Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY, July 30, 2024.
Where it’s always encouraging when one tech behemoth sees another tech behemoth totally make a tone deaf ad (👋 APPLE) . . . and says hold my beer.
This new GOOGLE spot that’s been running in the Olympic games about a dad who cares so much about helping his young, track-obsessed daughter write a from-the-heart letter to an Olympian who inspires her . . . that he asks GOOGLE’s AI to write it for her.
Sorry honey, dad’s busy — but here’s what the computer thinks you should say. Just hit print and don’t forget to sign it before mailing it, mmmkay? Or ya know, an initial’s fine too.
#MoviesFUNFACT: The biggest international market for Bad Boys 4? Saudi Arabia. It’s now the highest-grossing pic there ever, beating Top Gun: Maverick.
OH: Podcast ad revenue increased 22% YoY, but the volume of ads increased 20% so . . . . clearly someone has been studying the “success” of the cable TV business model.
THEN: Exhibit #238 in the “Gaming biz isn’t as rosy as you think” case — TWITCH was unprofitable for AMAZON in 2023 on about $2B worth of revenue: $1.3B in commerce revenue, and $667M in ad revenue.
This follows slowing engagement growth according to data cited by the WSJ, two rounds of layoffs of course — and its biggest-paying users . . . spending less.
AND: JPMORGAN CHASE’s new message to its credit card holders: We don’t want your crappy KLARNA debt that you already can’t seem to pay off.
CHASE announced that customers cannot use its credit cards to pay off debt from “buy now / pay later” services, in case it was a lever that already heavily debt-laden consumers were thinking of trying.
BTW: MCDONALD’S revenues were -1% YoY in Q2, the first time sales have had a decline since the onset of the pandemic.
PLUS: APPLE’s new AI initiatives now won’t launch until sometime in October, a little while after the latest new products roll out that will be able to use them in September.
Again, Apple Intelligence functions will only be able to be used by people who have the newest phones (i.e. the right processors to work with it).
BTW: Shockingly, tech companies are adapting and updating their AI website data crawlers to evade blockers that publishers have established.
NOW: Let’s finish out the top here today with a story that only The Olympics can deliver — this guy was brought to the games just to do this one routine . . . one that he essentially does with his eyes closed (he has a condition where his eyes are always dilated and has to wear glasses otherwise), which sealed a long-elusive medal for U.S. men’s gymnastics.
Well done, Stephen! (with a side mention to note that no one is using THREADS for any of this stuff, despite the continued reports of its great user growth . . . X may have revenue problems — new item below btw — but is still the default for “of the moment” news).
💵 Strikes collateral damage coming into view
Now that we have actual data here at the midway point in 2024 Hollywood for what the prolonged 2023 strikes did to the business (save your 2023 strikes “free cash flow savings” talk for the 25 execs in town who actually saw a benefit from it in their bonuses) — I thought it worth framing 🖼️ the “highlights” for the AMPTP-Hollywood talent guild negotiations to keep in mind in late summer 2026.
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