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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:
Awful Announcing, @billbrasky2620, Wired, PhoneArena, TechRadar, BGR, Digital Trends, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, @2xaught7.bsky.social and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
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Disney reports Disney+ Core subscribers up 1% YoY to 118.3M and its combined streaming business turned a profit, a first, but without ESPN+ reported a $19M loss

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
Discussion:
@sherman4949, Wall Street Journal, Business Wire, @brendanschema, @scottgustin, @sherman4949, @pkafka, Quartz and IndieWire, more at Techmeme »


WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels says NBA talks were a “triggering event” to reevaluate the company and take a $9.1B impairment charge, but were not the only factor — However, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels notes the reevaluation wasn't “a response to one individual factor”
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WBD reports Q2 revenue down 6% YoY to $9.7B, a $9.99B net loss, and takes a $9.1B impairment charge for networks; global streaming subs rose 3.6M to reach 103M — The value of the linear assets when Discovery and Warner Media merged two and half year ago was significantly higher …
Discussion:
Variety, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, @billbrewstertbb, Game Developer, @michellef_davis, The Streamable, @heetermaria, IndieWire, Warner Bros. Discoverey, Variety, Los Angeles Times, @annaknicolaou, Sportico, Financial Times, @firmreturns, @sherman4949, Awful Announcing, @sherman4949, @sherman4949 and The Hollywood Reporter


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.
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A look at the ambitions of The Assembly, which has been buying and partnering with small NC outlets and envisions itself as a state-level The Atlantic magazine — “I was fixated on trying to build a place that could pay good writers good money to spend more time than normal on big stories.”
Discussion:
INDY Week, Robert Frederick on LinkedIn, @anniema15, Bill Horner III on LinkedIn and @joekilliannc


YouTube channels focusing on cars, like Car Throttle and Donut, have seen an exodus of popular on-camera talent, often after investors acquired their channels — From Car Throttle to Donut, countless YouTube creators are fleeing. But is this a new trend or a tale as old as venture capital?
Discussion:
Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »


Sources: Google and Meta ran a pilot program in the US in May 2024 to target Instagram ads to teenagers on YouTube, which prohibits targeting ads to under-18s — Campaign on YouTube to boost Instagram's appeal to young people skirted search group's rules for marketing to under-18s
Discussion:
Digiday, more at Techmeme »


NBC's fragmented-yet-seamless coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, offering live events on Peacock plus primetime recaps, leads to strong viewership numbers — With a big assist from Peacock, the 2024 Summer Olympics broadcast is fragmented in all the right ways.


Ofcom publishes an open letter to social media platforms raising concerns about the use of their tools to incite violence, following days of rioting in the UK — The U.K.'s internet regulator, Ofcom, has published an open letter to social media platforms raising concerns about the use of their tools to incite violence.
Discussion:
Financial Times, ofcom.org.uk, The Sun, New York Times, Bloomberg, Wired, Reuters and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »


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.
Discussion:
Gianina Thompson on LinkedIn and Screen Rant


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, PhoneArena, The Information, Engadget and @michaelbishop.me, more at Techmeme »


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.
Discussion:
Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »