fantasy romances of The Bachelorette are returning to comfort us with roses, bottles of wine, and long kisses angled just so for the cameras. According to Variety, The Bachelorette is the first major series to resume production after industry-wide coronavirus lockdowns. Now, producers are sprinting to get a new crop of hot people into quarantine. The idea is to take a few dozen strapping hunks, cut them off from human contact, check their temperatures, and dump them at the feet of one lucky gal (Clare Crawley). Tastefully-edited horniness ensues. The whole cast and crew will quarantine together on location. Everyone will be tested before they enter, and as filming progress they’ll be subjected to regular thermometer probes and nasal swabs. It...
Sammy Hagar Clarifies Comments About Going Back on Tour: Only When It’s “Safe and Responsible”
Sammy Hagar made headlines recently when he said he’d “rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes” to get the concert industry going again amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the veteran rocker is clarifying the extreme portion of his comments, while also saying he does want to get back on the road this year, if possible. For more context, Hagar’s longer quote in Rolling Stone read, “This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I’d rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes. We have to save the world and this country from this economic thing that’s going to kill more people in the long run. I would rather see everyone go back to work. If some of us have to sacrifice on that, OK. I will die for my children and my grandchildr...
How We Work Now: Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside
In a series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Read the full series here. This installment is with Damon Whiteside, the new CEO of the Academy of Country Music. Damon Whiteside: I started the job Jan. 6 and I was still getting to know everybody. I’m based in Nashville and was at [the ACM’s Los Angeles] office two weeks a month for those first couple of months. And then, suddenly, we’re isolated and quarantined after we decide to close the office in L.A. the week of March 16. That was literally the week that I was planning to go back to L.A., so that’s b...
Mobile Data Traffic in Africa to Grow 12 Times by 2025
Sourced from Getty Images. Mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by 12 times the current figures with total traffic increasing from 0.33 Exabytes (EB) per month to 4EB by 2025. At the same time, average traffic per individual smartphone is expected to reach 7.1GB over this period 5-year period as well. In Sub-Saharan Africa, LTE accounted for around 11% of subscriptions in 2019. Over the forecast period, mobile broadband subscriptions are predicted to have a massive increase, reaching 72% of mobile subscriptions. LTE share will reach around 30% by the end of the forecast period, and LTE subscriptions are set to triple, increasing from 90 million in 2019 to 270 million in 2025. In terms of 5G penetration, discernable volumes of subscriptions are expected by 2022, ex...
Unique Health Platform Could Benefit 800 Million Mobile Subscribers in Africa
Sourced from Redbubble and iStock. “With this platform, we have the possibility of reaching between 600 million and 800 million mobile subscribers in Africa,” says Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), during the virtual launch of the Africa Communication and Information Platform for Health and Economic Action (ACIP) on 23 June 2020. ACIP is a mobile-based tool for two-way information and communication between citizens and governments. It furnishes national and regional COVID task forces with user-generated survey data and actionable health and economic insights that will enable authorities to better analyze pandemic-related problems and implement appropriate responses. Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC says the platform offers a “unique opp...
Herd Immunity Fest Dumps Its Own Name as Nonpoint Drop Off the Bill
Following the announcement of next month’s Herd Immunity Fest in Wisconsin, the band Nonpoint have dropped off the lineup due to the event’s name. What’s more, the festival itself has dropped its own name after widespread backlash. The festival’s announcement has caused quite a stir, given that a number of health experts and promoters aren’t expecting concerts to return in earnest until 2021 in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The three-day event takes place July 16th-18th of this year at an outdoor stage at the Q&Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin. Heavy Consequence reached out to a handful of the bands for statements as to why they decided to play the festival, given the advice and guidelines from health officials over the past couple months. In responding, Nonpoint’s manag...
Outside Lands 2020 Canceled Due to Coronavirus, 2021 Lineup Announced
Outside Lands 2020 has been officially canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. On a brighter note, organizers are already prepping next year’s installment and have announced the 2021 lineup. Next summer’s edition of Outside Lands is scheduled to go down August 6th-8th, 2021 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The lineup touts Tame Impala, Lizzo, The Strokes, Tyler, the Creator, Vampire Weekend, J Balvin, Kehlani, The 1975, ZHU, and Young Thug as its biggest names. Beach House, Brittany Howard, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, Khruangbin, EarthGang, 070 Shake, and Rico Nasty are also slated to perform, as are Yves Tumor, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Big Thief, Dr. Dog, Julia Jacklin, The Beths, Madeline Kenney, Post Animal, Nelly, Bonobo, Burna Boy, and JPEGMAFIA. Tickets for Outside L...
Original ‘Hamilton’ Cast to Team Up With Jimmy Fallon & The Roots For ‘Global Goal’ Performance
Global Citizen and the European Commission’s all-star lineup for their “Global Goal: Unite for Our Future” concert just got even better. Lin-Manuel Miranda and the original Broadway cast of Hamilton will team up with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots to perform together during the June 27 event, which will shine a light on how the global coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately impacted marginalized communities. The announcement follows exciting news that the original Broadway production of Hamilton, filmed live on stage, will be streaming exclusively on Disney+ on Friday July 3. Miranda, the Hamilton cast, Fallon and The Roots join previously announced performers Miley Cyrus, Shakira, J Balvin, Justin Bieber and Quavo,&n...
