Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube's ad revenue increased 4.4% YoY to $7.67B in Q2, above expectations of $7.43B and a reversal after three consecutive quarters of declines — Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, came in above analyst earnings expectations, with top-line growth of 7%.
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Miles Kruppa / Wall Street Journal:
Alphabet reports Q2 Google ad revenue of $58.14B, growing 3% YoY after two consecutive quarters of falling ad sales — Financial chief Ruth Porat to become Alphabet's president and chief investment officer — Google reported a pickup in revenue growth during the most recent quarter …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Fast Company, Reuters, @joshuaogundu, Fortune, The San Diego Union-Tribune and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
CEO Daniel Ek teases ways Spotify could integrate additional AI functionality into its products, including summarizing podcasts and generating audio ads — During the company's second-quarter earnings call this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek teased a few ways the streaming service could introduce additional AI-powered functionality.
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Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says podcasting is ageing down, citing the growth of video podcasts and “Internet-native” creators who upload “more longform content”
Discussion:
Financial Times and @connorwein
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify Q2: revenue up 11% YoY to €3.2B, Premium subs up 17% YoY to 220M, MAUs up 27% YoY to 551M; Q3 sales forecast below analyst est.; SPOT closes down 14.26%
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Spotify confirms raising US Premium to $10.99/month, up from $9.99, the first increase since its US launch in 2011; Duo rises by $2, Family and Student by $1
Discussion:
New York Post, Spotify, Billboard, 9to5Mac, Complete Music Update, Variety, Light Reading, Global News, @bennjordan, @trengriffin, @lucas_shaw, @tomwarren, Inside Radio, @chrismessina@mastodon.xyz, CNET, Deadline, RAIN News, Insider, @jordanuhl_@threads.net, NBC News, CNN, UPROXX, Engadget, 9to5Google, CNBC, Gizmodo, Music Business Worldwide, Hollywood Reporter, TechCrunch and Billboard
Angelique Jackson / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance says Dwayne Johnson donated a seven-figure sum to the SAG-AFTRA Relief Fund, the largest single donation ever — On July 13, as SAG-AFTRA leadership declared the union was going on strike, SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance …
Discussion:
Insider, TMZ.com, Fortune, @hankofjuly, @carolinerenard_, @mancitykd, @effoff1988, @comicgirlashley, Forbes, @rufushound, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, @emmatolkin, @realjaredgilman, @benjisales, @discussingfilm, @ecto_fun, @bootsriley, @sherazfarooqi_, @vinn_ayy, ET Canada, VIBE.com, Global News, Metro, @shayz0rz@mastodon.online, @riteshwriter.bsky.social, UPROXX, New York Daily News, Comic Book, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo and Deadline
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Justin Hendrix / Tech Policy Press:
Q&A with Justine Bateman, a member of the DGA, the WGA, and SAG-AFTRA, on how AI may change the industry, the importance of the timing of the strike, and more
Discussion:
@justinhendrix and @emilymbender@dair …
Washington Post:
The previous big strikes reshaped Hollywood and fueled reality TV's rise; the current ones will likely turn established actors into TikTok stars and vice versa
Discussion:
@videodrew, @drewharwell, @shiralazar, Brightcove, Digiday, The Information, Rolling Stone, Study Hall and Foreign Policy
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Guardian reports revenue up 3.4% YoY to £264.4M for FY ending March 31, 2023, digital reader revenue grew 7.6%, and digital makes up 70% of total revenue — Total revenues were up 3% in the year to 31 March 2023. — Guardian Media Group has maintained a four-year run of revenue growth …
Discussion:
MediaPost, The Guardian, Nieman Lab and The Guardian
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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Guardian creates seven journalist jobs to improve its coverage of underrepresented communities, including in the UK and US, after its founder's slavery ties
Discussion:
The Guardian, @josephharker, @andria.bsky.social, @blackamazon, @josephharker and @judeinlondon
Wall Street Journal:
Emails: X offers discounts on new video ads in the US and UK and warns advertisers that they will lose verified status unless they reach spending thresholds — Social-media site X is offering hefty discounts to lure back ad dollars — X Corp. is cutting ad prices as it tries to woo brands back to the Elon Musk-owned platform.
Discussion:
@martinsfp, @joelmathis.bsky.social, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, The Drum and Forrester, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix rolls out a My Netflix tab on iOS, superseding the Downloads tab to offer downloads, watch lists, reminders, and more; Android gets My Netflix in August — Netflix has rolled out a new feature designed to — what else? — get you to stream as much as possible on the service.
Discussion:
About Netflix, Broadband TV News, The Verge, Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter, CNET, Engadget, UPROXX, Deadline and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Matias Grez / CNN:
The BBC apologizes for a reporter's “inappropriate” question at the Women's World Cup opener; the reporter asked Morocco's captain if the team had gay players — Women's World Cup 2023: Live scores, fixtures, results, tables and top scorers — The BBC has apologized for an …
TechCrunch:
Threads adds an option for a chronological feed of posts from people the user follows — Meta's text-based social network Threads is rolling out one of the most requested features after its launch — a following feed. — In a post on his Instagram Channel, Mark Zuckerberg said that the company …
Discussion:
The Verge, MediaPost, @daveleebbg@threads.net, New York Post, PRWeek, Gizmodo, PCWorld, @parkerortolani@threads.net, @threadsapp@threads.net, @sarahfrier, @crumbler@threads.net, @reckless1280@threads.net, @tomwarrenuk@threads.net, @snazzyq@threads.net, 9to5Mac, @joannastern@threads.net, @mikeisaac, 9to5Google, @rachawilliams@threads.net, @mosseri@threads.net, @martinsfp@threads.net, @zuck@threads.net, Engadget, @tomwarren, CNN and CBS News, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
In response to MPs questions over The Sun's Huw Edwards reporting, its EIC says the story had “significant scrutiny pre-publication” and corroborative evidence — MPs wanted to know how The Sun verifies its stories. — MPs asked The Sun how it verifies its stories following …
Discussion:
@dave43law, @stuzi_pants, @craftyoldgit, The Guardian, @archewellbaby, @_not__happy_, @adambienkov, @adambienkov, @j_a_warrington, PinkNews, @lorna_tveditor, Deadline and Variety
Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: TikTok plans to launch an e-commerce business in the US in early August to sell made-in-China goods to consumers — TikTok wants to replicate the success of other popular China-founded shopping platforms Shein and Temu — TikTok is launching an e-commerce business in the U.S …
Discussion:
@sino_market, @michaelsobolik, Gizmodo, Tubefilter and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Instagram rolls out creator subscriptions in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the UK, expanding on support in the US — Meta announced today that it's rolling out Instagram subscriptions to all eligible creators in Australia, Brazil, Canada …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, Instagram and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Taaffe-Maguire / Sky News:
NatWest CEO Dame Alison Rose admits to being the BBC source for an erroneous story that said Coutts de-banked Nigel Farage for financial, not political, reasons — NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose said she thought she was confirming publicly available information to a BBC reporter …
Discussion:
The Week, The i Paper, Daily Mail, Telegraph, London Evening Standard, Bloomberg, The Times, @leeandersonmp_, @ticerichard, @mrharrycole, @piersmorgan, @niall_gooch, @laocailarry1, @alexanderhorne1, @glinner, @mrharrycole, @prwhittle, @alex_stafford, @arron_banks, @_henrybolton, @mrharrycole, BBC, The Guardian and Byline Times
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Snap Q2: revenue down 4% YoY to $1.07B, vs. $1.05B est., global DAUs up 14% YoY to 397M, vs. 395M est., and Q3 revenue forecast below est.; SNAP down 16%+ — - Snap's overall sales in the second quarter declined 4% from the $1.11 billion it logged in the previous year during the same period.
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