Mediagazer: The UK plans to force social media and ad platforms like Google Ads to stop scam ads including fake celebrity endorsements and pop-ups with malware (Thomas Seal/Bloomberg)

8:20 AM ET, July 25, 2023

Top News:

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 — After 12 years, the price of Spotify Premium is increasing in the US. The subscription will now cost $10.99 a month, the company announced today.

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Spotify reports Q2 revenue rose 11% YoY to €3.2B, Premium subscribers grew 17% YoY to 220M, MAUs rose 27% YoY to 551M, and a €112M adjusted operating loss — Spotify Technology SA, the Swedish audio streaming platform, beat analyst expectations in its second-quarter results …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, NBC 7 San Diego, Hollywood Reporter, @lucas_shaw and Spotify, more at Techmeme »

Lisa Richwine / Reuters:

The much-hyped “Barbenheimer” opening weekend netted $155M for Barbie and $80.5M for Oppenheimer, for $300M in total in the US and Canada for just the 4th time — The much-hyped “Barbenheimer” box office battle over the weekend proved to be a win for movie theaters that needed to add some sizzle to their summer.

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Q&A with Josh Goldstine, Warner Bros. president of global marketing, on Barbie's marketing campaign, which rival studio execs estimate to have cost ~$150M

Discussion: New York Times, UPROXX, Insider, The Wrap and Screen Rant

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 — The last big strikes reshaped the movie business and fueled the rise of reality TV. The latest walkout likely …

Discussion: @videodrew, @shiralazar, @drewharwell, Brightcove, Digiday, The Information, Rolling Stone, Study Hall, Foreign Policy and Deadline

Justin Hendrix / Tech Policy Press:
Q&A with Justine Bateman, a member of the DGA, the WGA, and SAG-AFTRA, on how AI may change the industry, the importance of the timing of the strike, and more

Discussion: @emilymbender@dair …, @justinhendrix and Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Twitter rolls out its updated “interim” X logo, replacing the iconic bird, following Elon Musk's weekend announcement; X.com now redirects to twitter.com — Twitter has removed the iconic bird logo and adopted ‘X’ as its official logo. This move comes after Elon Musk announced the change over the weekend.

Discussion: @elonmusk, @lindayacc, New York Times, @elonmusk, @lindayacc, CNN, The Verge, The Verge, Insider, @chafkin, RADAR, Fast Company, @martingrasser, Macworld, NBC News, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Forrester, @lindayacc, Associated Press, @rmac18, @mrerikjackson, The Hill, @mollyjongfast, @rmac18, CBS News, @valueterminal, @mikeisaac, New York Magazine, @ivanthek, The Daily Beast, @rmac18, @news_by_nick, @tomgara, Mother Jones, TIME, @mabintou, Bloomberg, @wagatwe, @espiers, The Guardian, Digital Journal, @elonmusk, Slate, KNSD-TV, @jack, @lindayacc, Us Weekly, Ars Technica, Fortune, New York Post, @mossbergwalt@threads.net, @lindayacc, @carnage4life@threads.net, Hollywood Life, Engadget, PRWeek, MediaPost, Vibe, CNN, Variety, NPR, New York Daily News, New Republic, Global News, Gizmodo, Poynter, The Register, @levie, @tomcoates, @tedlieu, @jdcmedlock, @elonmuskaoc, @emilcdc, @bendreyfuss, @yosephpaulos, @jamestobyne, @karaswisher, @loupas, @jujuujba, @benedictevans, @killedbygoogle, Fox News, Agence France-Presse, KGET-TV, Complete Music Update, Sydney Morning Herald, Insider, New York Post, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Slate, Boing Boing, The Hollywood Reporter, Digital Music News, @carnage4life@mas.to, @parkerortolani@threads.net, Times of San Diego, Ad Age, The A.V. Club, UPROXX, The Week, Consequence, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Metro.co.uk, The Wrap and Billboard, more at Techmeme »

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

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Instagram rolls out creator subscriptions in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the UK, expanding on support in the US — Meta announced today that it's rolling out Instagram subscriptions to all eligible creators in Australia, Brazil, Canada …

Discussion: Instagram and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The Guardian creates seven journalist jobs to improve its coverage of underrepresented communities, including in the UK and US, after its founder's slavery ties — The roles include dedicated correspondents for the Caribbean, Africa and South America. — The Guardian is creating seven …

Discussion: The Guardian, @josephharker, @josephharker and @blackamazon

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

TikTok rolls out support for text posts, available via the app's Camera page and letting users add sounds, locations, stickers, and more — As Twitter shoots itself in the foot with a rebrand this morning, TikTok has announced that it's rolling out support for text posts.

