Mediagazer: A majority of around 5,000 TV commercial production workers, organized by a group called Stand With Production, signs cards seeking to join the IATSE union (The Hollywood Reporter)

9:25 PM ET, July 25, 2023

Top News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:

YouTube's ad revenue increased 4.4% YoY to $7.67B in Q2, above expectations of $7.43B and a reversal after three consecutive quarters of declines — Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, came in above analyst earnings expectations, with top-line growth of 7%.

Discussion: The Wrap, @tvgrimreaper, The Information, NBC 7 San Diego, New York Times, Alphabet Inc., Deadline, The Verge, @nicoagrant, @quinnypig and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Miles Kruppa / Wall Street Journal:

Alphabet reports Q2 Google ad revenue of $58.14B, growing 3% YoY after two consecutive quarters of falling ad sales — Financial chief Ruth Porat to become Alphabet's president and chief investment officer — Google reported a pickup in revenue growth during the most recent quarter …

Discussion: Fast Company, MediaPost, The Information, Reuters, @joshuaogundu, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 9to5Google and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Angelique Jackson / Variety:

SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance says Dwayne Johnson donated a seven-figure sum to the SAG-AFTRA Relief Fund, the largest single donation ever — On July 13, as SAG-AFTRA leadership declared the union was going on strike, SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance …

Justin Hendrix / Tech Policy Press:
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Washington Post:
The previous big strikes reshaped Hollywood and fueled reality TV's rise; the current ones will likely turn established actors into TikTok stars and vice versa

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Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Spotify Q2: revenue up 11% YoY to €3.2B, Premium subs up 17% YoY to 220M, MAUs up 27% YoY to 551M; Q3 sales forecast below analyst est.; SPOT closes down 14.26% — Spotify Technology SA fell as much as 13% in New York trading after the audio streaming giant reported sales that came …

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Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says podcasting is ageing down, citing the growth of video podcasts and “Internet-native” creators who upload “more longform content”

Discussion: @connorwein and Financial Times

Jon Porter / The Verge:
Spotify confirms raising US Premium to $10.99/month, up from $9.99, the first increase since its US launch in 2011; Duo rises by $2, Family and Student by $1

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The Guardian reports revenue up 3.4% YoY to £264.4M for FY ending March 31, 2023, digital reader revenue grew 7.6%, and digital makes up 70% of total revenue — Total revenues were up 3% in the year to 31 March 2023. — Guardian Media Group has maintained a four-year run of revenue growth …

Discussion: Mumbrella, MediaPost, The Guardian, The Guardian and Nieman Lab

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
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Jon Lafayette / Next TV:

Marquee Sports Network, a Chicago Cubs and Sinclair joint venture, launches a streaming app with live Cubs games and more in the Chicago area, for $19.99/month — Subscription costs $19.99 a month — Marquee Sports Network, the regional sports network joint venture of the Chicago Cubs and Sinclair …

Discussion: The Streamable, Marquee Sports Network and Cord Cutters News

Tatiana Siegel / Variety:

Sources detail Jeff Zucker's efforts to court potential investors in a bid for CNN, including Jeff Bezos, Laurene Powell Jobs, Alex Soros, and Roman Abramovich — Jeff Zucker was breezing through the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach when he spotted David Zaslav across the room.

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Matias Grez / CNN:

The BBC apologizes for a reporter's “inappropriate” question at the Women's World Cup opener; the reporter asked Morocco's captain if the team had gay players — Women's World Cup 2023: Live scores, fixtures, results, tables and top scorers — The BBC has apologized for an …

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The Hollywood Reporter:

A majority of around 5,000 TV commercial production workers, organized by a group called Stand With Production, signs cards seeking to join the IATSE union — The group, titled Stand With Production, comprises an estimated 5,000 TV workers, a majority of whom have signaled their support …

Discussion: @moreperfectus, @moreperfectus, The Wrap and Deadline

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

CEO Daniel Ek teases ways Spotify could integrate additional AI functionality into its products, including summarizing podcasts and generating audio ads — During the company's second-quarter earnings call this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek teased a few ways the streaming service could introduce additional AI-powered functionality.

more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Emails: X offers discounts on new video ads in the US and UK and warns advertisers that they will lose verified status unless they reach spending thresholds — Social-media site X is offering hefty discounts to lure back ad dollars — X Corp. is cutting ad prices as it tries to woo brands back to the Elon Musk-owned platform.

Discussion: @martinsfp, @joelmathis.bsky.social, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, The Drum and Forrester, more at Techmeme »

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:

Snap Q2: revenue down 4% YoY to $1.07B, vs. $1.05B est., global DAUs up 14% YoY to 397M, vs. 395M est., and Q3 revenue forecast below est.; SNAP down 16%+ — - Snap's overall sales in the second quarter declined 4% from the $1.11 billion it logged in the previous year during the same period.

Discussion: TechCrunch, NBC 7 San Diego, Snap Inc., Variety, Deadline, New York Times, @carnage4life@threads.net, @terraf31215, @scobleizer, @alexbarinka, @carnage4life@mas.to, @eric_seufert and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

TechCrunch:

Threads adds an option for a chronological feed of posts from people the user follows — Meta's text-based social network Threads is rolling out one of the most requested features after its launch — a following feed. — In a post on his Instagram Channel, Mark Zuckerberg said that the company …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix rolls out a My Netflix tab on iOS, superseding the Downloads tab to offer downloads, watch lists, reminders, and more; Android gets My Netflix in August — Netflix has rolled out a new feature designed to — what else? — get you to stream as much as possible on the service.

Discussion: Broadband TV News, About Netflix, The Verge, Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter, CNET, UPROXX, Engadget, Deadline and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

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Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
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