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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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Almost three times as many US consumers anticipate spending less (43%) than more (15%) on out-of-home entertainment, and almost twice as many consumers plan to spend less (41%) than more (21%) on restaurants. (Chain Storage)
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Meta has been in talks with Apple about integrating Meta's generative AI model into Apple Intelligence. (WSJ)
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The NFL must pay almost $5B in damages for artificially inflating the price of Sunday Ticket, its subscription service showing out-of-market games. (NYT)
Audiences
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64% of US Gen Zers dine in restaurants weekly or more often, which is significantly more than the US average of 39% across all age groups. (MRM)
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More than 60% of US consumers would choose lower streaming costs in exchange for watching ads. (MTC)
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20% of US consumers and 16% of Australian consumers have used social media to online shop in the last three months, far below those in markets like China and Saudi Arabia. (McKinsey)
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As of June '24, 60% of Americans pay for streaming services to watch films, compared to 29% who buy movie theater tickets to watch films. (YouGov)
Platforms
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Google will stop its continuous scroll user experience where more search results load as you scroll past the first page. (Search Engine Land)
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Threads will now let people like and see replies to their Threads posts that appear on other federated social media platforms. (The Verge)
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Instagram was the most downloaded app in Q1 2024, followed by TikTok, Facebook, then WhatsApp. (Social Media Today)
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YouTube is working on new plans for its YouTube Premium subscriptions. (The Verge)
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YouTube is adding several new features for Premium users, including smart downloads and support for picture-in-picture mode for Shorts. (Tech Crunch)
Content
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A new broadcast bill in Indonesia imposes curbs on LGBTQIA content and other “negative” material. (Rest of World)
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Natural disaster film "Twisters" is forecasting a $40M-$55M opening in the US. (THR)
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Following a great run at the box office, “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” will be available to stream on Max starting July 4th. (Variety)
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Disney is boosting its focus on women's sports with a new Serena Williams documentary on ESPN+. (Variety)
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TNT Sports, Fox and NBC have secured Big East basketball rights in a new long-term deal. (THR)
Tech & AI
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NBC is bringing a version of Al Michaels to the 2024 Olympic Games thanks to generative AI software that will re-create the sportscaster’s voice. (THR)
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YouTube is offering to pay Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records “lump sums of cash” in exchange for licensing their songs to legally train its AI music tools. (The Verge)
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Meta started testing user-created AI chatbots on Instagram the same day chatbot company Character.AI started letting users talk with AI avatars over a call. (Tech Crunch)
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Record labels, including Sony, Universal and Warner, are suing two leading AI music generation companies, accusing them of copyright infringement. (NYT)
Location-based entertainment
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The lingering effects of Brexit and the pandemic have led to a credit crunch that has upturned Britain's indie festival circuit this year, with 50 events getting cancelled. (THR)
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During the presale for the upcoming Sabrina Carpenter tour, fans complained of error codes, long queue lines, and exorbitant ticket prices on Ticketmaster. (Ticket News)
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Thousands of sports fans gathered at the French theme park Puy du Fou to see the Olympic flame on its journey to Paris for the start of the 2024 Summer Games. (TPI)
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Universal Orlando will open a new theme park called Epic Universe next year that will feature five lands for guests to explore. (USA Today)
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Two bills dubbed the "Taylor Swift" bills that aim to make buying event tickets fairer and more affordable passed in the Michigan House. (WWMT)
Travel & hospitality
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Total international tourism spend in Australia in Q1 was $10.2B, up 6% over 2019 levels. (TRA)
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Barcelona is the latest major European city to ban renting apartments to tourists from 2028 in a bid to reduce housing costs for residents. (The Guardian)
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Marriott Bonvoy and Starbucks Rewards members can link accounts to earn points redeemable for both room nights and free coffee. (Travel and Leisure)
Gaming
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Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can now play hundreds of cloud-enabled games directly through the Xbox app on select Fire TV devices—no console required. (Amazon)
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"Dungeon & Fighter Mobile" has been a massive contributor to Tencent's mobile-gaming revenue (PocketGamer)
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FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki said he would be open to an adaptation of the studio’s hit 2022 RPG "Elden Ring", but only if a “very strong partner” came into play. (IGN)
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Amazon is ramping up game development, with President Christoph Hartmann doubling down on IP. (Variety)
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Nearly five years after Valve discontinued its experimental Steam Controller, a new officially licensed gamepad for Steam is on the way. (The Verge)