Mediagazer: Docs and sources: how two men in Phoenix, Arizona ran one of the largest known YouTube music royalty scams, leading to a 30-count indictment in November 2021 (Kristin Robinson/Billboard)

2:45 PM ET, August 11, 2022

Top News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:

While Disney now has more streaming subscribers than Netflix, its ARPU is much lower: in Q2, its US ARPU was $6.27/month, compared to Netflix's $15.95/month — But the value of those subscriber bases is much different. — Domestically, for example, Disney+ generated about 39% …

Discussion: Axios, Insider, SlashFilm, @xpangler, Broadband TV News and Associated Press

Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney lowers its Disney+ subscriber forecast to between 135M and 165M by 2024, and separates its Disney+ Hotstar subscriber guidance, aiming to hit 80M by 2024 — The Hollywood giant's flagship streaming platform had earlier set guidance of 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024 …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, CNBC, TVLine and Variety

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Disney hit 221.1M global streaming subscribers in Q3, surpassing Netflix's 220.7M in Q3; Disney+ had 152.1M subscribers, Hulu had 46.2M, and ESPN+ had 22.8M — The Walt Disney Company reported on Wednesday that total Disney+ subscriptions rose to 152.1 million during the company's third-quarter, posting better-than-expected results.

Discussion: CNN, The Guardian, Observer, The Walt Disney Company, Fortune, The Hollywood Reporter, Boing Boing, Deadline, Too Much TV Newsletter, CBS News, The Streamable, IndieWire and Decider, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney announces Disney+ Basic, its ads tier for $7.99 per month, launching in the US on December 8, and raises the ad-free price from $7.99 to $10.99 per month

Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney beats with Q3 revenue up 26% YoY to $21.5B, vs. $20.96B est., 14.4M new Disney+ subscribers, and 221M total streaming subscribers

Discussion: The Wrap, Axios, Junghoon's Direct Media …, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @thewrap, @kaplansportsbiz, @sarahwhit10, Awful Announcing and The Wrap

Twitter:

Twitter outlines its election integrity plans ahead of US midterms, including state-specific hubs featuring local news outlets and enhanced account protections — Twitter is the place to find real-time, reliable information about the 2022 midterms - whether you're looking for breaking news from reporters …

Discussion: @twittersafety, CNN, Mediaite, Gizmodo, The Hill, @michaelmalice, CNET, @levinejonathan, @w7voa, @shayan86, @donie, Reclaim The Net, @digiphile, Engadget, The Hill and @twittersafety, more at Techmeme »

Scott Deveau / Bloomberg:

Activist investor ValueAct Capital takes a 7% stake in NYT and urges an aggressive rollout of subscriber-only bundles to improve sales; NYT stock is up 10%+ — Activist investor ValueAct Capital Management has built a new position in the New York Times Co., contending the iconic newspaper company …

Discussion: CNBC, @espiers and @felixsalmon

Rasha Al Aqeedi / New Lines Magazine:

Veteran Iraqi actress Enas Taleb plans to sue The Economist for using her picture as an example of “fat” women in the Arab world in a July 28 story — The British newspaper ran a story about the epidemic of obesity among Arab women and used the photo of Enas Taleb to illustrate the phenomenon

Discussion: BBC, Newser, VICE, @amadfarouki, Arab News, Daily Mail, @rashaalaqeedi, @leloveluck, @newlinesmag, Deadline, @_amroali and New York Post

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

Fortune, Bloomberg, Forbes, Gizmodo, and Money are growing dedicated blockchain and crypto teams, even amid a bear market, to better explain the tech to readers — The week the cryptocurrency market crashed in mid-June, Fortune sent Jeff Roberts an offer to become its crypto editor and oversee building a team of reporters.

Discussion: TechCrunch and @jeffjohnroberts

Asif Shahzad / Reuters:

Pakistan's interior minister says TV channel ARY TV will face sedition charges for airing comments made by an adviser of former Prime Minister Imran Khan — A close aide to Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and a local media house will face sedition charges, accused of inciting mutiny …

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount+ is launching in Italy on September 15, in Germany and France in the coming months, and in “all major European markets” by the end of the year — The Italian launch for Paramount's streaming platform will be quickly followed by bows in Germany and France later this year.

Jason Nelson / Decrypt:

Mailchimp cracks down on newsletters from crypto-related content creators, suspending the accounts of crypto wallet Edge, intelligence firm Messari, and Decrypt — The email marketing platform Mailchimp has been suspending the accounts of crypto-related content creators and media outlets this week.

Discussion: @decryptmedia, @readdanwrite, Waivly and CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Fox's free, ad-supported streaming service Tubi will expand to Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama later this month — Fox Entertainment's Tubi is upping its free-streaming game in Latin America, set to launch in five countries in the region later this month.

Discussion: The Streamable

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, which owns the streaming service Crackle, completes its acquisition of Redbox in a $375M all-stock deal — The acquisition bolsters the combined entity's presence in the fast-growing ad-supported streaming space. — Crackle streaming service owner …

Discussion: The Streamable and Variety

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 2:45 PM ET, August 11, 2022.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

Add your company here

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:

Eric Mandel / Atlanta Business Journal:
Mailchimp co-founder Ben Chestnut plans to step down as CEO after 21 years and transition to a founder-advisor role; Intuit's Rania Succar will take over

more at Techmeme »

Politico:
Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian journalist who protested the war in Ukraine during a news broadcast, is charged with disseminating false information

Discussion: Associated Press, @sarahrainsford, Meduza.io and The Guardian

Kristin Robinson / Billboard:
Docs and sources: how two men in Phoenix, Arizona ran one of the largest known YouTube music royalty scams, leading to a 30-count indictment in November 2021

Discussion: @davidclowery, @wordsbykristin, @zoecello, @jasonlipshutz, @billboardpro and @edchristman, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple signed a Futuro Studios deal to fund podcast development and production in exchange for the first look to turn any podcast into a film or TV show

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Streamable, Engadget, The Verge, @lucas_shaw, @pabloreports, CNET, 9to5Mac and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Bassem Mroue / Associated Press:
Biden marks the 10th anniversary of journalist Austin Tice's abduction by calling on Syria's government to work with the US “so that we can bring Austin home”

Discussion: @davejorgenson, The Guardian, Washington Post, CBS News, Texas Monthly, @cforman, @cforman, The Hill, @jmhansler, CNN, McClatchy Washington Bureau, CNN, Al Jazeera, The Hill and Next TV

Whip Media:
Survey: 72% of Netflix subscribers say they are unlikely to switch to a lower cost tier with ads, 92% of HBO Max users with the ad tier are satisfied, and more

Discussion: MediaPost, The Streamable, The Streamable, Next TV, MediaPost, Next TV and MediaPost

Jack Stebbins / CNBC:
SEC filing: the WWE discloses $5M in payments made by former CEO Vince McMahon, in addition to the previously disclosed $14.6M, and delays its earnings report

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Memo: The Washington Post media critic Margaret Sullivan is retiring her column at the end of August 2022 and will join Duke University as a visiting professor

From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that creates a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

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