TL;DR
In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.
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Warner Bros. Discovery has introduced a new option allowing customers to add individuals from outside their household to their Max account for an additional monthly fee of $7.99. (The Verge)
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Media usage growth is expected to decline by 0.3% in 2025, the first drop since 2009. (Marketing Dive)
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Amid talks of China pulling its Hollywood film releases, IMAX reported a 10% increase in overall revenue so far this year. (THR)
Audiences
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More than half of Americans say they use subtitles when watching shows because the audio is too hard to understand. (NPR)
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Twitch captured over 60% of global game live streaming audiences in 2024, with viewers watching more than 15.6B hours of gaming content. (Games Industry)
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More than two-thirds of consumers in the U.S., Australia and the UK are willing to pay 25% more for their favorite brands. (Marketing Dive)
Platforms
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TikTok is taking another step towards expanding its in-stream business listings, with the addition of business reviews on select location-tagged videos in the app. (Social Media Today)
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After initial testing with select brands, access to Threads ads is now available to all advertisers globally. (Marketing Dive)
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Meta announced new measures to combat spam on Facebook, hoping to tackle the rise of inauthentic profiles. (Meta)
Content
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Netflix is launching a reality show from inside the WWE writers room this summer titled “WWE: Unreal”. (THR)
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The NFL has expanded its partnership with software giant Adobe to deliver a range of fan experiences powered by AI. (Sports Pro)
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Viewership of “Conclave” spiked 283% last Monday as word of Pope Francis’ passing spread throughout the world. (Variety)
Tech & AI
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Adobe released new Firefly image generation models and a redesigned Firefly web app. (Tech Crunch)
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Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, had 350M monthly active users around the globe as of March. (Tech Crunch)
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OpenAI and The Washington Post announced a new content partnership that will see ChatGPT summarize and link to the Post’s original reporting in its answers. (Tech Crunch)
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A new mode lets the Grok xAI chatbot “see” what’s on your screen or in your camera, though only on iOS for now. (The Verge)
Location-based entertainment
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Chinese streaming service iQIYI has started building its second tech-driven theme park in China, one month after breaking ground on its first park. (Blooloop)
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DC Summer, a celebration of DC Comics, is coming to Gaylord hotels this summer, bringing the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman to four US locations. (Attractions Magazine)
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London’s Natural History Museum is set to open a new 360-degree cinematic experience presented by David Attenborough. (Blooloop)
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ComplexCon traveled from Long Beach to Hong Kong for the first time, attracting over 35K attendees and pulling in $11M. (THR).
Travel & hospitality
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46% of global travelers are now less inclined to travel to the U.S., citing the current administration as a key factor. (Skift)
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Solo travel is booming, with nearly 10% annual growth expected through 2030. (Seattle Times)
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With the death of Pope Francis, tour companies are adjusting itineraries for closures while enabling travelers to witness the historic event. (Travel Weekly)
Gaming
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Bethesda surprise dropped “The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered” after weeks of leaks and rumours. (Forbes)
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Netflix’s latest season of “Black Mirror” debuted with a new mobile game connected to one of its episodes entitled “Thronglets”. (Yahoo)
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Sandbox VR announced it has surpassed $200M in lifetime revenue as it plans to open 29 new locations this year. (Road to VR)