Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Warner Bros. Discovery has been quietly culling HBO Max content, including at least six Warner Bros. films and the House Party reboot, in apparent cost cutting — Warner Bros. Discovery has been quietly culling content from HBO Max — including several Warner Bros. movies that were exclusively streaming …
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The Wrap:
Sources: WBD CEO David Zaslav plans to announce a combined HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming service on August 4; 70% of HBO Max's development unit could be cut — Hollywood is buzzing around Warner Bros. Discovery's upcoming earnings results and plans for a combined streaming service, which can upend its most popular streamer
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Adam B. Vary / Variety:
Warner Bros. Discovery kills Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt movies both for HBO Max and for theaters; Batgirl had a $90M budget; sources: Scoob! cost $40M — “Batgirl,” the feature film adaptation of the DC Comics character, has been killed at Warner Bros., Variety has confirmed.
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Natalie Musumeci / Insider:
Alex Jones' trial reveals that Infowars made as much as $800K per day in 2018, and that the fake news site made $70M in revenue in its most recent fiscal year — - An attorney for Sandy parents said Alex Jones' defense attorney “messed up” and sent him a digital copy of Jones' cell phone.
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Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
A look at the practice of guests paying podcasters to appear on their shows; Guestio, a marketplace for brokering paid guest appearances, has raised $1M+ — People will confess all sorts of things to podcasters, from their unpopular political beliefs or embarrassing romantic mishaps to their worst fears.
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@ashleyrcarman, Engadget, @profgalloway, @jrhennessy, @angryasianman, @jessethorn, @mims, @lucas_shaw, @drjengunter, @adamsinger, @film_girl, @yourmandevine, @robcesternino, @benrothenberg, @amahnke, @gabby_hoffman, @mikeisaac, @niemanlab, @stevesi, @bennetttomlin, @arperelli, @alyssam_infosec, @parismartineau, @greg_jenner, @kellycrandall, @pftcommenter, @briangaar, @scottwamplerbmd, @jrovner, @cardiffgarcia, @simonowens, @dskok, @heybuckhey, @henereyg and @hankgreen
Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Interviews with over two dozen Triller creators and others: the TikTok rival missed payments after promising Black creators $4K per month, half paid in equity — Triller made its name recruiting talent with lavish perks. Now, dozens of influencers are struggling to get paid.
Discussion:
@caseynewton, @alexrkonrad, @washingtonpost, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @robnashville, @taylorlorenz, @sneakerphetish, @theericklouis, @kelsaywhat, @taylorlorenz, @reesha, @andrejgee, @blackamazon, @franklinleonard, @moisesfenty, @godisrivera and @dwhate, more at Techmeme »
Elias Leight / Billboard:
SoundCloud cuts its global workforce by ~20% “due to a significant company transformation and the challenging economic and financial environment” — CEO Michael Weissman announced the cuts in an email, blaming them on “the challenging economic climate and financial market headwinds.”
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Variety
Ronan Shields / Digiday:
An Apple job posting indicates the company is looking to build a “privacy-forward”, mobile-centric demand-side ad platform — Apple may have blown up the digital ads business but it left enough fertile ground to build its own, more focused play for media dollars.
Discussion:
@digiday, @alextcone, MediaPost, AppleInsider, @timhwang, @martyswant, @blackamazon, @damianburns and @tatarynovich
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Zette plans to offer access to paywalled stories across publications via a browser extension for $10/month; founder Yehong Zhu has signed up McClatchy and more — With Zette, Yehong Zhu says she has what young readers want and can succeed where others have failed
Discussion:
@bgpolitics and @rickedmonds
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Lionsgate launches a podcast division that will handle production for its film and TV businesses as well as third-party clients, starting with a show by 50 Cent — Lionsgate Sound will handle podcasts for the Hollywood studio's film and TV divisions. — Lionsgate has launched …
Discussion:
Deadline, Variety, The Wrap and Media Play News
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Sources: 1M+ people signed up for free newsletters on Meta's Bulletin service and earlier in 2022, the company was planning on expanding its roster of writers — The Substack frenzy seems like a thing of the past, but lots of publishers are still leaning into newsletters. “They're a great minimally viable product.”
Discussion:
@rmc031, @seangriffey, @emilystewartm, @pkafka, @bigmeaninternet, @elanazak, @chaykak, @chaykak and patrick's Newsletter
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Meta plans to shut down its Facebook Live Shopping feature on October 1, as the company shifts its focus to Reels on Facebook and Instagram — Facebook is shutting down its live shopping feature on October 1st to shift its focus to Reels, the company announced in a blog post.
Discussion:
Adweek, CNET, Engadget, @efeng, @caseynewton, @jerrycap, Social Media Today, The Verge and Insider, more at Techmeme »