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 …
Discussion:
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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
Discussion:
Deadline, @culturecrave, Digital TV Europe, Deadline, Boing Boing, Vulture, @enthusiamy, @tvgrimreaper, @fordm, @coreydeshon, @cinemaniac94, @gerberkawasaki, @kaludiasays, @pleasedtomeetya, @joshsternberg, The A.V. Club, @nash076, @alex_abads, @thewrap, @markharrisnyc, @ashleyesqueda, Next TV, @lucas_shaw, @dsmithweb, Variety, Fortune, Mediaite, Looper, @variety, The Desk, @bendreyfuss, @avishaiw, @tinch, @bradmiska, Observer, ScreenRant, UPROXX, SlashFilm, The Playlist and Insider
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
Discussion:
The Guardian, Inverse, Bleeding Cool, Looper, @jimmychampane, ScreenRant, CNET, @awestruckvox, @seanfennessey, Mashable, E! Online, New York Post, @krolljvar, Chicago Sun-Times, @xzyliac, Animation Magazine, Associated Press, Well, Isn't This Great? …, Desafiador do Desconhecido, NPR, Us Weekly, Boing Boing, @markharrisnyc, @seitz_unseen, @bearmccreary, @somebadideas, @greg_jenner, @becketadams, @variety, @xpangler, The Week, Den of Geek, The Comeback, al.com, Gizmodo, The Playlist and New York Post
Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
Unionized Thomson Reuters journalists in the US plan a 24-hour strike starting at 6am ET on August 4, the first walkout in decades, over pay raises — Thomson Reuters Corp. journalists in the US are preparing to launch a daylong strike Thursday, the first walkout in decades among the media company's long-unionized staff.
Discussion:
@josheidelson, @felixsalmon, @rover829 and @josheidelson
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Kenneth Li / Reuters:
Thomson Reuters reports Q2 revenue rose 5% YoY to $1.61B and operating profit rose 24% YoY to $391M — News and information company Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) reported higher second-quarter operating profit on Thursday and raised its full year revenue forecast.
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.
Discussion:
@oneunderscore__, NBC News, New York Times, @bgrueskin, @willsommer, Law & Crime, Forbes, The Week, Associated Press, VICE, @emptywheel, @randfish, @jeffjarvis, @atrachelgilmore, @oneunderscore__, @zeynep, @realkellyjones, @emptywheel, @maitlis, @hasanthehun, @maxapotter, @jenmercieca, @egavactip, @dansolomon, @darbyscastle, @reallorraine, @popehat, @janusrose, @stevesilberman, @froomkin, @gideonrachman, @dansolomon, al.com, @insidernews, @nandoodles, @elise_jordan, @cameronwilson, @annamerlan, @oneunderscore__, Deadline and @thetweetofjohn
The Wrap:
Paramount reports Q2 revenue rose 19% YoY to $7.7B, while operating income fell 33% YoY to $819M, and says Pluto TV has nearly 70M MAUs — Paramount Global on Thursday beat analyst revenue expectations for its 2022 second quarter earnings, thanks largely in part to the humongous, $1 billion+ performance of “Top Gun: Maverick.”
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Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount reports nearly 64M global streaming subscribers in Q2, up from 62M in Q1, and 43M+ Paramount+ subscribers, up from 39.6M in Q1 — The company, led by CEO Bob Bakish, also grew monthly active users for its advertising-supported streamer Pluto TV. — Paramount Global added global …
Discussion:
Variety, The Streamable and Deadline
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.
Discussion:
@ashleyrcarman, @jessethorn, @mims, @drjengunter, @film_girl, @yourmandevine, @angryasianman, @robcesternino, @benrothenberg, @amahnke, @helenzaltzman, @mikeisaac, @stevesi, @bennetttomlin, @profgalloway, @alyssam_infosec, @kellycrandall, @briangaar, @scottwamplerbmd, @cardiffgarcia, @jrhennessy, @heybuckhey, Engadget, @hankgreen, @adamsinger, @gabby_hoffman, @lucas_shaw, @arperelli, @parismartineau, @greg_jenner, @jrovner, @henereyg, @simonowens, @dskok, @pftcommenter and @niemanlab
Wall Street Journal:
A look at Netflix's scramble to build an ad business as its subscriber growth lags; sources say Reed Hastings suggested Netflix could charge $80 per 1,000 views — Reed Hastings insisted on focusing on subscriptions until competitors started nibbling away at his business model
Discussion:
@astaniscia86, @valuetom84, @benmullin, @bysarahkrouse, @asharma, @mediainsider, @carlquintanilla and Insider
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:
@taylorlorenz, @caseynewton, @alexrkonrad, @kattenbarge, @washingtonpost, Protocol, @isaachayes3, @taylorlorenz, @robnashville, @taylorlorenz, @sneakerphetish, @theericklouis, @kelsaywhat, @taylorlorenz, @reesha, @andrejgee, @taylorlorenz, @blackamazon, @franklinleonard, @moisesfenty, @blackleftaf, @adhutchinson, @godisrivera, @dwhate and @taylorlorenz, 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.”
Discussion:
Insider, @itsdaveedwards and Variety, more at Techmeme »
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:
@film_girl, @poynter, @bgpolitics and @rickedmonds
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