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

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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:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Google says it wouldn't force its device makers, browser, and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to US users for three years, in a proposed remedy

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