Hope you're staying cool. Brian Stelter here at 10:24pm on Sunday, July 24 with the latest on Rupert Murdoch, Alphabet, "Shark Week," Geneva, Disney+, "Nope," and more... The digital ad slowdown |
"Another day, another set of disappointing digital ad results," Michael Nathanson wrote Friday after reviewing Twitter's second quarter earnings. What will the coming days show? Right now the digital advertising industry is under intense scrutiny. Snap said ad dollars "are now growing more slowly" as the company posted worse-than-expected earnings last Thursday. Twitter similarly cited "ad industry headwinds." The results spooked the market: Social media firms "saw more than $130 billion wiped off their stock-market values Friday" after Snap and Twitter "raised new concerns about the outlook for online advertising," Bloomberg's Ryan Vlastelica and Subrat Patnaik wrote. And this week will bring earnings reports from Meta, Alphabet and other heavyweights. The results will be pored over for signs of recession. Snap's weakness "fed fears that a wider economic slowdown is starting to bite," the FT's Richard Waters wrote. "Digital advertising often acts as a leading indicator of the online economy, making it the 'canary in the coal mine' for the entire consumer internet sector, said Brent Thill, an analyst at Jefferies." That's because "the online auctions that companies like Snap use to sell advertising are designed to make it simple for customers to increase spending quickly when a particular campaign proves effective. But they also make it simple to pull back." Easy on, easy off... Data points More and more data points indicate that the "advertising slowdown is real," Nathanson and his colleague Robert Fishman wrote in a note on Friday. Sign of the times: AdAge has been running a "layoffs and budget cuts" blog. But "analysts don't expect all digital-advertising companies to be affected equally," WSJ advertising editor Suzanne Vranica wrote. Some are making the argument that Alphabet is better positioned than Meta. >> Important context from Insider: "TikTok is a key reason Snap is having a tough quarter — and it's a warning for Meta and YouTube..." >> Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said "we view SNAP as a paper airplane in a windstorm and is not a phenomenal barometer for the pace of the digital ad slowdown for platforms like Facebook, Google..." >> Amid all of this, ad agency holding companies are posting better-than-expected results, Nathanson noted in a separate note on Friday. "The agencies," he wrote, "primarily serve the world's largest advertisers and have limited exposure to smaller speculative/high growth companies – which seems to have been a detriment in 2021 but perhaps their saving grace in 2022..." This week's earnings watch Tuesday: Alphabet reports earnings after the close... Wednesday: Meta and Microsoft report after the bell... Thursday: Comcast reports before the bell; Amazon, Apple and Roku all report after the close... |
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-- "There is a Category 5 storm of economic news headed for our shores" this week, Ben White writes... (Politico) -- It will be "the busiest" week of the summer, Patti Domm says, "with the Federal Reserve expected to deliver another three-quarter point rate hike..." (CNBC) -- "Big Tech is bracing for a possible recession, spooking other industries," Rachel Lerman and Gerrit De Vynck wrote over the weekend... (WaPo) -- Perhaps this this comforting? "You're not the only one who's confused about the economy. The experts are baffled, too..." (CNN Business) |
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Week ahead calendar Tuesday: New releases include Jonathan Lemire's "The Big Lie..." Tuesday: Donald Trump's first visit to DC since leaving office... Wednesday: "Light & Magic," a six-part docuseries about special effects from "Star Wars" through the '90s digital revolution, premieres on Disney+... Friday: Beyoncé's new album "Renaissance" comes out... Friday: "DC League of Super-Pets," with voices by Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, hits theaters... Friday: "The controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series heads to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster..." |
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"Shark Week" is here When my 5-year-old saw an airplane this weekend, she asked, "Is that the Shark Week blimp?" The blimps have been a recurring feature outside our window and a success story for Discovery, which launched the annual "Shark Week" on TV and discovery+ on Sunday. The AP's Mark Kennedy notes that "this year marks the first 'Shark Week' since the creation of the media giant Warner Bros. Discovery," which includes CNN. Nancy Daniels, chief of content at TBS, TNT and Discovery, told him that this "tentpole" event is "a big moment for us as a company to show what we can do and a strength of who we are now as Warner Bros. Discovery..." |
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Murdoch's papers dump Trump "Look, it's not just me that's saying that Donald Trump is unfit for office, it's other entities owned by Rupert Murdoch," Rep. Liz Cheney told Bret Baier on "Fox News Sunday." Cheney cited new editorials published by the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal in the wake of Thursday's prime time hearing. The Post -- one of Trump's longtime favorite papers -- said he is "unworthy to be chief executive again." The Journal called him "The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6." On Sunday it was the most-read piece in the Opinion section. As I wrote here, both papers have been building to this point for a while, and both have been noticeably more critical of Trump than Murdoch's biggest megaphone of all, the Fox News Channel. Fox didn't report on the editorials over the weekend, which made Cheney's call-out notable... |
How much does it really matter?
