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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, SlashFilm, Broadband TV News and Associated Press
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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.

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 and 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 — Disney has set pricing and date for the U.S. launch of the version of Disney+ with ads, while also hiking the monthly price of the Disney+ tier with no ads.
Discussion:
The Walt Disney Company, NBC News, The Verge, The Shortcut, @film_girl, @carnage4life, Collider, @exameter, @davidfowl, Digital TV Europe, @nixxin, Digiday, @drtvlotz, @xpangler, @xpangler, @xpangler, @loudmouthjulia, MediaPost, The A.V. Club, Adweek, Light Reading, Ad Age, Gizmodo, The Streamable, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Decider, The Wrap, TechCrunch, CBR, TVLine, AppleInsider and Next TV, more at Techmeme »

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

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

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

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:
CoinDesk and Waivly, more at Techmeme »

Mailchimp co-founder and CEO Ben Chestnut plans to step down after 21 years and transition to a founder-advisor role; Intuit's Rania Succar will take over — Managing Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle — See Correction/Clarification at end of article — Ben Chestnut is stepping …

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.

Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian journalist who protested the war in Ukraine during a news broadcast, is charged with disseminating false information — Marina Ovsyannikova, a former editor of the state-run Channel One network who denounced Moscow's war on Ukraine during a live TV broadcast …
Discussion:
@sarahrainsford, Associated Press, Meduza.io and The Guardian

Docs and sources detail how two men in Phoenix, Arizona ran one of the largest known YouTube music royalty scams, leading to a wire fraud indictment and more — Inside the brazen but surprisingly simple scheme that took royalties from songs by artists like Daddy Yankee, Anuel AA, Julio Iglesias and more.
Discussion:
@davidclowery, @wordsbykristin, @zoecello, @jasonlipshutz, @billboardpro and @edchristman, more at Techmeme »