Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney says it is “fully integrating” Hulu into Disney+ and plans to launch a “unified” Disney+ and Hulu app in 2026 now that it is Hulu's sole owner — Hulu will replace the Star brand on Disney+ internationally this fall — Say ciao to the stand-alone Hulu streaming app …
Discussion:
Screen Rant, The Streamable, Business Insider, TVLine, TechRadar, Cord Cutters News, Bleeding Cool News, Consequence, 9to5Mac, CBS News and Comic Book, more at Techmeme »
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Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Disney plans to replace the Star tile with Hulu on the international Disney+ service; Star was widely used and well-known across Latin America and Asia — This marks the first major international expansion for Hulu and closely follows Disney buying Comcast out of the U.S. streamer last month.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, The Wrap, The Streamable and Business Insider
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney says it will no longer report paid subscribers or average revenue per unit for ESPN+ as of its Q4 2025 and for Disney+ and Hulu as of its Q1 2026 — Disney, following in the footsteps of Netflix and others, soon will no longer report the number of subscribers for its Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ streaming services.
Discussion:
Adweek, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, The Information, The Verge, Broadband TV News, Streaming Better, Deadline and Media Play News
Wall Street Journal:
The NFL agrees to take a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN in exchange for control over NFL Network, RedZone, and more; analysts estimate ESPN is valued at $25B-$30B — The media giant will take ownership of NFL Network as part of swap valued in the neighborhood of $3 billion
Discussion:
CNN, The Streamable, ESPN Press Room U.S., Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Business Insider, MediaPost, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, Mediaweek, New York Times, Newser, Sports Business Journal, That Park Place, Decode TV, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Benzinga, Fox Business, @matthewberrytmr, Axios, Proactive, @drewdisneydude, Blockchain.News, New York Post, @adamschefter, Media Play News, TVNewsCheck, The Hill, Front Office Sports, Bloomberg, Bleeding Cool News, Sports Media Watch, Daily Disney News, @kennysmith.bsky.social, Financial Times, Cord Cutters News, Deadline, Bloomberg, Sportico, NBCSports.com, Los Angeles Times, ESPN, The Japan Times, The Wrap, Variety, Front Office Sports and NPR
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Alex Sherman / CNBC:
ESPN signs a deal to show the WWE's biggest live events, including WrestleMania, from 2026; sources say ESPN will pay $325M on average per year for five years — The WWE is coming to ESPN. — The Disney-controlled sports and entertainment business will pay an average of $325 million per year …
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
ESPN plans to launch its new flagship streaming service ESPN on August 21 for $29.99/month or $35.99/month when bundled with Disney+ and Hulu — ESPN will launch its new flagship streaming service — also named ESPN — on August 21. — Disney's ESPN has been working on the all-in-one streaming app …
Lauren Aratani / The Guardian:
In its Q4 earnings report, News Corp warned President Trump that his books “are being consumed by AI engines which profit from his thoughts” — Company owned by Rupert Murdoch says president's books are ‘being consumed by AI engines which profit from his thoughts’
Discussion:
Deadline, Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald, @coolhand.bsky.social and Reuters
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Harshita Mary Varghese / Reuters:
News Corp reports Q4 revenue up 1% YoY to $2.11B, vs. $2.1B est., and WSJ subscriptions up 7% YoY to 4.5M+ on average, 4.1M+ of which were digital-only — Media conglomerate News Corp (NWSA.O) topped Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter revenue on Tuesday, driven by steady growth …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Times, Radio Ink, Mumbrella, Crikey, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Yahoo Finance, News Corp and Sports Business Journal
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
A June ranking of the top 25 local public radio/TV websites in the US based on traffic shows MPR at the top, followed by LAist and Oregon Public Broadcasting — They may have been born on the airwaves, but these public media stations compete on the web as well.
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Resilience Media, which aims to be the defense tech industry's “publication of record”, adds several ex-TechCrunch staff, including Ingrid Lunden and Matt Burns — Former Techcrunch staffers have joined a new title covering the defence tech industry which has just expanded after a successful fundraising round.
Discussion:
Resilience Media, FinSMEs, Silicon Canals and Tech.eu
Bloomberg:
Sources: Chinese streamer iQiyi is seeking to raise $300M in a Hong Kong IPO later in 2025; the Baidu-owned company went public in the US in 2018 — Takeaways by Bloomberg AI — Hide … Tell us how AI is shaping your news experience. Share your feedback
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
NYT reports 11.88M subscribers in Q2, total revenue up 9.7% YoY to $685.9M, adjusted operating profit up 28% YoY to $133.8M, and subscription revenue of $481.4M — The company added 230,000 digital-only subscribers in the second quarter. It now has 11.88 million total subscribers.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck and Reuters
