Top News:
Digiday:
Google says it won't be “deprecating third-party cookies” in Chrome and will instead keep working on “privacy-preserving alternatives” via Privacy Sandbox APIs — After much back and forth, Google has decided to keep third-party cookies in its Chrome browser.
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Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q2 revenue up 20% YoY to €3.8B, MAUs up 14% YoY to 626M, paid subscribers up 12% YoY to 246M, above 245.2M est., and a €266M operating income — Spotify Technology SA, the Swedish audio-streaming giant, reported second-quarter subscriber growth that exceeded analysts' projections …
Discussion:
Fast Company, Billboard, The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, Spotify, Quartz, Music Ally, @sarafischer, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Music Business Worldwide, Consequence and @eldsjal, more at Techmeme »
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast reports Peacock Q2 revenue up 28% YoY to $1B, a $348M loss, down from $651M in Q2 2023, and paying subscribers up 38% YoY to 33M — Comcast and its entertainment unit NBCUniversal report second-quarter results, including the “best year-over-year improvement” in quarterly streaming losses since launch in 2020.
Discussion:
IndieWire, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, Bloomberg, Barron's Online, CNBC, MarketWatch and Comcast Corporation
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Bloomberg:
A look at Comcast's bet on the Paris Olympics, which executives hope will greatly elevate Peacock against Netflix and Disney+; Peacock has exclusive US rights — - US viewers will be able to see every Olympic event on Peacock — Coverage of Games will promote Peacock original programming
Discussion:
Reuters, Slate, @lucas_shaw, E! Online, IndieWire, Rolling Stone and The Streamable
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
BBC plans to lay off 500 more staff by March 2026 and reports a £263M operating deficit in 2023/24, up from £193M in 2022/23, projected to be £492M in 2024/25 — The BBC will lay off 500 more staff by March 2026 as its annual report paints a worrying financial picture including …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and BBC
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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Huw Edwards tops the list of BBC's highest paid journalists for 2023/24 despite being off-air since July 2023; 46 BBC journalists earned above £178K — Forty-six BBC journalists earned above £178,000 last year from their work for the corporation, according to the BBC's annual report …
Reuters:
The US calls on Russia to free Russian-American RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was jailed last week in what RFE/RL said was “a mockery of justice” — The U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Tuesday called on Russia to free Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist …
Discussion:
Semafor, Reporters Without Borders and European Federation …
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Dylan Donnelly / Sky News:
A Russian court sentences Russian-American RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to six and a half years in prison for spreading “false info” about the Russian army
A Russian court sentences Russian-American RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to six and a half years in prison for spreading “false info” about the Russian army
Discussion:
Associated Press, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, TVNewsCheck, CNN, @freedomofpress, @pressgazette, @bentavener, @samberkhead, @janlipavsky, @reidstan, @rebecca_vincent, @samagreene, @bbcstever, @hadas_gold, New York Times, BBC, The Guardian, Voice of America, Reuters, CNN, Committee to Protect …, CBS News and USAGM
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
TelevisaUnivision reports Q2 revenue up 3% YoY to $1.3B, ad revenue up 6% YoY to $785M, and operating expenses up 6% YoY to $896M — The Spanish-language media giant, led by CEO Wade Davis, reports its second-quarter financials. … The company also reemphasized that its streaming business …
Discussion:
Variety, Next TV, TelevisaUnivision and TVNewsCheck
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD says it intends to match one of the offers for NBA rights; a source says it is targeting the package from Amazon, which is for about $1.8B per year — TNT has held NBA rights for 35 years. What happens next will determine if the network keeps them.
Discussion:
@tntsportsus, Variety, New York Times, CNBC, @mattbelloni, @benjstrauss, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @mgsiegler, @alexweprin, Front Office Sports, @ourand_puck, Sports Media Watch, Adweek, MediaPost, Awful Announcing, USA Today, Cord Cutters News, Sportico, The Information, The Streamable, Media Play News, The Hill, Sports Business Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Wrap and Next TV
Mike Scarcella / Reuters:
A US judge rules that Nina Jankowicz, a former Biden anti-disinformation official, could not back up her defamation claims against Fox News and parent Fox Corp — Fox News Media and its parent Fox Corp (FOXA.O) won a ruling on Monday dismissing a lawsuit by a former Biden administration official …
Discussion:
The Hill, Mediaite, NPR and Los Angeles Times
The Information:
Condé Nast sends a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity, accusing it of plagiarizing its content, a month after Forbes sent a similar letter to the AI company — Magazine giant Condé Nast has sent a cease-and-desist letter to artificial intelligence search engine Perplexity …
Discussion:
Engadget, @steph_palazzolo, Engadget and MediaPost
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Vivendi plans to list its French TV business Canal+ in London and advertising company Havas in Amsterdam, as part of a drive to break up the media conglomerate — Media group controlled by Vincent Bolloré to break up, with advertising company Havas to list in Amsterdam
Discussion:
Reuters, Financial Times, The Media Leader, Broadband TV News, Advanced Television and Bloomberg