Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney announces Disney+ with ads for $7.99 per month in the US, starting December 8, and raises the price of the ad-free tier from $7.99 to $10.99 per month — Disney has set pricing and date for the U.S. launch of the version of Disney+ with ads, while also hiking the monthly price of the Disney+ tier with no ads.
Discussion:
The Walt Disney Company, Protocol, SlashFilm, The Streamable, Insider, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Next TV, CNBC, The Hollywood Reporter, Gizmodo, AppleInsider, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Decider, @xpangler, IndieWire, CBR, TVLine, @xpangler, @xpangler and @loudmouthjulia, more at Techmeme »
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Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Disney lowers its subscriber target for Disney+ Hotstar in India due to losing IPL cricket streaming rights but reaffirms its overall global Disney+ guidance — The loss of streaming rights to Indian Premiere League cricket has spurred the Walt Disney Co. to lower its subscriber target for its Disney+ Hotstar service in India.
Discussion:
The Wrap, CNBC and The Hollywood Reporter
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney beats with Q3 revenue up 26% YoY to $21.5B, vs. $20.96B est., 14.4M new Disney+ subscribers, and 221M total streaming subscribers; the stock jumps 5%+ — - Analysts anticipate the company added around 10 million new Disney+ subscribers during the period between April and June, bringing the total number of users to 147 million.
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Memo: The Washington Post media critic Margaret Sullivan is retiring her column at the end of August 2022 and will join Duke University as a visiting professor — New York (CNN Business)Media critic Margaret Sullivan is retiring her column and departing The Washington Post this month.
Discussion:
@oliverdarcy, Vanity Fair, @sulliview, @oliverdarcy, @emilybell, @bgrueskin, @vanityfair, @charlottetklein, @mlcalderone, @bandriatch, @parkermolloy, @newsceo, Sanford School …, @stuartemmrich, @mlcalderone, @ericmgarcia, @sulliview, @katzish, @film_girl, @brandonetc, @karenkho, @mathewi, @timjgraham, @lisatozzi, @citizencohn, @jasonabbruzzese, @brandyzadrozny, @jayrosen_nyu, @nfl_dougfarrar, @meredithshiner, @ddiamond, @froomkin, @ericschultz, @oneunderscore__, @dansaltzstein, @mollyjongfast, @dankennedy_nu, @malitzd, @deborahblum, @joshuahol, @journalistslike and @markberman
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Spotify quietly tests Spotify Tickets, directly selling live music tickets to users in the US, instead of redirecting buyers to Ticketmaster or Eventbrite — Spotify has launched a new site to sell fans tickets to live gigs directly from its platform instead of redirecting users to partners like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite.
Discussion:
Music Ally, Forbes, Billboard, CNET, Gizmodo, Engadget, Complete Music Update, @emmaswiftsings, Music Business Worldwide, @musically, @indianidle, Tubefilter and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Satirical feminist site Reductress announces it has been acquired by Phenomenal Media, a media company focused on women and historically excluded communities — The merger combines like-minded publishers with an eye toward entertainment — The satirical publisher Reductress …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Vulture, Insider, @katienotopoulos, @katienotopoulos, The Hollywood Reporter, @markstenberg3 and @lexandrapinel
Brandon Katz / The Wrap:
Fox Corp reports Q4 revenue rose 5% YoY to $3.03B, ad revenue up 7% YoY, and $308M net income; full year revenue grew 8% YoY to $13.97B, with $1.23B net income — Despite concerns that a looming recession would depress ad sales, Fox Corp. is bucking the trend thus far.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Deadline, Variety, Fox Corp, The Hollywood Reporter and @great_katzby
Lachlan Markay / Axios:
Filings: Russia-backed TV Novosti and two entities are funding four “news” TV shows from US conspiracy theorist Ben Swann, covering the US, NATO, war, and more — Russia's state-backed media apparatus is financing four new TV programs produced by a U.S. conspiracy theorist …
Discussion:
OpenSecrets.org, @lydiatomkiw, @ldrogen, @robertcaruso, @m_c_klein, @andrewsweiss, @lachlan and @andrew_danieri
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NFT startup Dapper Labs hires Nick Grudin, who was at Meta for nearly 12 years and at Newsweek before that, as chief business officer starting in September 2022 — After nearly 12 years at Meta and Facebook, Nick Grudin is leaving the social-media giant. Grudin next month …
Discussion:
@pkafka, more at Techmeme »
Whip Media:
Survey: 72% of Netflix subscribers say they are unlikely to switch to a lower cost tier with ads, 92% of HBO Max users with the ad tier are satisfied, and more — Spotlight on the Ad-Supported Experience whipmedia.com Introduction © 2022 Whip Media All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners.
Discussion:
The Streamable, The Streamable, Next TV, MediaPost, MediaPost, Next TV and MediaPost
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple signs a deal with Futuro Studios to fund podcast development and production in exchange for priority to turn podcasts into films or TV shows — Apple Inc., stepping up its spending on original podcasts, signed an agreement with a Pulitzer Prize-winning studio and is holding talks …
Discussion:
@pabloreports and 9to5Mac
Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: the Golden Globe Awards will return to NBC in 2023; the ceremony did not air in 2022 after the HFPA was criticized for its lack of diversity and ethics — The awards ceremony was not aired in 2022 as the organization behind it, the HFPA, was under fire for its lack of diversity and ethics.
Discussion:
The Week, @gracerandolph, @alexritman, Vanity Fair, @adrierising, @yongchavezla, HOLA!, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, The A.V. Club, New York Post, IndieWire and The Wrap