TL;DR

In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.

22% of US adults have dropped at least one streaming service in the past three months, with the leading cause being they weren't spending enough time with the service to justify the cost. (Media Post)
TV company Telly has started shipping its ad-supported 55" TVs to its first wave of customers. The company expects to ship 500,000 free TVs to customers by the end of 2023 — and “millions more” in 2024. (The Verge)
The SAG/AFTRA strike is being felt as far away as Australia, as SAG-affiliated productions including Mortal Kombat 2 and Peacock’s Apples Never Fall have stopped production for now. (Deadline)
San Diego Comic-Con will look different this year because of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Since striking actors cannot promote current or future projects, a number of panels and appearances are being cancelled or pivoted to screenings. (Collider)
What's behind the summer slump at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort? Travel experts point to extreme weather in Florida, a waning post-pandemic travel boom and the state's sense political climate. (CNN)

Audiences

Over a third of US adults (37%) have attended fewer concerts in the past year, and 39% of those who expect to attend fewer concerts in the next year are interested in virtual performances. (Morning Consult)
Most technology fans in the US and UK think buying gadgets is more important than subscribing to streaming services like Netflix or socializing. (Tech Radar)
Nearly three-quarters of British football fans plan to watch the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer, including 57% who plan to watch England’s Lionesses. (Advanced TV)
US podcasters are attracting more international listeners, with Latin America seeing the fastest listener growth at 7.7% YoY. (Digiday)

Platforms

A California judge is allowing Microsoft to close its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, denying the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction. (The Verge)
Netflix now allows profile transfers between existing accounts to give users additional flexibility amidst password sharing crackdowns. (Streamable)
Users reported that Twitter seems to be selectively blocking links to Threads in Twitter searches. (Tech Crunch)
Feedback from parents and digital-media experts has led Discord to bring parental controls to the platform. (WSJ)
India is introducing a 28% indirect tax on the funds that online gaming firms collect from consumers in a big blow to growing gaming startups. (QZ)
Roku is partnering with Shopify to let users purchase products from Shopify merchants through their TVs. (Tech Crunch)
TikTok launched a music streaming service in Brazil and Indonesia called TikTok Music that lets users sync the service to their existing TikTok accounts and listen, download and share songs. (Tech Crunch)
Spotify is considering adding full-length music videos to its app, which could help it better compete with YouTube and TikTok. (Bloomberg)
Disney is launching a new bundled subscription option in Japan combining Disney+ and Hulu Japan. (THR)
Threads will add an alternative home feed of posts as part of a series of updates to the new social media app after users complained. (BBC)
Massachusetts lawmakers are weighing a near total ban on buying and selling of location data drawn from consumers’ mobile devices in the state. (WSJ)

Content

Bradley Cooper inked a multi-year deal with iHeartMedia to release a slate of podcasts featuring "real people telling real stories." (Variety)
Live Nation announced the launch of the MINDFUL NATION app which incorporates music into the practice of meditation. (Live Nation)
Apple’s latest “Shot on iPhone” film, produced in Mexico, tells a Lucha Libre story involving a terrifying piñata, an indomitable luchador and a host of other characters. (AdAge)
Royal Opera House is launching a streaming service for £9.99/mo, letting subscribers in 95 countries instantly watch shows. (Guardian)
TikTok is coming to screens on more than 3K Redbox kiosks across the US, and brands will have the opportunity to advertise alongside that content. (THR)

_Tech_ _&_ AI

Shutterstock is expanding its partnership with ChatGPT, giving the chatbot access to its library of stock images, videos and music for training purposes. (CNBC)
Meta is rolling out the ability to show up on video calls in Messenger and Instagram as your virtual Meta avatar. (The Verge)
Elon Musk has launched a new startup called xAI with the goal to "understand the true nature of the universe." (BBC)
KPMG will invest at least $2B over the next five years with Microsoft to co-develop cloud and generative AI tools. (Axios)
OpenAI's experiment with allowing ChatGPT to search the web via Bing has been suspended because the feature inadvertently allowed users to bypass paywalls. (The Register)
Meta announced Roblox is coming to Meta Quest VR headsets, starting with an open beta that will be available on App Lab in the coming weeks. (Tech Crunch)
Google’s Bard AI chatbot has added more languages to better compete with ChatGPT. (WSJ)
The Associated Press struck a two-year deal with OpenAI to share access to select news content and technology. (Axios)

Location-based _entertainment_

Amazon partnered with Priceline to offer discounts on travel during Prime Day, marking the first time an online travel agency has participated in the shopping event. (Reuters)
Expedia Group is pulling its hotel and vacation rental supply from Hopper, charging the rival online travel agency with taking advantage of consumers. (PhocusWire)
XSET, a gaming lifestyle organization, announced its continued partnership with Drai’s Las Vegas to bring entertainment and gaming to the Las Vegas club scene. (Vegas Publicity)
Indian movie fans have embraced Spider-Man’s Pavitr Prabhakar, based on Peter Parker, leading to 2M tickets sold to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in the country. (WSJ)
"Barbie" will be released in the Philippines after all, possibly with the controversial map blurred, but remains banned in Vietnam. (Variety)
“Cabaret" will return to Broadway in the spring in a new production which has won raves in London. (NYT)
Showcasing Oscar contenders at film festivals like Telluride and TIFF is going to be much more difficult now that SAG-AFTRA has joined the WGA on the picket lines. (Variety)