Mediagazer: Spotify reports Q2 revenue up 10% YoY to €4.2B, MAUs up 11% to 696M, subscribers up 12% to 276M, and an €86M net loss; SPOT closes down 11.6% after missed est. (Katherine Sayre/Wall Street Journal)

Spotify reports Q2 revenue up 10% YoY to €4.2B, MAUs up 11% to 696M, subscribers up 12% to 276M, and an €86M net loss; SPOT closes down 11.6% after missed est. — The audio streaming service added more listeners than it had forecast, but reported a net loss for the second quarter

Daniel Ek says Spotify's ad business has “been moving too slowly”; Spotify ad chief Lee Brown left on July 28 to join DoorDash as its chief revenue officer — Spotify executives on Tuesday signalled that the departure of its ad chief, Lee Brown, on Monday was in response …

Discussion: Inside Radio, Deadline, Financial Times, @catherineperlo1, Billboard, campaignlive.co.uk, Yahoo Finance and Axios

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:

France's TF1 Group reports H1 2025 revenue up 0.1% YoY to €1.1B, media division revenue down 0.9% YoY to €975M, and Studio TF1 revenue up 6.4% YoY to €128M — France's TF1 Group posted half-year revenue of €1.1B ($1.3B), with dips at its media arm offset by growth at its newly refurbished studios division.

Discussion: Variety and TF1 Group

Amy Hollyfield / Dallas Morning News:

DallasNews Corporation board rejects Alden-owned MediaNews's bid and accepts an improved merger deal from Hearst, which raised its offer from $14 to $15/share — The board also voted to implement a shareholder rights plan to hold off Alden. — DallasNews Corporation announced Monday …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Bloomberg, Poynter, WFAA-TV, KERA News, @royalpratt, @stufalk.bsky.social and Dallas Business Journal

Rocket Drew / The Information:

Runway and Luma AI say they are talking to robotics and self-driving car companies about their video models and expect these revenue sources to eclipse studios — Imax on Monday announced that it would screen the winning films from Runway's AI-generated film festival at some of its theaters.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Breitbart, PetaPixel, The Wrap, Forbes, The Decoder, The Hollywood Reporter, WinBuzzer and Deadline

Reuters:

Canal+ reports H1 2025 revenue down 3.3% YoY to €3.09B, free cash flow of €370M, up from €128M in H1 2024, and expects FY 2025 EBITA of ~€515M; CAN jumps 6%+ — French pay-TV company Canal+ (CAN.L) reported a jump in free cash flow in the first half even as revenue fell …

Discussion: Advanced Television, Deadline, Broadband TV News, Broadcast and Canal+

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The Daily Mail consolidates its digital platforms under the name Daily Mail and renames its digital subscription package, which has 325K subscribers, DailyMail+ — Aim is to reach one million paying digital subscribers by October 2028. — The Daily Mail has set a target of reaching …

Discussion: PodcastingToday and Telegraph

Ben Smith / Semafor:

How Fox Corp. has accelerated its roll-up of independent media talent, as it seeks to attract younger viewers through digital and streaming platforms — Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Semafor — If you want a glimpse of the coming consolidation in digital media, take a look at Fox Corp. …

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper, @simonowens and CNN

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

Bollywood star Aamir Khan's hit Sitaare Zameen Par will be released exclusively on YouTube for digital rental on August 1, sidestepping traditional streamers — Bollywood superstar's latest theatrical hit will be available exclusively on YouTube Movies-on-Demand starting Aug. 1

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Versant names NBC Nightly News executive producer Meghan Rafferty as VP of news standards, where she will set and maintain news standards at CNBC and MSNBC — Rafferty will be VP of news standards, guiding the MSNBC and CNBC news operations once the Versant split is complete.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Adweek, Variety, Deadline, The Wrap and Barrett Media

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:

Disney says it has completed its 2025-2026 Upfronts with streaming accounting for more than 40% of total volume and sports advertising nearing $4B — Disney Advertising said it's completed its 2025-2026 Upfront with overall volume consisted with the year before despite increased sales in sports and streaming.

Discussion: MediaPost, Adweek, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, Sports Business Journal and Variety

Sean Burch / The Wrap:

The Washington Post's Fact Checker Glenn Kessler is leaving the paper after over 27 years, having taken a buyout, and is “not sure” if his role will be replaced — But we couldn't work out an agreement," Glenn Kessler says — Another prominent Washington Post staffer is exiting the paper.