Top News:
Sheila Dang / Reuters:
Guideline: X's monthly US ad revenue has declined 55%+ YoY in each of the 10 months since Elon Musk's Twitter takeover in October 2022 through August 2023 — Monthly U.S. ad revenue at social media platform X has declined at least 55% year-over-year each month since billionaire Elon Musk bought …
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Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
X starts removing preview headlines from posts with article links, showing only the lead image and domain name; Elon Musk mentioned the change in August 2023 — The platform formerly known as Twitter now only displays outside sites' featured images on its iPhone app
Discussion:
The Hill, Insider, The Verge, @cburke.bsky.social, @notalawyer.bsky.social, @aidnmclaughlin, @mostlywrite, @cwarzel, @adamjohnsonchi, @dylanljmartin, @tomwarren, @jamesrbuk, @erinkwoo, @adamjohnsonchi, @charlescmann, @cwarzel, @cwarzel, @tomwarren, @mollyjongfast, @xdaily, @alexacorse, @popbase, Engadget, @slcw@newsie.social, @dsilverman@mastodon.social, Bloomberg, Boing Boing and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »
Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:
NewsWhip: seven of the top 10 “news” articles with the most interactions on Facebook in September 2023 were published on the catholicfundamentalism.com domain — Read to the end for the garfarious anglerfish — This Is What Replaces News On Facebook
Discussion:
Axios, @patrickdehahn, @chaykak, @ben@werd.social, Digiday and The Verge
Bloomberg:
Sources: AT&T is exploring options for its 70% DirecTV stake, such as adding a new investor or selling the stake and exiting the venture as early as August 2024 — - Telecoms giant majority owns DirecTV with private equity TPG — Declining pay-TV customer base has cut into AT&T's cash flow
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Streamable, MediaPost, Cord Cutters News and The Desk
Amanda Pampuro / Courthouse News Service:
Andrew Travers, ex-EIC of The Aspen Times, sues Ogden for firing him after he published two columns that execs shelved about an oligarch who had sued the paper — The Aspen Times promoted journalist Andrew Travers to editor-in-chief last June — then fired him after he published previously spiked columns …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Aspen Times, Denver Post and MediaPost
Wall Street Journal:
A look at how advertisers are responding to X's Community Notes and the impact of Notes on political ads and on brand trust — Major brands including Apple and Samsung have had critical notes attached to ads. Political advertisers have raised concerns about the tool heading into campaign season.
Discussion:
@db@bla.daanberg.net
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast-Charter joint venture Xumo launches its first streaming set-top box for new Spectrum video customers, coming to Comcast's Xfinity Internet users “soon” — Can Xumo help cable companies grab a new foothold in the streaming space? — Xumo — the joint venture of Comcast …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Next TV, MediaPost, The Verge, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, Deadline and Cord Cutters News
Deadline:
SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP met on October 4 for contract negotiations to end the strike, with studio CEOs attending, and plan to meet on October 6 and on October 9 — SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on just wrapped their second day of renewed talks …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter
The Hindu:
The actions on NewsClick by India's government, which has shown itself to be intolerant of critical journalism, smack of extreme vendetta and brazen harassment — The arrests and actions in the Newsclick case are aimed at a chilling effect — Even for a government that has shown itself …
Discussion:
@samar11, @bhadrapunchline, @benarasiyaa, @arusbridger, Scroll.in and @jagritichandra
Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Over 50 media and civil rights groups write to US AG Merrick Garland, demanding transparency over the FBI raiding Tim Burke's house and seizing his equipment — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: — An FBI raid on the home newsroom of Florida journalist Tim Burke in May prompted over 50 organizations …
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Memo: Amazon is shutting down Amp, its live audio streaming app launched in March 2022 that let users act like DJs by playing music and talking alongside songs — The service launched in March 2022 following a frenzy around live-audio services during the pandemic.
Discussion:
Inside Radio, Music Ally, The Sun, TechCrunch, @ashleyrcarman, @bradydale, Engadget, The Verge, The Messenger, Billboard, KNSD-TV, Pitchfork and New York Daily News, more at Techmeme »
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Wall Street and music industry analysts see Spotify's move into audiobooks as an opportunity for the company to increase its profit margins and value for users — An Evercore ISI analyst expects the effort to be a higher margin business than its music offerings, while a Morgan Stanley expert highlighted …