Catherine Perloff / Adweek:

Mailchimp owner Intuit is launching SMB MediaLabs, which lets advertisers target QuickBooks' 7.1M customers on social media, online publishers, CTV, and more — Targeting QuickBooks' customers across digital media is a promising new revenue line — Financial services giant Intuit …

Discussion: Intuit SMB MediaLabs, @lefterisjp, @catherineperlo1, @johnathanbarnes and @sean_kaushal

Sports Business Journal:

Sources: MLS Season Pass is nearing 1M subs including season-ticket holders; team execs say they are frustrated due to lack of transparency in viewership stats — Apple's Eddy Cue began speaking to a room filled with MLS owners and executives last week in Washington, D.C. …

Discussion: CNN, @turnersavesthat, Awful Announcing, @worldsoccertalk, @tvanswerman, @alexmsilverman, @griffin_author, @tvgrimreaper, @zone_nhl, @jheaps4, @usmnt_thoughts, @GreenFire@mstdn.social, The Streamable and 9to5Mac

Vidya Krishnan / Nieman Reports:

A look at NDTV, India's last mainstream TV network willing to critically cover the Modi government, as Adani Group's NDTV takeover leaves few independent voices — The hostile takeover of NDTV — one of India's last channels willing to report critically on the Modi government …

Discussion: @vidyakrishnan and Columbia Journalism Review

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:

The UK plans to force social media and ad platforms like Google Ads to stop scam ads including fake celebrity endorsements and pop-ups with malware — - Ad-tech will be forced to crack down on scam advertisements — Measures are intended to complement the Online Safety Bill

Discussion: Financial Times, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 8:20 AM ET, July 25, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Reach reports revenue fell 6.1% YoY to £279.4M and operating profit dropped 23.5% YoY to £36.1M; print revenue fell 2.7% YoY and digital slid 16.1% YoY

Discussion: Investegate, Financial Times and HoldtheFrontPage

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
The Telegraph Media Group reports 2022 revenues up 4% YoY to £254.2M, digital subscription revenue up 31% YoY to £57.9M, and subscriptions up 2% YoY to 734K

Discussion: The Guardian, Financial Times, London Evening Standard, Telegraph, Reuters, Telegraph Media Group, The Times and @guardiannews

Washington Post:
Mandiant: a Chinese PR firm used newswire services to place pro-Beijing content on the subdomains of 32+ US news outlets, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Discussion: @nakashimae, @nakashimae, @nakashimae, @nakashimae, @ericgarland, @heminator, CNN and Mandiant

David Folkenflik / NPR:
NPR names Edith Chapin as its SVP for news and editor-in-chief; she's been serving in the position on an acting basis since fall 2022, after joining NPR in 2012

Discussion: Inside Radio, @isalara, @davidfolkenflik, @elbordeaux, @vivian, @greenfield64, Current and The Wrap

Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:
Sources: Disney is reviewing its film release schedule for the rest of 2023 and may delay some titles because striking actors won't help promote the pictures

Discussion: Comic Book, @tvgrimreaper and @bart_smith

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Court docs reveal Vice's financial struggles and fundraising history; Vice held $834M in debt in May 2023, raising $1.3B+ in debt and equity funding since 2017

Discussion: Media Voices, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, @markstenberg3 and @adamry_n

Jean Yamamura / The Santa Barbara Independent:
The Santa Barbara News-Press, which has published a paper since 1868 and received a Pulitzer, ceases publication and files for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Earlier Picks:

New York Times:
Sources: Altice USA is exploring a sale and other strategic options for Cheddar News; Altice USA acquired the streaming news network for $200M in 2019

Discussion: Poynter, Adweek, @tomgara, @bmorrissey, Semafor, @sherman4949, @scottnover, @ryanvailbrown, @seangriffey, @dannygroner, @benmullin, The Wrap and Insider

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Internal memo: WBD President of International TV Distribution Robert Blair plans to leave the company after 25 years due to a “necessary structural change”

Discussion: @variety, @jelmes_tv, Broadcast, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Cord Cutters News

BBC:
BBC newsreader George Alagiah, who joined the broadcaster as a foreign correspondent in 1989 and presented BBC News at Six for the past 20 years, dies at 67

Natalie Pressman / CBC News:
Canada's smaller news outlets, like Cabin Radio, the Northwest Territories' only entirely-online news organization, worry about the Online News Act's impact

Discussion: @gregorytaylor1

Patrick Sykes / Bloomberg:
Turkish shows, initially made for domestic audiences, are at the forefront of state broadcaster TRT's global expansion, as Turkey tries to extend its soft power

Ben Smith / Semafor:
Sources: IAC, News Corp, the NYT, and other publishers are forming a coalition to push for AI laws and lead a lawsuit against AI firms who trained on their data

Discussion: The Overspill, The Bookseller, @jl_zamith, @moorehn, @_zeets, @michaelgreshko, @mediaevan, @natfriedman, @adamkovac, @hingumtringum, @natfriedman, @sirdigalot, Vanity Fair and @ernie@writing.exchange

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised another $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary training partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
A UK CMA report finds that Apple's policies hold back innovation in mobile browsers and recommends investigating Apple and Google's mobile ecosystem activities

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page