Mediagazer: 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 (Todd Spangler/Variety)

6:30 AM ET, July 25, 2023

Top News:

Lisa Richwine / Reuters:

The much-hyped “Barbenheimer” opening weekend netted $155M for Barbie and $80.5M for Oppenheimer, for $300M in total in the US and Canada for just the 4th time — The much-hyped “Barbenheimer” box office battle over the weekend proved to be a win for movie theaters that needed to add some sizzle to their summer.

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Q&A with Josh Goldstine, Warner Bros. president of global marketing, on Barbie's marketing campaign, which rival studio execs estimate to have cost ~$150M

Discussion: Insider, UPROXX, New York Times, The Wrap and Screen Rant

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Twitter rolls out its updated “interim” X logo, replacing the iconic bird, following Elon Musk's weekend announcement; X.com now redirects to twitter.com — Twitter has removed the iconic bird logo and adopted ‘X’ as its official logo. This move comes after Elon Musk announced the change over the weekend.

Discussion: @lindayacc, @elonmusk, @elonmusk, New York Times, The Verge, @lindayacc, CNN, Fast Company, Insider, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, @chafkin, @martingrasser, CNBC, NPR, Forrester, @lindayacc, @lindayacc, CNN, @espiers, @rmac18, Engadget, Fortune, TIME, @mrerikjackson, The Hill, KNSD-TV, @mollyjongfast, New York Post, @rmac18, @mabintou, Mother Jones, @jack, The Guardian, Digital Journal, CBS News, Us Weekly, PRWeek, @valueterminal, @mikeisaac, @mossbergwalt@threads.net, @wagatwe, New York Magazine, @ivanthek, The Daily Beast, @elonmusk, @rmac18, Ars Technica, @carnage4life@threads.net, MediaPost, @news_by_nick, @tomgara, Slate, Vibe, Variety, @lindayacc, New York Daily News, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, Hollywood Life, Global News, Poynter, The Register, Fox News, Agence France-Presse, New Republic, KGET-TV, Complete Music Update, Sydney Morning Herald, @levie, @tomcoates, @tedlieu, @jdcmedlock, @elonmuskaoc, @emilcdc, @bendreyfuss, @yosephpaulos, @jamestobyne, @karaswisher, @loupas, @jujuujba, @benedictevans, @killedbygoogle, Insider, New York Post, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, Slate, @carnage4life@mas.to, @parkerortolani@threads.net, Times of San Diego, Ad Age, Boing Boing, The A.V. Club, UPROXX, The Week, Consequence, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Metro.co.uk, The Wrap, Billboard, Digital Music News and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

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 — After 12 years, the price of Spotify Premium is increasing in the US. The subscription will now cost $10.99 a month, the company announced today.

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, The Verge, The Hollywood Reporter, CNET, Engadget, Deadline, TechCrunch and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

TikTok rolls out support for text posts, available via the app's Camera page and letting users add sounds, locations, stickers, and more — As Twitter shoots itself in the foot with a rebrand this morning, TikTok has announced that it's rolling out support for text posts.

Jean Yamamura / The Santa Barbara Independent:

The Santa Barbara News-Press, which has published a paper since 1868 and received a Pulitzer, ceases publication and files for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy — Publisher Ampersand Claims Few Assets and Many Creditors — More than 150 years of history ended on Friday when the Santa Barbara News …

David Folkenflik / NPR:

NPR names Edith Chapin as its SVP for news and editor-in-chief; she's been serving in the position on an acting basis since fall 2022, after joining NPR in 2012 — NPR has moved to shore up its leadership at a time of significant transition, naming veteran news leader Edith Chapin …

Discussion: Inside Radio, Current, @isalara, @davidfolkenflik, @elbordeaux, @vivian, @greenfield64 and The Wrap

Catherine Perloff / Adweek:

Mailchimp owner Intuit is launching SMB MediaLabs, which lets advertisers target QuickBooks' 7.1M customers on social media, online publishers, CTV, and more — Targeting QuickBooks' customers across digital media is a promising new revenue line — Financial services giant Intuit …

Discussion: Intuit SMB MediaLabs, @lefterisjp, @catherineperlo1, @johnathanbarnes and @sean_kaushal

New York Times:

Sources: Altice USA is exploring a sale and other strategic options for Cheddar News; Altice USA acquired the streaming news network for $200M in 2019 — Rebranding the social network as X marks the billionaire's latest gamble to reinvent the company, after buying it last year for $44 billion.

