A look at what has happened to the US box office since 2000 and how the pandemic accelerated the decline in per capita theatrical admissions by roughly 15 years (Matthew Ball/MatthewBall.co)

Mediagazer: A look at what has happened to the US box office since 2000 and how the pandemic accelerated the decline in per capita theatrical admissions by roughly 15 years (Matthew Ball/MatthewBall.co)

Top News:

LateNighter:

Paramount has shut down its Comedy Central website, which held The Daily Show clips and the full run of The Colbert Report, after its shutdown of MTV News' site— First on LateNighter: One of the richest repositories of late-night videos is no longer. — ComedyCentral.com had been home …
Discussion:

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: This is a crime against humor and humanity

Mike Roe /
The Wrap: Paramount Kills More Online Content, Axing Archives From Comedy Central, MTV, TV Land and CMT

Phil Meyer /
@philmeyer: As of Wednesday afternoon, sites for Comedy Central, CMT, Yellowstone airer Paramount Network & TV Land were instead directing users to Paramount+. On Monday, MTVnews site was taken down, purging some 20 years of stories from the web. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

Rick Porter /
The Hollywood Reporter: Paramount Cuts Nearly All Content On Comedy Central, TV Land, CMT and MTV Websites

Kimberly Roots /
TVLine: Comedy Central Website Shuttered, Decades of Daily Show and Colbert Report Clips Gone in a Blink @punkonbus1701@tenforward.social: Y'all better buy all the physical copies of your favorite Trek shows now, if you haven't already.🤣🖖🏿 — #Paramount #ComedyCentral #StarTrek — Paramount Axes Comedy Central Site, 25+ Years of Daily Show Clips Gone — https://latenighter.com/...

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@threads.net: I assumed Paramount would be one of the streaming services that wouldn't make it but I didn't expect the company to struggle so much it would rather delete its websites than maintain them. First Warner Bros, now this. What's up with studios choosing to destroy value in this way? @bisexualkaiju.bsky.social: These studios aren't shit, and I think they need another strike to rock their moneymaking machines to get their heads on straight. [embedded post] @three_star_dave@mstdn.social: “25+ Years of Daily Show Clips Gone as Paramount Axes Comedy Central Site” — This is why we can have nice things ... for long. Because, sooner or later, someone decides not to spend the money to keep it. And this is an especially key thing related to the #Internet, where anything can disappear at the click of a mouse, or a switch on a server. … @brunhilde2525.bsky.social: This is cultural vandalism. It should inspire a greater horror than soup on a protected painting. [embedded post]

Reuters:

SCOTUS declines to impose limits on the way Biden administration may communicate with social media platforms in the First Amendment case of Murthy v. Missouri— The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to impose limits on the way President Joe Biden's administration may communicate …

Discussion:
Variety, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, @mjs_dc, Reason, @mjs_dc, SiliconANGLE, @repdanbishop, @ericgeller, @karaswisher, @mjs_dc, The Daily Beast, Ars Technica, @brandyzadrozny, @willoremus, SCOTUSblog, @drjbhattacharya, @mjs_dc, @joshsorbe, @rebeccamkern, @frankfigliuzzi1, @mtaibbi, @hugolowell, Technology & …, @ronfilipkowski, Slate, Fast Company, MediaPost, Free Press, New Republic, Reclaim The Net, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, Forbes, WHDH-TV, NBC News, STAT, New York Times, Semafor, Deadline, Associated Press, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Fox News, Washington Examiner and CBS News, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Supreme Court Strikes Down Republican Challenge to Biden Administration's Efforts Urging Social Media Platforms to Remove Disinformation

Lauren Feiner /
The Verge: SCOTUS: White House can keep yelling at Facebook about covid misinfo, for now

Jan Wolfe /
Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Rules for Biden Administration in Covid-Era Speech Case

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: Alito dissents, joined by Thomas and Gorsuch. He calls it “one of the most important free speech cases to reach this Court in years” and embraces the lower courts' claim that the Biden administration censored users of social media companies by promoting removal of disinformation.

Will Baude /
Reason: The Lack of Standing in Murthy v. Missouri

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: Justice Barrett's opinion has sharp words for both the 5th Circuit and Trump Judge Terry Doughty, who imposed the original “sweeping” injunction. Barrett says many of Doughty's factual findings “unfortunately appear to be clearly erroneous.” https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Maria Deutscher /
SiliconANGLE: Supreme Court rules US officials can continue communicating with social media companies

Rep. Dan Bishop /
@repdanbishop: Alito's dissent is spot-on. The doctrine of standing is necessary to keep the judiciary within its bounds. Here, it constrains SCOTUS to leave unaddressed “arguably the most massive attack on free speech in US history.” That means it falls to Congress and the President to stop [image]

Eric Geller /
@ericgeller: This win for the Biden administration will likely come as a huge relief to the FBI and CISA, as it dispels a shadow that had gathered over the agencies' work to combat election misinformation. We might see tech companies open back up to this kind of collaboration now.

