Mediagazer: Comcast is offering its broadband subscribers the option of signing up for Hulu + Live TV, which is not available to Comcast's cable subscribers (Todd Spangler/Variety)

Todd Spangler / Variety:

AT&T Q2: HBO Max and HBO have 67.5M subscribers, up 12M YoY; HBO Max subscription revenue grew 39% YoY to $2B; WarnerMedia income fell 11.3% YoY to $1.7B — For the second quarter of 2021, the company reported a net gain of 2.8 million total domestic HBO Max and HBO subscribers …

Discussion: The Wrap, Fast Company, The Streamable, MediaPost, Los Angeles Times, The Streamable, Wall Street Journal, @richlightshed, @richlightshed, @richlightshed, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News and Hollywood Reporter

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Jason Kilar says Warner Bros. will produce at least 10 movies exclusively for HBO Max in 2022 — Warner Bros. will produce 10 or more movies exclusively for HBO Max in 2022, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said Thursday as he declared “motion pictures matter and will continue to matter.”

Discussion: Observer, Yahoo Finance, Collider, Media Play News and Hollywood Reporter

Hollywood Reporter:

WarnerMedia says it will delay the launch of HBO Max in Europe from H2 2021 to early 2022 as it focuses on subscriber growth in Latin America — The global rollout for WarnerMedia's streaming service has hit a fork in the road in 2021 as subscriber growth in Latin America becomes a near-term focus.

Discussion: The Streamable

Reuters:

Filing: Teads, which provides automated buying and selling of online ad space, plans to raise up to $808.5M in its US IPO, at a valuation of about $5B — Advertising technology company Teads BV, owned by French telecom company Altice, said on Wednesday it aims to raise up to $808.5 million through …

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

The Biden administration's promise to “review” Section 230 in response to anti-vax posts on Facebook will fail since being wrong online is protected speech — ‘Reviewing’ Section 230 isn't the answer to anti-vax posts — Last week, the White House declared war …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, @russellbrandom, @russellbrandom, @reckless, Politico and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

Martha Carr / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Times-Picayune and The Advocate to receive $1M from the Ford Foundation to double the size of the papers' investigative team and expand its geographic reach — The Times-Picayune and The Advocate will receive a $1 million gift from the Ford Foundation, one of the nation's largest philanthropic funds …

Discussion: @k_mosbrucker, @denicewross, @bgrueskin, @brownjen, @kyle_whitfield, @gordonrussell1 and @aegallo

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast is offering its broadband subscribers the option of signing up for Hulu + Live TV, which is not available to Comcast's cable subscribers — Cable giant Comcast, like other traditional pay-TV providers, has been steadily losing video subscribers the last several years.

Discussion: The Streamable and Cord Cutters News

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:

A look at livestream shopping shows from BuzzFeed, which has put on 50+ livestreams on Amazon Live this year, including a 16-hour-long show on Prime Day — BuzzFeed is the latest media company to start experimenting with livestream shopping (aka the new, digital version of QVC) …

Discussion: @peterhimler and @simonowens

Kat Stoeffel / Bustle:

Profile of Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper, who left Barstool Sports for an exclusive Spotify deal that reportedly pays $60M over three years — In the third episode of what would become the fifth most popular podcas t in the United States, Alex Cooper announced that she had scored the big invite.

Hannah Ellis-Petersen / The Guardian:

Tax inspectors raid headquarters and regional offices of major Indian media group Dainik Bhaskar after it criticized the government's COVID response — Dainik Bhaskar accuses government of pursuing it on trumped-up charges in response to its reporting — Tax raids have been carried …

Discussion: Scroll.in

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:

Bustle owner BDG Media is buying Some Spider Studios, which owns parent sites Scary Mommy, Fatherly, and The Dad, in an all-stock deal valuing Spider at ~$150M — All-stock deal values owner of parenting websites Scary Mommy and Fatherly at about $150 million

Discussion: @benmullin, Variety, @rajivpant, Digiday, @emmarosenblum, @kerrymflynn, @benmullin and Axios

Kelsey Sutton / Adweek:

The Video Advertising Bureau, including Fox, ViacomCBS, and others, demands that the Media Rating Council suspend accreditation of Nielsen's ratings service — Companies have battled for months over ratings accuracy

Discussion: Variety, MediaPost, @annkspencer, The Wrap and Ad Age