Mediagazer: Substack now lets users follow an individual writer without having to subscribe to their newsletter, a further expansion into social networking after Notes (Jay Peters/The Verge)

Nielsen: in July, linear TV made up less than 50% of all US TV usage, a first in over two years of tracking, and streaming hit a record 38.7% high of TV usage — Nielsen's monthly platform rankings show broadcast and cable making up less than half of all TV use.

Discussion: The Streamable, Nielsen, TechCrunch, TVLine, Gizmodo, Variety, MediaPost, Next TV, Wall Street Journal, Nielsen, Deadline, @digitalshields, WORLD SCREEN, Consequence and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

ESPN sportscaster Sage Steele says she is leaving the network having settled her lawsuit that alleged ESPN violated her free speech rights — Sage Steele, the veteran ESPN sportscaster who became better known in recent years for her stances on hot topics like coronavirus vaccinations, has left the Disney sports giant.

Washington Post:

Analysis: X has added a five-second delay when users click t.co links to the NYT, Reuters, Instagram, Bluesky, Substack, and other sites Elon Musk often attacks — The site formerly known as Twitter has added a five-second delay when a user clicks on a shortened link to the New York Times …

Discussion: @drewharwell, @martinsfp.bsky.social, @mikeisaac, @billbrown, @mattsclancy, @minimaxir, @mikeisaac and news.ycombinator.com, more at Techmeme »

Jon Porter / The Verge:

YouTube starts mass removing videos promoting “cancer treatments proven to be harmful or ineffective” or discouraging “seeking professional medical treatment” — YouTube will remove content that promotes “cancer treatments proven to be harmful or ineffective” or which …

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Hill, 9to5Google, Beyond Search and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Paul / Popular Science:

To comply with a state law requiring that school library books be “age appropriate”, an Iowa school district used ChatGPT to find books depicting “a sex act” — Faced with new legislation, Iowa's Mason City Community School District asked ChatGPT if certain books 'contain …

Discussion: Gizmodo, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @Mer__edith@mastodon.world, @paisleycurrah, @bkreit, @emilymbender, Engadget, @dkbgeek@noc.social, @kiplet@social.tchncs.de, Shelly Palmer and The Register, more at Techmeme »

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Sources: Vice reporters' critical coverage of Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly blocked by corporate execs who cite concerns for safety of staff in Saudi Arabia — Exclusive: Media company recently signed lucrative deal with Saudi government-controlled MBC Group

Discussion: @nkulw, @direthoughts, @bbhorne@kolektiva.social, @jamesballiol, @patrickgaley, @rolandoliphant, @aymondo, @taniabranigan, @jimwaterson.bsky.social and @acookiecrumbles …

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Substack now lets users follow an individual writer without having to subscribe to their newsletter, a further expansion into social networking after Notes — Substack now lets you follow writers, offering a way for you to keep tabs on what a writer is doing without having to subscribe to their newsletter.

Discussion: TechCrunch and On Substack, more at Techmeme »

Christian Paz / Vox:

A look at Pop Crave and Pop Base, two pop culture X accounts doing newsgathering and aggregation, and sharing headlines that eliminate the need to click through — Are Pop Crave and Pop Base the future of political journalism? — If you've spent any time on Instagram, Threads, or …

Discussion: New York Times, MIT Technology Review, @studyhallxyz and @jazzmineabriana

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Fantasy Life, NBC Sports analyst Matthew Berry's fantasy sports media firm, raised $2M; Berry says it's profitable, has seven-figure revenue and 350K email subs — Fantasy Life, the fantasy sports and sports betting media company founded by NBC Sports analyst Matthew Berry …

Discussion: Sportico and @mbfantasylife

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube updates YouTube Music on iOS and Android with Samples, a music discovery feed featuring vertically cropped, 30-second clips uploaded directly by artists — While there have been modernizations, YouTube's music streaming service has remained functionally and visually the same since its launch.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Engadget, Music Ally, YouTube Official Blog, Wired, The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Raphael Satter / Reuters:

Filing: ex-WSJ reporter Jay Solomon voluntarily dismisses his claims against law firm Dechert LLP, which he accused of getting him fired from the Journal — Former Wall Street Journal reporter Jay Solomon has ended his lawsuit against Dechert LLP and two of its former partners …

Alex Cranz / The Verge:

Roku adds over 30 local and national news channels from CBS and Fox News, in addition to existing ABC and NBC news channels, a MrBeast channel, and others — The Roku Channel is adding a whole mess of new linear channels, and while some are fun times like Murder, She Wrote and MrBeast …

Discussion: The Streamable, Deadline, Cord Cutters News and The Hollywood Reporter