Kara Swisher /
@karaswisher: Correct decision. The GOP has lost the narrative here: Supreme Court allows White House contacts with social media firms https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: The Supreme Court's first decision of the day is Murthy v. Missouri, the social media “jawboning” case. By a 6-3 vote, the court holds that the plaintiffs lack standing. Big win for the Biden administration. Another loss for the 5th Circuit. https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Jay Michaelson /
The Daily Beast: Supreme Court to MAGA: Your Social Media Conspiracy Dreams Are Bunk

Ashley Belanger /
Ars Technica: SCOTUS nixes injunction that limited Biden admin contacts with social networks

Brandy Zadrozny /
@brandyzadrozny: Alito argues in the dissent that the federal government's coercive social media censorship campaign was just so sophisticated and its threats so subtle ... it's almost as if there never was a government conspiracy to censor people in the first place. https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Will Oremus /
@willoremus: SCOTUS rules in the social media “jawboning” case to re-allow contacts between Biden admin and tech firms, overturning a lower court. Notably, they ruled the plaintiffs lacked standing, rather than deciding on merits. Live blog w/ reactions & analysis: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Amy Howe /
SCOTUSblog: Justices side with Biden over government's influence on social media content moderation

Jay Bhattacharya /
@drjbhattacharya: The Supreme Court just ruled in the Murthy v. Missouri case that the Biden Administration can coerce social media companies to censor and shadowban people and posts it doesn't like. Congress will now need to act to enforce the Constitution since the Sup. Ct. won't.

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: Here is Barrett listing a bunch of mistakes that Trump Judge Terry Doughty made in his notorious July 4 opinion of last year banning millions of federal employees from “encouraging” social media companies to moderate any content. https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Josh Sorbe /
@joshsorbe: Justice Barrett saying “I don't care about your rebrand, Elon” LOLOL [image]

Rebecca Kern /
@rebeccamkern: Cool to see my @politico reporting cited in the Supreme Court dissent to Murthy v Missouri decision today - https://www.politico.com/... [image]

Frank Figliuzzi /
@frankfigliuzzi1: This is a win for national security and a loss for adversaries posting disinformation and propaganda: Supreme Court allows White House to press social media companies to remove disinformation | CNN Politics https://www.cnn.com/...

Matt Taibbi /
@mtaibbi: Well, this massively sucks, not that it was unexpected. Buckle up for Big Brother, folks https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Eric Goldman /
Technology & Marketing Law Blog: Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Sue Over Government Jawboning When Their Evidence is Based on Vibes-Murthy v. Missouri

Ron Filipkowski /
@ronfilipkowski: So, the whole ‘Twitter Files’ hoopla resulted in two clown show hearings with Jim Jordan that resulted in nothing, the main investigative journalist getting blocked by Musk after he hired him, he then quit the platform, now the Supreme Court tossed the lawsuits. Nice work.

Mark Joseph Stern /
Slate: The Supreme Court Gave Biden a Chance to Fight Disinformation. It's Too Little, Too Late.

Issie Lapowsky /
Fast Company: The Supreme Court sides with Biden administration in social media ‘jawboning’ case

Wendy Davis /
MediaPost: SCOTUS Scraps Restrictions On Biden Admin's Communications With Social Platforms

Amy Kroin /
Free Press: Supreme Court Ruling on Social Media Affirms the First Amendment and the Government's Responsibility …

Dan Frieth /
Reclaim The Net: Supreme Court Sides With Biden Administration Over Accusations of Social Media Censorship Pressure

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: Supreme Court Rules Feds' ‘Misinformation’ Talks With Social Media Platforms Did Not Violate First Amendment

David G. Savage /
Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court dismisses Republican suit claiming Biden officials censored social media

Karissa Bell /
Engadget: Supreme Court ruling may allow officials to coordinate with social platforms again

Alison Durkee /
Forbes: Supreme Court Won't Stop Biden Administration From Working With Social Media Companies

Dakota Antelman /
WHDH-TV: Supreme Court allows White House to press social media companies to remove disinformation

Lawrence Hurley /
NBC News: Supreme Court tosses out claim Biden administration coerced social media companies to remove content

Sarah Owermohle /
STAT: Supreme Court rejects challenge to Biden's use of bully pulpit to fight Covid misinformation

