Mediagazer: 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 (Etan Vlessing/The Hollywood Reporter)

12:35 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: TechRadar, BGR, Digital Trends, @billbrasky2620, 9to5Mac, Deadline and @2xaught7.bsky.social, 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: CNBC, The Hollywood Reporter, Business Wire, IndieWire, Quartz, Reuters, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, @sherman4949, @sherman4949 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: Ad Age, The Wrap 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 — Dispute over fair value of Hulu entered arbitration in May 2024, according to Disney

Discussion: Reuters, The Wrap, The Information, Deadline and @tvgrimreaper

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

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

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 »

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 Streamable, Advanced Television, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Digital Trends, The Verge, Next TV and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Juby Babu / Reuters:

IAC reports Q2 revenue down 15% YoY to $949.5M and profit up 24% YoY to $87.3M; Dotdash Meredith reports revenue up 3% YoY to $425.2M and ad revenue up 16% YoY — IAC (IAC.O) posted a 24% rise in its core profit in the second quarter, banking on advertising and licensing revenues of Dotdash Meredith, its biggest business.

Discussion: IAC and MediaPost

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: The Wrap, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

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

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More News:

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Division in Hollywood's approach to AI is growing, as some studios want to use AI tools more often in production, while unions aim to establish guardrails

Discussion: TVNewsCheck

Catherine Perloff / Adweek:
Some ad buyers say Netflix is now charging CPMs between $20 and $30, after originally seeking $65 in 2022 and a reported $39 to $45 in 2023

Discussion: Advanced Television, AdExchanger, @catherineperlo1, Gabriela Domanico on LinkedIn, Catherine Perloff on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck, The Sun and Digiday

Joe Lucia / Awful Announcing:
Fubo's CEO blasts Venu, the Disney/Fox/WBD sports JV, saying it gives them control of 80% of the premium market and curbs competition, as he seeks an injunction

Discussion: The Streamable, New York Times, Cord Cutters News, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg Law, Deadline, Bloomberg, IndieWire, Next TV, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Earlier Picks:

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Amazon Music debuts Topics, which helps users find podcast episodes by topic and is powered by both AI and humans

Discussion: About Amazon and The Verge

Jake Offenhartz / Associated Press:
The NYPD arrests independent videographer Sam Seligson on felony hate crime charges after he documented a pro-Palestinian protest in June

Discussion: AM New York, @ashagony, @lailaalarian, @joshuaphilll, @joeyneverjoe, @porican, @jljacobson, @akoseff, @petersterne, @petersterne, @AnarchoNinaAnalyzes …, The Desk, ARTnews, New York Post, @phoebe@sunny.garden, New York Daily News, @rustoleumlove@mastodon.online and @freedomofpress@newsie.social

Justine Fisher / CNBC:
Starting October 17, Disney will raise the cost of most plans for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ by $1 to $2 more per month, as it pushes customers to bundles

Charlie Nash / Mediaite:
Jennifer Jacobs, the Bloomberg News reporter fired for allegedly breaking Russian prisoner swap story embargo, suggests she didn't decide to publish prematurely

From Techmeme:

Qianer Liu / The Information:
Sources: Intel and TSMC have reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture that will operate Intel's chipmaking facilities; TSMC will take a 20% stake

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Tech stocks fall after President Trump announced new global tariffs: Amazon closed down 9%, Meta 9%, Nvidia 7.8%, Alphabet 3.9%, and Microsoft 2.4%

Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
OpenAI makes ChatGPT Plus free for college students in the US and Canada until the end of May 2025, intensifying competition with Anthropic in higher education

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