Time spent on social media has hit a ceiling, with usage having peaked across most world regions. (GWI)

22% of the audience that went to see "Barbie" in the US hadn't been to a movie theater in years, and another 11% couldn't recall the last movie they saw in a theater. (Screenrant)

Short-form video consumption has continued to rise globally, especially with younger generations. (GWI)

Nearly a quarter of Americans (22%) listen to 5+ hours of podcasts per week, up from 18% in 2021. (YouGov)

The share of US Gen Z adults who said TikTok is their favorite social media platform for sports news and highlights was 11 percentage points higher than the shares among millennials and the general population. (Morning Consult)

Elon Musk plans to remove headlines from news articles shared on X, dramatically changing how news articles appear on the service. (Fortune)

Users on X will lose the ability to block unwanted followers, eliminating a key safety feature. (CNBC)

Threads is adding reposts (aka retweets) to its reverse-chronological “Following” feed and is adding a repost tab to profiles. (The Verge)

Twitch will let streamers ban users from watching their streams beginning next month. (The Verge)

Advertisers on TikTok will be able to place ads alongside organic content that appears when searching in the app. (The Verge)

Threads is now available on desktop, putting the new platform one step closer to recreating the functions offered by rival X. (CNN)

Microsoft will sell off Activision cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft in a bid for UK regulator approval. (The Verge)

Snapchat users in the EU will soon be able to opt out of content personalization thanks to recent digital compliance regulations. (Tech Crunch)

Billboards claimed the largest share of US programmatic OOH ad spend in H2 2022 and H1 2023. (Insider)

Instagram is adding a chronological feed for Reels and Stories in Europe as Meta prepares to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act. (The Verge)

Reddit is doubling interest targeting categories for ads from 66 to 152, with additional topics and subjects also set to be rolled out in the coming weeks. (Search Engine Land)

Amazon announced its new Fire TV Channels app, giving Fire TV customers access to over 400 FAST channels, including ABC News, CBS Sports and Fox Sports. (Tech Crunch)

The FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final between Australia and England was the top-rated program in the history of Australian television, with an estimated 17.15M people - 64% of the entire population - watching across linear TV, VOD, venues and live sites. (Unmade)

UKTV is launching four new FAST channels featuring content from its Dave, Drama, W and Yesterday brands. (SeeIt)

The England Women’s Football Team smashed a viewership record, with 13.3M people watching the World Cup final on TV. (Metro)

British broadcaster ITV announced its children's TV channel CITV will be replaced by online streaming platform ITVX Kids. (BBC)

Vietnam's authorities have been tightening control over media, removing three Netflix titles since last October over the portrayal of the nine-dash line. (Rest of World)

Amazon is in early talks with Disney about a potential partnership for the development of a new streaming service for ESPN’s flagship channel. (The Information)

YouTube is launching an incubator with Universal Music to work with artists and musicians to explore the use of AI in music. (Reuters)

Meta released an AI-powered translation engine that can more easily translate languages across text and speech. (Axios)

Meta open sourced Code Llama, a machine learning system that can generate and explain code in natural language - specifically English. (Tech Crunch)

South Korean internet giant Naver unveiled its own generative AI tool for search and customized services for enterprises. (Reuters)

American malls aren't dead - foot traffic in top-tier malls was up by 12% in 2022 compared to 2019, while traffic in lower-tier malls was up 10%. (CNN)

Travel will represent a $15.5T economy by 2033, and travel will soon be worth $3T in the US alone. (Bloomberg)

Las Vegas Grand Prix unveiled the full race schedule with gates opening at 6pm November 16th for practice runs. (Yogonet)

Florida attractions, including SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, are inviting guests to come back for free if weather impacts their visit. (WFLA)

After a slew of sold-out performances at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, The B-52s are gearing up for more shows in 2024. (Yahoo)

Fyre Festival II tickets are officially on sale and, amazingly, are selling out. (Today)

Just two months after opening, the Britney Spears Broadway musical "Once Upon a One More Time" announced it will close. (People)

“The Outsiders,” a new musical adaptation of the 1967 S.E. Hinton novel, will begin performances on Broadway this spring. (NYT)

Chicago's first casino will open shortly after Labor Day at Bally’s temporary Medinah Temple gambling hall. (Yogonet)

The Korean film industry is reckoning with allegations of a multi-year pattern of box office fraud, with theater chains accused of exaggerating ticket sales across at least 323 films over the past five years. (THR)

“Barbie” is now the all-time box office champion in Ireland with an €8.85M gross, surpassing "Avatar: The Way of Water." (Variety)

“Blue Beetle” generated $25.4M in its opening weekend, dethroning “Barbie” from the top spot after a record-setting run. (AP)