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Sources: Walmart has held talks with Paramount, Disney, and Comcast, as the retailer explores bundling a streaming service into its Walmart+ membership program — The retail giant is exploring bundling a streaming service into its Walmart+ membership program.
Discussion:
Digital TV Europe, @samsanders, The Desk, @cambnewton, @shehanjeyarajah, @nytimestech, Wall Street Journal, @mikefinger, Shelly Palmer, @delrey, @tvgrimreaper, @tim_bays, @jbillinson, @pkafka, @richlightshed, @digitalshields, @frankpallotta, @annaknicolaou, @haleighhoffman, Insider, The Verge, TechCrunch, Decider, Reuters, SlashFilm, Media Play News and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »

BuzzFeed reports Q2 revenue up 20% YoY to $106.8M, including Complex Networks, a $23.6M net loss, vs. $0.8M YoY, and time spent down 19% YoY to 154M hours — BZFD stock has dropped roughly 50 percent in price over the past six months. — BuzzFeed brought in $106.8 million in revenue during …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @joshsternberg and @thr

Axios, Politico, Punchbowl, and other Washington-focused outlets owe a lot of their success to ad deals with Meta, Alphabet, and other Big Tech companies — Money from Meta — and the rest of Big Tech — is pouring into Washington publications. — Axios is an against-the-grain success story …
Discussion:
The Rebooting, @jessicalessin, @delrey, @lucas_shaw, @sarafischer, @chafkin, @kent_pubcitizen, @leah_nylen, @pkafka, @lutherlowe, @bluestein, @nytimestech, @kerrymflynn, @benmullin, @terronk and @ted_williams

Sources: the US DOJ is preparing to sue Google over its ad market business as soon as September, as the DOJ's antitrust division lawyers interview publishers — The US Justice Department is preparing to sue Google as soon as next month, according to people familiar with the matter …
Discussion:
@joshsternberg, Engadget, CNET, @anthony, TechCrunch and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »

Spotify gives its Android app's home screen separate feeds for Music and Podcasts & Shows to better highlight recommendations, will bring the change to iOS soon — Spotify announced today that it's launching a new Home experience that includes separate feeds for “Music” and “Podcasts & Shows.”
Discussion:
Spotify, Complete Music Update, Music Ally, @alexhern and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Spotify quietly begins selling event tickets to users in the US directly, instead of redirecting buyers to Ticketmaster and Eventbrite — Spotify has launched a new site to sell fans tickets to live gigs directly from its platform instead of redirecting users to partners like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite.
Discussion:
Engadget, @indianidle and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Filings: Russia-backed TV Novosti and two entities are funding four news-style TV shows from US conspiracy theorist Ben Swann, covering the US, NATO, and more — Russia's state-backed media apparatus is financing four new TV programs produced by a U.S. conspiracy theorist and aimed in large part …
Discussion:
@lachlan, @ldrogen, @robertcaruso, @m_c_klein, @andrewsweiss and @andrew_danieri

Fox Corp reports Q4 revenue rose 5% YoY to $3.03B, with ad revenue up 7% YoY, and net income of $308M; FY 2022 revenue was $13.97B, with $1.23B net income — Despite concerns that a looming recession would depress ad sales, Fox Corp. is bucking the trend thus far.
Discussion:
Variety, Deadline, @great_katzby, The Hollywood Reporter and Fox Corp

Kara Swisher plans to stop hosting the Code Conference after the 2022 edition to focus on new projects that explore topics beyond tech and reach more people — After 20 years, this year's annual Code Conference from Vox Media will be Kara Swisher's last year hosting and organizing the event, Swisher told Axios.
Discussion:
@mediaevan, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz and @sarafischer

Many small businesses that use personalized online ads are cutting back on marketing, in part due to Apple's ATT, as they face rising customer acquisition costs — Online brands reliant on personalised ads ramp back marketing spending — Small businesses are cutting back marketing spending due …
Discussion:
@glenngabe, @1br0wn, @nigelbarron and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

AppLovin offers to buy Unity for $58.85 per share, an 18% premium to Unity's Monday closing price, in a $17.54B all-stock deal; AppLovin's stock drops 10.29% — Gaming software company AppLovin Corp (APP.O) on Tuesday made an offer to buy peer Unity Software Inc (U.N) in a $17.54 billion all-stock deal …
Discussion:
AppLovin, PC Gamer, @carnage4life, The Shortcut, @eric_seufert, @sarthakgh, @roundhill, @stockmktnewz, @eric_seufert, @gandalfpls, @bloombergasia, @slingshotcap, @richlightshed, CNET, TechCrunch, Bloomberg and AdExchanger

The New York Times plans to expand its ad business across its bundled products like games and sports, under new ad executive Mohit Lohia, who joined from Amazon — The New York Times is planning to aggressively expand its advertising business across its bundled products, like games and sports, executives tell Axios.
Discussion:
@stephentotilo, @raju, @alex_hardiman and The New York Times Company