Check out Mini-Mediagazer for simple mobiles or Mediagazer Mobile for modern smartphones.
7:50 AM ET, August 25, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Spotify's difficulties lining up partnerships have delayed its super premium service, which Spotify has been talking about for a couple of years  —  The company has spent a couple years talking about a more-expensive version of its music service for superfans.  Where is it?
RELATED:
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
How Spotify's Discovery Mode has become the new normal in music marketing, five years after its 2020 launch when it faced a backlash and “payola” accusations  —  Spotify's Discovery Mode allows rightsholders to boost their songs in exchange for a lower royalty rate.  Most everyone is using it.
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Q&A with Wired's global editorial director Katie Drummond on how it is impossible to disambiguate tech from politics as the US turns toward authoritarianism  —  The lines between Silicon Valley and Washington have blurred beyond recognition, necessitating a news organization that is fluent in both worlds.
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Netflix's theatrical debut of KPop Demon Hunters is estimated to earn $18M-$20M this weekend, topping the domestic box office; it came out on Netflix in June  —  In a box office twist, a film from the theatrical-averse Netflix appears to be No. 1 on North American charts.
Swati Pandey / Bloomberg:
President Trump says he would support the FCC revoking NBC and ABC's station licenses and calls them “two of the worst and most biased networks in history”  —  US President Donald Trump berated NBC and ABC as “two of the worst and most biased networks in history,” …
Tatum Hunter / Washington Post:
Vertical streaming apps charging $20/week are beating Netflix and other SVOD platforms in user growth with their mini-dramas optimized for mobile viewing  —  Streaming apps that charge $20 a week for absurd, 60-second soap operas are winning audiences that rival Hulu and Paramount+.
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Comscore: US box office revenue from May 1 have reached $3.53B, making it clear sales will be short of the $4B summer threshold, last attained in 2023  —  Heading into the summer, Hollywood was bullish that several promising blockbusters would be able to propel ticket sales above $4 billion for only the second time since the pandemic.
Discussion: CNBC
CNBC:
A profile of Gunnar Wiedenfels, the “hard-nosed accountant” who is WBD CFO and future Discovery Global CEO after the split from WBD, managing CNN, HGTV and TNT  —  By day, Gunnar Wiedenfels is the chief financial officer of Warner Bros. Discovery and the CEO-elect of Discovery Global …
Discussion: Adweek and Awful Announcing
Matt Donnelly / Variety:
Sources: Disney is on the hunt for original movie concepts to lure young men aged 13-28 back to the brand, as audiences dwindle for the superhero genre  —  Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty aren't the only ones looking for a prince.  —  Leadership at Walt Disney Studios has been pressing Hollywood creatives …
Brent Lang / Variety:
Sources: Paramount layoffs could affect 2,000 to 3,000 employees and are expected by early November; Paramount had 18,600 employees globally as of December 2024  —  After closing its merger with Skydance this month, Paramount is poised to enact deep staffing cuts across its various divisions …
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 7:50 AM ET, August 25, 2025.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 See Also: 
Mediagazer: site main
Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer
Mediagazer Mobile: for phones
Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Mediagazer RSS feed
Mediagazer on X
Mediagazer on Mastodon
 
 
 More News: 
Ben Koo / Awful Announcing:
Sources: ESPN has removed its paywall on most written content, after requiring an ESPN+ subscription for previously free articles on its site starting in 2020
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky blocks access to its service in Mississippi, saying it doesn't have the resources to comply with the state's broad new law requiring age verification
Anu Adegbola / Search Engine Land:
Google begins rolling out Asset Studio in beta, letting advertisers generate and edit images, videos, and voiceovers directly in the Google Ads interface
 Earlier Picks: 
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Four outlets have taken down AI-generated articles by a “journalist”; Wired says the article it took down didn't get a proper fact-check or sufficient editing
Haroon Siddique / The Guardian:
Actor Noel Clarke loses his UK libel case against the Guardian over an investigation in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page