Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney says it is “fully integrating” Hulu into Disney+, plans to launch a “unified” Disney+ and Hulu app in 2026 and migrate Hulu's live TV subscribers to Fubo — Hulu will replace the Star brand on Disney+ internationally this fall
Discussion:
AdExchanger, TheDesk.net, MediaPost, Collider, The Shortcut, Digital Trends, Screen Rant, Gizmodo, PCMag, Comic Book, WKYC-TV, New Jersey Online, GamesRadar, Engadget, The Verge, Adweek, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, 9to5Mac, Consequence, Business Insider, The Streamable, Pocket-lint, Cord Cutters News, Decider, How-To Geek, Bleeding Cool News, The Wrap, JJ Sawyer on LinkedIn, PCWorld, TVLine, Android Authority, CBS News, New York Daily News, Just Jared and Game Rant, more at Techmeme »
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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:
ESPN Press Room U.S., AFTVnews, Dexerto, Streaming Better, Jesse Whittock on LinkedIn and Advanced Television
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Disney plans to launch its new flagship sports streaming service ESPN on August 21 for $29.99 per month or $35.99 per 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 …
Discussion:
TheDesk.net, The Hollywood Reporter, ESPN Press Room U.S., CNN, Plain Dealer, Decider, TVLine, Engadget, Thurrott, Los Angeles Times, PCWorld, Droid Life, Orlando Sentinel, Yahoo Finance, Awful Announcing, 9to5Google, Android Headlines, Variety, Streaming Better, The Wrap, How-To Geek, KTFT, The Verge, ABC7, Reuters, The Streamable, 9to5Mac, One America News Network, TVNewsCheck, NBC News and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
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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
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:
Awful Announcing, CNN, Mediaite, StreamTV Insider, Axios, Front Office Sports, New York Post, TV Tech, Sportico, ESPN Press Room U.S., UPI, Sports Media Watch, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, Fortune, The Streamable, CNBC, New York Times, Yahoo Finance, The Wrap, Fox Business, That Park Place, Benzinga, Business Insider, Newser, WORLD SCREEN, Joe.My.God., MediaPost, Sports Business Journal, Mediaweek, Rolling Out, Florida Politics, Decode TV, Proactive, @matthewberrytmr, @adamschefter, @drewdisneydude, Blockchain.News, Media Play News, TVNewsCheck, The Hill, NPR, Deadline, Bloomberg, Bleeding Cool News, 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 and Variety
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Mike Florio / NBCSports.com:
The ESPN-NFL deal will require US regulatory approval, giving President Trump the kind of leverage he seemingly exercised in the 60 Minutes settlement — It was a footnote to the reporting regarding a deal being done. It could, in time, become a headline.
Discussion:
Benzinga, @kennysmith.bsky.social and Front Office Sports
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 …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, ESPN Press Room U.S., @wrestleops, Yahoo Finance, Wrestlezone, Associated Press, Comic Book, New York Post, TODAY.com, Sherwood News, Sports Business Journal, Variety, Sports Media Watch, Bleeding Cool News, The Streamable, The Information, Greg Stern on LinkedIn, @kennysmith.bsky.social, Wall Street Journal, Front Office Sports, South Shore Press, City A.M., TVNewsCheck, al.com, Puck, NewsMax.com and WPXI-TV, more at Techmeme »
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The New York Times reports 11.88M subscribers in Q2, total revenue up 9.7% YoY to $685.9M, and adjusted operating profit up 28% YoY to $133.8M; NYT jumps 15%+ — The company added 230,000 digital-only subscribers in the second quarter. It now has 11.88 million total subscribers.
Discussion:
Feed Me, @maxwelltani, @jamunfer, @katie_robertson, Jaydon Peters on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck and Bloomberg
Liz Reid / The Keyword:
Google says total organic click volume from Search to websites has been “relatively stable” YoY and it's sending “slightly more quality clicks” than a year ago — We continue to send billions of clicks to the web every day and are committed to prioritizing the web in our AI experiences in Search.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Matthew Rivard on LinkedIn, The Verge, 9to5Google, @kasey__moore, @nickleroy, Scott Sinclair on LinkedIn, Debbie W. on LinkedIn, Lily Ray on LinkedIn, @btabke, @gaganghotra_, @ethanhays, @realtaylorkurtz, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, @glenngabe.bsky.social, Search Engine Roundtable and Digital Journal, more at Techmeme »
Scott Nover / Washington Post:
NPR is offering $8M in “fee relief” to stations that relied on federal funding for 10%+ of their budgets and negotiating to take over music rights management — Katherine Maher is leading the public radio organization and member stations through their biggest crisis in decades, but she thinks they'll weather it.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, PBS North Carolina, Current, Techdirt, TheGrio and American Thinker
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
Ian Walker / Wall Street Journal:
The UK CMA clears Omnicom's $13B acquisition of rival Interpublic after launching an investigation into the deal on June 23; the FTC cleared the deal on June 25 — The watchdog had been considering whether the deal would lead to a substantial lessening of competition
Discussion:
Adweek, Reuters, campaignlive.com and campaignlive.co.uk
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:
Publishers Weekly, Deadline, Telegraph, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, Sydney Morning Herald and @coolhand.bsky.social
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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
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
Discussion:
Benzinga, Wall Street Journal, Radio Ink, The Wrap, The Times, Reuters, Mumbrella, New York Post, Yahoo Finance, News Corp and Sports Business Journal
Dan Cepeda / Oil City News:
News Media Corporation says it will cease operations effective immediately, citing financial challenges; NMC operated local newspapers in five US states — CASPER, Wyo. — Around 11 communities in Wyoming have lost their local newspapers after the sudden closure of their parent company.
Discussion:
Wyoming News Now, Pinedale Roundup on Facebook, Jackson Hole News&Guide and r/Journalism
