CNN launches CNN Originals, a FAST channel dedicated to its original programming, initially on Amazon Freevee, Prime Video, Fire TV services, and Plex (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)

Mediagazer: CNN launches CNN Originals, a FAST channel dedicated to its original programming, initially on Amazon Freevee, Prime Video, Fire TV services, and Plex (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)

Top News:

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: Deadline and @2xaught7.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

RELATED:

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:
Business Wire, Reuters, @pkafka, @sherman4949, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:
Business Wire: The Walt Disney Company Reports Third Quarter and Nine Months Earnings for Fiscal 2024

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: “The good news is the Olympics are over in a couple weeks” says Disney CFO. (Disneyland Paris business has been slow, which Disney blames on the games.)

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Disney says it is still having conversations with strategic partners for ESPN. These conversations have been going on for more a year now.

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Disney CEO Bob Iger says the Disney streaming password sharing crackdown will begin in earnest in September.

Jill Goldsmith /
Deadline: Ka-ching! Disney Turns Streaming Profit For First Time And Ahead Of Schedule

Samantha Masunaga /
Los Angeles Times: Disney's streaming business is profitable for the first time, but its parks unit lags

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: Disney Turns a Profit in Streaming as Entertainment Income Soars

CNBC:

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— WATCH NOW — Disney reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings Wednesday, topping analyst estimates as its combined streaming …

Discussion:

Tony Maglio /
IndieWire: Disney Finally Turns a Profit at Streaming

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney Swings to First-Ever Combined Streaming Profit of $47 Million in Q3

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:
The Wrap, The Information, @tvgrimreaper and Deadline

Discussion:

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney Could Pay Up to $5 Billion More for Comcast's Hulu Stake @tvgrimreaper: We're approaching the one year anniversary of the start of this process (October). Imagine the investment banker's fees! [image]

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, Claudio E. Cabrera on LinkedIn, Bloomberg, @pkafka, @katie_robertson and @nkulw

Discussion:

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: The New York Times Adds 300,000 Digital Subs in Q2 as Total Revenues Rise 6% to $625 Million

Shannon Busta Riches /
Shannon Busta Riches on LinkedIn: Delighted to see The New York Times finding continued success in such a turbulent media landscape. Nearly half of our 10.8 million subscribers …

Claudio E. Cabrera /
Claudio E. Cabrera on LinkedIn: A few highlights but starting off with my beloved The Athletic: — Revenue at The Athletic grew to $40.5m which is up 33% from last year. …

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: The New York Times has spent $3 million in legal fees suing Microsoft and OpenAI this year. For context: last year the paper earned $232 million in profits.

Katie Robertson /
@katie_robertson: New: The New York Times added another 300,000 subscribers in the last quarter, now has almost 11 million total https://www.nytimes.com/...

Noah Kulwin /
@nkulw: Monopolist paper that killed the competition and is rearranging its innards to be more stupid and facile all the time

RELATED:
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:
@tvgrimreaper

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

Discussion:

Ben Lovejoy /
9to5Mac: Some subreddits could be paywalled, hints Reddit CEO

Tsveta Ermenkova /
PhoneArena: Reddit to experiment with AI-powered search results and paid subreddits

Karissa /
@karissabe@threads.net: On reddit's earnings call just now, Steve Huffman says the company will begin testing new AI-powered search results later this year. “Later this year, we will begin testing new search result pages powered by AI to summarize and recommend content, helping users dive deeper into product, shows, games and discover new communities on Reddit.”

Karissa Bell /
Engadget: Reddit CEO teases AI search features and paid subreddits

RELATED:

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:

Sabrina Quagliozzi /
The Media Leader: Reddit's ad revenue fuels earnings beat

Anthony Vargas /
AdExchanger: Reddit's Ads Biz Is Surging, But It's Still The Runt Of The Social Media Litter @jonathan_vanian_1@threads.net: Reddit COO Jen Wong says Ad market is “stable.” But, “there are real election jitters. We did see some pauses in the UK around the [recent] election. We saw pauses around times of Trump rally shooting. So I think there's a lot of caution. …

Gordy H. /
Gordy H. on LinkedIn: Reddit, Inc. announced Q2 Earnings today and the results were stellar! 🚀 — Highlights Include: —Both users and revenue grew over 50% …

Martin Peers /
The Information: Reddit Reports 54% Revenue Growth in Q2

The Hollywood Reporter:

CNN launches CNN Originals, a FAST channel dedicated to its original programming, initially on Amazon Freevee, Prime Video, Fire TV services, and Plex— Shows like Anthony Bourdain's ‘Parts Unknown’ and ‘Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta’ will be among the shows featured on the free streaming channel.

Discussion:

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: CNN Launches Free FAST Streaming Channel for Original Series

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

Discussion:

Blake Schuster /
USA Today: Charles Barkley won't retire from TV after all, because of course he never was going to

RELATED:

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

Discussion:
Pressroom, New York Times, Fox News, Brian Steinberg on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, Awful Announcing, USA Today, New York Times, Sportico, CNN, Deadline, Associated Press, Awful Announcing, TVLine, Front Office Sports, New York Post, The Wrap, CNBC, Barrett Media, New York Daily News and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Andrew Marchand /
New York Times: The eye-popping $77 billion haul that shook up the NBA landscape — and the future of media Fox News: Charles Barkley reverses retirement decision, vows to stay with TNT long-term: ‘This is the only place for me’

Brian Steinberg /
Brian Steinberg on LinkedIn: NEW: Charles Barkley backs off retirement plans, says he will stay with Warner Bros. Discovery and looks beyond looming loss of NBA rights.... …

Chuck Schilken /
Los Angeles Times: Charles Barkley isn't retiring or joining another network. TNT ‘is the only place’ for him

Mike D. Sykes /
USA Today: 5 things (NHL!) Charles Barkley can still do with TNT when Inside the NBA leaves the network

Andrew Marchand /
New York Times: Charles Barkley not retiring, staying with TNT Sports long term: ‘This is the only place for me’

Jason Clinkscales /
Sportico: Charles Barkley ‘Reaffirms’ Long-Term Commitment to WBD

Liam Reilly /
CNN: Charles Barkley cancels his retirement plans, says he'll stay with TNT Sports for long term

Nellie Andreeva /
Deadline: Charles Barkley Will Stay With TNT Sports “For Years To Come” In Retirement Plans Reversal

Ben Axelrod /
Awful Announcing: Charles Barkley cancels retirement to remain with TNT Sports long-term

Dave Nemetz /
TVLine: Charles Barkley Walks Back Retirement Decision as Warner Bros. Discovery Fights to Retain NBA Games

Michael McCarthy /
Front Office Sports: Charles Barkley Un-Retires From TV, Says He's Staying With TNT

Ryan Glasspiegel /
New York Post: Charles Barkley does about-face on TV retirement with TNT commitment

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Charles Barkley Cancels Retirement, Commits to TNT Sports for ‘Years to Come’

Alex Sherman /
CNBC: Charles Barkley commits to staying at Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT Sports no matter what happens to NBA

Peter Sblendorio /
New York Daily News: Charles Barkley nixes plan to retire, confirms long-term commitment to TNT Sports

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.

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

Discussion:

Kosaku Narioka /
Wall Street Journal: Sony Boosts Guidance as Profit Rises on Strength of Game, Music, Sensor Businesses

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:

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: Dotdash Meredith Grew Its Digital Revenue By 12% In Q2

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:
Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /