Mediagazer: Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company's password sharing crackdown will kick off “in earnest” in September, after announcing paid sharing in February 2024 (Emma Roth/The Verge)

2:35 PM ET, August 7, 2024

Top News:

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company's password sharing crackdown will kick off “in earnest” in September, after announcing paid sharing in February 2024 — Disney Plus will soon no longer let you share your password with people outside your household.

Discussion: Business Insider, CNBC, Wired, PhoneArena, TVNewsCheck, TechRadar, BGR, Deadline, 9to5Mac, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Digital Trends and @billbrasky2620, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Disney reports Q3 revenue up 4% YoY to $23.2B, operating income up 19% YoY to $4.2B, DTC revenue up 15% YoY to $6.4B, and a $47M DTC profit as Disney+ grows — Company warns weak theme park demand could extend into the ‘next few quarters’ … That said, there were some mixed emotions …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Business Wire, @brendanschema, @scottgustin, Media Play News, Quartz, Deadline, Reuters, TVNewsCheck, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, IndieWire and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »

Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:

Disney reports Q3 revenue up 4% YoY to $23.2B and its streaming business turned a profit, a first, with a $47M operating income, vs. a $512M loss in Q3 2023 — WATCH NOW — Disney reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings Wednesday, topping analyst estimates as its combined streaming businesses turned …

Discussion: AdExchanger, Adweek, Yahoo Finance, UPI, The Wrap, Bloomberg and The Verge

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney says the “outcome of the Hulu deal arbitration is uncertain” and it might have to pay up to $5B more to complete the buyout of NBCUniversal's 33% stake

Discussion: Reuters, Next TV, Chris Heatherly on LinkedIn, The Wrap, The Information, @tvgrimreaper and Deadline

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

The NYT reports adding 300K digital subscribers in Q2, for 10.8M in total, and digital ad revenue up 7.8% YoY to $79.6M; The Athletic losses fell to $2.4M — The publisher added about 300,000 digital subscribers in the latest quarter, and now has more than 10.8 million subscribers.

Discussion: @simondowens@threads.net, @katie_robertson, Bloomberg, @pkafka, The Wrap, @nkulw, Claudio E. Cabrera on LinkedIn and Shannon Busta Riches on LinkedIn

The New York Times Company:

The NYT reports Q2 revenue up 5.8% YoY to $625.1M, subscription revenue up 7.3% YoY to $439.3M, and operating profit up 13.6% YoY to $104.7M — NEW YORK, August 7, 2024 - The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today second- quarter 2024 results. Key Highlights

Discussion: Nieman Lab and @tvgrimreaper

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Meta says Facebook creators who violate Community Standards for the first time will be given the option to take a training course to remove their warning — Facebook creators are being given a new option that will help them avoid jail — “Facebook jail,” that is — upon their first violation, and at various times after.

Discussion: Facebook for Creators, Engadget and @michaelbishop.me

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Instagram is making views the primary metric across all of its formats, letting creators track the same metric across Reels, Stories, photos, and more — Instagram is making “views” the primary metric across all of its formats, meaning that creators will be able to track the same metric across Reels, Stories, photos, and more.

more at Techmeme »

Emmanuel Morgan / New York Times:

Netflix is filming three documentary projects at the Paris Olympics, focusing on running, gymnastics, and basketball, as the streamer grows into sports content — New seasons of documentaries about running, gymnastics and basketball are being filmed this summer as part of a partnership with the International Olympic Committee.

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

GB News says it now has 10,000 paying members, after soft launching its membership scheme with £5, £10, or £20 per month tiers in November 2023 — More than 10,000 people have signed up as paying members of GB News, according to the broadcaster.

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:

Sony Pictures reports Q1 revenue down 7% YoY to $2.2B and operating income down 36% YoY to $73M, despite strong movie debuts and streaming subscriber growth — Sony Pictures Entertainment posted first quarter operating income of $73M, down over 36% year-on-year on a U.S. dollar basis.

Discussion: The Wrap, CNBC, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:

Reddit says it plans to test AI-powered search result pages later in 2024, using a combination of first-party and third-party tech to power the feature — Reddit users will soon see AI-generated summaries at the top of search results. — Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman told investors during …

Discussion: PhoneArena, 9to5Mac, @karissabe@threads.net and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Reddit reports Q2 revenue up 54% YoY to $281.2M, vs. $254M est., Daily Active Uniques up 51% YoY to 91.2M, and net loss down from $41.1M in Q2 2023 to $10.1M

Discussion: Quartz, The Media Leader, Reddit, Inc., AdExchanger, @jonathan_vanian_1@threads.net, Gordy H. on LinkedIn, The Information, Reuters and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Ryan Browne / CNBC:

Sony says the company has no plans to submit a revised offer for Paramount Global as the deal “does not fit well with our strategy” — Sony's finance chief on Wednesday said the Japanese technology and media giant will not reconsider a fresh bid for film and TV production group Paramount Global.

Discussion: New York Post, The Wrap, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:

Roku plans to launch a free, ad-supported 24/7 sports channel on August 12, with live Sunday MLB games, Originals, and more on its devices, apps, and website — The free, ad-supported 24/7 service will stream Major League Baseball games, the ‘The Rich Eisen Show’ talker …

Discussion: The Desk, The Streamable, Advanced Television, Cord Cutters News, TVNewsCheck, BGR, Digital Trends, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, The Verge, Media Play News, Engadget and Next TV, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: the NBA's deal with Amazon has several provisions that WBD can't match, including promotion of the NBA during Amazon's NFL streaming telecasts — League's media deal with tech giant included provisions Warner couldn't match, setting stage for legal fight

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Sports Media Watch and USA Today

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Charles Barkley, a mainstay of TNT's Inside the NBA, reverses plans to retire and says he will keep working with WBD, which is fighting to keep NBA media rights