Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Oliver Darcy leaves CNN to launch Status, a newsletter akin to Puck, for $15/month or $150/year; CNN says the Reliable Sources newsletter is on summer hiatus — Oliver Darcy is starting a subscription-based news site dedicated to covering the media industry, joining a crowded field.
Discussion:
Status, New York Post, Variety, The Wrap, Talking Biz News, Mediaite, Associated Press, Barrett Media, Deadline, @bethanyshondark, @keitholbermann, @maxwelltani, @donie, @donie and The Hollywood Reporter
Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:
WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels says NBA talks were a “triggering event” to reevaluate the company and take a $9.1B impairment charge, but were not the only factor — However, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels notes the reevaluation wasn't “a response to one individual factor”
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Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
WBD reports Q2 revenue down 6% YoY to $9.7B, a $9.99B net loss, and takes a $9.1B impairment charge for networks; global streaming subs rose 3.6M to reach 103M
Discussion:
The Media Leader, Quartz, Variety, WORLD SCREEN, Yahoo Finance, @michellef_davis, @heetermaria, @annaknicolaou, @firmreturns, @billbrewstertbb, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, CNBC, Advanced Television, Sportico, Awful Announcing, Financial Times, Game Developer, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, The Streamable, The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Discoverey, IndieWire and Variety
Financial Times:
Sources: Google and Meta ran a pilot program in the US in May 2024 to target Instagram ads to teenagers on YouTube, which prohibits targeting ads to under-18s — Campaign on YouTube to boost Instagram's appeal to young people skirted search group's rules for marketing to under-18s
Discussion:
MediaPost, MEDIANAMA, The Information, Boing Boing, Engadget, The Verge, Ad Age, @riptari, @ariellesgarcia and Digiday, more at Techmeme »
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
iHeartMedia reports Q2 consolidated revenue of $929M, up 1% YoY, an operating loss of $910M, up from $897M in Q2 2023, and podcast revenue up 8% YoY to $104.5M — The company also saw a wider net loss this quarter compared to last year. — Podcast revenue at iHeartMedia rose 8 percent …
Discussion:
Inside Radio, Radio & Television …, iHeartMedia … and Barrett Media
New York Times:
Analysis: Truth Social is increasingly reliant on niche ad campaigns that target hard-core Trump fans and Christian conservatives, often with small ad budgets — Donald J. Trump's social network is increasingly relying on a niche of the ad market that caters to hard-core Trump fans and Christian conservatives for revenue.
Andrew Marchand / New York Times:
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Joaquin Castro write to the DOJ asking to investigate Venu Sports and “oppose it if violates antitrust law” — Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Joaquin Castro have sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking …
Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:
Sony's anime streaming service Crunchyroll announces it has surpassed 15M monthly paid subscribers, up from 11M in July 2023 — The news comes after Sony reported a 10% increase in operating profit during its first fiscal quarter of 2024 — Crunchyroll, the Sony-backed streaming service dedicated …
Discussion:
Carter Hahnselle on LinkedIn, Crunchyroll, Next TV, TVNewsCheck, CNBC and The Streamable
Emma Roth / The Verge:
TikTok launches TikTok Spotlight, in-app hubs for movies and TV shows that add links to “applicable” videos with more info and where to watch, tested with Dune — TikTok will now create in-app hubs for movies and TV shows and place them directly on fan-made videos.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Variety, The Media Leader, Deadline, TikTok and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Tim Stevens / The Verge:
YouTube channels focusing on cars, like Car Throttle and Donut, have seen an exodus of popular on-camera talent, often after investors acquired their channels — From Car Throttle to Donut, countless YouTube creators are fleeing. But is this a new trend or a tale as old as venture capital?
Discussion:
@timstevens@mastodon.social and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Nexstar reports Q2 net revenue up 2.3% YoY to $1.3B, net income up 41.3% YoY to $106M, ad sales up 2.2% YoY to $522M, CW quarterly losses down $33M from Q2 2023 — Nexstar reported its second-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday, revealing that the CW Network has narrowed its losses by $33 million.
Discussion:
Deadline, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. and Next TV
Reuters:
AMET: Chadian police arrest Badour Oumar Ali, the editor-in-chief of major Chadian news website TchadInfos.com; he was taken away by “armed and hooded men” — Chadian police have arrested the editor-in-chief of a major Chadian news website, a group of online media outlets said late on Wednesday …
Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
A look at the ambitions of The Assembly, which has been buying and partnering with small NC outlets and envisions itself as a state-level The Atlantic magazine — “I was fixated on trying to build a place that could pay good writers good money to spend more time than normal on big stories.”
Discussion:
@joekilliannc, @anniema15, Robert Frederick on LinkedIn, Bill Horner III on LinkedIn and INDY Week
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