Hulu surges, Kodak bets on crypto, and Grindr sells out

Number of the day

17 million

That’s the number of subscribers Hulu now has, up 42 percent from mid-2016, the streaming video company said Tuesday. Hit show “The Handmaid’s Tale” and a new live, cable-like TV service were major draws. In 2017, advertising revenue hit $1 billion for the first time at the Santa Monica company, which is owned by Disney, Comcast, Fox and Time Warner. Rival Netflix had more than 109 million customers worldwide at the end of September.

Hoping for a bitcoin moment

Kodak is getting into the digital licensing and cryptocurrency market as part of a partnership with Wenn Digital. The companies will create blockchain technology for KodakOne and KodakCoin. Blockchain is a ledger where transactions of digital currencies, like bitcoin, are recorded. The Kodak systems will allow photographers to register work that they can license and then get paid for. Shares of Eastman Kodak Co. soared more than 117 percent to close at $6.80.

Bumped from Grindr

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Grindr founder Joel Simkhai is leaving the company after Chinese gaming company Kunlun Group, which had already purchased majority control of the gay dating app, bought out his remaining stake. The new CEO is Chinese billionaire Zhou Yahui. Zhou appears to be an ally rather than a member of the LGBT community: Forbes reports that he paid his ex-wife $1.1 billion in a divorce settlement in 2016.

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