Top News:
Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comscore: US and Canada summer box office revenue was $3.67B, down slightly from $3.68B in 2024, and well short of the $4B from the Barbenheimer-fueled 2023 — The May to Labor Day season initially soared, but global grosses took a nosedive as foreign movie ticket sales plunged further …
Discussion:
The Wrap, CNN, Los Angeles Times, @devonheinen.bsky.social and @dtgeek@mastodon.social
RELATED:
Jaewon Kang / Bloomberg:
Walmart+ members will get free access to Peacock Premium, in addition to Paramount+ Essential, and be able to switch between the two services every 90 days — Walmart Inc. is adding a new streaming perk for its paid membership program, the latest effort to beef up offerings and entice more users.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, TheDesk.net, Cord Cutters News, Deepak Maini on LinkedIn and @tvgrimreaper
Lauren Sherman / Puck:
Source: Anna Wintour has chosen Vogue.com editor Chloe Malle as the next editor of American Vogue — Anna Wintour is clear-eyed, determined, and optimistic, but rarely daring. The formula for Vogue hasn't changed all that much during her decades of leadership.
Discussion:
Page Six, Out Magazine, Just Jared, @yashar and @lapresmidi
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
WBD Chair Emeritus John Malone says he discussed a WBD-Fox merger with Rupert Murdoch in July 2024; sources say a possible deal was raised but not pursued — ‘Cable cowboy’ reveals talks as he reorganises media empire and prepares to give most of his $10bn fortune to good causes
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, TheDesk.net, Broadband TV News, Mumbrella, TVNewsCheck, Yahoo Finance and @jeffjarvis.bsky.social
RELATED:
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
An interview with John Malone on his upcoming memoir, CNN being an “anti-Trump news service”, advising David Zaslav on his compensation package, and more
An interview with John Malone on his upcoming memoir, CNN being an “anti-Trump news service”, advising David Zaslav on his compensation package, and more
Discussion:
@bristei, @benmullin, Spyglass, @joshkraushaar, Sydney Morning Herald, @pkafka and @katzish.bsky.social
Joe Drape / New York Times:
Fox embraces horse racing, broadcasting 900+ hours of New York racing on Fox Sports, and invests in betting platform NYRA Bets to capitalize on a betting boom — Fox's Saturday broadcasts of Saratoga horse races have averaged 501,000 viewers, more than the National Hockey League's regular season …
Discussion:
@darrenzone.bsky.social and Paul Kedrosky
Fred Vogelstein / Crazy Stupid Tech:
Q&A with Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince on why he thinks AI chatbots imperil the web and journalism's future, his company's pay-per-crawl initiative, and more — Sixteen years ago Matthew Prince and classmate Michelle Zatlyn at Harvard Business School decided there was a better …
Discussion:
eWeek, more at Techmeme »
Mia Lee Vicino / Letterboxd:
An interview with Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman on movies that inspired him, too-short theatrical windows, Letterboxd's influence, and more — Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman talks to Mia Lee Vicino about his scrappy indie roots …
Discussion:
FandomWire, JoBlo, MovieWeb, @tvgrimreaper, NME, The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, Patently Apple and Screen Rant
The Economic Times:
Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce company Flipkart acquires a majority stake in digital content platform Pinkvilla; source: the deal values Pinkvilla at ~$15M — While Flipkart did not disclose details of the deal, a person close to the matter said the online retailer is likely to have picked …
Discussion:
Entrackr, Inc42 Media, MediaBrief, BMI and Business Today
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
KPop Demon Hunters' rise to become the most-watched Netflix original movie followed a slow burn and reaffirms the old Hollywood rule that nobody knows anything — We take readers' questions on the surprise summer hit, the future of Peacock and Netflix's toughest competition — Good afternoon from 35,000 feet.
Discussion:
Eric Calderon on LinkedIn, @lucas_shaw, Mashable, Forbes and The Verge
Katie Campione / Deadline:
How California rushed to expand the state's film and TV production tax credits in eight months, uniting union leaders, lawmakers, top filmmakers, and workers — When California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared last October that he aimed to more than double the annual funding for the state's Film …
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
An interview with Independent Studio's Head of Content Al Brown, who expects podcasts and video to eventually become The Independent's biggest revenue source — The Studio has already seen success with launch of ACFC on Youtube. — The Independent expects revenue from personality-led podcasts …
Alison Main / CNN:
Charles Bierbauer, a former CNN correspondent and White House Correspondents' Association president from 1991 to 1992, has died at the age of 83 — Former CNN correspondent Charles Bierbauer has died, his family announced on Sunday. He was 83 years old. — Bierbauer retired from CNN …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, Associated Press and KARE-TV
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Live podcast events are becoming a major revenue source for shows like Kill Tony, which has grossed $11M+ from live events over the past two years, per Pollstar — Podcasting's biggest stars are expanding into merch, live events and more. … Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Soundbite.