Discussion: Adweek, @bmorrissey, @tomgara, @dannygroner, Semafor, @ryanvailbrown, @benmullin, @seangriffey, The Wrap, @scottnover, Insider and @sherman4949

Sports Business Journal:

Sources: MLS Season Pass is nearing 1M subs including season-ticket holders; team execs say they are frustrated due to lack of transparency in viewership stats — Apple's Eddy Cue began speaking to a room filled with MLS owners and executives last week in Washington, D.C. …

Discussion: @turnersavesthat, @GreenFire@mstdn.social, Awful Announcing, @worldsoccertalk, The Streamable, @tvanswerman, @alexmsilverman, 9to5Mac, @griffin_author, @tvgrimreaper, @zone_nhl, @jheaps4 and @usmnt_thoughts

Brian Merchant / Los Angeles Times:

Studio executives embraced Silicon Valley's magical thinking of hypergrowth and disruption for the past 10 years, only to slash worker pay as the boom times end — In one respect, the actors and writers of Hollywood uniting on the picket lines in a historic, industry-shaking strike is a tale as old as time …

Discussion: @andrewbucholtz, @olaasm, @adamconover, @bcmerchant, @ben@werd.social, @rodhilton@mastodon.social, @incitatus@mastodonapp.uk, @carnage4life@mas.to and @peter@thepit.social

Washington Post:
South Korean and Indian filmmakers are hoping the Hollywood strikes will give them more bargaining power with US streaming services and a precedent to follow

Discussion: @jintakhan

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Court docs reveal Vice's financial struggles and fundraising history; Vice held $834M in debt in May 2023, raising $1.3B+ in debt and equity funding since 2017 — New documents reveal a yearslong slide into increasing financial desperation — The digital media company Vice filed …

Discussion: Media Voices, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, @markstenberg3 and @adamry_n

Vidya Krishnan / Nieman Reports:

A look at NDTV, India's last mainstream TV network willing to critically cover the Modi government, as Adani Group's NDTV takeover leaves few independent voices — The hostile takeover of NDTV — one of India's last channels willing to report critically on the Modi government …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 6:30 AM ET, July 25, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

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

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

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

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

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:

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 …, more at Techmeme »

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: Digiday, The Information, Brightcove, Rolling Stone, Study Hall, Foreign Policy and Deadline

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
The Telegraph Media Group reports 2022 revenues up 4% YoY to £254.2M, digital subscription revenue up 31% YoY to £57.9M, and subscriptions up 2% YoY to 734K

Discussion: The Guardian, Financial Times, London Evening Standard, Telegraph, Reuters, Telegraph Media Group, The Times and @guardiannews

Washington Post:
Mandiant: a Chinese PR firm used newswire services to place pro-Beijing content on the subdomains of 32+ US news outlets, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Discussion: @nakashimae, @nakashimae, CNN, @nakashimae, @nakashimae, @ericgarland, @heminator and Mandiant

Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:
Sources: Disney is reviewing its film release schedule for the rest of 2023 and may delay some titles because striking actors won't help promote the pictures

Discussion: Comic Book, @tvgrimreaper and @bart_smith

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Internal memo: WBD President of International TV Distribution Robert Blair plans to leave the company after 25 years due to a “necessary structural change”

Discussion: @jelmes_tv, @variety, Broadcast, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Cord Cutters News

Earlier Picks:

BBC:
BBC newsreader George Alagiah, who joined the broadcaster as a foreign correspondent in 1989 and presented BBC News at Six for the past 20 years, dies at 67

Natalie Pressman / CBC News:
Canada's smaller news outlets, like Cabin Radio, the Northwest Territories' only entirely-online news organization, worry about the Online News Act's impact

Discussion: @gregorytaylor1

Patrick Sykes / Bloomberg:
Turkish shows, initially made for domestic audiences, are at the forefront of state broadcaster TRT's global expansion, as Turkey tries to extend its soft power

Ben Smith / Semafor:
Sources: IAC, News Corp, the NYT, and other publishers are forming a coalition to push for AI laws and lead a lawsuit against AI firms who trained on their data

Discussion: The Bookseller, @ernie@writing.exchange, @moorehn, @adamkovac, @natfriedman, @michaelgreshko, @_zeets, @hingumtringum, The Overspill, @sirdigalot, @mediaevan, @natfriedman, @jl_zamith and Vanity Fair

Brian Veseling / WAN-IFRA:
A look at Argentina's Clarín, which has 30M monthly readers and 700K subscribers, as the outlet looks to diversify their offerings and expand into other markets

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Police:
Google ships the first Android 16 developer preview, far ahead of schedule compared to the past decade, hoping to lower fragmentation by giving OEMs more time

Wired:
An investigation reveals how phone coordinates collected by US data broker Datastream expose the movements of US military and intelligence workers in Germany

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Sony launches PlayStation Portal cloud streaming in beta, letting PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers in 30 countries stream select PS5 games in 720p or 1080p

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