Top News:
Dylan Byers / Puck:
Sources: several Nikkei boardmembers push for consideration of a sale of the Financial Times as they have grown impatient with its economic performance — But first... 🗞️ Will the Financial Times head to the block?: Might the FT, the august salmon-hued internationalist business broadsheet, eventually hit the market?
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Podcasting is becoming an industry of megastars with huge deals and the biggest audiences; Edison: the top 25 podcasts reach nearly 50% of US weekly listeners — The top shows are adding video, merchandise and live tours and signing megadeals with Spotify, Sirius and Amazon.
Discussion:
The Media Leader, Max Cutler on LinkedIn, 9to5Mac, @robenfarzad, @samro, @joshthomastn, @davidharsanyi, @ckwitt3 and @wsj
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Twitch remains unprofitable a decade after Amazon's acquisition; Docs show Twitch generated ~$667M in ad revenue and $1.3B in commerce revenue in 2023 — The live-video service has slowing user growth, and workers are expecting more layoffs, changes ahead
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Some popular sites like Condé Nast's titles and Reuters.com modified robots.txt to block Anthropic's bots, but Anthropic has just made new bots with other names — Hundreds of websites trying to block the AI company Anthropic from scraping their content are blocking the wrong bots …
Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
WBD says Max and Discovery+ have pulled in more unique viewers in the first two days of the Paris Olympics than in the entirety of the Tokyo games in 2021 — In just two days, Warner Bros. Discovery's Max and Discovery+ streaming services pulled in more unique viewers for the Paris Olympics …
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Deadline, Pressroom, @tvgrimreaper, Media Play News and ComingSoon.net
RELATED:
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Diamond Sports Group and Comcast reach a carriage deal to restore 15 RSNs to Xfinity Ultimate TV subscribers on August 1, ending a three-month blackout — Bankrupt regional sports network operator Diamond Sports Group has reached terms with Comcast on a carriage deal restoring 15 RSNs to Xfinity pay-TV systems.
Discussion:
ABC News, Morningstar, Inc., The Desk, @spacemnkymafia, Sportico, Awful Announcing, CNBC, Barrett Media, @alden_gonzalez, @alden_gonzalez, ESPN and Cord Cutters News
Sahil Patel / The Information:
LinkedIn and Pinterest are testing programs that let publishers sell ads on their videos and pages, respectively, in exchange for a cut of the resulting revenue — Social media platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and LinkedIn are trying a new tack to gain a bigger share of digital advertising …
Ashley Hiruko / KUOW News & Information:
Brady Walkinshaw, a former state lawmaker, bought several Index Media publications, including Seattle's longtime alternative media outlet The Stranger — The Stranger, Seattle's longtime alternative media outlet and self-proclaimed “only newspaper” has new ownership.
Discussion:
@sydbrownstone
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Twitch rolls out a revamped iOS and Android app, which now shows a TikTok-like feed of recommended content when it's opened, instead of a “Following” list — Twitch's mobile app is getting a major update that puts its TikTok-like feed front and center.
Discussion:
Twitch and The Mirror, more at Techmeme »
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Substack lets writers add embeds from predictions market startup Polymarket; Polymarket claims news prediction helps fight against clickbait and propaganda — Are prediction markets “the best tool we have to fight back against bullshit, clickbait, and propaganda,” or “just a euphemism for online gambling”?
Discussion:
Semafor, On Substack and The Oracle
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Q&A with Ghostery CEO Jean-Paul Schmetz about the service turning 15, the state of ad tracking, why regulation is not the best path to protecting online privacy — The world of online advertising has changed dramatically since Ghostery first launched in 2009 to help people understand …
Advanced Television:
Ampere: regular viewing of non-English language TV shows and movies has grown 24% among 18-to-64-year-olds in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada since Q1 2020 — A report from Ampere Analysis highlights the growing demand for foreign language content in English-speaking markets.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Media Play News, Broadband TV News and WORLD SCREEN