BY OLIVER DARCY: The editorials in Murdoch-owned papers are interesting, no question. But how much do they really matter? I'm not too sure. The editorial boards don't have nearly as much sway over the GOP base as Fox does. And the top stars on Fox, who have defended Trump through virtually every scandal, have shown no inclination that they will abandon him. In fact, they have gone in the opposite direction and defended Trump in recent weeks. So let's not overstate the significance of the editorials... >> Speaking of editorials, here's a much stronger one, penned by the LA Times editorial board: "Trump should be charged for crimes against the United States" Three more thoughts >> On Sunday's "Reliable," GOP strategist Sarah Longwell highlighted the difference between "Trump the man" and "Trump the phenomenon:" While participants in focus groups have clearly soured on Trump, she said, they still support MAGA candidates... >> David Frum, who was also on the program, commented in an email: "We're seeing a contest between GOP voters, who mostly remain loyal to Trump, and GOP donors and the Murdoch media empire, who hope to replace him with [Ron] DeSantis..." >> Jennifer Dresden, the lead author of Project Democracy's "Authoritarian Playbook" report, said on "Reliable" that when democracy erodes and "authoritarianism takes over," it happens "one slice at a time," like slices of salami... |
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| -- "There is a missing piece in the committee's work so far," Rich Galant writes: "A method to stop Trump's voter fraud lie from spoiling future elections and undermining American democracy..." (CNN) -- Tiffany Hsu writes about how ties between Alex Jones and the Genesis Communications Network "show the economics of misinformation" and how it can be "be hugely profitable..." (NYT) -- Speaking of Jones, Steve Bannon invited him on his podcast over the weekend, where the two traded "gushing compliments..." (Mediaite) -- Erik Wemple looks at the process behind the erroneous Bloomberg story about the Dominion v. Fox News suit and asks: "Is 18 minutes enough time for a subject to comment?" The answer in this case is no... (WaPo) |
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| Update on Biden's bout with Covid CNN's Donald Judd and Jasmine Wright write: "President Joe Biden's 'symptoms continue to improve significantly,' following his Covid-19 diagnosis Thursday, the President's physician wrote in a Sunday letter." Dr. Ashish Jha appeared on three of the Sunday shows and pledged continued transparency. "If he has persistent symptoms, obviously, if any of them interfere with his ability to carry out his duties, we will – we will disclose that early and often with the American people," he said on CBS. On Fox, he said the Biden WH has been more transparent than the Trump WH: With Trump, "it wasn't even disclosed for a while..." |
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FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE |
-- An important new essay by Marvin Kalb: "By living on negativity, the press has only compounded the inherent problems of governing a democracy already spinning out of control..." (Brookings) -- Remember the SCOTUS leak? "Two months later, the court won't even answer questions on whether the probe is ongoing," Mark Sherman reports... (AP) -- David Weigel documents the normalization of violent rhetoric: "On the campaign trail, many Republicans talk of violence..." (WaPo) |
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How the heat wave is being covered "Hundreds of temperature records fell over the past week as an intense heat wave continues to blast the US," Julia Shapero wrote for Axios on Sunday. Some cities topped 100 degrees. In Philly, the health commissioner reminded residents that "the longer a heat wave goes on, the more dangerous it can be." So "do these heat waves mean climate change is happening faster than expected?" Not necessarily, MIT Technology Review explained: "General warming predictions are still on track, but recent heat waves are a stress test for the modeling of extreme events." Al Gore spoke on both NBC's "Meet the Press" and ABC's "This Week" and urged political action. "The scientists have predicted these extraordinary and catastrophic events for going on decades now," Gore said on ABC. "And the fact that they were dead right, maybe a little conservative even in their projections, should cause us to pay more careful attention to what they're warning us about now... They're saying that if we don't stop using our atmosphere as an open sewer and if we don't have stop these heat-trapping emissions, things are going to get a lot worse..." >> Related: CNN's Bill Weir joined me on Sunday's "Reliable" and talked about life on the climate change beat. "We're all going to be climate reporters sooner or later..." |
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FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR |
-- "The Russian war against Ukraine has entered its sixth month," Peter Beaumont notes on The Guardian's Monday front page... (Guardian) -- Lynne O'Donnell, who was detained and threatened on her recent reporting trip to Afghanistan, recounted the experience on Sunday's "Reliable Sources." She said the Taliban told her "don't come back," but "once they're gone, I'll go back..." (CNN) -- This WSJ scoop from Kirsten Grind and Emily Glazer has the tech industry buzzing: "Elon Musk engaged in a brief affair last fall with the wife of Sergey Brin, prompting the Google co-founder to file for divorce earlier this year and ending the tech billionaires' long friendship..." (WSJ) -- Tripp Mickle, Kevin Draper, and Ben Mullin's latest: "Why Big Tech is making a big play for live sports." Key line: "The tech companies' interest is a thrill for sports leagues and a terror for media companies..." (NYT) |
