Beyoncé Makes Debut on Billboard Country Radio Chart
Beyoncé‘s foray into country music has landed her on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. After releasing two new singles on Super Bowl Sunday, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” the former made its debut on the chart at No. 54, with a 1.1 million person audience across 100 radio stations nationwide in the tracking week ending Feb. 15. On the Pop Airplay charts, “Texas Hold ‘Em” opens in the 38th spot with 1.3 million audience impressions. Since going solo in 2003, Beyoncé has had eight songs chart No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Her new album, Act II, arrives on March 29.
NBA Gets Into AI Game, Announces Latest Innovation at Tech Summit
The NBA is entering its AI era. During the league’s Tech Summit on Friday at NBA All-Star Weekend, Commissioner Adam Silver and San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama unveiled the league’s latest innovation, NB-AI, a trained voice assistant that leverages AI tech to personalize the live game viewing experience for fans. Some of the new platform’s features include a way for fans to view and buy sneakers a specific player may be wearing at a given point in time or ways to identify close games that are happening in real-time.
‘Bob Marley: One Love’ Kicks Off with Record-setting Opening
In what Paramount calls “the top midweek opener ever for Valentine’s Day,” Bob Marley: One Love made $17.9 million between Wednesday and Thursday across 3,536 theaters. The Bob Marley film also made quite the splash across the pond, earning $2.3 million in the UK on Wednesday, the most ever for a music biopic on opening night. One Love details the late reggae artist’s mentality that music could heal Jamaica in the years of post-colonialization, the recording of his 1977 album Exodus, and his experiences over the next several years, including an assassination attempt.
Post Malone Steps Into the Ring in WWE 2K24
Post Malone will not only be a part of the soundtrack for WWE 2K24 but will also become a playable character in the game, 2K Sports confirmed in a Friday release. The rapper will feature some of his songs on the soundtrack and has been tapped to curate the game’s score. For his efforts, Post Malone will serve as Executive Soundtrack Producer on the game that is set to release on March 8. Additional info like the WWE 2K24 roster, Superstar ratings, and downloadable content will be “shared soon,” 2K mentioned in the release.
Paramount+ & Peacock Could Potentially Package Together
NBCUniversal and Paramount have been reportedly discussing a potential streaming partnership that could see Paramount+ and Peacock being offered to consumers as a package deal. As other media companies have determined, a merger would mean it would be comparatively cheaper for customers to boast subscriptions for both Paramount+ and Peacock than purchasing separate memberships. There’s no immediate deal coming, but Paramount says it’s just one of “several potential strategic options” the entertainment company is exploring.
Wilson Unveils the Airless Gen1, a 3D-printed Basketball
Arriving just in time for NBA All-Star Weekend, Wilson announced that the first-of-its-kind 3D-printed basketball that needs no air or inflation is going on sale Friday. Building off the success of the Airless Prototype debut last year, the limited-edition Wilson Airless Gen1 basketball features include an upgraded lattice design for more consistent performance and bounce and holes integrated within the channels to help speed up the manufacturing process. In addition to the jet-black colorway seen on last year’s prototype, the Airless Gen1 also arrives in brown and natural white.