Mediagazer: Netflix iOS app code suggests the ad-supported tier, arriving in early 2023, won't let users download shows for offline viewing or skip ads (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

11:40 AM ET, August 18, 2022

Top News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Nielsen: in July, for the first time, streaming had the largest share of US TV viewing at 34.8%; cable and broadcast had 34.4% and 21.6%, respectively — Americans now watch more stuff on TV from streaming services than either broadcast or cable TV. — Streaming platforms, led by Netflix …

Discussion: Nielsen, The Streamable, Ad Age, Los Angeles Times, MediaPost, The Wrap, Next TV, Axios, 9to5Mac, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, @meganclasen, @michellemanafy, @mediumbuying, The Hollywood Reporter and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Alex Barker / Financial Times:
Ofcom: in the UK, those aged 15-24 spent 57 minutes/day on TikTok in 2021, compared to 53 minutes/day watching TV; those 65 or over spent six hours watching TV

Discussion: Ofcom, Ofcom, @jimwaterson, Media Play News, Future News & Media, @elipariser, @ofcom, @ofcom, @faris, BBC, @stokel, @1br0wn, 9to5Mac, Daily Mail and Fortune

K.J. Yossman / Variety:
Ofcom's annual Media Nations report shows the UK streaming sector made £2.7B profit in 2021, up 27% YoY; 5.2M UK homes subscribe to Netflix, Prime, and Disney+

Discussion: Press Gazette, What's On Disney Plus and Bloomberg

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

Penn Entertainment Inc., owner of 36% of Barstool Sports, is buying the remaining shares of the sports and culture outlet, gaining full control by February 2023 — Penn Entertainment Inc. is acquiring the remaining shares of Barstool Sports that it doesn't already own …

Discussion: @stevekrak, @markjburns88, Barrett Media and Casino.org

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Sinclair will roll out its direct-to-consumer streaming service Bally Sports+ on September 26, on iOS, Android, Android TV, tvOS, and at BallySports.com — Capping a challenging multi-year development process, Sinclair Broadcast Group's regional sports unit has set September 26 …

Discussion: Bally Sports, @justinctoscano, @jefffletcherocr, TechCrunch and Awful Announcing

Wilson Chapman / Variety:

HBO plans to remove ~36 titles from its service as early as this week, citing the pending Discovery+ merger; the move will likely help cut costs and residuals — HBO Max will remove almost 36 titles from its service as early as this week, Variety has confirmed.

Discussion: SlashFilm, CBR, Deadline, @bjhiddenjokes, Looper, TechCrunch, @morganwick and @bags

Michael Smith / Sports Business Journal:

The Big Ten conference finalizes media rights contracts with CBS, Fox, and NBC totaling $8B+ over seven years, almost 3x more than the previous contract — The Big Ten has finalized media rights contracts with CBS, Fox and NBC that will total more than $8 billion over seven years …

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Netflix iOS app code suggests the ad-supported tier, arriving in early 2023, won't let users download shows for offline viewing or skip ads — Netflix Inc. isn't planning to let users of its new ad-supported tier download shows and movies to their devices for offline viewing …

Discussion: MediaPost, The Shortcut, @markgurman, Digital TV Europe, @financialreview, @newsynick, The Tape Drive …, TechCrunch, The Verge, Variety and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »

Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:

As part of its ban on political ads, TikTok will remove paid political posts by influencers; election-related posts will be reviewed and could be throttled — TikTok is reinforcing its ban on influencers on posting paid political content, one of the steps the social network is taking to shore …

Discussion: TikTok, The Verge, Insider, @kellymakena, Newslit Daily, Axios, @fatimagaw, @russellbrandom, @tiktokcomms, @kellymakena, @rasmus_kleis, @yoda, The Wrap and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:

Apple Podcasts adds charts for the top 100 most-subscribed shows and channels available on the service but will not release specific subscriber numbers — Wondery+ is the most-subscribed channel offered on Apple Podcasts.

Esther Kezia Thorpe / Media Voices:

A look at the growth of print subscriptions for news-focused magazines with little advertising in the UK, including The Economist, The Spectator, and The Week — The stereotypical print magazine is jam-packed with advertising. September issues of fashion magazines in particular used …

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:

GB News co-founders Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider and Warner Bros. Discovery will sell their stakes in GB News as part of a £60M fundraising round — Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. will sell its stake in British television startup GB News as part of a £60 million fundraising round.

Discussion: Variety, The Guardian, @jimwaterson, @jimwaterson, Broadband TV News, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and @chrismsutcliffe

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Vice World News will launch a news channel on Twitch, with two-hour live shows on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting at 11am ET on August 23 — Vice World News will launch a news channel on the streaming platform Twitch, with plans for live shows twice a week.

Discussion: @katiedrumm, @macklamoureux and Adweek

Janko Roettgers / Protocol:

A look at Netflix's gaming initiative: experimenting with ways to surface games to subscribers, hiring for a cloud gaming service, acquiring studios, and more — Netflix's foray into gaming is dead on arrival — at least according to the latest headlines about the company's first few mobile games.

Discussion: @jank0, @nickstatt and @jank0, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 11:40 AM ET, August 18, 2022.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

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:

Emre Kizilkaya / Nieman Reports:
Amid a largely government-controlled media landscape, a look at four independent outlets in Turkey: Kapsül, Medyascope, Sözcü, and Podfresh

Discussion: @dlepeska, @risj_oxford and @candundaradasi

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
TikTok launches Shopping Ads, including video shopping ads, catalog listing ads, and live shopping ads, to improve targeting and amplify product discovery

Discussion: MediaPost, Music Ally, Ad Age, Fast Company and Adweek

Amina Niasse / Bloomberg:
iSpot.tv: spending on TV ads by crypto companies fell from an $85M peak in February 2022 to $3M in June and $36K in July, the lowest level since January 2021

Discussion: Cointelegraph, @princeofcoins, @iankar_, @lucas_shaw and Fortune

Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
German media giant RTL Group launches RTL+ Musik to stream video, including movies, TV, and news, and audio, including music, podcasts, and radio channels

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta updates its political ads policy before the US midterms, including banning edits for political, social, and electoral ads running one week prior

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @katieharbath, Bloomberg, @ohhkaygo, Meta, @reganopel, @katieharbath, @kurtwagner8, @shgeldz, @nickclegg, @metanewsroom, Protocol, The Guardian, Adweek, @sarafischer, CNET, 9to5Mac and Bloomberg

Earlier Picks:

Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
VidMob, which offers tools for marketers to create digital ads, raised a $110M Series D led by Shamrock, source says at a $500M valuation, up from $290M in 2021

Discussion: @carey, @megancgraham and Adweek

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz sue Triller, alleging the short-form video app owes them $28M+ after acquiring live-streaming music series Verzuz and missing payments

Alex Ritman / The Hollywood Reporter:
ITV and the NFL sign a three-year deal to broadcast NFL games in the UK, including the Super Bowl LVII on February 12, 2023, replacing the BBC after seven years

Discussion: Digital TV Europe, @itvsport, @nfluk, Media Play News, Variety, Deadline, Press Centre and sportindustry.biz

AAP:
Australia's high court says Google is not a publisher, reversing a lower court decision that said Google was liable for a defamatory article in search results

Discussion: @darrylmason, @emilyhwoods, American Press Institute, Sydney Morning Herald and Mumbrella

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

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