TL;DR

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

Audio has been shown to perform better than video in grabbing attention and generating brand recall. (AdAge)
Disney will launch its ad-supported tier of Disney+ in the UK and select European markets in November. (TVBEurope)
OpenAI rolled out several updates to ChatGPT including the addition of prompt examples, suggested replies and the ability to upload multiple files. (Search Engine Journal)
After facing backlash regarding changes to its terms of service, Zoom announced it will not use audio, video or chat content to train AI models without user consent. (AP)
In-cinema advertising company National CineMedia plans to sell movie screen inventory programmatically beginning in Q4. (AdExchanger)

Audiences

PC and console gamers are more likely to be familiar with Netflix than mobile gamers, though all gamers are more likely to be familiar than adults in general. (Morning Consult)
1 in 3 US users subscribe to free ad-supported TV streaming (FAST) services, and Amazon's Freevee is the fastest growing service, seeing 11% YoY growth. (Tech Crunch)
The Southeast Asian SVOD base grew by just 7K in the first half of this year, a significant slowdown following the 7M net new additions in H2 2022. (World Screen)

According to Mark Zuckerberg, search and web will be coming to Threads in the next few weeks, though it's not entirely clear what "web" means. (The Verge)
YouTube’s "enhanced" 1080p for Premium subscribers is now available on desktop after launching on iOS in April. (The Verge)
Paramount+ reached 61M subscribers worldwide in Q2, a slight gain from the 60M announced in Q1. (THR)
Apple now has more than 1B paid subscribers to its various services, an all-time high for the company. (THR)
Sling TV lost 100K subscribers in Q2, bringing its total subscriber count to 2M. (Streamable)
Netflix closed its first upfront and doubled its monthly active ad-tier users to more than 10M globally. (Adweek)
Shutterstock plans to use Giphy as a platform to help marketers be part of everyday conversations and execute native advertising. (AdWeek)
Disney's ad-free subscription will cost $13.99/mo beginning October 12th, an increase of $3. (CNN)
Patreon podcasters can now use Spotify to distribute exclusive content thanks to a new content paywall integration. (The Verge)
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. is shutting down almost all of its official accounts on Twitter (X), citing “toxic interactions." (Guardian)
iHeartMedia, Spotify and Acast reported revenue growth between 12% and 31% YoY in their podcast businesses during Q2. (Digiday)

Awareness of “Barbie” skyrocketed in the three months leading up to its release, as the share of Americans who had seen, read or heard something about the movie jumped from 45% in April to 75% in late July. (Morning Consult)
Lionel Messi joining Major League Soccer boosted Apple TV+ subscriber numbers, which were greater than expected for Q2. (Insider)
Paramount is rethinking its streaming content strategy and plans to optimize content spend around audience segments. (THR)
Netflix released a new app for iOS that will turn iPhones and iPads into game controllers ahead of its move to make its mobile games available on smart TVs and connected devices. (Streamable)
TikTok announced its "Gimme the Mic" music contest, which lets aspiring musicians showcase their talent on TikTok’s livestreams. (Music Business Worldwide)
DAZN has secured exclusive rights to screen the Saudi Pro League in the UK and will stream the games three times a week. (BBC)
Pluto TV will launch more than 50 FAST channels in Australia at the end of this month on Paramount’s existing local VOD platform, 10 Play. (THR)

Google and Universal Music Group are negotiating a deal to license artists’ melodies and vocals for AI-generated music. (Forbes)
Microsoft is partnering with layer-1 blockchain Aptos Labs to work on AI and web3 by allowing Microsoft’s AI models to be trained using Aptos’ verified blockchain information. (Tech Crunch)
The New York Times updated its Terms of Service to prevent AI from scraping its content. (AdWeek)
Spotify announced the global expansion of its AI-powered “DJ” feature, seeking to enhance the listening experience of Premium subscribers. (Music Business Worldwide)

SeaWorld saw declines in attendance and revenue QoQ, partially due to adverse weather conditions. (Blooloop)
The US Federal Aviation Administration granted construction approval for a planned 699-foot tall skyscraper at the prominent Casino Royale site situated along the Las Vegas Strip. (Yogonet)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the world's busiest airport in 2022 with 93.7M passengers. (Statista)
Major League Baseball attendance is increasing at the highest rate it has in more than two decades, up nearly 9% YoY. (Bleacher Report)