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 going on on hiatus — Oliver Darcy is starting a subscription-based news site dedicated to covering the media industry, joining a crowded field.
Discussion:
Variety, Mediaite, Status, Deadline, @donie, @donie, @bethanyshondark, @keitholbermann and @maxwelltani
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 — The value of the linear assets when Discovery and Warner Media merged two and half year ago was significantly higher …
Discussion:
CNN, Reuters, Variety, Advanced Television, Quartz, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, @billbrewstertbb, @michellef_davis, @heetermaria, @annaknicolaou, @firmreturns, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, Sportico, Awful Announcing, Financial Times, Game Developer, 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:
MEDIANAMA, The Verge, @riptari, @ariellesgarcia and Digiday, more at Techmeme »
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:
Crunchyroll, TVNewsCheck, Next TV and The Streamable
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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., Next TV and TVNewsCheck
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company's password sharing crackdown will kick off “in earnest” in September, after announcing paid sharing in February 2024 — Disney Plus will soon no longer let you share your password with people outside your household.
Discussion:
Fast Company, IGN, Awful Announcing, @billbrasky2620, Wired, PhoneArena, TechRadar, BGR, Business Insider, Digital Trends, 9to5Mac, @2xaught7.bsky.social and Deadline
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Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Disney reports Disney+ Core subscribers up 1% YoY to 118.3M and its combined streaming business turned a profit, a first, but without ESPN+ reported a $19M loss
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney reports Q3 revenue up 4% YoY to $23.2B, operating income up 19% YoY to $4.2B, DTC revenue up 15% YoY to $6.4B, and a $47M DTC profit as Disney+ grows
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @sherman4949, @brendanschema, @scottgustin, Business Wire, @pkafka, @sherman4949, Quartz and IndieWire
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 »
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:
@anniema15, @joekilliannc, Robert Frederick on LinkedIn, Bill Horner III on LinkedIn and INDY Week
Brian Stelter / Wired:
NBC's fragmented-yet-seamless coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, offering live events on Peacock plus primetime recaps, leads to strong viewership numbers — With a big assist from Peacock, the 2024 Summer Olympics broadcast is fragmented in all the right ways.
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT reports adding 300K digital subscribers in Q2, for 10.8M in total, and digital ad revenue up 7.8% YoY to $79.6M; The Athletic losses fell to $2.4M — The publisher added about 300,000 digital subscribers in the latest quarter, and now has more than 10.8 million subscribers.
RELATED:
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Ofcom publishes an open letter to social media platforms raising concerns about the use of their tools to incite violence, following days of rioting in the UK — The U.K.'s internet regulator, Ofcom, has published an open letter to social media platforms raising concerns about the use of their tools to incite violence.
Discussion:
Financial Times, ofcom.org.uk, The Sun, New York Times, Bloomberg, Wired, Reuters and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Emmanuel Morgan / New York Times:
Netflix is filming three documentary projects at the Paris Olympics, focusing on running, gymnastics, and basketball, as the streamer grows into sports content — New seasons of documentaries about running, gymnastics and basketball are being filmed this summer as part of a partnership with the International Olympic Committee.
Discussion:
Gianina Thompson on LinkedIn and Screen Rant
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