Top News:
Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
Newsletter service Ghost says publishers have earned $100M+ on it, its annual revenue is $8.5M+, it now supports ActivityPub, and is upping new member pricing — The open-source publishing platform Ghost, which powers the websites and newsletters of many independent news outlets …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox reports Q4 revenue up 6% YoY to $3.29B, ad revenue up 7% YoY to $1.1B, driven by Tubi and Fox News, and a net income of $719M, up from $320M in Q4 2024 — The company saw revenues rise across the board in tis fiscal Q4 quarter, as it prepares to launch its Fox One streaming service.
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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch says Fox One, a streaming service offering NFL and MLB games, Fox News programs, and more, will debut August 21 at $19.99 per month — The new broadband outlet, a venue that offers Fox Corp.'s Sunday-afternoon NFL games and post-season MLB play along with Fox News programs and more …
Discussion:
Forbes, Engadget, Tom's Guide, Business Insider, NBC News, Straight Arrow News, UPI, @matthewkeyslive, The US Sun, New York Times, The Verge, Multicast News, Streaming Better, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, Adweek, @jbflint, Media Play News, Fox Corporation, @tvgrimreaper, The Streamable, CNBC, TVLine, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, @kennysmith.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, MacDailyNews, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter and Oh No They Didn't!
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Snap Q2: revenue up 9% YoY to $1.34B, vs. $1.35B est., 469M global DAUs, vs. 467M est., and global ARPU of $2.87, vs. $2.90 est.; SNAP drops ~15% after hours — Snap shares tanked 15% Tuesday when it reported second-quarter earnings in which global average revenue per user missed expectations.
Discussion:
Variety, Proactive, The Hollywood Reporter, The Information, Bloomberg, Snap Inc. and Sherwood News
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Ad tech company Ad.com acquires Public Good to help with development of a search engine, Search.com, which will offer cash-back rewards and other perks — Search.com incentivizes online searches with cash back rewards, and provides publishers an opportunity to generate revenue from their content in the era of artificial intelligence.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Japanese news aggregator SmartNews releases NewsArc, a new AI-powered, subscription-based news discovery app, available on iOS and Android in the US — SmartNews, the Japanese news discovery app founded in 2012, is releasing a new subscription news discovery app, powered by artificial intelligence, executives tell Axios.
Discussion:
MediaPost, @sarafischer, SmartNews and @smartnews
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
Shareholder letter: Reddit cites Profound's analysis showing it is the most cited domain across AI models, as often as Wikipedia and ahead of YouTube and others — The online forum is aiming to be a go-to search engine for questions and answers — Reddit has revealed it is the number …
Discussion:
WinBuzzer, David Buttle on LinkedIn and Reddit Investor Relations
Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
Court filing: Trump and Rupert Murdoch agree to postpone Murdoch's deposition in the Epstein letter libel suit until after a ruling on the WSJ's dismissal case — President Trump and Rupert Murdoch reached a deal Monday to postpone the media mogul's deposition in a libel lawsuit related …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Deadline, @joshgerstein, Straight Arrow News, Washington Examiner, al.com, Business Insider, The Wrap, Bloomberg, NewsMax.com, @davidfolkenflik, New York Times, CNBC, HuffPost, @meiselasb, @hissgoescobra, @jeremymbarr, Law & Crime, Joe.My.God., Forbes, Telegraph, The Hill, TVNewsCheck, Sydney Morning Herald and Southern District of Florida
Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal:
ElevenLabs launches Eleven Music, letting individuals and businesses use its AI model to generate music cleared for commercial use via English-language prompts — New model allows customers to create music with AI that is cleared for commercial use. But AI-generated music still faces legal battles and stiff opposition from artists.
Jon Blistein / Rolling Stone:
A Parkland shooting victim's parents created an AI version of their late son to speak about gun safety, starting with an interview with journalist Jim Acosta — AI-generated Joaquin Oliver, which was created by his parents, discussed gun control measures and movies in a new interview
Discussion:
The Independent, Variety, @acosta, Breitbart, Entertainment Weekly, Bearing Arms, Washington Examiner, @robbysoave, Ace of Spades HQ, WSVN-TV, WPLG-TV, Fox News, Raw Story, New York Sun, @acosta, Futurism, Newsbusters, @jarvis_best, Newser, @jarvis_best, @redsteeze, IJR, The Guardian, HuffPost, Mediaite, @redsteeze, Decrypt, Moneycontrol, The Post Millennial, Townhall, Straight Arrow News, The Daily Caller, Jim Acosta on YouTube, Salon, Instapundit, twitchy.com, Blaze Media, RedState and The Gateway Pundit
Kelly Lawler / USA Today:
Roku launches Howdy, an ad-free streaming service for $2.99 per month, initially only on Roku devices, with content from Lionsgate, WBD, FilmRise, and others — Roku is ready to say Howdy. — The company − which sells set-top streaming devices, smart TVs and has its own free …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, TV Tech, The Hollywood Reporter, Roku, CNBC, Rolling Out, The Streamable, Gizmodo, StreamTV Insider, Deseret News, Bloomberg, AppleInsider, Benzinga, Pocket-lint, Ars Technica, Los Angeles Times, Tom's Guide, Deadline, The Wrap, Android Authority, WRBL, Engadget, PCWorld, The Verge, Variety, @loudmouthjulia, PCMag, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News, TechCrunch, How-To Geek, Lifewire, Android Police, TheDesk.net, Streaming Better, CNET, Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, Investor's Business Daily and WORLD SCREEN, more at Techmeme »
John Herrman / New York Magazine:
Search-engine optimization feels dated as marketers look to generative-engine optimization, or GEO, which focuses on tricking AI chatbots rather than Google — Search-engine optimization now feels dated. Generative-engine optimization is all about trying to trick AI chatbots.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Skydance announces the 10 board directors for Paramount Skydance, including Oracle CEO Safra Catz and former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing — Skydance Media announced the full slate of 10 directors for Paramount Skydance Corp., the company resulting from its merger with Paramount Global.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Yahoo Finance, Radio & Television …, Skydance Media, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
David Ellison names Paramount Global's senior leadership team, appointing himself as CEO, Jeff Shell as president, and RedBird Capital's Andy Gordon as COO
Discussion:
The Information, Forbes, Deadline, Reuters, Variety, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, Sports Business Journal, New York Post, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, MediaPost and WORLD SCREEN
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Skydance TV President Matt Thunell will run a merged division with Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, reviving Paramount TV Studios which was shut down in 2024
Skydance TV President Matt Thunell will run a merged division with Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, reviving Paramount TV Studios which was shut down in 2024
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, C21Media, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, LateNighter and Sports Media Watch