Adam Liptak /
New York Times: Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Biden Administration's Contacts With Social Media Companies

Caroline Anders /
Semafor: US Supreme Court rules in favor of government in social media jawboning case

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: Supreme Court Sides With White House In Case Challenging Government Efforts To Curb Social Media Disinformation

Mark Sherman /
Associated Press: The Supreme Court rules for Biden administration in a social media dispute with conservative states CBS News: Breaking down Supreme Court's decision siding with Biden administration on social media case

The Verge:

NBCU says an AI-generated voice of legendary sportscaster Al Michaels is going to give daily, personalized recaps of the Paris Olympics on its streamer Peacock— Legendary sportscaster Al Michaels is going to give daily, personalized recaps of the Paris Olympics on Peacock — well, an AI-generated Al Michaels voice will.

Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, NBCSports.com, @tomkludt, CNN, @nestruck, al.com, New York Times, Barrett Media, The Wrap, USA Today, Sports Media Watch, Forbes, @carnage4life@threads.net, @brandonmillman, @craighorlbeck, Cord Cutters News, Vanity Fair, TVLine, CNET, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, Deadline, Digital Trends, TechRadar, Variety, TVNewsCheck and Awful Announcing, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: NBC Brings A.I. Al Michaels to Peacock for Customized Paris Olympics Recaps NBCSports.com: PEACOCK UNVEILS PERSONALIZED OLYMPIC RECAPS FEATURING THE VOICE OF LEGENDARY SPORTS ANNOUNCER AL MICHAELS GENERATED WITH A.I.

Tom Kludt /
@tomkludt: NEW: NBC is recreating Al Michaels' voice using A.I. for this summer's Olympics coverage. I talked to Michaels, who was skeptical but gave the project his blessing: “Frankly, it was astonishing. It was amazing. And it was a little bit frightening.” https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Samantha Murphy Kelly /
CNN: NBC to use AI version of announcer Al Michaels' voice for Olympics recaps

J. Kelly Nestruck /
@nestruck: Every time I see an article about an Al these days, I think it's about AI. As it happens, this one is about an Al and AI.

John Koblin /
New York Times: Now Narrating the Olympics: A.I.-Al Michaels

Robert Zeglinski /
USA Today: NBC will use A.I. Al Michaels for Olympic recaps and the video example is, as he said, ‘frightening’

Drew Lerner /
Sports Media Watch: Al Michaels, Baker, Caffeine

Brian Bushard /
Forbes: A.I. Al Michaels? NBC Will Use Legendary Broadcaster's A.I.-Generated Voice For Paris Olympics

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@threads.net: One way AI will reduce employment in certain fields is because businesses will ask why hire new people when you can use clones of the greatest in the business forever? First there was AI James Earl Jones as Darth Vader. Now we have AI Al Michael's giving personalized recaps.

Brandon Millman /
@brandonmillman: I'm sorry... what? Today in “Things Absolutely Nobody Is Asking For In Any Capacity, Ever.”

Craig Horlbeck /
@craighorlbeck: I'm nearing old man yells at cloud territory but this is the most nauseating use of AI. Michaels is so deep in his cashing checks era that he's going to kickstart the AI broadcasting takeover. Who needs this! At least call him “A.I. Michaels”. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

Luke Bouma /
Cord Cutters News: Peacock Will Use AI-Powered Announcers Using The Voice of Al Michaels For The Olympics

Tom Kludt /
Vanity Fair: “It Was Astonishing”: How NBC Convinced Al Michaels to Embrace His AI Voice for Olympics Coverage

Matt Webb Mitovich /
TVLine: Olympics: Peacock to Offer Personalized Daily Recaps Featuring A.I.-Generated Voice of Al Michaels

Eli Blumenthal /
CNET: Peacock Will Use an AI Version of Al Michaels To Create Personalized Olympic Recaps

Stephen Battaglio /
Los Angeles Times: Al Michaels returns to the Olympics — as the AI voice of Peacock

Will Shanklin /
Engadget: Welcome to the future, where AI-generated Al Michaels reads you personalized Olympic recaps

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: NBCUniversal Believes In A.I. Miracles, Sets Tech-Assisted Al Michaels As Virtual Host Of Daily Paris Olympics Recaps On Peacock

Phil Nickinson /
Digital Trends: AI-powered Al Michaels will provide daily recaps from the Paris Olympics

Jacob Krol /
TechRadar: Peacock subscribers will soon have custom Olympic updates delivered by an AI version of an iconic broadcaster

Brian Steinberg /
Variety: AI-Generated Version of Al Michaels' Voice Will Deliver NBC's Paris Olympics Recaps

Brian Steinberg /
TVNewsCheck: AI-Generated Version Of Al Michaels' Voice Will Deliver NBC's Paris Olympics Recaps

Joe Lucia /
Awful Announcing: An AI recreation of Al Michaels' voice will be part of Peacock's Olympics coverage

The Hollywood Reporter:

Dish offers customers who sign up for a two-year contract a new bundle with Netflix's ad-supported tier for free, or its ad-free tiers at a $7/month discount— The satellite TV company is giving its customers access to Netflix's ad-supported tier at no cost, or its ad-free tiers at a discount.

Discussion:
About DISH, Next TV, Variety and The Desk

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Dish Bundles Netflix for Free With New Two-Year Offer

Nieman Lab:

The Oaklandside's publisher, Cityside, launches Richmondside in Richmond, CA, a town where the top employer, Chevron, owns the primary news source— Last month, I talked to Floodlight's Miranda Green and NPR's David Folkenflik about how they teamed up to investigate a news site owned by Chevron.

Discussion:
@davidfolkenflik, @tigerbeat and @khulacrichmond

Discussion:

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: ⁦@richmondside⁩ launches today - a small but hopefully scrappy news site offering Richmond CA an alternative to dominant outlet owned by the city's largest employer, taxpayer and polluter: Chevron. Here's more about @Richmondside: https://richmondside.org/...

Steve Rhodes /
@tigerbeat: @davidfolkenflik While editor @KHulacRichmond and reporter Joel Umanzor @jr_umanzor are on twitter like @berkeleyside @Oaklandside, @richmondside won't update here & can be found at https://x.com/...

MatthewBall.co:

A look at what has happened to the US box office since 2000 and how the pandemic accelerated the decline in per capita theatrical admissions by roughly 15 years— Over the last six months, there has been a lot of talk about the future of theatrical exhibition ("going to the movies") …

Discussion:
@ballmatthew, @royprice and @loudmouthjulia

Discussion:

Matthew Ball /
@ballmatthew:

Roy Price /
@royprice: Excellent review of box office history and what it might suggest about the future. Worth a read!

Julia Alexander /
@loudmouthjulia: Great essay! One thing I'd add on live events + sporting — there is an additional incentive for those events to provide long term social capital through photos and videos that takes the original value (scarcity of event) and magnifies it (attention rewarded for attention given).

Radio & Television Business Report:

Audacy promotes Jeff Sottolano to chief programming officer from EVP and head of programming; he'll be responsible for content on radio stations and podcasts— Thanks to a new deal that sees him agreeing to a multi-year contract extension, the individual who has served as Executive Vice President …

Discussion:
Inside Radio

CNBC:

A look at YouTube's growing dominance as Nielsen says it had ~10% of all viewership on connected and traditional TVs in the US in May, ahead of Netflix's 7.6%— WATCH NOW — It's been almost 20 years since the founding of Alphabet's YouTube, and Hollywood still doesn't really know what to do with it.

Discussion:

Tara Walpert Levy /
Tara Walpert Levy on LinkedIn: As with all things, I recommend watching the video. It's at the top of the article, and the nuances of the competitive ecosystem are well articulated …

Andrew A. Rosen /
@aagave: Alex didn't intend it this way but this 2nd graf—which comes after a reveal that Disney $DIS is trying to figure out how to add UGC to D+ (not happening)—implies that Disney doesn't understand its streaming customers. https://t.co/... @tvgrimreaper: YouTube's streaming leadership, and continued rapid growth is a little bit less uncovered today! [image]

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: The most undercovered company in the media and entertainment world is YouTube. I spoke with some YouTube execs and creators about why YouTube's dominance keeps expanding and asked Hollywood's main players what they're doing about it. https://www.cnbc.com/...

Brooks Day /
Brooks Day on LinkedIn: As we witness YouTube's unprecedented dominance in viewership and advertising revenue, capturing a historic 9.7% TV viewership share …

Tara Walpert Levy /
@tarawlevy: As with all things, I recommend watching the video. :) It's at the top of the article and the nuances of the competitive ecosystem are well articulated by @sherman4949, @KevinMayer, @RichLightShed, @MichelleKhare, @brittanybroski, and others. @sportstvratings: YouTube's strength on the big screen truly is under-covered, but... ...whenever Nielsen finally adds mobile consumption to its monthly “The Gauge” reporting, YouTube's dominance will be so striking and pronounced that it will swing to being over-covered!

Jeff Jenkins /
Jeff Jenkins on LinkedIn: What is TV ask my 11 year old.....YouTube now accounts for 10% of all TV viewership, cementing its dominance in the media landscape. …

Alex Sherman /
Alex Sherman on LinkedIn: The common answer to who is winning the streaming wars is Netflix, but the real answer is YouTube. YouTube has been the most watched US streaming service … @richlightshed: YouTube is a TV Juggernaut — 25% of time spent streaming video on a big-screen TV is @YouTube Thanks for featuring us @sherman4949 @CNBC Watch full 13 min video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/... [video]

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Disney is laser focused on YouTube with a clearly defined strategy and has even considered adding user generated content to Disney+. Other companies are less concerned with YouTube, content to keep focusing on traditional scripted/sports.

Alex Sherman /
TVNewsCheck: Youtube Dominates Streaming, Forcing Media Companies To Decide Whether It's Friend Or Foe

Vanity Fair:

Will Lewis should be held accountable as a powerful executive and not simply seen through a parochial US lens that views UK journalists as having lax ethics— Will Lewis's ethical imbroglio has led to caricatures of British editors. But the Washington Post publisher should be held accountable …

Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @bgrueskin, @jon_allsop, MediaPost, @mlcalderone, TVNewsCheck and Financial Times

Discussion:

Harry Lambert /
The Daily Beast: Cop: Jeff Bezos' WaPo CEO Deceived Police, Framed U.K. Prime Minister

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: “Swap in Fox News on the US side of the equation and the BBC on the other, and suddenly the US is the country that appears to have the ethics problem.” https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Jon Allsop /
@jon_allsop: Delighted to be asked to share some further thoughts on this for @VanityFair. With links to good stuff by @jamesrbuk and @TomMcTague, among others. https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: Will Lewis Saga Continues With A New Allegation And A Newsletter Suspension

Michael Calderone /
@mlcalderone: The view from London: @Jon_Allsop on the moral panic around the “British Invasion” of US newsrooms https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Reuters:

Seven content-licensing sellers of music, image, and other AI training datasets form the Dataset Providers Alliance to advocate for “ethical data sourcing”— OkSeven content-licensing sellers of music, image, video and other datasets for use in training artificial intelligence systems …

Discussion:
James on LinkedIn, Ed Newton-Rex on LinkedIn, Alex Bestall on LinkedIn and Android Headlines

Discussion:

James /
James on LinkedIn: ado is thrilled to join the Dataset Providers Alliance (DPA). As part of this pioneering group, we reaffirm our belief that every individual …

Ed Newton-Rex /
Ed Newton-Rex on LinkedIn: Great to see the first trade group for AI dataset licensing companies launch today. — “The Dataset Providers Alliance (DPA) will advocate for …

Alex Bestall /
Alex Bestall on LinkedIn: Proud to be launching the Dataset Providers Alliance (DPA) today! — The DPA brings together an international group of dataset providers …

NewsGuild of New York:

Members of The NewsGuild of New York vote 1,229 to 599 to make a temporary dues rate of 1.75% permanent; the rate had been set to expire on September 30, 2024— NEW YORK - In a resounding display of solidarity and as an investment in the future of their union, members of The NewsGuild …

Discussion:
@nyguild and @susandecarava

Discussion:
@nyguild: WE VOTED YES: Our members have voted to invest in our collective strength to hold management accountable, win new contracts and build a better future with our members. Read more here... https://www.nyguild.org/... [image]

Susan DeCarava /
@susandecarava: Immensely proud of how @nyguild members came together thru a democratic process and ultimately decided to invest in the future of our union. We are all in! And will continue the work we do together to build worker power now and for future generations #1U #GuildStrong

GolfMagic:

Caffeine TV, a streaming platform that has been carrying LIV Golf's content, announces it is shutting down due to a lack of profitability— LIV Golf's free streaming provider, Caffeine TV, has ended its service with immediate effect. — LIV Golf has been dealt a hammer blow …

Discussion:
@ryanbarwick, Barrett Media, Golfmagic.com, @2xaught7.bsky.social, @scottnover, @michaelmiraflor, @moe_rants, Ad Age and Awful Announcing

Discussion:

Ryan Barwick /
@ryanbarwick: Caffeine TV, backed by Disney, Fox, and Cox, and streamed the LIV golf tournament, has shut down. Claims to have had 61 million monthly users. [image]

Ryan Barwick /
@ryanbarwick: @michaelmiraflor even if they said they had a million subscribers I'd still raise my eyebrows.

Andy Roberts /
Golfmagic.com: Revealed: the players on verge of being axed (!) by LIV Golf ahead of 2025

Scott Nover /
@scottnover: @Ryanbarwick I have ... never heard of this

Michael J. Miraflor /
@michaelmiraflor: @Ryanbarwick I am online way too much and had never heard of them.

Joe Lucia /