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Meme makers hold protest outside Instagram office "With predictably meme-heavy cardboard signs in hand, dozens of creators and their followers gathered outside Instagram's New York City headquarters on Saturday to protest the platform's content moderation policies in a rally they dubbed the 'Instarrection,'" BuzzFeed's Kelsey Weekman reports. The signs were funny, but the attendees voiced serious concerns "about the unfair treatment of creators who rely on Instagram for income and who use it to raise awareness for political issues." A Meta rep said the company has started "a direct dialogue with the organizers to address their complaints..." |
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Have you heard of Geneva? It's a chat app that "has become popular particularly among Gen Z women and TikTok stars," WaPo's Taylor Lorenz writes in this new story about online creators shifting away from broadcast-style social media. She says "content creators are setting up accounts on chat apps, like Geneva, Discord and Telegram, where they can connect privately and directly with people they know are listening." Here's the key: "Absent follower counts and likes, members are free to interact without the pressure of public metrics, an algorithmic feed, or company oversight shaping their conversations." Social media without the social climbing? Details here... |
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FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE |
-- Margaret Hartmann lays out why the Long Island shark story "is summer news at its finest..." (NYMag) -- An inspiring "CBS Sunday Morning" cover story: "Welcome to the library of the 21st century..." (CBS) -- Reality check: "The crypto boom runs on hype men like 'BitBoy,' an untrained Atlanta YouTuber..." (WaPo) -- Netflix and Nintendo's acquisitions "of Animal Logic and Dynamo, respectively, suggest the latest iteration of the entertainment industry's optimism about the power of animation to drive subscriptions and revenue," Julia Alexander writes... (Puck) -- Robbie Whelan wrote about the implications and the reactions to R-rated movies on Disney+... (WSJ) -- "Disney's 'Fairy Godmothers in Training' who dress up children as princesses and knights in boutiques at its US theme parks are now called 'Fairy Godmother's Apprentices' as part of its efforts to be more inclusive..." (CNN) |
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Marvel's juggling act BY BRIAN LOWRY: For all the announcements Marvel unveiled at Comic-Con – as detailed by Sandra Gonzalez here, highlighted by the 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' trailer and the next round of 'Avengers' movies -- the studio faced a bit of a juggling act, since there's pressure to hold back red meat for Disney's biennial D23 Expo, which is just six weeks away. So look for some more eagerly anticipated announcements then, including details about the Fantastic Four movie, the third stab at adapting that title this century, but the first since Marvel's Kevin Feige regained control of the property thanks to Disney's Fox acquisition. And of course, D23 is also dangling "Star Wars"-related news for all who celebrate... More headlines from Comic-Con -- Warner Bros. previewed "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" and "Black Adam" in Hall H... -- Via the LA Times, here's what the Hall H experience is all about... -- AMC previewed "Interview With the Vampire" with a new trailer, and announced an October 2 premiere date... -- CNN compiled this photo gallery of the festivities... |
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"Nope" is #1 BY FRANK PALLOTTA: "Nope," Jordan Peele's third movie, opened to an estimated $44 million this weekend in North America – a solid if not soft-ish opening for the sci-fi horror film. It was expected to bring in around $50 million. It is the biggest domestic opening for an original script since 2019's "Us," Peele's last film, according to Universal. And it has lots of room to grow in the coming weeks. More here... Lowry's analysis BY BRIAN LOWRY: Peele is hardly the first filmmaker who came roaring out of the gate with a movie ("Get Out") that set the bar extraordinarily high, who then didn't quite match it in the films that immediately followed. Given that, it might be overthinking things to see the somewhat below-expectations performance of "Nope" as much more than a referendum on his second movie, "Us," which critics appeared to like a bit better than audiences, perhaps explaining a cooling toward rushing out in the current environment to see his next project... |
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"This summer marks the twilight of classic rock" That's the headline on Brandon Griggs' latest for CNN. Carlos Santana, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, and Elton John are still packing arenas, and "the list goes on," he writes. "At arenas and stadiums across the world, we are witnessing history. Never before has such a grizzled group of rock icons graced so many major stages at the same time." Read on...
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| LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST... Pet of the day! Reader Amanda Smith emails: "This is Pancho, adopted from a shelter in 2012 after his owner had to surrender him because she was going into hospice. He was an adult cat already, so we have now idea how old he is, but like Reliable Sources, he's still going strong..."
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Thank you for reading! Email us your feedback, tips, and tricks. See you tomorrow... |
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