Top News:
James Poniewozik / New York Times:
The January 6 hearings succeeded not just through good intentions but with teasers, previews, recaps, and diagrams to turn a congressional inquest into great TV — Investigating a threat to democracy was always going to be important. But this time, it also managed to be buzzworthy.
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Sonia Rao / Washington Post:
Nielsen: nearly 17.7M people watched the second primetime hearing of the January 6 investigation across 10 networks; MSNBC led with an average of 4.7M viewers — Listen — Gift Article — Nearly 17.7 million television viewers tuned in Thursday to the second prime-time hearing …
Joe Otterson / Variety:
WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon says he is retiring, amid allegations that he paid four women $12M+ to keep quiet about his alleged affairs and misconduct — Vince McMahon is retiring from WWE. — “As I approach 77 years old, I feel it's time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE …
Discussion:
@vincemcmahon, @brandolightshed, The Illuminerdi, The A.V. Club, @realmickfoley, @jclayfield, @realpaigewwe, @bluemeaniebwo, @alasdairstuart, @bellatwins, @themattcardona, @dontonyd, The Week, @the_ironsheik, @wwe_mandyrose, @bakingjason, @moorehn, @variety, @sherman4949, @yashar, The Comeback, CBS News, CNET, SlashFilm, Mediaite, Next TV and IndieWire
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Twitter reports Q2 revenue down 1% YoY to $1.18B, vs. 1.32B est., a $270M net loss, down from $66M in net income a year ago, and 237.8M mDAUs, up 16.6% YoY — - Twitter reported earnings for the second quarter on Friday that missed analyst estimates on earnings, revenue and user growth.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Wiretapped, Wall Street Journal, @tunguz, @lanceulanoff, @twitterir, Fortune, Dana Blankenhorn, Quartz and Axios
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Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Twitter says Q2 ad revenue grew 2% YoY to $1.08B and blames its revenue slide on uncertainty around Elon Musk's “pending acquisition” and ad industry problems — Musk is creating ‘uncertainty’ for advertisers — Twitter would have earned more money over the past few months if Elon Musk hadn't been in the picture.
Discussion:
Variety, Ad Age and @jeffjarvis
Erin Taylor / Observer:
MEL Magazine lays off all its staff again; MEL closed in March 2021 after Dollar Shave Club pulled support, and Recurrent Ventures relaunched it in August 2021 — Mel Magazine lays off its entire staff, bringing into question the future of the publication yet again. — MEL Magazine is folding, again.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Adweek, @clarknt67, @amandakhurley, @kalanigordon, @griner, @rob_sheridan, @ethangach, @mekosoff, @adamkeiper, @videodrew, @jppullen, @saba_h, @lindsaygoldwert, @dangerbrooks, @joshua_eaton, @imgarysuarez, @film_girl, @jenn_ruth, @rachelmillman, @markstenberg3, @girly_juice, @erinisaway, @iamandyholt, The Wrap and Scope Creep 🎯
Sarah Stonbely / Nieman Reports:
A look at the collaborations between media outlets and civil society organizations, which are becoming more commonplace to help bolster investigative work — The practice upends the industry's drive for neutrality. But cross-field collaborations are becoming more commonplace to help bolster investigative work
Discussion:
@niemanreports, @heidilegg and @thewjp
Richard Waters / Financial Times:
Meta closed down 7.59% and Alphabet closed down 5.63% on Friday, as Snap's and Twitter's weak earnings, inflation, and interest rates lead to online ad worries — Weak earnings raise fears that inflation and interest rates are starting to hit social media companies
Discussion:
Barron's Online, @trengriffin, @simonkhalaf, @joshspero and CNBC
Tom Bassam / SportsPro:
Stockholm-based streaming service Viaplay acquires Premier Sports, which livestreams games in the UK, in a £30M deal, ahead of Viaplay's UK rollout in the fall — Nordic media giant Viaplay Group has made a bold move in its UK expansion plans by acquiring Premier Sports in a deal …
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
The UK's CMA approves the joint venture between BT Group and Warner Bros. Discovery; BT Sport and Eurosport UK “will initially retain their separate brands” — “Both BT Sport and Eurosport UK will initially retain their separate brands and product propositions in the market …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News, Media Play News, Digital TV Europe, Variety and Reuters
Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
Epidemic Sound, which offers music tracks to creators, sues Meta, alleging approximately 94% of content using Epidemic's music on Meta's platforms is unlicensed — Faced with the prospect of copyright strikes, Content ID claims and potential account loss, thousands of YouTubers, TikTok users …
Ryan Parker / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney+ adds its first R-rated movies with Deadpool and Logan, prompting users to update their parental controls, after adding TV-MA rated shows in March 2022 — The news comes after Disney announced in March that Daredevil, the Charlie Cox-led Marvel series, would land on the streamer after leaving its original Netflix home.
Discussion:
CBR, Den of Geek, Vulture, IGN, CNN, Comic Book, Marvel Entertainment, TechCrunch, Insider, ScreenRant, Variety, TechCrunch, ScreenRant, New York Post, Deadline, Variety and Gizmodo