Mediagazer: Disney's streaming unit reports a loss of $18M in Q2, down from a $659M loss YoY, and says it is on track to achieve streaming profitability in Q4 2024 (Robbie Whelan/Wall Street Journal)

3:30 PM ET, May 7, 2024

Top News:

CNBC:

Disney reports Q2 revenue up 1% YoY to $22.08B, vs. $22.11B est., with Disney+ and Hulu hitting a combined quarterly profit for the first time — The “Partners” statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, at Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom, at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, photographed Saturday, June 3, 2023.

Jennifer Maas / Variety:

Disney CEO Bob Iger says Marvel is going to reduce output and focus on quality by releasing “about two TV series a year” and a “maximum of three” films per year — Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company is shrinking the MCU with a new mission to drop the number …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Business Insider, @ballmatthew, The Wrap, SlashFilm, TVLine, Gizmodo, ComingSoon.net, @tvgrimreaper, The Playlist, MatthewBall.co, Screen Rant, The A.V. Club and Deadline

Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal:

Disney's streaming unit reports a loss of $18M in Q2, down from a $659M loss YoY, and says it is on track to achieve streaming profitability in Q4 2024 — Entertainment giant adds streaming customers as it swings to a loss as a result of charge from India media venture

Discussion: Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, @tvgrimreaper, Media Play News and Dylan Jones on LinkedIn

Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:

Disney reports Disney+ 153.6M subscribers, vs. 155.66M est., and raises its guidance for FY 2024 earnings growth from 20% to 25%, vs. 25.5% est.; DIS drops 8%+ — Disney CFO Johnston on Profit Beat, Streaming TV Growth … The media giant added more than 6 million subscribers in the second quarter …

Discussion: CBS News, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn and Advanced Television

Loree Seitz / The Wrap:

Bob Iger says Disney+ will add a new ESPN tile by the end of 2024, with “select live games and studio programming” for US subscribers — Disney+ will add a new ESPN tile by the end of 2024. — The new tile, which will grant U.S. subscribers access to “select live games …

Discussion: IndieWire, AdExchanger, The Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, Sportico, The Streamable, Variety, Deadline, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News and The Verge

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney reports Q2 subscribers to Disney+ Core, which excludes Disney+ Hotstar in India and other Southeast Asian countries, up 6% QoQ to 117.6M, above forecasts

Discussion: The Streamable, TVNewsCheck, Engadget and Zach O'Neal on LinkedIn

Max Tani / Semafor:

Memo: Business Insider Global Editor-in-Chief Nich Carlson is stepping down and will become an editor-at-large focused on longer-term projects — The Scoop — Business Insider's global editor-in-chief is stepping down as the company begins a search for his replacement.

Discussion: Reuters, New York Post, Axios, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, @sportsrapport, @sarafischer, @thestalwart, @mjnblack, @julie188, @nichcarlson and The Daily Beast

Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:

OpenAI releases a tool to detect DALL-E 3-created images, claiming 98% accuracy for unaltered images, and joins Microsoft and Adobe's content credentials group — Startup's new tool detects 98% of pictures generated by its DALL-E 3 system, but success drops if the images are altered

Discussion: Microsoft On the Issues, Engadget, Quartz, New York Times, Reuters, ZDNet and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Dotdash Meredith inks a deal with OpenAI to license its content to train AI models and work together on products, including Dotdash's ad-targeting tool D/Cipher — - OpenAI will also collaborate with Dotdash to create new AI products and features for its readers.

Discussion: The Wrap, Bloomberg, The Information, @sarafischer, Dotdash Meredith, @sarafischer, Reuters and The Verge

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon announces three new interactive ad formats for Prime Video: shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause ads, and interactive brand trivia ads — Three new formats will let users easily include products featured in ads to their Amazon carts, with no need for QR codes.

Discussion: The Streamable, AdExchanger, Variety, Adweek, Deadline, Next TV, Ad Age, Amazon Ads and MediaPost

Ren LaForme / Poynter:

2024 Pulitzer Prize winners: NYT for Investigative Reporting, WaPo and Reuters for National Reporting, and NYT for International Reporting for Oct. 7 coverage — A live list of the winners of journalism's top honor, including links to the winning stories. — The winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, The Pulitzer Prizes, The Pulitzer Prizes on YouTube, NewsLab, The Bookseller, New York Times, Talking Biz News, @mossbergwalt@threads.net, Poynter, @lailaalarian, @caramck, @dwdavison, @edmundlee, @lookoutscruz, @maxseddon, @zhang_sharon, @zei_squirrel, @abgutman, @ceilnoyle, @dancow, @samfbiddle, @taylorlorenz, @parismartineau, @terryparrisjr, @poynter, @pulitzerprizes, @ashihipar, @jeremyscahill, @sdkstl, @sarabethberman, @kristenhare, @ap, @jackmirkinson, @sbg1, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, @newyorker, @eramshaw, @nickatnews, @poynter, @cande313, @tracyjan, @sxarletred, @jackmirkinson, @billbrowder, @indyscholtens, @davehill77, @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @hadas_gold, The Pulitzer Prizes on YouTube, ProPublica, Associated Press, Associated Press, Associated Press, Honolulu Civil Beat, Axios, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Publishers Weekly, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, The Hill, The Guardian, Newser, The Hollywood Reporter, Poynter, New York Daily News, Wall Street Journal, NPR, New Yorker, Deadline, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times

Joseph Ax / Reuters:
Lookout Santa Cruz, a digital-only local news outlet, won the breaking news reporting Pulitzer for its 2023 California floods coverage; Reuters won two prizes

Discussion: Lookout Santa Cruz, Poynter, Ken Doctor on LinkedIn, Media Nation, @merrillcollege, @jcopeland_sc, @scottbrodbeck, @kwstark, @digidave, @buxmontnews, @paldhous, Los Angeles Times, Discourse Blog, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Nick Tattersall on LinkedIn

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
NYT and WaPo won three Pulitzers each; the prize for public service went to ProPublica for its coverage of Justice Clarence Thomas' financial entanglements

Discussion: Politico, @chrisahowell@threads.net, Poynter, @tomburtonwsj, @rachael_levy, @stevenwaldman, Newser, Edmund Carlevale on LinkedIn, @propublica.bsky.social and The New York Times Company

New York Times:

TikTok sues the US government over the law forcing a sale or ban, saying it violates users' First Amendment rights and divestiture is “simply not possible” — The social media company and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, sued to challenge the new law, saying it violated users' First Amendment rights.

Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:

Tubi partners with Issa Rae's ColorCreative initiative to launch Stubios, an incubation program for up-and-coming filmmakers looking to break into the business — Tubi is partnering with Issa Rae's Color Creative initiative to launch an incubation platform for up-and-coming filmmakers looking to break into the business.

Discussion: Adweek, Variety, StreamTV Insider, CNET, TechCrunch, Cord Cutters News, Next TV, Media Play News and TubiTV Corporate

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

OpenAI says it's developing a Media Manager tool, slated for release by 2025, to let content owners identify their works to OpenAI and control how they are used — OpenAI says it's developing a tool to let creators better control how their content is used in AI.

Discussion: Voicebot.ai and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »