Top News:


NYT builds Blossom, an internal social media suggestion bot for Slack; typical post gets 380% more clicks — The New York Times built a Slack bot to help decide which stories to post to social media — The New York Times publishes more than 300 stories each day.


New episodes of Sesame Street to air on HBO, nine months before airing on PBS, starting this fall — HBO Strikes Deal for ‘Sesame Street’ — Partnership means new episodes will air on HBO first, PBS nine months later; deal will double the number of episodes produced yearly — Big Bird is flying over to HBO.
Discussion:
New York Times, Sesame Workshop, CNNMoney, Adweek, New York Times, Politico, Broadcasting & Cable, The New York Observer, Washington Post, Current.org, PBS NewsHour, TIME, New York Daily News, The Week, Wall Street Journal, @brianstelter, Deadline, Mashable, New York Post, Financial Times, Jezebel, ABC News, CBS News, TIME, @ronmwangaguhung, Engadget, Vanity Fair, EW.com, @alexweprin, Yahoo TV, Ars Technica, NBC News, Fortune, Newsweek, Hollywood Reporter, E! Online, Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, @robertmackey, Variety, @nickconfessore, Agence France-Presse, @poniewozik, @brianstelter, The Inquisitr News, Current.org and @jbflint


Sources: Apple's live TV streaming service now slated for 2016 launch as licensing talks stall — Apple Said to Delay Live TV Service to 2016 as Negotiations Stall — Apple Inc. customers waiting for the company to revolutionize live television as it did for music and phone service …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Variety, Multichannel News, AppleInsider, Pocket-lint, Tech Insider, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, SlashGear, The Verge, Engadget, App Advice, MacRumors and Fortune


News Corp in advanced talks to sell off its education division, Amplify, will cease production of tablet, continue to develop software during talks — News Corp Posts Loss on Education Write-Down — Media company in advanced talks to sell off Amplify digital-ed unit


Yahoo names former Time Inc. Editor-in-Chief Martha Nelson as global editor-in-chief to oversee digital magazines, reporting to Kathy Savitt — Former Time Inc. Editor-in-Chief Martha Nelson Joins Yahoo — She joins the tech giant as global editor-in-chief overseeing the company's suite of digital magazines.


Vertical video gains acceptance as viewers spend more time on phones and tablets — Vertical Video on the Small Screen? Not a Crime — In 2012, Vincent Bova and Damien Eckhardt-Jacobi, two puppeteers who host a YouTube series called Glove and Boots, created a public service announcement …
Discussion:
Adweek, @brianstelter, @jackshafer, @ferndiaz, @ernie_mourelo, @sfshag, @shanebarnhill, @digiphile and @pargery

Editorial cartoonists' association calls on Los Angeles Times to review evidence used to justify dropping Ted Rall for factual discrepancies — Cartoonists call for review of tape used as evidence to cut ties with Ted Rall — The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists is calling …


European Commission extends deadline for Google to respond to antitrust charges to Aug. 31 — Google gets more time in EU antitrust case — Tech giant Google has until August 31 to respond to the Commission. — Google has got a second extension — until August 31 …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg Business and Search Engine Land


LG to launch Hi-Fi music service for its premium phones with two free song downloads per month — LG's premium phones to get a Hi-Fi music service — LG is launching a new Hi-Fi music service later this month, but the company's not touting it as an Apple Music or a Spotify rival.
Discussion:
LG Newsroom, Variety, Android Central, SlashGear, RAIN News and Digital Trends


Time Inc UK bets on fashion ecommerce with investment in visual search engine Snap Fashion — Why Time Inc. invested in visual search engine Snap Fashion — Thinking outside the box in the search for revenue streams beyond traditional advertising has become the new normal for publishers …
Discussion:
WWD, MediaPost, drapersonline.com, Fashion Times and The Drum

Advertisers increasingly investing in Facebook's autoplay video strategy, embedded instead of interstitial and sound muted as default — How Facebook's Autoplay Videos Are Ushering in a New Era of Silent Storytelling — Getting aurally blasted by a loud, autoplaying video ad …

With BI Films, Business Insider ventures into long-form video — Business Insider is going long on video, quite literally. — On July 28, the business news site launched “League of Millions,” a documentary series centering on e-sports gamers Team Liquid as it pursue the annual “League of Legends” world championship.
Discussion:
The Hill