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TL;DR
In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.
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The US Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, alleging that it has a monopoly that suppresses competition. (The Verge)
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Meta is working on a paid version of its AI assistant, Meta AI, that could challenge ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. (The Information)
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Google is making it possible to have Gemini search, summarize and reply to emails from the Gmail app. (The Verge)
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Google will soon start testing search and shopping ads within AI Overviews for users in the US. (The Verge)
Audiences
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65% of people trust podcasters over social media influencers, according to Spotify's research. (Mumbrella)
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92 minutes is Americans' ideal movie length, with just 15% saying a movie should be more than 2 hours. (KMALand)
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More than half of Gen Z and Millennial streamers globally believe they are overspending on streaming services each month. (Axios)
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85% of Amazon’s Prime Video subs are now in the ad-supported tier, more than any other streaming service. (TV Tech)
Platforms
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M6 Group has launched a new streaming platform, M6+, offering 30K hours of multimedia content. (BroadbandTVNews)
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Canal+ has introduced TV+, a new streaming service aggregating over 80 live and replay channels. (BroadbandTVNews)
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TikTok is testing long video uploads of up to 60 minutes, joining YouTube in increasingly TV-esque territory. (CBS)
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Instagram is currently testing a new “Lately” feature for Stories, which adds a new, automatically generated highlight feed to your profile. (Social Media Today)
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TikTok announced a range of updates to streamline the use of its various ad tools, including updates to its AI creative tools. (Social Media Today)
Content
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Channel 4 will expand its coverage of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris by streaming over 1.3K hours across multiple platforms, including YouTube. (Sportspro Media)
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"Deadpool & Wolverine" first-day ticket sales set an R-rated record, with revenue for the day sitting at $8M-$9M. (THR)
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Premier League scored a record season on NBC Sports, averaging 546K viewers per TV match window. (THR)
Tech & AI
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News Corp has signed a multi-year deal with Open AI, allowing the latter to train its platforms with News’ premium content. (AdNews)
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Europe's landmark rules on AI under the EU AI Act will enter into force next month. (Reuters)
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Microsoft wants to make Windows an AI operating system and is launching Copilot+ PCs. (Tech Crunch)
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A new Microsoft AI feature, Recall, which uses AI to build a “photographic memory” of a user’s laptop activity that they can then search, is drawing scrutiny from European regulators. (QZ)
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Social media users are using memes to test and expose the flaws of new AI features, acting as informal "red teams". (Tech Crunch)
Location-based entertainment
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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is expected to boost the UK economy by £1B. (NME)
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Social media influencers and shifting demographics are reshaping Coachella, focusing more on fashion and appealing to younger audiences. (Audiense)
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WWE SummerSlam tickets are going fast, with the event nearly selling out over 2 months in advance. (SEScoops)
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Fake Olympics and Taylor Swift tickets are the two biggest online scams consumers are likely to encounter this year. (BBC)
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Colorado, Minnesota and Maryland are leading the charge for event ticket regulations, passing bills to protect concertgoers. (Scripps)
Travel & hospitality
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International travel has reached almost full recovery this year, with global tourism levels reaching 97% of pre-pandemic numbers in Q1. (KarryOn)
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Almost 44M people in the US traveled over Memorial Day weekend, a 4.1% increase over 2019. (Bloomberg)
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Some restaurants are finding ways, through physical changes and staff training, to welcome diners who are hard of hearing. (Bon Appétit)
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As a percentage of their travel dollar, Australians are the biggest global spenders on nightlife and experiences, spending 19% on these activities in 2024 compared to the global average of 12%. (Karryon)
Gaming
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PlayStation is forging ahead with mobile plans amid rumors of a free mobile service. (Pocketgame.biz)
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Atari has acquired Intellivision and, with it, over 200 games. (Gamesindustrybiz)
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IGN Entertainment has acquired Eurogamer, GI, VG247, Rock Paper Shotgun and other publishers from the Gamer Network Portfolio. (Gamesdeveloper)
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The PC release of PlayStation’s "Ghosrt of Tshusima" broke records for Sony and is their biggest PC launch of all time. (Forbes)