Top News:
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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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, IndieWire, @variety, TV Insider, The Hot Button, The Guardian, @2minutetimelord, @jimmychampane, Vanity Fair, SlashFilm, ScreenRant, @williambibbiani, @theashleyray, The Playlist, UPROXX, @culturecrave, The Verge, Forbes, SlashFilm, @lindaholmes, Decider, Collider, @patrickcotnoir, @coopercooperco, Looper, @kevinpanetta, @tvgrimreaper and The Streamable
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, Variety, Observer, ScreenRant, @lucas_shaw, @coreydeshon, @cinemaniac94, @pleasedtomeetya, @tvgrimreaper, @enthusiamy, Looper, The Desk, @culturecrave, UPROXX, @alex_abads, @bradmiska, The A.V. Club, Vanity Fair, @gerberkawasaki, @avishaiw, @variety, @joshsternberg, @nash076, @markharrisnyc, @ashleyesqueda, @bendreyfuss, @tinch, @adambvary and The Verge
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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NBC News, @oneunderscore__, Rolling Stone, Law & Crime, Mediaite, New York Times, @bgrueskin, @cameronwilson, @gideonrachman, Associated Press, Forbes, Deadline, @emptywheel, @randfish, @oneunderscore__, @zeynep, @realkellyjones, @emptywheel, @maitlis, @hasanthehun, @maxapotter, @jenmercieca, VICE, @darbyscastle, @popehat, @janusrose, NBC New York, @insidernews, @nandoodles, @thetweetofjohn, @annamerlan and @oneunderscore__
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, @mims, @benrothenberg, @kellycrandall, @drjengunter, @jessethorn, @lucas_shaw, @adamsinger, @film_girl, @gabby_hoffman, @mikeisaac, @niemanlab, @stevesi, @bennetttomlin, @arperelli, @alyssam_infosec, @parismartineau, @greg_jenner, @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, @theericklouis, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @robnashville, @taylorlorenz, @sneakerphetish, @kelsaywhat, @taylorlorenz, @reesha, @andrejgee, @blackamazon, @franklinleonard, @moisesfenty, @godisrivera and @dwhate, more at Techmeme »
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, MediaPost, @alextcone, 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
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:
Variety
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with YouTube star Hank Green on YouTube's revenue value, TikTok's promotional value, how Complexly is structured, selling Subbable and VidCon, and more — In October 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. On January 1st, 2007, the brothers Hank and John Green started making videos …
Discussion:
@reckless, Podcast Movement, @sciencequiche, @slatchison and @12tonevideos
Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:
Textbook publisher Pearson plans to turn its e-books into NFTs to take a cut from secondhand sales and has a team exploring “the implications of the metaverse” — The chief executive officer of Pearson Plc, one of the world's largest textbook publishers, said he hopes technology …
Discussion:
The Verge, The Guardian, @patricksmcmahon, @rozebian, Dan's Stack, @iancutress, @joshelman, @timduy, @mjasay, @carnage4life, @hypervisible, @meyerweb, @richardred0x, @bradydale, @mor10, @samoore_, @jasonhitchcock, @bradydale, @benhammersley, @jonippolito, @lizwfab, @mrjoemilliano and InvestEgate, more at Techmeme »
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT reports Q2 revenue up 11.5% YoY to $555.7M, operating profit down 18% YoY to $76M, and 180K net new digital subscribers; The Athletic had a $12.6M loss — Revenue from digital advertising fell slightly in the second quarter, but subscription revenue continued to rise sharply, the company said.
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The Wrap, Press Gazette, MediaPost, @pkedrosky, @tvgrimreaper, @jasonkilar, @benryanwriter, @mccanner, @davidshepardson, Poynter, @cliffordlevy and Reuters
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